Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
“We’ll stay close in case they bring extra people,” Nathanial said. “We’ll shift in Niamh’s backyard to be ready.”
“Or have her make us some sandwiches inside and shift when we’re needed,” Ulric muttered.
“I volunteered to accompany your mom downtown to find gossip with all their people at the bar,” Jasper said. “Request denied.”
“I’ll be lurking around,” Edgar said, at the end in a suit that somehow looked good despite his current hunch. “I’m very close should you need me.”
“It’ll be grand,” Niamh said. “Now, Jessie, ye best be gettin’ on. There’s headlights down the way. At least pretend ye’re the high status they should expect.”
With that, I finally trekked back inside with Austin next to me and Mr. Tom on my heels. We’d chosen the front sitting room for our reception, one of the done-up areas of the house. The wallpaper had been taken down and the walls painted a deep gray-green. A large trio of chandeliers dripped down in the center of the space, and a set of hardwood bookcases in the back featured various volumes that were old enough to be impressive yet fine to be handled. The oil canvases had been replaced with modern stylized photography or various other non-picture art. It had a general old-school masculine sort of feel while still being cozy and comfortable. It seemed the perfect fit for the leader gargoyles.
Butterflies swarmed my belly and a text silently lit up my phone.
Nessa: Here comes a limo.
Mr. Tom walked in with a stiff back and a silver tray, polished up to a high shine but very old school.
“We couldn’t have bought some more modern trays?” I asked as he handed me a glass of wine and Austin something brown in a sipping glass. Probably scotch.
“This tray is perfect,” Mr. Tom said. “She doesn’t need to remake the wheel.”
“She hasn’t gotten to the kitchen yet,” Austin said as Mr. Tom left the room again.
Another text came in.
Nessa: Solgid cairn, givers of cool but useless carriage.
Nessa: leader name Eram.
I showed the screen to Austin. He nodded, sitting back with his ankle crossed over his knee and his arm resting on the back of my chair. He sipped his drink casually and gave off the aura of someone who didn’t have a care in the world. Given the utter calm I felt through the bond, that might’ve been true.
I was not so calm; my nerves rattled through me as I waited for a bunch of people I either didn’t know or had already had altercations with.
“What’s going on with Anthott?” I asked, needing a little small talk. Not to mention it was probably good to know. I’d mostly let Austin handle that so far.
“He is easy to talk business with if you accept that he talks like a robot and has very little understanding of humor. I like the direction he’s thinking and agree with his ideas for size and scale. I think he’d be a good asset.”
“So you’re going to go further with it?”
“He’s getting cold feet. He’s nervous about working with shifters and wary about your interactions with gargoyles thus far. He’s worried about status. He’s not thinking about the pack, solely your unformed cairn. So we’ll see. I have his notes and his ideas. Worst case, I find someone else to put them into motion.”
I lifted my eyebrows at him. “First of all, how dare you! I have a formed cairn. It only has a few people, and they’re all weird, but I have them. Secondly, look at you, using the Dark Three’s tactics.”
“It’s business. You work with what you have. I doubt anyone else will have the resources to give him what we can, though. He cares about his work more than status. He’ll come around.”
Nessa: Leader has sneer painted on. Barely looked at shifters. Sized up Nathanial, then puffed up chest.
Nessa: headed your way.
I felt them coming up the walk. Mr. Tom waited at the front door.
“Did your people sneer at the gargoyles in town before all of this?” I asked Austin.
“Likely. They definitely aren’t fond of some of the guardians. But I think the leaders and more powerful guardians tend to sneer at anything that isn’t their own reflection. That’s the vibe I’ve gotten, anyway.”
“They are at the top of the food chain.”
“They were at the top of the food chain. Then they wandered into my world.”
The shivers that raced across my flesh were decadent. I leaned into him. He put his arm around me and touched down on my shoulder, rubbing with his thumb.
“Here we go,” he whispered.
Mr. Tom opened the door, his back stiff. “Right this way, if you please.”
He walked in and half turned. In his wake entered a six-foot-tall man—short compared to the guardians strolling in behind him—who looked to be in his mid-fifties. Gray lined his temples and streaked through his short, dark hair, which was parted at the side and moussed down flat. His tux didn’t fit to perfection, buckling a little around the shoulders where it had to accommodate his wings. His shoes were heavily polished, though, and his guardians looked mean and important. They filed off to the sides, their gazes finding Austin and then sticking to me as they took up their posts by the wall.