Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
That got a few grumbles but one good glare shot them down.
“If you’ve been going around giving out welcome baskets, you’re going to meet me over at the sheriff’s office at three o’clock with a very good excuse for why you’ve been drugging our visitors.” Deputy Winslow wasn’t pulling punches, but he huffed when five women at the back of the room made a hasty exit.
“If you’ve been given gifts by our local welcoming committee, please be alarmed because we don’t have one. We have locals who make ridiculously bad decisions.” Shaking his head, the deputy seemed relieved that no one started screaming. “If you ate or drank anything that they gave you, please see me before you leave or before you do anything stupid.”
He was my favorite local.
“I’m turning the meeting over to Boyd as our local representative and Pierce here to represent the visiting councils.” That finally got more reactions from everyone and grumbling spread around the room. “Enough.”
The fun human wasn’t having any of it.
“Most of you didn’t realize you’d been drugged by old ladies and the rest of you were waiting for someone else to take charge so you could blame them when shit hit the fan.” That had everyone going quiet. “Congratulations. Someone took charge.”
Daddy.
Daddy took charge.
His quiet hum said he hadn’t expected it but he wasn’t going to turn down the chance to tell everyone to sit down and shut up.
It was fine with me. I didn’t care who was in charge of the meeting because I had bigger issues to deal with…how to get revenge on naughty little old ladies.
Yep. Daddy and the deputy might be bigger people, but I wasn’t. I was a pissed-off little with a Daddy to protect and I was going to remind everyone that scary came in cute packages.
Chapter 11
Pierce
“Thank you for your insight.” The way Merritt patted my leg under the table said he was proud of my restraint as I tried to shift the conversation away from the woman who was the biggest pain in the ass I’d ever met. “Mr. Akeman? What does Scotland think about that?”
Everyone liked his accent and even a few of the straightish men smiled when the guy talked, so I was hoping he’d be a good bribe to get her to shut up.
It wasn’t.
She just couldn’t help herself.
The sturdy woman glared at me as she straightened her shoulders and ignored everyone around her as they winced. “If you’d let me finish, boy.”
It looked like I’d found my line in the sand…and judging by the way the rest of her party winced, they didn’t blame me. Neither would our audience, if I was being honest. They’d long since started rolling their eyes at her antics and were running on a lot less patience than I was.
I was pretty sure I’d even heard Kenzie at the back of the room offering up Lorne to eat her. It was starting to sound like a viable solution to the problem, which probably meant it was time for another break.
“No.” My simple response had almost everyone around the table going completely still. The only movement was the way two of the men who’d come with the angry woman slowly inched back from the table and away from her. “You had more than enough time to explain your proposal but we are not blowing up the portal.”
It was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard, and I didn’t care what her husband did for a living, we weren’t using explosives to solve the problem. “I don’t care how much research you’ve done about earthquakes. That is not my primary concern even though we are on a fault line.”
Therefore, that made it even more stupid.
Magic plus explosives equaled the eastern portion of the US becoming an island.
“So unless you can get more than half the members at the table currently to vote in favor of continuing the discussion, I am denying your proposal.” She had more than a few screws loose if she thought anyone else would think that was a brilliant idea.
When she just got silence and no one would meet her eyes, she went from being a nagging old woman to a mage who seemed to be deciding how to do something drastic or dramatic. For a moment I thought I was just being an ass because she had a Wicked Witch of the West vibe going for her even though she technically hadn’t done anything wrong.
But as I mulled over my own possible prejudices against mages since they had an amazing ability to make startlingly bad decisions, Merritt finally spoke up. “You will not like what I’ll do to you if you finish that spell.”
Oh, a cute little and a badass mate.
Spell?
I wasn’t a dick…she was up to something.
A subtle pressure seemed to pop, and it wasn’t until it was gone that I finally noticed it. Judging by the looks everyone was exchanging, I hadn’t been the only one who’d missed the growing danger from the crazy woman.