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)
“You know…” Jasper said, staring out at the horizon. A sunburst of color washed across the sky, celebrating the closing of another day.
“Yes,” Ulric responded. “For I know everything.”
Jasper ignored him. “I used to dream about being a guardian for Gimerel. For any of the biggest cairns, actually. I envisioned myself in Tristan’s place, leading successful raids and defending the township.”
“We all did.” Ulric glanced at the house as Hollace stepped out, always so freaking put together and hot. “We heard stories about their heroics and how much they made and how everyone loved them and looked up to them…”
“How much they made.” Jasper scoffed, and it turned into a laugh. “Did you look at that spreadsheet Nessa and the weird mage did? About all the salaries?”
“Yeah. The big cairns don’t pay out much more than the small cairns.”
“Don’t forget the perks, though,” Nessa told them, seeing Niamh step out of her house across the street and bend to check the rocks next to her chair. At one point they’d been stolen or something, and now Niamh always seemed to check them. Though who would steal a bunch of rocks was anyone’s guess.
“The perks are what, free food in a cafeteria?” Jasper gave her a look. “Do you know how bad that food is? You’d have mac and cheese sitting there for three days.”
“Free coffee,” she said absently, thinking through all her plans, trying to find a way to speed up that attack. Or maybe slow the gargoyles from exiting. There just wasn’t enough time!
“In the let-down room?” Jasper replied as Niamh’s head slowly swiveled around.
Nessa knew that look.
Without raising suspicion, she sashayed a little toward the grass, clasping her hands behind her back as though she were looking around the grounds.
“What is a let-down room, anyway?” she asked as Niamh picked out a couple winners. “Like a breakroom?”
“Yeah, basically,” Ulric said, turning a little to keep her in his sights, giving Niamh his back. Nessa really shouldn’t set them up like this. She really shouldn’t… “Every cairn has this, like…rec center, kinda. It has pool and air hockey and stuff like that. There’s a large room in there solely for the guardians where they can hang out and relax.”
“And in that very auspicious room that really only has cards and a couple of sagging couches is free coffee,” Jasper said loftily. “The bitterest dredge you’ll ever taste. What about our— Ow!”
Jasper ducked and put up his arms as another rock came flying. It smacked off Ulric’s head, knocking him sideways.
“Damn that woman— Look out!” Jasper ran backward. “We’re under fire!”
Only when they were out of throwing distance did Niamh put the rest of her rocks down and start on her way to the bar.
“She’s not even going to wait for us?” Jasper asked, staring after her. “Rude.”
“What about our what?” Hollace asked, still on the porch. He’d clearly seen the writing on the wall and decided to wait it out. Now he descended the steps.
“Our salaries,” Jasper replied. “We make way more than they do and have…like…a crazy amount of perks. It’s insane. We’ve landed a way better position. We see a lot more action, too. That raid was lame. What was even the point, you know?”
“It was good for training.” Hollace wiped a bit of lint off his black button-up shirt. “Who are we waiting on?” He looked back at the door.
“Sebastian,” Nessa told him. “He’s just chatting with Jessie about a few things. No Cyra?”
“No, she’s going to go spy on that lead enforcer. Don’t tell Jessie.”
“She’s gonna get in trouble,” Nessa said in a singsong voice.
“I know, but she really enjoys sneaking after him. He’s got this sixth sense about it. She can’t seem to ever keep him in her sights for long. She treats it like a game, and even though he’s not actually playing, he keeps winning. It’s funny.”
“He’s dangerous,” Nessa said seriously. “I don’t think spying on him is the best idea.”
“Dude, she comes back from the dead.” Jasper frowned at Nessa. “What else can he do to her besides kill her—serve her Niamh’s dry sandwiches?”
Ulric spat out a laugh.
Sebastian stepped out of the house, his gaze downcast and distant. He was thinking about something, and Nessa had a feeling he’d heard the news as well. This did not bode well for them.
“Hey! There’s the man of the hour,” Ulric said, stepping forward to pat him on the back.
“Don’t bother.” Nessa waved him away. “He’s thinking. Just ignore him until he comes out of it.”
“O-kay.” Ulric tilted his head. “Wait, is that your way of politely telling me that he doesn’t like me?”
“Ulric, my love…” She patted him. “I wouldn’t hold back in telling you that someone doesn’t like you—you have my word. In fact, maybe at the bar I’ll try to find a bunch of people who don’t like you so I can tell you about them one by one.”