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)
My roar felt like it came up from my toes. Power boomed from my body, blanketing the whole territory and beyond. I felt Gimerel scattering away from the mages, having no more idea of how to handle magical workers now than they had the day of the raid.
Come to me.
Harder and harder I boomed out my magic, and my wings made a distinct sound that I’d never made before. An urgent sound, not unlike the buzzing from earlier, but much higher-pitched. It carried along my pulses of magic.
Come to me!
The fliers in my crew rose first as the basajaunak stuffed themselves into cars or vans and headed out with the shifters. They stayed just below me. And then more fliers joined us, ignoring their cairn leaders’ orders to stay grounded and rising to my call.
The darkness pulled at me, and I welcomed it, using it to boost my summons.
COME TO ME!
In the distance, gargoyles rose into the darkened sky, and the moonlight cast them in haunting shadows. More rose all around me, their wings pumping, their anticipation palpable. I found those with resistance and pushed, working at them, coaxing them with magic.
Not the leaders, though, who were all gathered angrily by the restaurant entrance. I blocked them from feeling the message, wanting them to watch me take their people out from under them. I’d give them back, but not until I gave them a taste of victory.
And then I felt a rock in a turbulent sea. Tristan—his resistance ironclad, his will not at all bending. He needed something a little extra. The gargoyle in him longed to rise, but something within him pushed back. Some dark force would not allow him to go so easily.
It felt a little like Niamh when someone tried to force her into doing something. I wondered if he had a little puca mixed up in him somewhere.
I added a little flourish of magic that could usually entice a person like her. It essentially translated to: pretty please.
I had no idea how I heard his dark chuckle. I felt more than saw his deep bow. And then the mighty beast rose into the sky. His wings snapped and his people fell in around him, perfectly organized. A born leader waiting on my command.
The other lead enforcers did the same, if not so perfectly synchronized. They brought their people in around them and waited.
“Okay, let’s go, let’s go,” Sebastian said, starting to run.
In a move we’d practiced many times, Ulric and Jasper swooped down and grabbed the mages. As they rose, Nathanial did the same, holding me so that we could go faster. Tristan followed directly behind and somewhat above my people. Another enforcer was below, and the others fanned out to the sides.
As we cut through the sky, more gargoyles fell in, filling in my ranks. These were the solo guardians, the ones who’d come to check us out. Magic pumped through me, and my heart felt like a battle drum. I felt the distinct desire to connect with everyone in tow. They hadn’t spilled blood on my behalf, but they would. I needed to feel their whereabouts and conditions if I was going to be able to protect them in battle.
Through my gargoyle, I extended my magical connection. One and all snatched it up quickly—and one immediately fed me curiosity. Tristan again. He was analyzing each interaction with me, going along with it but still feeling it out.
That didn’t matter now. I could see the blasts of light and color up ahead, mages pushing forward a good distance behind a large grouping of mercenaries firing at houses or people on the run.
Anger throbbed within me.
We’d run the last time we heard mages were coming for us. We’d taken the battle elsewhere.
Not this time. This time we were ready.
The shifters were out of their vehicles. Austin’s roar went up, a challenge. His shifters followed suit, organizing quickly below us in their heavily practiced formation. The basajaunak flanked their neat rows, hands out and bodies bent forward a little, roaring.
The connections to all the gargoyles were insane, so many flying with me, each now feeding me emotional cues. It was too many. I couldn’t compartmentalize them.
Instead I homed in on the lead enforcers, yanking our connections taut and then using magical pulses to communicate. Hopefully they understood. I’d practiced heavily with my crew. These people were strangers. I didn’t know how to use this connection to work with them.
Trusting they’d at least pick up visual cues, I leaned forward so Nathanial would lower us in the sky as we reached the shifters. Jasper dove to get Nessa on the ground, and she quickly met up with Edgar.
“This way, Shadow,” I barely heard Edgar tell her, curving away right.
“Why this way?”
“I never know.”
Austin glanced up.
Now.
Another magical blast for the gargoyles: follow me!