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)
“Don’t worry about them attacking,” Niamh said. “If one pops off, the others will rise up against them. That’s why they don’t all get together. The first one to break is gonna get smashed down. Their precious status might take a hit from that.”
“She’s guessing,” Nessa said, “but in the past she’s proven to be a damn good guesser.”
“I know people.” Niamh crossed an ankle over her knee, then looked around. “Where’s me cooler?”
Mr. Tom’s wings rustled. “You annoy people, you mean, and I removed it. Only derelicts and parents carry coolers. Which are you?”
“About to shove me foot up yer arse, that’s which one I am…”
“Okay, okay.” I waved them to silence, ignoring the jab about my parents carrying a cooler. “Are we sure about these dates? A month out doesn’t give us much time to prepare. Or do much of anything, honestly. Do we have any new information about Kingsley’s situation? Other than Momar testing the defenses and gathering information?”
Nessa quickly glanced at Sebastian, who answered. “Nothing new, but we don’t have a lot of time to dawdle. If the gargoyles get weird about the wine bar or something, you can just explain the situation.”
“I’d like to get to Kingsley’s pack as soon as possible and assess the situation for myself,” Austin said. “I’ll need to work my people in with his, and that’ll take a moment.”
“True,” I murmured, resting my hand on Austin’s thigh. “Okay. That means we have a month. Three weeks, really. I guess we’d better start picking and choosing what to focus on. Time will go by in a flash. Before we know it, we’ll be inundated with prickly gargoyles.”
“Some worse than others,” someone muttered.
ELEVEN
Nessa
Two days after the invitations were sent to the four biggest cairns, Nessa found herself wandering down the cutest little neighborhood, looking for Broken Sue’s abode. Somehow Patty had talked him into hosting a dinner party. It was a wonder he hadn’t canceled. He apparently didn’t even know who’d been invited! It wasn’t at all like him, an intensely private man who drank alone and kept his business to himself.
Patty was magical. There were no two ways about it. She manipulated people in a way that left everyone with a smile on their faces. Nessa really needed to learn how, but she suspected the tools needed weren’t in her tool chest.
She ran her thumb along her screen, searching the notes on her phone for the info on the Cashmere Cairn leader. That was the guy who’d hacked into their system so he could send Jessie and Austin appropriately sized sweaters. He probably thought he was a cunning little fox.
He had no idea what he was up against.
She glanced up again, frowning at the house signs. “Wasn’t it fifteen-thirty?” She glanced behind her, then back in front. “Fifty-three-thirty? Crap.”
Still walking, because this neighborhood was too cute not to enjoy, she tapped out of her work notes and into her life notes, looking for Broken Sue’s house number. Then the street name, because the numbers here were much too high for what she’d written down to be correct.
“I didn’t even get his phone number,” she grumbled, swiping to the home screen and tapping the phone image. She’d hit Sebastian’s name and put the phone to her ear before the feeling registered.
Tingles whispered across her skin. Goosebumps rose, and her stomach twisted. Danger.
She forced herself to continue walking with the same halting, distracted sort of steps.
“Hey, Nessa,” Sebastian said when he answered. “I’m running a little late. Just about out the door. Is everyone there?”
“I don’t know. I think I wrote down the wrong house number…”
Sebastian paused for a moment, obviously registering her tone. An edge crept into his words. “What’s wrong?”
“Well, I can’t very well tell you that, can I?” She laughed good-naturedly, using him as a prop. “Hang on, let me look.”
Forcing calm, she veered to the side and lowered her phone, getting her hands closer to her knives.
A sick feeling crept through her.
She’d forgotten to strap on her knives.
“Crap,” she breathed out, feeling the presence bearing down on her.
What had she been thinking? She always brought her knives. At least one, anyway. Always carefully hidden. Always within reach.
This was the fault of her subconscious! She’d been desperately curious about Broken Sue’s private habitat, and excited to see it, and excited to see him. The profound feeling of safety she always felt in his presence had crept in. And now she was a sitting duck, with shoes not made for running and magic that wouldn’t help her if this feeling in any way belonged to something powerful.
Given the prickly sort of panic creeping in, it was definitely something powerful.
A shape loomed large in her peripheral vision. Very large. Robust and tall and striding purposefully toward her.
She glanced up as though distracted, lifting her phone back up to her ear.