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)
“Who, the chick?” Pierce’s face screwed up. “Please. The alpha shifter clearly has some power, but his territory has almost no fliers. Not to mention shifters are social pack animals. They aren’t built for protection. How would they protect against a raid? And then there’s her…” He flung his hand. “She has three gargoyles on her team—”
“I counted four.”
“The old one doesn’t count. Three gargoyles, and only one could remotely be considered for a guardian position. Not even a high-status one at that. They’ve got more gargoyles in the shifter pack, but none of them are worth a glance. Then she’s got a bunch of odd…whatever creatures they are. I couldn’t identify any of their smells. Besides, since when has a female gargoyle led anything? That’s all myth and legend. And even if it isn’t, she certainly can’t. She has some magic, whoopee. But does she even shift? She has no wings.”
“I believe the female gargoyle’s wings—”
“Whatever. I’m not here for this…pack. I’m here because in a week I’ll be in the same town as the four biggest cairns in the world.”
“Except you already burned a bridge with one of them. Or did I hear that wrong?”
Pierce’s demeanor changed in an instant. “What do you know about it, Anthott? Did you even bring any guardians?”
“I’m not sure what that has to do with—”
“I’d think long and hard about any allegations you want to make against me. Without any guardians, you won’t be able to protect yourself. And if you open your mouth, you’ll definitely need to protect yourself.”
Anthott lifted his hands immediately, fear edging into his voice. “I just heard rumors, is all. I don’t have any allegations. I don’t know anything concrete—”
“The rumors aren’t true, or wouldn’t they have filed a grievance against me?”
“Production cairns with high-status alliances almost never file public grievances. They worry about causing a big stir that will reflect negatively on their operation. If that happened, it’s all too likely the affiliate cairn would call them down or sever their connection to maintain status. No production cairn would risk it. Which I’m sure you knew—”
Pierce stood, and his chair tumbled back behind him. He reached forward and grabbed Anthott by the shirt, yanking him forward.
I stepped forward quickly, reaching for a vial of potion to counteract the last. My magic pumped into the room even as Austin started moving, crossing the space. He grabbed Pierce by the neck and threw him back. Pierce’s legs hit tables and knocked over chairs before he struck the back wall with a loud thud.
“Help!” he hollered as he fell, hitting the ground with a grunt. “Help! I’m being attacked by…by magic.”
Austin drank down his potion as boots thudded against the floor in the reception area. We’d allowed four of Pierce’s guardians to play sentinel outside the room. They ran in now.
Broken Sue was ready, though, newly visible after taking the antidote. He stepped in the way, and the first guardian slammed into him and bounced back. The next was right behind, though, trying to push through. Two more followed, all four barreling into Broken Sue.
He handled the onslaught without so much as stepping backward. Although his blank expression didn’t waver, I could feel his enjoyment through the bond. He grabbed the first gargoyle, much smaller than him in every way, and used him as a plow, ramming into the others and forcing them all back. He marched them out of the space, then—judging by sound—into the reception area then out of the building entirely.
“What the hell?” Pierce panted, Austin standing over him. “What the hell?”
“You don’t need cameras to listen undetected,” I told him. “Magic will suffice.”
“Sit our friend down, Austin Steele,” Niamh said after drinking her potion. “I think we should have a little chat.”
“What the…” Pierce’s eyes were huge as Austin reached for him. “No, please! No! Please!”
“Isn’t it delightful,” Nessa said, twisting off the cap to her vial, “that they all beg in the same way when Austin Steele grabs them?”
“I was just thinking that.” Sebastian tucked his now-empty vial into his pocket and wavered into public visibility.
Austin roughly sat Pierce down in his chair. Anthott sat frozen in front of him, shock and fear etched onto his face.
“Let’s get rid of these, shall we?” Nessa grabbed the candles and plates, gesturing for Sebastian to take away the menus, silverware, and tablecloth. “We don’t want to get blood on anything.”
“What are you going to do to me?” Pierce asked, cowering in his seat. “Who put you up to this? W-was it Aadath’s d-doing?”
“Anthott…” I put my hand on his shoulder, and he flinched. “You can leave for a while, if you’d like. Or maybe sit at another table and drink your soda water?”
“How about a snack?” Nessa stopped at his other side and pulled at his arm. “Up we go. Let’s have a snack, shall we? Here, you can sit right over here and watch the show. You’ll be safe, don’t worry. You didn’t laugh at a female gargoyle and her incredibly powerful crew…”