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 do you know?” he said slowly. Speaking faster then, like his brain couldn’t keep up with his mouth, he added, “Who do you know and do they have any others that they might want to sell to a schlub like me?”
“Gerard, Gerard,” Nelson said, rolling his eyes. “Take a breath. Give the woman a chance to warm up to you.”
He put his hands together in a prayer style and bowed to me. “You win this round, Miss Ivy House. I’m a big enough gargoyle to admit it. But”—he waggled his finger—“I’ll rise to the occasion. You just wait.”
The guardians behind him seemed so much more serious than their leader. They took their places at the wall, staring straight ahead.
“Where are we?” Gerard fell into a love seat, making our grouping into a sort of an oval. “What’d I miss?”
“Well…” Nelson held up a hand and studied his nails. “Withor visited the female yesterday and Eram is pissed about it. Tristan visited this morning and Eram is also pissed about that. She’s wearing my connection gift request, displaying Eram’s in the front yard for some reason, and there isn’t any sign of yours or Withor’s. Then you came in hollering and here we are.”
“She’s not displaying my gift because she has a Bentley Bacalar out there,” Gerard said before answering Mr. Tom on what he wanted to drink. “I’m not mad about that in the slightest. She has outstanding taste in cars. I’m just happy it got me here. As for that carriage, she probably only kept it around so she could strip it of gold and use the rest for firewood.”
“She would’ve already stripped it down if that was all she wanted with it,” Eram said, his brow lowered.
“Tristan didn’t see any horses,” Nelson said. “I can’t imagine she’s going to get much use out of it if she doesn’t have any horses.”
“And just why was Tristan skulking around, anyway?” Eram glanced back at him. “What about Withor?”
“Tristan was looking around to prepare for tonight. I wanted to make sure there were no surprises. It’s the same reason why I’d like to cordially request that your gargoyle butler show him around now, Jessie, if you wouldn’t mind. I’d rather not get a nasty surprise in the middle of dinner.”
Gerard pointed at the fireplace. “I think my eyes are playing tricks. That wooden carving just moved. I swear it did.”
“Lay off the edibles,” Eram told him as I connected gazes with Tristan standing stoically in the corner.
“Have at it. All of you. You don’t need my butler to guide you. Check out the house as you see fit, but do not touch anything. I’ll know if you do, and you will be punished.” I waited for all the leaders to give me their attention. “How would you like to handle those punishments? By yourself, or shall I do it?”
“You think you have the power to punish my guardians?” Nelson’s smile was delighted.
Tristan’s gaze zipped that way and his body minutely tensed. I might not have noticed if I weren’t used to shifters giving almost nothing away. He must not have told his leader what I was capable of, because I was pretty sure he knew from watching the training that I could definitely inflict pain, and so could my crew.
Withor opened his mouth to respond, but Nelson made a sweeping gesture with his hand.
“Have at it,” he said, “though you might be surprised to learn that guardians at this level have strict discipline.”
Humor and annoyance leaked through the bond from Austin. He didn’t have as much faith in our visitors as Nelson did.
Withor’s face clouded over and then he shut his mouth, slouching down into a sulk. He also knew what I could do, but if he said anything now, the others would think his people weren’t disciplined.
Tristan looked around before nodding. After one last long look at me, he left the room. The others followed on his heels, dispersing quickly once out of the room.
“I need to focus on these leaders,” I told Ivy House, “so let me know if the guardians touch anything. Try not to show your magic to the Gimerel guardians. I don’t want them to know what they’d be up against if they attempt a raid.”
“Gotcha.”
Her vibe was that of a trickster rubbing their hands together in anticipation. I did not envy those guardians.
“Now, where were we?” I asked the room at large.
“I think we were all wondering,” Nelson began before finishing his drink, “what dirt you had on Withor that he had to turn up a day early to talk about it.”
Withor’s head snapped Nelson’s way.
A smile spread across Gerard’s face. “I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about you, Withor. What was so incriminating that you had to break the rules and seek her out a day early?”