Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
“Dear Lord, no,” I heard Mr. Tom say as he came in behind us.
“Oh, this is nice,” Edgar said a moment later.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Patty said as she led me into the large front sitting room. “Since you weren’t here, I decided to make myself useful. There were connection requests all over, so the house showed me where to put them. I went ahead and got them organized. Then I had some spare time and saw a stack of these lovely attempts at doilies and wondered why they weren’t being used. So I laid them out for you. I just love a home decorated with doilies. It reminds me of my nana.”
“Since when do you let in strangers?” I asked Ivy House.
“I… Well… She’s not an easy woman to say no to, it turns out. After she organized the connection requests, I tried to scare her out, and she laughed at me. Then she started after the gnomes, and…”
If a house could shrug, I knew Ivy House would.
“Mom, we just got home. Give her a minute,” Ulric pleaded.
“Where are my manners. Of course!” Patty beamed at me. “Can I get you something to drink? Something to eat?”
“I beg your pardon, but that is not your job.” Mr. Tom sniffed. “Miss, I will deliver something to your private parlor.”
“That would be great, Mr. Tom, thanks.” I took Austin’s proffered hand, then gave Patty as warm of a smile as I could muster. “Thank you for coming. You’ll be a great help, I’m sure. If you’ll excuse me?”
She clasped her hands in front of her, holding her smile. “Isn’t this perfect? She’s pretty and full of grace, but our girl has grit. Yes, she’ll do nicely. She’s the perfect choice for a female gargoyle.” She patted my arm. “You go. Go rest. I’ll just catch up with Ulric and meet the rest of the staff. We’ll start on those connection requests when you’re ready. Tomorrow, maybe, or the day after. We have a lot of work to do, but you’re in a unique position to make them wait. You can take as much time as you want. Make ’em sweat, girl.” She winked at me.
Thoughts dizzy from the tornado that was Ulric’s mom, I let Austin walk me to the parlor and lead me to the couch. Once we were both sitting, he let out a breath. I did the same.
“I don’t envy you,” he finally said, and I burst out laughing.
“It sounds like she’s a helluva networker, though.”
“Yeah, it does. Let me know when you start working with her. I want to be there with you.”
“Why? In case she decides I need to be handled like the gnomes?”
He chuckled. “I can’t believe she had those things on the run.”
“I know, right? I’m both in awe and a little scared.”
He cuddled me close, and his breath ruffled my hair. “I want to hear what she has to say about each cairn, and I want to ask some questions about how best to manage their leaders. I need to learn how gargoyles work if I’m going to help you handle them. I’m pretty sure that’s what enforcers do.”
“Given that their mates scare homicidal gnomes, I get the feeling they’re pretty rough.”
“So do I,” he growled.
I rested my head on his shoulder. “How much time do you think we’ve granted ourselves from Momar?”
“We? Probably a while. I agree with Niamh that it was wise to let that ground trooper go. If mages think they won’t have a reliable shield from shifters, they won’t be so inclined to attack. I also agree with Sebastian that the mage he released will tell others about your might. They’ll want to meet you like they would want to meet any high-powered mage. You’ll probably go from physical battles to the cunning, in-the-shadows-type battling.”
“At least Sebastian is fluent in that. I think we’re good for a minute.” I paused for a beat. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out with the basajaunak.”
He stroked the side of my face. “It hasn’t not worked out. One is coming to stay, and we’re welcome to visit any time we please. I think that’s the best we can hope for right now.”
“True. Hopefully, I can connect with a couple of big cairns,” I said. “If we at least had that, we’d have something.”