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)
“Okay, okay, settle down.” I put out my hands to stop their bickering. “Ulric, what are you talking about? What do you need Edgar’s help with?”
“She was otherwise occupied on the way in,” Austin said from the seat closest to the focal point. He leaned back and draped an arm over the back of the couch. “I didn’t fill her in.”
“Yeah, we felt a little too much of that occupation,” Niamh said, cracking a beer open. “It seems someone forgot to deaden the link.”
My face burned hot. I hadn’t even thought about it.
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter.” I waved it away as the basajaun stooped a little to get into the room and sat in the middle of a love seat. “I’ll get to whatever it is in a minute. We have more pressing matters to discuss.”
The rest of the crew filed in, and then came Sebastian, his magical mask gone and his expression closed down into one of unease. Kace followed so closely behind him that he’d give Edgar a run for his money in the no-personal-space Olympics. Nessa sauntered in next and smiled as she greeted me.
“Good work back there,” she said, stopping. Broken Sue waited beside her. “You nailed the interrogation, and on your first time! That’s incredible. I mean, I realize you don’t want to make it a habit, but this kind of stuff does come up from time to time. Especially with high-caliber mages who have potentially valuable potions and notes.”
Hollace put up his hand. “I would like to participate next time. If I have to come up with a weird party trick, so be it. I hate being left out of the reindeer games.”
“It was a good time.” Cyra smiled before pushing up her glasses. Then she laughed with delight. “A good time! I wouldn’t mind rounding up a few enemies and seeing who can scare the information out of their mark the fastest. I bet I’d win. I really do. Dibs on Nessa, though. She’s really good at moderating.”
“I would win,” the basajaun said. “My hobby is scaring hikers. I am very good at it. I know how humans tick.”
“There will be no contests to almost fatally scare people, you guys—” I began.
“The trick is not speed, though,” the basajaun continued. “The slow-sneak approach is much better. They sense danger but do not know why. Their head starts to spin.”
“Okay, that’s great.” I counted everyone up. “I think we’re all here—”
“Then you build and build until finally…” He burst up to standing, hands curled into claws, teeth bared, and let out a ferocious snarl. His hair puffed up all over his body.
His size and menace and the way his body hair accentuated his obvious threat sent a chill through me. Half of the room visibly shivered. The shifters tensed, their eyes hard.
“Or sometimes, you just let them see glimpses.” He shrugged, and his hair flattened. “Just little glimpses here and there through the trees, and they think they are losing their minds. That is the long game. They come back to the mountain and are more watchful. On their guard. Then you stalk them.” He sat down again. “There really are several plans of attack that work well. And each causes a different type of fear. For example—”
“Okay, okay.” I put up a hand to stop him. “We’ll discuss it later, okay? We can all compare notes.”
“I call Edgar,” Ulric said. “No question. He’s a master at creepy. He set up that mage like no one could have.”
“Okay!” I sent a blast of power into the room, stilling everyone. Those who hadn’t yet sat took their seats. “Sorry—”
I clamped my teeth together. What was it Ivy House had told me? Stop thinking like a Jane lady. And here I was, apologizing for being assertive with my own team. Austin would never do that.
“Right, okay. There are a couple things we need to go over,” I said, moving to the focal point of the room. “First, it seems Sebastian and probably Nessa had some sort of idea in mind of what to do with the enemy mage. Even that the mage or someone like him might be coming. We need to meet and lay everything out in the open so that we’re all on the same page. Before that, though, I’ll tell you about the wrench Ivy House has thrown into whatever plans some of you might already have.”
I told them about her spell, making Sebastian crinkle his brow.
“How was she able to do that?” he asked.
“I have no idea. I doubt she’ll tell me. She likes to show me what’s possible and then watch me scramble to figure it out. In this instance, though, I think she wants me to rise to the challenge.”
“About that…” He squirmed in his seat. Nessa scooted away a little, and I knew I wouldn’t love what I was about to hear. “It seems I shouldn’t discuss plans with Nessa when in the crystal room.”