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)
“On that note.” I handed Niamh my mug and stood. “They have a bet regarding how much you’ll drink. Just don’t go crazy. There are no hospitals to pump stomachs way out here.”
“Do ye hear her?” It was unclear whom Niamh was talking to.
Edgar clearly thought it was him. “I can.”
“Hospital, me bollacks. I’ll drink every drop and have a nice snore when I’m done.”
“Dang.” Ulric stood. “I guess I’d better drink a little more so I can pass out and not hear that.”
“Do what ye like.” She swayed just a bit, and I decided that was definitely my cue. Otherwise, she might talk me into drinking with her, or worse, tell me what she’d deduced about my personality. Like Ulric, I didn’t want to know.
Mr. Tom joined me after I’d taken a few steps away from the other group. “Since you are done listening to that godawful woman, shall I prepare your pajamas for you? Or get you a cup of water? I assume that is still within my ability, or do shifters have overly possessive tendencies around water as well?”
He hadn’t been at all amused to learn he wasn’t allowed to get me food or even a few nuts from what he thought of as an outdoor kitchen. He didn’t like Austin taking away his duties. We needed to get back to Ivy House so he could at least still rob Austin’s clothes and clean up Niamh’s trash. A mother hen liked to feel useful, after all.
“Water would be great, thanks, Mr. Tom.” I smiled at him as Austin joined me.
“You’re not going to stay and see if Niamh will drink herself into a coma?” he asked as he ran his palm across my back and hooked it around my hip.
I mimicked the movement, and butterflies tickled my stomach as I felt across his hard back and around his waist. Goosebumps coated my skin, and I leaned against him, feeling warm and tingly all over.
“With anyone else, I would be nervous about how much she was consuming,” I murmured as we took the path, and the sounds of the feast diminished.
“Don’t be. She knows her limits if she has any, and I’m honestly not sure she does. I’ve never known another puca, so maybe it’s a trait of the creature, but I’ve never seen anyone who can hold their liquor so well as that woman. It’s unreal. Absolutely unreal.”
“They’re going to be annoyed when they run out of alcohol,” I said as we gently bumped against each other.
He was quiet for a moment before he said, “I was glad to hear her say we’d be welcomed back. I would’ve missed this place.”
“Me too,” I whispered, finding the fire in our camp crackling merrily. Someone had tended it while we were gone. One of the basajaunak, probably, but they’d cleared out when they heard or felt us coming. No one was around. “Take it all in now, though. We don’t have much longer.” I looked at him, not trying to hold back my fear. “I can feel their expectation. They must be eager to find me. They’re out for blood.”
TWENTY-FIVE
I gasped to consciousness and clutched the downy inner fur of Austin’s polar bear form. He’d shifted to keep me warm.
Shock waves of malice coursed through me. A drumbeat of aggression rattled my bones until all I could do was sit up in a panic and grab my chest. This spell was the absolute worst. Remind me never to call Ivy House pushy again.
The pale light of dawn cast the camp in an eerie glow. The chilled morning air spread goosebumps along my skin in the absence of Austin’s warmth.
He eased himself away from me carefully so he could shift. The flash of light and heat gave me a momentary reprieve before his nude form was squatting beside me.
“What is it?” he asked.
A wave of magic pulsed through me. My gargoyle was waking up.
“I’d thought we had a little time, and it is indeed a little time. They’ve moved incredibly fast. We need to get out of here.” I pushed myself to standing and turned toward my bag to put everything away. To my surprise, it was already done. The zippers had all been drawn, and when I peeked inside, the clothes were all tightly rolled for more space. Mr. Tom must’ve sneaked in here after Austin and I fell asleep. Apparently, I would be hiking in my sweats. Or maybe just flying, because at this point, I didn’t really care if they had something to say about that.
Austin froze while looking down at his own pack, also neatly arranged and ready to go. A house muumuu, shoes, and socks had been left out for him.
“Go with it,” I told him, unable to smile through the throbbing effects of the spell. “Just this once, please go with it.”