Total pages in book: 203
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
“I want none of those Starlings anywhere near you. Me and the council will get us through this. With the help of Erica, but only because they can’t touch her. Then you can pick furniture, plan the itinerary for our trip, and lean into our new life together.”
“Do you know how chauvinistic you sound right now?” she asks.
“Bailey, I love you. I want you safe.”
“I don’t want to pick a fight unless it’s absolutely necessary so I’m going to drop it for now.”
“Good. We don’t need to fight ever, especially not right now when this shit is going down.”
“But if I’m able to help and there’s no good reason why I shouldn’t, you better believe I’ll dig my heels in.”
I say nothing to save us from fighting about this, but she’s absolutely wrong. Where there’s danger threatening my mate, I’ll always get between her and that danger.
59
BAILEY
“You guys come on over to Tyson and Ivy’s place,” Erica says on the phone. She’s got me on speaker. “Me and my sisters just got here.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask.
She adds, “The rest of the council are either here or on the way with their mates. The guys are grilling food and we’ll go from there.”
“We’re having a party?” I ask.
Jase is frowning.
“Not exactly,” Erica says. “We’re getting ready to deal with this. We’re gonna hang out over here and pretend everything is normal. But we’re really on high alert. Joel has several alphas and betas stationed in the town hall. He’ll bring his laptop so he can tap into all the surveillance equipment from there. Since we suspect they’re coming to the cave behind the falls to cast a spell for Alta’s husband, being here makes sense. Nice and close.”
“Have you guys called Anya?” I ask.
I hear Erica saying hello to Riley who must have just arrived so Dani chimes in. “Nope! Alta shouldn’t be able to use her magic, but Anya might be in on this. We’re watching to see what happens. So is the SCC.”
“Okay, we’ll head over. What can we bring?” I ask.
Jase shoots me a look of annoyance.
I hear a voice. “Just yourselves. We have loads of food.”
That’s Ivy.
“We have two carrot cakes in the freezer from Jase’s dad. I’ll bring one.”
“Ooh, carrot cake,” Ivy says. “I love carrot cake.”
“I’ll grab it. We’ll be there in a few,” I say and end the call.
“Any excuse for a party around here,” Jase mutters.
“No, any excuse for treats,” I correct. “Three of the girls that’ll be there are pregnant. And even the ones who aren’t pregnant like treats, Jason.”
He looks me up and down as a slow smile spreads across his face. It makes me shiver in a very delicious way.
Yeah. I know what he’s thinking. Eventually I’ll be pregnant, too.
“I’ll have to show you those booties from the lady on the plane. They’re adorable.”
He cracks half a smile and then his expression changes. “Just hoping it’s a son that marries a Fae female, not a daughter marrying a Fae male. Fae males are notorious for being assholes that cause havoc wherever they go.”
“Ohmigosh. I was dying to talk about that whole thing before we mated and I’m so glad I can talk about it now. I’m going to dig in and find out everything I can about the Fae. Weird that we’ve had no contact with them yet it’s clear we’re going to be entrenched in that world eventually.”
***
Ivy, Amie, and Stacy are on the back porch swing eating toasted marshmallows. I didn’t factor thaw time into the carrot cake so that’s still on the counter inside. We decided we’ll eat it here tomorrow, having coffee together in the afternoon for a “We Must Chat Book Club” chat which will hopefully also be a post-mortem of all this stuff. Because we’re hoping it’ll be over tonight.
Erica and Riley are on a blanket on the grass. I’m on Jase’s lap on a lawn chair beside the fire pot, toasting a marshmallow on a stick.
Linc, Mase, Grey, and Tyson were playing cornhole until a few minutes ago, but now that it’s getting dark, they’ve wrapped it up and are also standing by the fire.
“Take that in for Halla, will you, please?” I ask Linc as he’s about to go into the house.
He takes the stick from me. “Sure thing.”
Aphra and her daughter Halla as well as Ronnie and Dani are inside with Mitch, so they won’t be seen if they happen to fly another drone overhead.
Joel has been in the house, eyes on the cameras.
Cat’s at home but on standby if, for any reason, someone needs medical help. And Brody is back at the town hall with his people and there are additional alphas including most of the retired council alphas there keeping watch in case anything goes south with someone trying to enter the village at the four corners.