Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“No, I’m fine.” I hurried to keep up with Austin as Mr. Tom headed back to the suite, where he’d left a whole basket filled with treats for the group.
“I should probably be more nervous,” I murmured as we took the stairs and met the others out by the building’s main door. Tristan and Broken Sue had everyone in formation, a larger crew than we’d brought to the meeting yesterday. Basajaunak waited in the trees, no more than a handful. Traveling with a large force was difficult, and so we’d brought as many as we could comfortably handle. We hoped we wouldn’t need them.
“Why?” Austin asked.
“I’m always nervous before a potential battle.”
He directed people to the vans, and Tristan and Broken Sue took over.
“You don’t have enough information to be nervous yet, on purpose.” Austin glanced back at my people still waiting by the door. “I’ll fill you in on the ride. Why aren’t they coming?”
I stalled and turned, putting up my hand to block the glare of the late morning sun. Immediately, it was clear. “Where’s Niamh?” I asked.
“I got it.” Ulric pulled out his phone.
“Also, why aren’t you guys with the gargoyles?”
It was Jasper who answered: “We’re with you today. Remember the subset of training we’re doing now?”
Right, right. My team within the larger team of fliers. Essentially, the people who would help me stick to the plan.
“Jessie.” Niamh walked in from the right, Fred in tow. Her steps were hurried and her eyes tight, not usual for her. Fred’s expression was closed in solemn worry.
“What’s wrong?” I asked immediately.
“Momar’s people know where Sebastian and Nessa are,” Niamh said without preamble. “We spent the morning making sure. Nessa had some tagalongs, as Fred calls them, on their setup. Spies, in other words. Fred bucked them off, but that just changed their spying from computer to in-person. They’ve kept their distance, but they’re there. They’re documenting schedules, activities, dwellings—they’re gearing up for an extraction. Sebastian is powerful, but they have more people.”
Shadows pooled and coiled as Tristan joined us. His arms flared out from his sides, and his power thrummed. I put a hand on his arm to keep him calm—or maybe keep myself calm, because I was suddenly blanketed in a cold sweat.
“Where are they?” I asked.
“Kansas, two states away.”
“That spider is meticulous,” Fred said, and there was no hint of her humor or color in her tone. She realized the seriousness of this. “Momar, I mean. If it were up to the ground crew, as they’re calling them, they would’ve gone in and grabbed the mages weeks ago. The spider is nailing down all the many details so nothing will go wrong.”
“Jessie, I think he knows that Sebastian and Nessa are Elliot Graves and the Captain, and that they were the ones helping us.” Niamh put her hands to her hips. “I can’t be sure, now, but it wouldn’t be too hard to deduce, like. They weren’t active leading up to and during the time at Kingsley’s, when some unknown and powerful mage was helping ye behind the scenes. A mage with a special interest in ye. An ingenious mage, one that knew the dark web so well that they could hide the weapons purchase. And then ye showed up to collect. They have the two mages that escaped the caves—or had. They’re probably dead now. They knew Elliot was moonlighting on ye. And then the deaths they framed us for—that looked like their handiwork, not ours. I noticed right away. If Momar is as good as he seems, he would’ve noticed too. It’s all there if ye piece together the details.”
My blood ran cold. “But…” Elliot and the Captain had gone dark when I was getting training from Sebastian, but then they’d immediately shown up on the map when I went to Sebastian’s caves.
“Kinsella,” I drew out. I would’ve killed him, not knowing it would get me in trouble with the Mages Guild, but he’d disappeared.
Disappeared, and then turned up on Elliot Graves’s kill list.
I hadn’t known who was behind Elliot Graves at that point, and then so much had happened. I hadn’t properly backtracked to think about the ramifications. Elliot Graves had been dark all those years…until he showed up with an interest in me and did me a favor by taking out my enemies.
“The Anal Repository never would’ve made those connections,” Niamh told me, using the name she called the Mages Guild. “Their game is in extorting and throwing their weight around. They want easy money. Momar is a different sort of animal. A much more dangerous one.” She snapped her fingers at Mr. Tom. “Come here, ya eejit. Can’t ye see there’s a change in plan? We need to get the plane here as soon as we can, boy. We need to get those mages out of there.”