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)
Gargoyles rose all around him, followed by the beautiful luminescence of Jessie with her streaks of pinkish purple. Her magic rained down on the field below, a call for flight. A command to organize and get moving.
Cyra streaked fire before spewing it down on the car Kingsley and some of the other alphas inhabited.
Tristan was moving at the same time Jessie was, only he was much faster. He grabbed her around the middle and darted toward the car as Hollace took flight. Jessie pulled the fire away with magic before pounding the observing alphas with a spell that dinged off the metal. It couldn’t get through—it was just for effect.
Hopefully that wasn’t a rental car, and if so, hopefully they’d gotten insurance.
Lightning crackled from Hollace, and thunder boomed.
Jessie pointed, and Tristan felt what she needed. She wanted to fly over the town and ensure that everyone was safe, that there wasn’t anyone else they needed to take care of.
He swooped low, not far from the roofs, then slowed his pace and tossed her away so that she could work on her own. She did, dropping lower still and peering in windows and waving as she flew by. Her magic now was swells of peace and comfort, compassion and welcome. She was trying to set the town at ease.
People came out of their houses and looked up in wonder. More than a few took out their phones to film the action. A great many headed toward the hub of town.
She met them there, changing back into her human form and accepting a muumuu from Ulric. Tristan landed and stepped aside to let Jessie work. She was the model of grace and kindness, hugging the children she’d helped, speaking to families and hearing their woes. Indigo was there as well, a physical healer in battle, but an emotional healer after the fact. She walked among the townspeople, touching arms or grabbing hands and chatting.
Jessie and her people were showing why she’d sparked such loyalty in her territory—fierce in battle, compassionate in peace. If Jessie felt the urgency to leave, she didn’t show it. She did, however, always have her phone in her hand, retrieved from the van. She was on call, and she didn’t forget it.
“I should…burn all this, right?” Cyra stopped beside Tristan, her gaze on his junk. He hadn’t received a muumuu yet, as Ulric had gotten busy helping a boy find his parents.
“No, please don’t burn my dick off. I’m rather partial to it. Also, it’s rude to stare at other people’s private areas.”
“It’s not very private right now.” She grinned up at him. “It’s a little distracting because it’s quite big. The gargoyles agree that your size isn’t preferable because then your partners don’t want you to stick it in their rump.”
He blinked at her for a moment. “That’s my burden to bear, I guess.”
“Yeah.” She nodded, then pointed at the messy playground. “The blood and goo and stuff—I should burn all that, right? These people probably don’t want to clean it up.”
“Give me a moment. I’ll check with the alphas.”
“You might put on a muumuu so you’re not as distracting. People might fear for their rumps.”
It was clear she wasn’t a sexual being, which invited so many questions about how phoenixes existed through the ages…and also made him want to laugh manically. She was so genuine in her absurdity.
He grabbed a muumuu.
Jessie and Alpha Steele stood with Kingsley and a couple of the other alphas. The rest were clustered by the somewhat discolored car.
“Very”—Margery, one of the more powerful alphas, swallowed hard—“eye-opening.”
“She’s just one mage,” Alpha Steele told her. “One. And she could do all that.”
“From a distance,” Kingsley said. “Now, imagine hundreds of them, spaced all around your territory with trained combat professionals besides. You just saw what Jessie and Austin’s team are capable of, and yet it was almost curtains for us. Think that through next time someone says mages pose no threat for an alpha of their stature or a pack of their size.”
Kingsley put out his hand to direct Jessie and Alpha Steele away. Margery and Kevin, left standing behind, looked at each other warily. It was, Tristan presumed, one thing to hear about it and another to actually see it. Although, in fairness, he had never seen that level of horror from any other mage. He bet Sebastian hadn’t, either. Ivy House had some seriously hardcore spell books. Others like it had probably been outlawed somewhere through the ages, and burned.
Kingsley lowered his voice. Brochan stepped up, his body language saying he was looking for directions, like Tristan was. Since none of the alphas tensed, telling them to move on, they both hung around.
“That was…” Kingsley swallowed hard and gave Jessie a poignant look. “I didn’t realize I was squeamish until today.”
“Yeah.” She checked her phone screen. “Those spells aren’t something I can use all the time. They take a lot of energy to pull off. I didn’t want to scare the townspeople or anything, so I didn’t intend on practicing, but then they…played dirty.” She shrugged. “I reacted.”