Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“And his fiercest allies, yes. They haven’t left yet.”
“I’ve given them until the end of the day. All of them. We have no use for them. We were never going to convince him.”
“It’s for the best.”
“It is.”
Drex looked at Jessie. “Well done, Miss Ivy House. My God, that was a terrifying battle. It made me feel insignificant, and I don’t care about admitting it. It makes me not sweat the small stuff, like the power of other shifters. I had no idea the Ivy House grounds could do all that.”
“It wasn’t enough,” she said without inflection.
Nessa laughed.
“It was more than plenty.” Drex shook his head, his smile wider. “Thanks to your social media manager, the spectacular nature of that challenge doesn’t have to rely on word of mouth. Shifters think you have lost your mind, to accept a challenge from that elder. Gargoyles think you showed your grit. They have a new term.” He paused for a beat. “’Coptering. It’s like sailing, but you get airborne by being swung by your ankles.”
Jessie huffed out a laugh as she rolled her eyes. “Let me guess. Patty had one of the gargoyles filming.”
“Are you kidding? No way. She wouldn’t trust a gargoyle with something as important as that. At least, that’s what I heard she said. She and Aunt Florence were flown around, live-streaming. She’s now working on an edit of the highlights and boosting the images from when it went dark for a while.”
“This is karma,” Jessie said, “for attempting to ride Aljoe like a pony.”
Aljoe was sunning in a lounge chair outside the cabana. He held up a fist. “Vindicated.”
Drex turned to Nessa. “How’s Sebastian?”
She couldn’t help smiling. “He was dragged out of the house by dolls and then had a mini-battle against those and some skeletons on the back lawn before Ivy House let him be. He’s a little shaken.”
Drex threw his head back and laughed.
Nessa laughed, too. “Poor Sabby. He has barricaded himself in the library with a bunch of wards, since we have an alpha in our house.”
“He thinks those will save him?” Jessie asked.
“I didn’t ask, just in case the answer was yes.” Nessa laughed again. “That’s what he gets for cowardice. He needs to get over his fear of the basajaunak.”
“Watching that battle wasn’t a good way to go about it.” Drex finished his drink. “He’s better off getting dragged around by dolls.” He took the glass by the base and swung it down, getting out the drops. “Well. I’m off. Alpha Barazza—Kingsley—asked to have a meeting.” He cleared his throat. “As equals.”
Nessa could see the elation and pride Drex tried to hide. He was meeting his hero, and he’d elevated himself to be on the same level. It was commendable.
Austin looked over again. “Because you are equals. He asked for a meeting to discuss bridging the gap between generational and original alphas, wondering if I’d make an introduction. That’s the first time he heard about how he helped you. You did this all on your own.”
It sounded like this wasn’t the first time Austin had told Drex this. It also looked like Drex was having a hard time believing it. He inclined his head, fought a little grin, and headed toward the house.
Later that night, Nessa wandered through the outskirts of downtown wearing black and carrying her knives. She watched the energy drift and sway, the currents fairly peaceful and not in any hurry. That usually meant nothing was going on. Her knowledge was still mostly instinct. Now that the conclave was starting to settle down, and things had become more about business than organizing the power and chaos, she’d get back to those advanced books she’d found in Ivy House.
She’d also talk to Niamh about the best way to beg the Elder to tell her what was up with all that natural energy turned into power. Nessa hadn’t learned anything from helping the Elder heal.
With everything quiet, she took an alley and wound toward downtown, staying to the shadows. If a mage was sneaking around, she didn’t want to be seen.
A thread of energy flowed a little harder to her right, and she followed. The current intensified and another joined it. Someone was up to mischief—probably. Or maybe it was just strong emotions? She’d soon find out.
She turned a corner, careful to stay silent. An animal shape loomed up ahead, slinking through the darkness. A panther.
She paused. That wasn’t one of Austin’s—he only had three panthers, and they had a different patrol route. What was an enforcer doing sneaking around?
She opened her cross-body bag and grabbed a vial of invisibility potion. It would disguise scent and sound as well. It wasn’t strong enough for Momar’s new stuff, but it was plenty strong enough for a shifter.
After giving it a moment to kick in, she jogged to catch up.