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)
As I climbed the stairs to my room, needing a shower, my phone vibrated. I waited until I was in my room before I pulled it out of my backpack. The call was from Tristan. The phone vibrated again.
“Hey,” I answered. “What’s up?”
“Jessie.” Tristan’s tone was hard but wary. “I’m not supposed to call you…for your own wellbeing. Austin’s orders. But you wouldn’t want him to make this decision on his own. I do listen, some of the time.”
“Yeah?” I said in confusion, bringing into focus my connections and bonds. They were all on the other side of the territory, out near empty fields and trees.
“He’s going to take the Ivy House magic. Protector’s magic, or something. He says it’s volatile, and that if he—”
“Thank you. Drop me a pin to your exact location. I’ll leave now.”
I grabbed my backpack and ran toward my closet. The door to the secret tunnels popped open as I got there.
“What is he doing, taking that magic in a field, of all places?” Ivy House groused. “He should do it here, on the grounds. It’ll be easier for him to manage.”
“He is worried the darkness will consume him and he’ll have to be killed, the donkey. You heard him tell me.”
“Yes, but I thought he got over that.”
“Clearly, he was just telling me that to get me off his back. The insufferable…”
I should’ve expected this. I really should have. He would do anything to protect me, especially against himself. Which was why I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. The other Mate Protectors were jealous of the heir’s magic. They wanted more than to be a partner of a powerful woman. They wanted to stand above her. They wanted to be the most powerful person in the room, their mates be damned.
Austin didn’t. He never had. He’d been ready to die to help me find my gargoyle. He’d taken extensive pains to help my magic flower, constantly putting himself at risk. He’d always stood proudly beside me. He would not allow himself to hurt me, no matter what magic was pumped into his body. He simply wouldn’t stand for it. He’d buckle the world to resist if he had to.
That was why he was the newly crowned king of the shifters. His past had shaped him, his trials had honed him, and now he would force his future to serve him.
But he was also human, and sometimes he needed to be reminded of all that. I’d do so now, possibly with a swift kick in his ass, the dummy.
At the first landing on the roof, I stashed my muumuu and shifted into my gargoyle. Obviously this meant I couldn’t use the “Find My” app on my phone, but I’d worry about that if I couldn’t find them through the bonds or connections, both of which Austin was currently trying to stifle. Trying and failing. He was out of practice.
I jumped off the roof. A flashback hit me of the time before I’d found my gargoyle. I’d stared at the ground three stories down, with Edgar waiting in the wrong place to catch me, wondering if I’d go splat.
And here I was, just launching myself off. Times had certainly changed.
“I wish I could send dolls with you to drag him back,” Ivy House said.
“No one else finds that situation funny, you know.”
“Definitely not true, and who cares? I find it funny. That’s all that really matters.”
I flew as fast as I could, crossing a section of downtown and then cutting across the corners of a wooded area. Gargoyles rose into the sky behind me, apparently having seen me pass and deciding they’d better join me. They fell in behind, perfectly synced, expertly trained. Tristan had really come into his own.
More rose, falling in line. More still, larger and more colorful than a flock of birds.
Speaking of birds—Hollace launched into the sky. Cyra joined him.
Niamh rose now, with Fred laughing and whooping on her back. Whatever information Fred was gleaning was clearly invaluable, well worth Niamh’s giving her the treat of flight. They’d need to report soon.
Ulric and Jasper hurried to my side, both looking over to see what was going on. Niamh took her place below me, with Cyra and Hollace flying above. Lord help us if I ever wanted to go for a joy ride just for the fun of it.
The field was just up ahead. Austin stood in the middle of the space. He was nude, his hands at his sides as he looked skyward. Tristan, Sue, Aljoe, and Aurora all waited around him in their animal forms, with all Aljoe’s rogues in the third circle. Around the clearing stood basajaunak, though I couldn’t tell which. Austin had amassed as much power as he could to stop him if he turned into a nightmare.
Pain hit my chest. His scars from his youth were showing.