Chapter 14
Jessie
The afternoon waned as I sat in a lawn chair in Drex’s lovely backyard. The water lapped at the sides of the pool and a glass of sparkling wine sat on my right, untouched. Mr. Tom had thought the wine would improve my spirits.
A shape in my peripheral vision caught my notice—Drex, walking along the stone path that led from the back door. The watery sunlight highlighted the plains of his narrow face. He carried a glass of sparkling wine.
“Jessie,” he said by way of hello, and took another of the lawn chairs.
“Hey. How are things going?”
He’d wanted to be in on the “fact finding” chats, as I liked to think of them, sitting in with Sebastian, Nessa, Niamh, and Tristan as they questioned the enemy mages. He’d wanted to know how mages typically operated, and he’d also wanted to hear firsthand about who he was harboring.
“Not well.” He took a slow sip of his wine before placing it on the table beside him. “I threw up.”
“Ah.”
“I notice you didn’t ask me to elaborate.”
“No. I’ve been in on those things. Mine probably went a lot more chaotically.”
He took a deep breath. “The person who sent them applied some sort of spell to keep them from talking. One guy bled out through— Never mind, I’ll spare you the details.
Suffice it to say, the spell killed him, and it wasn’t pretty.
Sebastian figured out a work around, and the others started babbling pretty quickly when they realized it would keep them from dying. ”
That was interesting. Niamh clearly wanted them alive to use them in some way. Or maybe they were ready to swap sides. We needed eyes and ears in the mage world.
“Sebastian filled me in on the sorts of practices the Guild engages in,” Drex said, “and the mages we captured told us stories about the things Tilda’s team had created. What they’ve done.” He shivered. “I had no idea the mages operated like that. It’s not right.”
“And believe me, there are worse stories you haven’t heard.”
He grunted in acknowledgment.
He was quiet for a while, and I went back to listening to the water lap against the side of the pool. A fountain wouldn’t go amiss somewhere out here. I’d remember that when I talked to Mimi about the backyard.
“You were right,” he finally said, his face somber.
“I always am.” I smiled and squinted at the sun. “About what specifically?”
“Many things.” He let that linger for a moment. “I spoke with your mages. They seemed like completely different people than the two I saw outside my house, in their suits and silk and diamonds.”
“That was their mage gear. You really don’t want to be dressed like that in a battle.”
“No. And they did battle. They changed their clothes and their personas, and they met a charge not intended for them. Actually, intended to capture someone they clearly do not like.”
I laughed. “I get what you’re saying, but they are in ten times more danger from the Guild than Tilda. A hundred times.”
He took another sip. “I asked them why they did it. I asked them separately, and neither of them hesitated. They did it because of you and your crew. You’re family to them, and they protect their family at all costs.
Their inclination in case of an attack is to slip out the backdoor, or the equivalent, but for you, they marched directly into battle.
Apparently, even though it’s always terrifying, they always have. ”
An unexpected wave of emotion overcame me, and my eyes glazed over.
A tear slipped out, and I wiped it away. “They have. And they are.”
He watched me steadily now. “It’s refreshing how expressive you are. I know exactly where you stand, and it’s a heartfelt place. An honest place. You’ve earned their trust and, though they don’t think they deserve it, they’ve earned yours. You’ve created the sort of pack I’ve been striving for.”
“It sounds like it’s the sort of pack you’ve achieved.”
He shrugged and looked away again. “Not quite. I feel like I’m flailing. I’m making everything up as I go. Book learning only gets you so far.”
I nodded, because boy didn’t I know it. My early days with Edgar reading magical books wearing a helmet surfaced. Sebastian had changed my learning curve dramatically.
“The next thing you were right about,” he said, “was your frustration with me about mages.” He held up a hand. “I’m not as good as Austin or…Broken Sue? Is that his name?”
“For the moment. I think it’s in the process of changing again.”
He tilted his head in confusion. He needed to spend a little time with Fred.
“I’m not as good as they are when it comes to reading—or hiding—body movements, but I’m decent.
Not that I need to be with you. You were frustrated, and I get it now.
” He laughed humorlessly. “My force would’ve taken heavy losses from that attack today.
That’s if we came out on top at all, and I’m not sure we would’ve.
Austin’s people made it look so easy. I was young, but I remember Alpha Barazza’s force vividly.
” He shook his head. “Alpha Steele is better. Sharper. Harder in battle. Perfectly synchronized. The timing, the way they sliced through the enemy, the overall direction... It looked like anyone could beat those mages and mercenaries, but I’m not so naive as to think that is true.
I’ve tried for a battle unit. He’s created a battle unit. You both have.”
“I connect us all,” I said. “We’re a unit, yes, with a lot of experience. It didn’t always look so organized, trust me. This was a low-powered assault with a limited enemy. They weren’t prepared for us.”
“Austin mentioned that, too.” He held his drink, his eyes on the water. “Those were low-powered mages and yet I had to be healed from that magical spell.”
“You didn’t really, we just helped things along. If it had been a proper battle, you would’ve been left to heal in agony while we saw to the dying.”
He gave a crack of laughter. “Don’t break it to me gently or anything.”
I shrugged. It was hard to remember being on his side of things, when this was all new. After Kingsley’s, smaller skirmishes were wastes of time.
“Then there is what you can do.” He grimaced.
“Okay, well…” I held up a finger. “There aren’t many mages as powerful as I am. Sebastian is nearly my equal. He’s ingenious, but I have spellbooks that are supposedly taboo these days.” I thought about what Sebastian said. “If Momar got ahold of them, I suspect he’d be giddy.”
“Dangerous books, then.”
“They are in a very safe place, trust me. A magical house isn’t something people escape from.”
His head thumped back against the lounge. “I thought I was well-read but today has thrown me.”
“You’ll get used to it, unless Edgar comes and talks to you. You don’t get used to that. Run. Don’t cross that bridge until you are forced.”
He chuckled and ran his hand down his face. “To borrow a phrase from my grandma, what a trip.”
I frowned at him. “How old are you again?”
He didn’t seem to hear. “If we hand over Tilda and the others to the Guild, Sebastian said the Guild would probably leave us alone and we could stay hidden on this mountain and be fine.”
“Except you won’t turn them over, and you won’t kill them. That’s not your style.”
“No, it isn’t. I’m not at the stage where I kill in tepid blood.”
“Tepid blood, huh?” I laughed.
“But that’s not the point,” he continued. “We would probably be fine. The Guild, or Momar, probably wouldn’t hold a grudge and wipe us out for spite.”
“There are no assurances when it comes to those groups.”
He fell silent again, and I let time pass. An emotion came through the Ivy House link from Niamh: impatience. I wondered who was annoying her. Everyone else seemed fine.
“But what about people that aren’t hidden away on a rural mountain?” he said quietly. “What about people who don’t have you to rush in at the last minute and save them from themselves? What if the Guild does hold a grudge or Momar wants a little sport? What then?”
We both knew the answer to that. That’s why Austin and I were here, asking for help with the convocation, after all.
“I’d planned to hear you guys out,” Drex said.
“If you were in any way decent, I’d planned to join the convocation and help you sway others.
I know my voice is loud in the original alpha sphere.
People tend to listen when I speak, probably because I don’t speak often.
” Once again he paused. “But I see now how shallow my support would’ve been.
I see what is needed—what Alpha Kingsley envisioned and what you two are building.
Sitting here in a peaceful town on my mountain is, at best, a waste of my skill and power. At worst, it is lethal to this pack.”
“What will you do?”
He took a deep breath. “Join the fight. Not just the convocation, but the actual fight. The next time I go against mages, my pack will be better prepared. It’s time to move again, this time for good. It’s time to establish myself in a busier place and join the shifter world in a meaningful way.”
“No more madman persona?”
He quirked an eyebrow. “I didn’t say that.” He grinned. “Lord help any shifter who tries to take this pack from me.” He downed the rest of his sparkling wine. “Come on. Niamh requested I grab you. They want to talk to Tilda now.”
Ah. Now Niamh’s impatience made sense.
“Should I be dreading this?” I grabbed my glass and stood with him. He stepped out of the way for me to go first.
“I don’t know, and because I don’t know, I am dreading it.”
Fair.