Chapter 28
Sebastian
Someone rapped at the door to Nessa and Sebastian’s small room in the city’s only hotel. The space had two single beds with night tables for each and two chairs, one on each side of the room. There was a bathroom shared by Jasper and Ulric in the adjoining room.
Sebastian glanced at Nessa, saw that she was just finishing organizing her suitcase, and moved to get the door.
Niamh stood in the hallway. Behind her, gargoyles and shifters passed by, heading for the stairs that would take them outside.
“Come on,” she said without preamble.
“What?” he asked in surprise. He saw the cape in her hand, and surprise turned to panic. “Why?”
“Come on,” she said again, jerking her head in the direction everyone was walking. “Let’s go.”
“No.” He thought about shutting the door in her face. “I’m good. I’ll stay here.”
“Come on.” She reached in, grabbed him by the shirt, and yanked him into the hall. “You need a drink.”
Edgar skulked down the hall with a smile. He also had a cape on.
“No, I don’t. Honest. I’m fine being this wound-up.” Sebastian tried to backpedal. “Why in the world would you use capes in a gargoyle settlement? We’re not hiding from mages. They are going to know these aren’t wings.”
“What’s…” Ulric stepped out of his room next door with a growing smile. “What’s going on here?”
“We need a conversation starter.” Niamh held out the cape for Edgar to take before grabbing Sebastian by the shoulders with surprising strength for an old woman. Appearances were very deceiving here. “Put that cape on him,” she told Edgar.
“No, no.” Sebastian tried to weasel away from the vampire and his bright white canines. “It’s okay. I’ll do. I’ll do it!”
“I’m coming,” Ulric said as he made way for Jasper. “I want to see how this plays out.”
“It won’t play out well,” Sebastian groused. “It never plays out well. For me, anyway.”
“Nonsense. We always get what we’re after, don’t we?” Niamh gestured him on. “Let’s go. I’ve got the skinny on the roughest bar in the settlement. Granted, there are only three bars here, but it’ll have to do. A few of the more powerful guardians always hang out there.”
“Jessie said not to start a fight,” Sebastian bleated, dragging his heels.
“We’re not going to start a fight. We’re going to create a little animosity so that when all the gargoyles train together, they’ll make it personal and force Jessie to put them in their place. They’ll respect her more for it. It’s the gargoyle way, the stubborn donkeys.”
Sebastian wilted as he followed her down the hall. Dang it, she was right, and it was a great idea. Ulric echoed his thoughts as he said, “Too true. Great idea.”
“Yeah,” Jasper said.
“Why does it have to be me, though?” Sebastian whined. Nessa jogged to catch up, wearing a big smile. “Why can’t Nessa or one of the shifters do it? Or Fred. Fred is always down for one of your crazy ideas.”
“Nessa has a way of charming people,” Niamh said. “So does Fred. They’ll make a cape seem normal. You do not have that gift. You’ll make the cape seem awkward.”
“Everyone would make a cape seem awkward,” Sebastian grumbled as they pushed through the exit and walked down the stone path. He sent out magic to “see” the gargoyles standing by the stone, invisible. “Why do they do the invisibility thing when gargoyles can still see them?”
“It’s customary for a guardian,” Jasper said. “We can see them, but their appearance is slightly different when blending in than when they aren’t. They are essentially denoting their rank when they do it.”
“They’re showing off that they are Guardians,” Niamh said. “Don’t bother looking at them. It’ll rankle them that we don’t care.”
“Yes, it will,” Ulric murmured with a grin.
“I cannot wait to fly with them all,” Jasper whispered, keeping his voice low. “We have a new flight strategy now, so Gerard’s gargoyles won’t specifically know it, but we developed good aerial communication with his cairn. They’ll catch on quickly. The others will feel totally out of place.”
“They’ll feel like novices,” Ulric murmured. “And then add in how we work with Jessie and Cyra swooping and Hollace acting as an anchor—it’ll be like their first day as Guardians. It’ll punch holes in their egos.”
“Which will make them lash out, especially with the animosity we’re about to create.” Niamh nodded. “Very predictable, gargoyles.”
“You say that about shifters,” Ulric said.
“Yeah, they are, too.” Niamh pointed to the right, around a corner. “That way.”
“Is there anyone you don’t find predictable?” Jasper asked.
“Momar.” They traveled the sidewalk, sometimes nearly brushing up against the lurkers at the side, but not glancing their way.
Cars and SUVs traveled slowly along the street, their occupants staring out the windows at Sebastian and his crew.
Their gazes didn’t miss the ill-fitting capes that Edgar and Sebastian wore.
Around a few more corners they found the bar in question. No one loitered outside for a smoke or a chat. Inside the dingy interior, however, the bar was half-filled with large gargoyles swilling beer and talking loudly. Pool balls clattered farther in the back and someone barked laughter.
At the very end of the bar, tucked in the corner where they could see the door and most of the room, sat Aurora and John.
“Oh. Look.” Sebastian pointed at them and headed that way immediately.
Niamh slapped his hand out of the air and jostled him toward the end of the bar nearest the door.
“But—“ he said.
“Leave them to it,” Niamh murmured, nearly under her breath. “Let them come to us.”
Sebastian frowned as Aurora noticed them. He gave her a lame wave. She didn’t move. Her expression stayed blank. John glanced up, and noticing him, said something to Aurora that elicited the barest of shrugs. He was probably asking about this stupid cape, Sebastian mused darkly.
“I look like an idiot,” he groused.
“Nonsense.” Niamh sat him down on a barstool and patted his shoulder. “You’re grand.”
“I think I look good.” Edgar sat next to him and leaned too close. “Wings fit me.”
The clasp of Edgar’s cape pulled way to the right, draping loosely over one shoulder and leaving the other mostly bare. It didn’t fit even a little.
Jasper and Ulric wandered down Aurora’s way, all smiles and easy friendliness.
“Why do they get to go down there?” Sebastian once again whined. He felt like a child every time Niamh took him drinking.
Nessa leaned against the bar next to Edgar, not at all worried about the vampire’s proximity, as Niamh sat down next to Sebastian.
The bartender glanced their way and did a double-take, his eyes narrowing as he spied the capes. Sebastian’s guts churned in warning. He really didn’t want to get in a bar fight. He’d use magic and it would create an issue, he just knew it.
The Guardians’ voices reduced to a soft murmur as Ulric and Jasper threaded through them to the other side.
The Guardians didn’t step out of the way or even twist to create a little space.
When they were new, they did that in O’Briens, too.
Ulric and Jasper bumped shoulders and disturbed wings as they passed, not once offering an apology or even noticing the rudeness of either party.
The bartender approached Sebastian first before staring hard at Edgar. “What’s with the capes?” he asked.
“Yer the last person who should be concerned with fashion, like,” Niamh said, settling against the bar with her elbows on the worn wood. “Got any cider?”
The bartender glanced down at his brown shirt with the dark patch at the bottom that was some sort of stain. “Yeah.”
Niamh lifted her eyebrows expectantly, but no more information came.
“How about a book? Bartending one-oh-one, heard of it?” she asked.
Sebastian slouched against the bar, hiding a grimace. She was coming out strong, and they’d only just gotten there. Usually, she went after a surly patron before working her way to the bartender.
“No.” He waited.
“Grand. Shot of whiskey,” she said. “Anything will do. Two more, for my superhero friends, and whatever the lady wants.”
Ulric
Aurora and John leaned back a little as they reached them. That meant an invite to sit down.
“Hey,” Jasper said as he took a seat next to John and Ulric plopped down next to Aurora.
“Hey,” Aurora replied. “I just got done telling John about the battle at my Dad’s.”
“Yeah, you’ve probably missed a lot of what’s gone down in the last couple years,” Ulric told John, but he didn’t keep up the conversation. He was tuned into Niamh’s show at the other end of the bar. He told them what Niamh was doing and why.
“Smart,” John murmured under his breath. “I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
“What kind of wine do you have?” they heard Nessa ask the bartender pleasantly. Her voice wasn’t loud, but she was intentionally making it carry. She wanted the bar to notice.
“She’s not what she seems,” John said about Nessa. “She has a beautiful face and a gorgeous smile until she slips a knife into her enemy’s ribs.”
Jasper snorted. “She’d smile doing that, too. Then laugh after. She’s cool, though. She’s fun to have around. Very smart.”
“Red or white,” the bartender answered Nessa.
“Oh, good! I love when there are a lot of options.” Nessa laughed. “White would be great, with ice cubes.”
The bartender didn’t move for a moment, staring her down and earning more wattage in her smile. His gaze slid to Edgar, who was strangely perched on the edge of his stool and leaning close to Sebastian, who was very obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.
“He’s the notorious mage?” John asked in confusion.
“Yeah,” Aurora answered. “You see it when he’s around other mages. It’s a persona. You see his power and skill in battle. With us, he’s just a big, magical nerd who gets pushed around by Niamh. A lot.”
Ulric and Jasper laughed.