Chapter 29
Tristan
The tensions in the bar reduced to a simmer as Tristan ordered a cognac. He was given cheap whiskey in a shot glass.
“What is this?” he demanded of the bartender.
The bartender lifted his eyebrows indifferently in response.
Shadows swirled and rolled from Tristan’s body in anger. He leaned aggressively over the bar.
“What. Is. This?” he enunciated.
The bartenders eyes widened minutely. Fear dulled his disdain. “Your order,” he had the gall to say.
Tristan arched one eyebrow slowly, waiting. More shadows pooled out, leaking his nightmare magic. They polluted the air around the bartender, instilling fear. Pumping him with uncertainty the longer he resisted Tristan’s expectant answer.
“Sorry, sir,” the bartender said, trembling as he spun for the bottles of alcohol on the shelf behind him. “Sorry. I meant no offense.”
He grabbed the cognac with shaking hands and poured it into a snifter. He set it down in front of Tristan before backing away. “On the house. My apologies for the miscommunication. My fault.”
Tristan kept his eyes on the man as he downed the contents of the glass with a lazy flip of his wrist. Fire spread through his middle.
Straightening, he ran his gaze over the Guardians to his right, who suddenly became very interested in their drinks.
He let his magic affect them for a beat, then turned away.
A woman glided up to him, making him pull up short. She flashed him a sultry smile with bright red lips. Long black lashes fluttered.
“Hi,” she said, extending a dainty hand with long blue nails. “I’m Tammy.”
Another woman joined her, posing in an enticing way, her bust mostly exposed. “I’m Rita.”
Even as he stood there, two more women entered the bar.
He wasn’t in the mood for this. He had important business in this cairn with things to accomplish. He couldn’t do that with constant feminine roadblocks. Not to mention he wasn’t interested in any of them.
“Charmed,” he said, stepping gracefully around them.
He glanced at Natasha. She was sitting next to Phil, dressed in a hoodie and jeans and leaning over the bar chatting with Niamh.
She seemed unconcerned about the women pursuing him, not at all possessive or territorial despite their growing interactions.
Usually, that would be a good thing, something he looked for in a woman, but right now, he wanted the opposite from her.
“Hey,” he said in a low tone, stopping by her side.
She turned to look up at him. The moment their eyes met, her pupils blew wide open, and her mouth parted.
Energy swirled around him, mixing and merging with his nightmare shadows.
He’d forgotten to pull it all back in, and now he was glad for it.
She clearly liked it when he was at his most dangerous.
She swayed toward him as though she couldn’t help it. As though his darkness sucked her in.
“Will you do me a favor while we’re in this cairn?” he murmured, looking at those plump lips. Even without makeup--especially without makeup—she was stunning, easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Always had been, since the very moment he’d set eyes on her.
“Sure,” she said at once.
“Pretend to be my mate and scare away your competition.”
He barely waited for her hesitant nod before he grabbed her ponytail and yanked her head back. Wrapping his hand around her throat, he bent to capture her lips and the world dropped away. His lips moved against hers, his tongue delving, her sweet smell stealing all his focus.
She clutched him like a lifejacket in stormy waters.
He slowed, savoring the contact, delighting in her willingness to let him completely dominate.
His tongue slid across her bottom lip before he sucked that lip between his own.
She groaned softly, running her hands up his chest now and hooking them around his neck.
He thought about sliding her off the stool and backing her against the wall, craving more contact, craving more, but backed away instead. He had things to do. He’d only stopped by to help Niamh diffuse the situation.
“Stay with Niamh and the others,” he murmured against her lips, still holding her hair and throat. She hadn’t opened her eyes. “I’ll come and get you after the dinner with the cairn leader and walk you home.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
And then he was gone, striding away from her and the bar before she could get her bearings.
He felt the eyes of the women following him as he left.
He glanced back at Natasha, disheveled and breathing heavily.
She hadn’t seduced him, he’d chosen her, and everyone in the bar knew it.
He’d been in control. There would be no denying his affections and desires.
He had a woman, and she’d captured his whole focus.
He’d kissed her out of necessity, but he had to admit it was a new and exciting facet of their game. With each new situation they spun closer together. Eventually, she would be unable to deny that she felt what he did. That she wanted more than physical intimacy.
Eventually, she would beg, and he would take it to the next level.
Jessie
“I can’t decide what style to go for.” I looked between a red satin dress with a plunging neckline and a navy power suit with a cream silk blouse to go underneath. “Where’s Tristan?” I was addressing Mr. Tom, currently in the en suite bathroom organizing my makeup. “Or better yet, where’s Patty?”
“Here!” Patty walked in with a smile, her lipstick matching the color of her pink clothes and nails.
“Jessie! It’s so good to see you again!” She stopped in front of me and gave me air kisses.
“The red, definitely! Oh, how pretty. I just love it! Evan is going to be wearing a suit and a tie. Tristan is wearing something similar, as is Unfixable Sue.”
I paused in picking up the dress. “Unfixable Sue?”
Patty laughed. “Sue went to check on the bar delegation. They’d switched to another one a few streets over and Sue wanted to make sure they weren’t causing any problems. I was already on the job, and don’t you worry, Jessie.
They were conducting themselves like any gargoyles would.
Not a problem. Except a little animosity, of course, but that’s usual with Guardians.
They always clash and then they take it out in the sky. ”
Patty wrestled the clothes off me so she could slip the dress over my head.
“Oh, Jessie, yes! That is perfect.” Patty ushered me to the standing mirror. “Mr. Tom, we will be needing some very fancy jewelry for this. I hope you brought some.”
“Of course I brought some, what do you take me for?” Mr. Tom sniffed.
“Well, Niamh and Sue did the thing they always do—one picks on the other and the other sends warning glances and visual threats. You know how it is. Niamh called him Unfixable Sue, and I thought that was hilarious. Unfixable Sue! You know, because he was Broken Sue, and he’s finally finding his footing again, bless his heart.
The poor dear has had a hard history. But the look he gave her.
.. Well, it was priceless. It’ll probably stick, I’m warning you. ”
Mr. Tom brought over two jewelry boxes. Patty hesitated in taking them.
“Why do you carry them?” she asked.
“I hide them so that insufferable old woman won’t steal them from the miss’s bags or mine and wear them around town.
She has no respect for the house jewels.
She uses them to lure criminals, and thinks it is perfectly fine and legal to then kill those criminals.
Then I’m left to do damage control so she won’t be killed by the town alpha or go to Dick jail, and then I have to fetch the jewels from wherever she may have left them. It is a huge hassle.”
“Ah. Yes, I see.” And it seemed like she really did.
She opened each box, gushed, and chose a ruby and diamond necklace with a dripping spiderweb sort of design that was probably worth a fortune and had been in Ivy House for a great many years.
It was absolutely gorgeous. I sincerely hoped it wouldn’t lure those criminals Niamh was so fond of, because I’d be afraid of breaking it by accident while warding off an attack.
“How about a simple diamond stud for earrings?” Patty stepped back to survey me. “Big ones, though. Do you have big ones?”
Mr. Tom’s annoyed look said that was a silly question.
“And a sparkly mage watch, I think.” Patty patted her chin, assessing me.
“We need Sebastian in his mage attire.” She nodded in decision.
“I’m going to ask Tristan if that could be arranged.
We have Unfixable Sue and Austin as the shifter component, Phil threw a prominent Guardian out of a bar earlier, so they know what the basajaunak are about—“
“He did what?”
“We need the mage component.” She snapped her fingers. “Yes! He needs to see mage culture and see that Gerard is comfortable with that culture. It’ll further show that he doesn’t have his footing in this new world.”
She spun and headed for the door. Patty and Tristan were dancing around gargoyles politics.
I took a deep breath and headed for the bathroom and some makeup.
I hadn’t been at it long when there was a soft knock at the bedroom door.
“In here,” I called, finishing a smokey eye.
Sebastian filled the bathroom doorway. His hair was standing up all over, like he’d been repeatedly running his hands through it, his clothes were wrinkled and an ill-fitting, crooked cape hung off his right shoulder.
I slowly pulled the brush away from my eye. “What’s with the cape?”
He sagged against the doorframe. “You would not believe how many times I have heard that exact phrase. It was Niamh’s idea.
The gargoyles are not amused. I’m pretty sure they’re headed home to find brass knuckles and take the cape by force while they pound me.
It doesn’t help that Edgar is now showing everyone his cape and smiling as he says, ‘Twinning!’”
I opened my mouth and closed it again, not sure what to say.