Chapter 36 #2
“You don’t have to use big words to impress me.
” He smiled as he glanced at Austin and Sue.
“That stands to reason, though. Flying in uniform is one thing—we can see each other to correct positioning. But you guys had perfect formation while running around buildings and converging seemingly at random. That is a level I don’t think most gargoyles realize.
I’m still a little baffled by it, honestly. ”
“They have exemplary training,” Tristan said.
“They must.” Evan nodded. “There are many impressive facets to your visit, Jessie, Austin. My cairn noticed the most spectacular of them.” His eyes narrowed, a grin pulling at his lips.
“But it’s the little details that I am most impressed with.
Your team has learned gargoyle culture so well that they use that culture against us. ”
I frowned at him and glanced at Tristan. What was Evan talking about?
Evan grinned at Tristan. “I heard about the capes, and about the disrespect towards my gargoyles. I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out why your gargoyles would stand for it.
You weren’t just pissing on us. Your team was pissing on their own.
I wondered if there was dissension in the ranks, so to speak. ”
I released a breath and leaned into Austin’s side.
Niamh had visited after the skirmish yesterday to explain what they’d been doing.
Honestly, it was a great idea, and I understood why it was kept from me beforehand.
Had I known we’d started the discourse, I would’ve tried to calm it down or at least take it easy on them.
We wouldn’t have impressed them to the level we had.
Evan shook his head, his gaze still on Tristan. “Very clever, sir. Now, about that job opening…”
“Wasn’t me.” Tristan leaned back and entwined his fingers on his stomach. “That would be our puca. She has a knack for finding pressure points, and she is good at poking those points to get a reaction.”
“The puca?” Evan put his foot back down on the floor. “I’ll be damned. Well, she’s done her homework. Nice touch to show that your people can hang like ours, drunken violence and all, and that in your crew, different creatures can get along and have fun together.”
“I’ve settled the bill for the table, by the way,” I murmured. “Sorry.”
“All’s fair with debauchery, didn’t you know?” Evan laughed, waving that away. “Another little detail is Patty. Where do I get such a marketing expert? She didn’t want a job, either.”
I laughed. “Ulric sold her as someone with a lot of connections.”
“And she’s made a lot more here, it seems. I knew she was buttering me up on your behalf, but I didn’t realize she was farming me for information that she’d then feed back to me to prove a point. Or post on social media to crowdsource various reactions to attempt to sway me.”
“Did it work?” Tristan asked.
Evan smiled. “Not with me, but I will say that I’m surprised I didn’t have to fire a few more advisors.”
“And why are you so open-minded about so much change?” Austin asked. “You could lose status for this. Your people might want this now, but what about down the road? This isn’t a slam dunk for you.”
“A what?” Evan asked. Apparently they didn’t have basketball. We’d already realized they didn’t have TVs.
“This isn’t a home run—” Austin cut off. Evan probably wouldn’t know that one, either.
“It’s not a guarantee,” Sue helped. I pointed at Sue, nodding.
Evan put out his hands. “Gerard hasn’t lost an iota of status from joining your convocation.
He’s actually gained Guardians and garhettes.
No one talks about the garhettes, but they are essential to keep a community thriving.
If they are happy, we are all happy. If they aren’t happy, life is a living hell I wouldn’t wish on anyone. ”
He and Tristan both laughed. Apparently it was funny because it was true.
“His cairn is thriving and expanding,” Evan went on, “which means he’ll be able to pick up another production cairn or two and bring in more money. My advisors didn’t see the correlation.”
“They didn’t want to see it,” Tristan said. “Nelson in Gimerel has similar advisors, and they definitely do not like change.”
“And they will get left behind because of it. In answer to your question, Austin, I do think this is a slam run.” He’d gotten close.
“I think we’ll grow. I think we’ll stop caring so much about status in a stagnant community and start caring more about stepping into the twenty-first century.
I mean to escort us into the future. Ambitious, I know.
Pompous even. But I trust in my gut, and that is what it’s saying. ”
He’d chosen the side of winners, and he wasn’t looking back. Excitement and pride in my people filled me. Austin lowered his arm from the back of the couch to my shoulders, feeling it through the bonds.
Evan looked between us, drumming his fingers on his thighs. “Are you sufficiently bolstered? Because this is the part where I ask for the world.”
“You’re either going to be really well liked in the gargoyle community,” Tristan said, “or torn from your position and made an outcast.”
“Well liked, obviously. I can’t make such grand claims as I just did and not think the world of myself.
” Evan laughed. “In order for this to work, we need to be able to easily integrate into your fliers at a moment’s notice.
Gerard said you had ample time to train for the last battle.
For the next battle, we might not have any time at all.
We will need to show up and know how to work together. ”
I nodded, because that was entirely true. Evan was proving to be incredibly intelligent and forward thinking, with his eyes on the future.
“I would like to send my lead enforcer and another couple of my best Guardians to train with you. I ask that you teach them how to integrate into your team, and that you instruct them on how to teach others. We have good fighters, but not necessarily good teachers.”
“Done,” Austin said, “with the condition that they answer to our authority. They will not be equal to Tristan or Jess. They will be led by them. In town, they will follow the rules or answer to Sue or myself. They shouldn’t bother turning up unless this is understood.
We’ll make them suffer for it and send them back. ”
“Absolutely.” Evan nodded. “The other humble request is that you don’t take all my Guardians and garhettes. Tristan, I’m sure, has told you that our community robs personnel from each other. Gimerel has been torn to shreds with the amount of people leaving.”
I glanced at Austin. Patty had mentioned an influx of new people into our territory, but said we’d go over details after we were done here. Obviously, the influx she was referring to were gargoyles and garhettes. It was starting to feel like we’d been away too long.
“Obviously, if people really want to go, I will not stop them,” Evan went on. “I just ask that you don’t actively recruit.”
“We won’t,” I assured him.
“Shifters look down on that practice,” Austin said. “It’s nothing to extend the courtesy here. Get to something I want to say no to.”
Evan laughed and twisted a little button on the lamp beside him on an end table. “Don’t worry, that’ll come when we talk about the business of the production cairns.”
“There’s one issue, though.” I paused as someone came in with a pitcher of water and a tray of fruit. Apparently, we’d covered the hard-hitting stuff and were getting into the more relaxed portion of the meeting. “We will be on the road for the discernible future. Austin needs to—“
Austin reached over with his free hand and braced it against my thigh to stop me.
“I was going to tell you this when we were getting ready to leave as a surprise. There’s been a change of plans.
I’m not going to continue the shifter tour like some sort of door-to-door salesman.
Like someone begging them to join a cause that will save their lives. ”
“What are you suggesting?” Tristan asked, but I already knew from the arrogant sparkle in Austin’s eyes.
“You’re going to go full peacock, aren’t you.” I smirked at him.
He shook his head at me, warmth now competing with the arrogance.
“Not me, us. You’re going to dazzle them with the riches and history of Ivy House, while I strut my posh businesses and fancy toys in front of them.
Then together, we are going to create a spectacle of power and ferociousness that will widen their eyes and make them check their boxers.
I will not beg for their time. Not anymore.
I will force them to beg for mine, and I’ll do it without mercy. ”
“An Alpha Conclave,” Sue murmured. “There hasn’t been one of those in…”
“Over a hundred years,” Austin said with a nod. “Mimi was at the last one. The way she tells it, it devolved into chaos. Too many big egos and far too much power and need to dominate.”
“There’s a reason it hasn’t been put on since,” Sue said.
“Yes.” Austin got a little more comfortable.
“Most of the alpha network wants to see me fail, and some of them, especially those jealous of Kingsley and my family, want to see me fail in a huge way. They won’t resist the invitation because they’ll want to see it in person.
They’ll want the stories from this. It’s the one way to get them all to come to me.
I’m going to invite every powerful alpha to one place, and I’m going to harness Jess’s and my team’s power to control it. ”
Goosebumps rose along my flesh. “Not just shifters, though.” It felt as if Fate lodged a heavy weight in my middle.
Talk about gut feelings. “All the alphas. The gargoyles, basajaunak—invite them all. Let’s show the shifters they’re not the biggest and baddest creatures that walk this earth.
And then, when we dominate, we’ll go after the mages once and for all. ”