Chapter 8
Nessa
“Listen to me.” Tristan took hold of her arm and leaned down into her space, his eyes serious.
“This is not a game between us right now. I need you to protect yourself, do you hear me? If you are in any doubt, get out of there. If you are in danger, call for me. I’ll be close.
You are part of a team now. We take care of each other.
Stay safe.” His gaze rooted her to the spot. “Promise me.”
Her voice was wispy and her heart glowed as brightly as his eyes. “I promise,” she said, and meant it. She felt grounded and confident, knowing this big gargoyle-monster had her back.
He yanked her closer and kissed her, hard. Butterflies exploded through her middle. She melted against him for a moment, borrowing his strength. His confidence. His brutality in battle.
He pulled away, his eyes still delving into hers deeply. “Sink into the darkness, little deathwatch angel. You own the shadows. You were inducted into them early and have structured them into your home. Other mages are in your kingdom. Use that darkness within you to protect those you love.”
Heat prickled her eyes as she remembered what he’d said in the gargoyle cairn.
That she’d chosen to be a hero, to stand up when others might quail.
He, too, was morally gray. Like her. Like Niamh, and Edgar, and Sebastian.
And Austin. Like Jessie when she needed to be.
When they loved, they loved completely, and they’d do anything to protect what was theirs.
“Okay,” she said, steeling her determination.
“Good girl,” he murmured, his whiskey voice sending a thrilling shiver up her spine. “Momar’s people have nothing on the captain. Prove it.”
A little grin curled her lips. Good Lord, this man would be fun to play with. Was fun to play with.
Maybe it was time. Maybe she’d finally beg.
Maybe she’d make him work for it first…
“Okay,” she said again, her body on fire, adrenaline starting to pool in her gut.
She owned the shadows. She’d chosen to be here all those years ago when she’d protected Sabby and Jala. She’d returned again and again, a life carved out of necessity. Skills forged in blood.
And now she’d use them for good. He’d erased her guilt and set her free to be the monster she’d been forced to become…
and now chose to be. She felt like laughing.
Like dancing on the bones of her enemies.
She was uniquely suited for this type of espionage, harnessing the energy around her, desensitized by her past.
Well…actually…not uniquely suited.
She looked to the side, into the deep shadows at the corner of the alleyway in which Tristan had first touched down.
Edgar waited there with a little smile, wearing purple sweats with a little stain down the front.
She hadn’t heard him creep up. Tristan probably still didn’t know he was there.
The vampire was like an eclipse, and somehow, she was still his shadow.
“Okay,” she repeated with a smile. She looked back at Tristan with gratitude. “I hope you have an oil warmer. I like when my gargoyle’s muscles glisten in the candlelight.”
His whole body tensed in surprise. Lust immediately danced in his eyes. She giggled softly before turning away.
Edgar came forward immediately, and the currents of power settled around them.
“Shall I lead this time?” she asked Edgar. “Or do you have an idea where you want to go?”
“Hmm.” He skulked off to the north, melting into the shadows before turning into a cloud of insects. Apparently, he had an idea.
She took out a mirror and sauntered after him, adding a little wobble as though she’d drunk too much. She was just a woman out for a stroll.
Jessie
I felt Edgar and Nessa moving together. Tristan rose, his connection clearer now, something that happened when he shifted into gargoyle form.
Ulric and Jasper were perched on rooftops about a mile apart, on either side of Nessa’s location.
Other gargoyles waited in the area, knowing something was going on by Tristan in the area, but not what.
I opened more connections, organized them, and enhanced them, the practice nearly second nature now. I’d been working on it religiously.
“We’ve got company,” Niamh murmured, sitting in her usual spot at the bar.
“Oh yeah?” Fred said from her other side. Sue stood a little removed, watching the bar.
I blinked and looked around, noticing a glass of wine in front of me and Sebastian staring at me, pushed in close to fit between me and Sasquatch. We hadn’t been long in getting to the bar and sitting down. Probably. I tended to lose track of time when I homed in on the connections.
“Would ye quit starin’ at her, ya eejit,” Niamh berated Sebastian.
He flinched. “She’s just tired, like. That gnome infestation is draining the life outta her.
She’s running here and there the whole time.
Can’t get a moment’s peace. What that vampire is doing about it, I have no idea.
Ah sure, he’s busy making his doilies and tending his flowers.
He ought to be retired, that’s what he ought to be.
Useless. But does anyone listen to me? Not a-t’all. ”
“Huh.” Fred nodded, staring at her computer.
“That is a lot to unpack. Has he tried bug spray on them? Everyone hates bug spray. Or, you know what?” She didn’t look away from her computer.
“Something sticky. Honey, maybe. Even inanimate but somehow magically animated items hate stickiness. I bet honey or candy or something would make them think twice.”
Sebastian looked across me at Fred with disbelieving eyes. His gaze flicked back and forth between Fred and Niamh.
“She says that, and you’re not going to yell at her?” Sebastian demanded. “I, on the other hand, look at my pretty friend, and I’m somehow the problem?”
“Starin’ at the dark circles under her eyes, ya mean,” Niamh said.
“I definitely did not say that,” Sebastian sputtered.
“Not cool, Sabby.” Fred looked over with a frown. “That is not cool. May I call you Sabby? I really love that nickname. I see you as a Sabby. Stabby Sabby, maybe…” She squinted. “No, too far.”
“Okay, okay.” I put up my hand, feeling Nessa and Edgar wind farther and farther away from the town’s center. Where were they going?
I sent a directive to everyone in town now. Watch. Report.
It wasn’t an exact science, but they should know that meant to communicate through the connections and not outwardly show anything they picked up on. The gargoyles were less of an issue, magically hidden by the buildings they stood next to or perched on top of.
A sickening thought occurred to me. I turned to Sebastian as I noticed a stir in the bar.
“What?” he asked me urgently.
“She’s looking for a little space, that’s what,” Niamh said, trying her damndest to make Sebastian’s and my interactions seem normal. She was doing a lot of heavy lifting right now. “What are ye lookin’ at, ya donkey?”
Sasquatch narrowed his eyes at her, pushing up close to the bar to get a visual of me.
“Do ya need something, like?” she badgered him.
“What are you so interested in?” I asked Sasquatch, suspicion coloring my words. He’d always hated me. From the first moment he’d met me, he’d wanted to make my life a living hell. Helping someone exploit this territory with me and Austin as a target would certainly do that.
“Is there a point to your being here if you aren’t going to drink?” he asked me, and nudged Sebastian so hard, Sebastian shoved into me.
A connection lit up. My focus quickly went inward, tracing it, half falling into Niamh and not noticing.
A shout yanked me into the present. Well, that and Niamh’s jostling me back in my seat. Sebastian jolted in fear, falling into me again and then backward, his chair overturning.
I just caught sight of Sasquatch’s shoes, kicking out, connecting with his drink on the bar and knocking the bottle over. He was ripped out of his seat and held in the air. His shirt ripped and Austin’s hand reached around to take hold of his neck to keep him dangling.
“Purposely knock someone into my mate again, and I will kill you, do you understand?” Austin growled, his ferocity silencing the bar.
Another connection lit up, dragging at my focus.
I barely registered Sebastian being held up by Aljoe, having apparently caught him before he hit the ground.
A large bubble had cleared around us, part of which was inspired by Aljoe’s sisters, who had absolutely no problem posturing as alphas and scaring the hell out of anyone close enough to feel their emanating power.
They seemed to work off each other, building their individual power into something greater than the total.
Lionesses, I’d bet. Teamwork as effective as wolves but ten times deadlier.
“Very strong,” Fred said, watching Austin for a moment before turning back to her computer. “See that, Niamh? He’s holding that dirty dude up by just his neck. That is a lot of gym time. Or whatever he does to get those guns, huh?” She reached for her coffee, losing interest.
So did I. Two connections were active.
Don’t move, I communicated. They tried to use their emotions to portray what they were seeing.
No, feeling. Something was off. Something they couldn’t see.
We’d practiced communicating this exact message. It was a worry that it was only now that they were relaying it. Either that meant they hadn’t been paying attention before, or this was the first mage to breach our territory.
Or…they had sent the communication, and I hadn’t been clued in enough to feel it.
“What’s the sickening thought?” Sebastian asked me quietly, and I felt Austin at my back. Chairs were scraped around me, probably to make room for the rest of the party.
I didn’t bother asking why they’d come. It wasn’t important.
I fashioned a soundproof bubble around us, one that he quickly worked at to make better and bigger, stretching it over Niamh and the others.