Chapter 11
Jessie
I knew there were people in my room. I knew there were. I could feel them.
Did I open my eyes to address them? No, I did not.
I was tired of answering questions and making decisions. Tired of endless days and not enough sleep. Tired of preparing for a gathering of multi-magical species while mages hung around the outskirts of this territory, trying to find an easy way in.
One month to go. Almost there.
“Jess,” Austin said, lying on his stomach beside me with his face in the pillow. “Make them go away.”
He was tired as well. Everyone was. We hadn’t needed this crap with the mages.
Fred had tracked that mage’s cell phone. It wasn’t a burner, but it wasn’t personal either. It was a work phone, it seemed, which might’ve been better. It was handed to different people, going different places, and leaving Fred a trail the whole time.
There were encrypted aspects to it that Fred was working on cracking without alerting their tech people that they had a mole. It was the sort of challenge she thrived on. We’d barely seen her since the night in the bar.
But while she was away working on that, we had others lurking.
Ghosts. Shadows. They came in the territory at different places, left different ways, and spooked easily.
Sebastian said that probably meant they were more advanced mages, told not to get caught.
Their boss was being cautious. They probably worried Sebastian would get through the mental barricade protecting their secrets.
They spooked easily, though, which meant they hadn’t gotten very far.
Austin was nothing if not thorough. He’d kept them circling the perimeter before being chased off, and Aurora’s crew had found a great many instances of people sneaking close to watch from outside the boundary. They’d put up trail cams.
So had Aurora.
They were watching, and we were letting them. Because so were we.
“Jess,” Austin said again, not moving.
I laughed softly, peeling my eyes open.
Patty, Aunt Florence, Dave, Edgar, and Nessa.
“You too, Nessa?” I asked with a whine.
She smiled and gave an exaggerated shrug. “I was told it couldn’t wait, and I had to be here with the wake-up party.”
Mr. Tom strolled in with a cup of coffee.
“Yes, the wake-up party.” He pursed his lips as he set the steaming mug on my bedside table.
“I suggested to Tristan that they wait in the sitting room like professional adults. But here we are, stuffed into your room like some sort of orgy waiting to happen.”
“Good God,” Austin grumbled into the pillow.
Nessa’s smile slipped with the mention of Tristan, her eyes turning guarded.
Something had happened between them, but no one knew what.
Or if they did, they weren’t talking. She’d looked exhausted but absolutely radiant the day after Aljoe’s sisters had gotten here, but then she’d slowly slipped into an introspective gloom, using any and all excuses to avoid the gargoyle-monster.
Worried about her, I’d asked Sebastian about it.
“Pretend you don’t see it,” he’d said, his face black from something with too much power having exploded on him. “Treat her as though everything is normal and she’s effectively hiding whatever is wrong.”
“But…what if she wants to talk about it?”
“She would’ve already talked about it. Sometimes, when she’s scared or doesn’t like her options, she’ll shrink into herself.
It’s her version of running away from something uncomfortable when she can’t actually run.
She’s a fixer, though. A problem solver by nature.
She won’t be able to run forever. Trust that when she needs you, if she needs you, she’ll let you know. ”
But because I was incredibly nosy and I hated when people suffered, I asked Aurora if she knew anything. She lived with Nessa, after all, and she was second to only Sue at reading body language.
I’d gotten a stone wall. All my questions were answered with an exaggerated (for her) shrug and “I don’t know.” She hadn’t given anything away. Not to me, at least. Sue had been in the room. When I looked at him to maybe give a little more insight, he’d stared back—another stone wall.
If they knew whatever was happening, they were keeping their mouths shut.
“I’d rather sit here and drink my coffee than have to get up and go downstairs.” I pushed to sitting. “Actually, I’d rather just sleep in.”
“Yes, I for one love sleeping in.” Patty beamed at me.
“Now, Jessie, if I may. The territory is looking splendid. Clean and organized. Flowers are blooming, sidewalks swept—everything is immaculate. There are one or two scruffy individuals who simply will not help themselves. But never mind them. I have a team of ladies ready to drag them into the salon at a moment’s notice.
They will not be an eyesore on this town. ”
Aunt Florence nodded knowingly. She tended to help drag people into the salons.
“Evan and Gerard are due in today,” Patty went on.
“We have a fabulous reception planned tonight for them in the park. Plenty of booze. Gerard always likes to let his hair down when he has a travel day. Don’t worry, we’ll ensure his sobriety when it’s necessary.
” She tapped her finger beside her nose conspiratorially. “We’re ready to go, Jessie.”
Somehow, Austin and Tristan had shirked the duty of dealing with the garhettes, leaving it to me to monitor their efforts.
The guys thought they were saving themselves a headache.
In reality, I had to do almost nothing except listen to their biweekly reports and then take credit for a superbly run community.
I couldn’t remember which gargoyle had said that the garhettes were the key to a happy life (or a hellish one), but they were absolutely right.
The ladies all came together, regardless of where they came from, to manage the morale.
“Great. Thanks, Patty,” I said, my lips on the edge of my mug.
“Now, Jessie,” Aunt Florence began patiently, “it has come to my attention that for whatever reason—we’re not naming names or placing blame—there is a persistent gnome problem on Ivy House soil.”
Edgar hunched where he stood, as though trying to shrink into his clothes like a turtle. Nessa’s smile grew.
“With your blessing,” Aunt Florence went on, “we have arranged a garden party of garhettes to deal with this problem.”
Patty seemed to be the only person that the gnomes ran from. Clearly Aunt Florence thought she had more people with Patty’s style, and a sophisticated event was a great time to rid Ivy House of the infestation.
Literally, I had to do nothing at all to look great with these ladies.
“Now, I know what you’re thinking.” Aunt Florence held up her finger.
“Won’t mini sandwiches and too much wine be counterproductive?
The answer, Jessie, is no. After too much wine, gnome bashing is a fun sport had by all.
It will give the garhettes a way to blow off steam, and it will help rid Ivy House of a pest.”
“Sounds fine,” I said with as serious an expression as I could muster. Austin’s lips curled from where they peeked out of the pillow. “I’ll have Mr. Tom make something for you.”
“Oh no, no.” Aunt Florence looked revolted, and Patty with her. “No, no. Thank you, Jessie, no, that won’t be necessary.”
“We do so love Mr. Tom’s sandwiches, of course,” Patty broke in with a pleased smile for Mr. Tom.
“Yes, we do.” Aunt Florence nodded exaggeratedly. Nessa’s smile stretched ever wider. “But we won’t trouble him at all. We’ll bring everything we need. Don’t worry.”
Patty put a hand on Aunt Florence’s arm, giving her a poignant look. “Speaking of a poor, overworked Mr. Tom.”
Aunt Florence patted Patty’s hand, nodding. “Yes, that leads me to my next point on today’s agenda. Now, Jessie—”
She paused as Tristan sauntered into the room wearing a white T-shirt, tailored gray blazer, and stylish jeans. We wouldn’t be training today in anticipation of the other gargoyles coming in.
“Hello, ladies,” he said, giving the garhettes a charming smile.
Both garhettes turned to face him with stars in their eyes and delighted smiles.
“Well, that improved my circulation,” Aunt Florence said, batting her eyelashes at Tristan.
He swept his gaze across the others, only pausing briefly on Nessa. Even in that short space of time, I could tell he was drinking her in. He’d clearly gotten the memo, though, and didn’t call her out directly, a break from custom for him.
She had dropped her gaze to the floor, her smile withered away, trying to pull an Edgar and shrink into her clothes.
“Hey, everyone,” he said. “I see we didn’t wait for the official office hours I set.”
“Oh.” Patty blinked profusely, and even I knew she was playing dumb. “There were official hours set? I wasn’t aware.”
Tristan glanced at Mr. Tom. “Are you up for making some coffee? I can take over guarding Jessie from this lot.”
Patty tsked in mock annoyance, and Aunt Florence laughed and batted her hand in his direction.
“Silly man,” she said.
“Oh, of course.” Mr. Tom’s wings fluttered. “What are we having this morning?”
“Half-caf, quad-shot, upside-down caramel macchiato with whole milk and cold foam.”
Mr. Tom inclined his head dutifully. “A simple order today, I see. Makes sense when performing mundane duties.” He lifted his eyebrows at the people in my room.
“And sir?” He looked Austin’s way. “Will you be gracing the territory with your presence today, or did you decide to be the only person to take a day off?”
“I don’t need a crystal ball to know that that gargoyle is going to get his wings ripped off,” Aunt Florence murmured to Patty out of the side of her mouth. When Mr. Tom looked over, she smiled pleasantly and nodded supportively.
I nearly spat a laugh into my coffee.
Austin didn’t respond.
“Bring him up a cup and me another, if you would, Mr. Tom?” I asked.
“Of course, miss.” Mr. Tom walked from the room.
“What’s next?” Tristan said, leaning against the wall and entwining his fingers patiently.