Chapter 13 #2
They started walking, all of their crew in tailored suits with pocket squares denoting their magical type. All of them wore dress shoes or heels, jewelry or other embellishments. They were broadcasting their confidence that they wouldn’t need to shift.
All of the visiting gargoyles were the same, some suits nicer than others, depending on the wealth and status of the cairn. They hadn’t known to wear purple pocket squares, unlike the gargoyle cairns already in the convocation.
Shifters had their own customs. The visiting alphas and enforcers not in the convocation had unbuttoned suit jackets and loosened pants. They didn’t wear shoes or any accessories. They were ready to battle at a moment’s notice, fearing unprompted challenges.
Those in the convocation, however, fit in with Austin and the gargoyles.
They’d taken a little convincing and were going out on a limb to trust Austin’s word, but they stood apart with their laces and buttons done up, adorned with shifter-colored pocket squares.
It was clear who was already united and their confidence in doing so.
Austin planned to make sure they received the payoff they were promised.
No red carpet led across the parking lot to the bare stage. Not even a plant gave the space a little life.
People backed away from their progression, the shifters closest. They’d feel the power assembled as it walked by. That was lucky. They were the ones who needed the most proof. The gargoyles just wanted an assurance they’d be able to fight.
Most of the shifters watched with blank faces and various postures, showing their hierarchy within their pack.
Aggression pulsed from more than a few, and a couple were fighting their beasts, Austin could feel it.
That meant trouble. They felt the power and wanted to answer with force. They’d need to be subdued.
Adrenaline clouded the air and skittered along Austin’s nerve endings; he felt the rising threat from those around him. And ignored it.
Jess didn’t.
She took Austin’s hand, what many would mistake for weakness. She probably looked like she needed comfort. And honestly, she did, but not in the way they’d assume.
He could feel her gargoyle thrashing within her. The expectation or anticipation of battle brought her beast to the surface. It was struggling to get out and answer the call. She’d also want to subdue them, knowing they wanted to dominate Austin and she wanted to protect and fight for her mate.
Alpha protocol said he should shrug her off, especially as a co-ruler. Jess shouldn’t be so expressive, not ever, and especially not in a gathering of this magnitude.
He entwined his fingers with hers. This was the first example of his being different—willing and unapologetic about breaking shifter custom. They’d get used to it or they’d get out. Jess would probably be the one to show them the door.
He didn’t make eye contact with anyone, looking straight ahead. Jess was supposed to do the same, as were their people, but he could see her smiling at someone out of the corner of his eye.
“Oh, look,” Indigo murmured. “Kingsley! Aurora, your dad is here.”
“Hi,” Cyra called. “Remember me?”
“We’re not supposed to notice people,” Hollace told her.
“Well, that’s rude. Oh, look, Indigo, there’s Drew!”
“Drex,” Indigo replied. “He was really sweet. Very good patient. He looks good in that suit.”
“Shhh,” someone said, and Austin couldn’t tell if it was the same person as before.
“Ah sure, let them at it,” Niamh drawled. “Maybe they’ll get challenged. Pity I forgot my cooler.”
“You’re making a mockery of the miss,” Mr. Tom admonished her.
“She’s well used to it by now with ye hangin’ about in those ratty tuxes,” Niamh replied.
A shifter they passed sneered at the messiness of the showing. Another huffed in derision and turned away, showing disrespect.
Ordinarily, something like that in a situation like this would bring a flash of rage.
Austin would need to battle his beast to keep from stepping out of line and beating that shifter into submission.
But his beast was subdued right now. Calm and patient.
He didn’t need to assert dominance, he realized, because he already owned it.
He just hadn’t proven it yet, and doing so now was beneath him.
They reached the stage. Jess’s hand was squeezing his, her knuckles tight.
Her jaw was clenched, her body tense as she tried to keep her roiling aggression contained while hiding the effects from the crowd of onlookers.
He didn’t bother telling her it was a futile effort.
She advertised her every thought, and this was no different.
Let them think she didn’t have any discipline or control. Let them sidle up to her with their condescension and smirks. He wouldn’t shield them from the outcome of that folly. Some lessons needed to be learned the hard way.
He and Jess walked to the edge of the stage to allow their people to line up.
Ulric and Jasper grabbed Indigo and Cyra and marched them to where they were supposed to stand.
They were trying to help. The result was comical.
Sue and Tristan closed them in and finally Austin led Jess to their place at the front.
“Welcome,” he said. Half the crowd went still and the other half fluttered wings and shifted their weight.
“Thank you for joining us for the first ever Dusky Ridge conclave. As you can see, this won’t be a similar conclave to those that you might’ve heard about in the past. For one, our convocation houses more than just shifters.
The second reason is we will not tolerate unsanctioned violence, as you have been previously warned.
Challenges will be held in a designated location with appropriate staff.
Being that challenges mean something different to each magical species, if multiple magical types are included in the challenge, the nature of the challenge and the risks will be properly explained.
The participants will have an option to bow out.
“If you incite violence outside of sanctioned challenges, our people will put you down hard and fast. That might be with force, and it might be with magic. Alphas and cairn leaders will be held accountable for their people. If you don’t have control over your people, this is not the place for you.
If you ignore that warning and there is a problem”—a growl laced his words—“I will handle you personally.”
He let the threat linger. His power pumped. Jess fidgeted beside him, her gargoyle thrashing to make a show of aggression to back up his claims.
“We have planned dinners and cocktails and cookouts,” he went on, “so that magical types might mingle and get to know each other. Please keep an open mind. All of our customs are different. We present ourselves in different ways. The slight you feel might not have been intended. Or you might give offense accidentally. Communication is key to preventing unneeded challenges. Gargoyles…don’t challenge shifters just for sport. You’d hate to accidentally get dead.”
The gargoyles laughed. A few pushed each other. Gerard nodded with a smile, turning to point at a few people.
“I feel attacked,” someone said, laughing.
The shifters looked over. There were no grins. Wariness showed in a few tense shoulders or with clenching jaws. Condescension and derision showed in plenty as well. Some, though, were curious. The generational alphas largely didn’t give anything away at all.
“You may not know that my brother, Alpha Kingsley Barazza, was the first to try to unite the shifters. We are better together. Stronger. He met with some roadblocks. I have joined his cause, and with me, my mate. For those of you who don’t know, this is Jessie Ironheart, mistress of Ivy House.
She is the only known living female gargoyle and has healing and sorcery magic.
She has opened my eyes to the need for more than just shifters to unite.
We need an organization where everyone has an equal voice.
First this will be in the name of defense.
Later, hopefully, it will be with equality in mind.
“We face a large threat. Mages have attacked and decimated several packs thus far. Some of you are still troubled by smaller contingents. They nearly took down Kingsley’s pack on his home soil with a spell we didn’t think possible.
Fighting them off came at a great cost, but we persevered.
We’ve forced that group of mages back. For now.
They are not gone. I need to warn you, and I hope you will keep this to yourselves—we’ve had a few territory breaches by mages within the last few months. ”
The gargoyles shifted. Their wings fluttered and a murmur rose up. Shifters looked at one another.
“My mate has always been a target,” Austin went on.
“She will always be a target. In helping Kingsley, I’ve made myself a target as well.
These mages haven’t been able to take anything, and they haven’t done any damage.
We think they are assessing. Learning. They’re spooked away easily.
You won’t be able to see, hear, or smell them. ”
“Then how do you know there was a breach?” a gargoyle called.
“We found the trail outside the boundary line before they took the potion to make them disappear. We have revealing potions that are very powerful, thanks to my mate and her magical partner, but they aren’t powerful enough.
The only way you’ll know they are there is if you feel their presence.
Not everyone is trained to do that—now is a good time to learn.
So please, watch yourself. There hasn’t yet been any violence. It doesn’t mean there won’t be.”
“If one of them attacks us,” another gargoyle called, “how will you know it was a mage and not someone else? I don’t want to get blamed for something a mage did.”
“Because you don’t know how to do magical spells,” Austin told him. “And they don’t have claws and sharp teeth. The damage won’t be hard to gauge.”