Chapter 17
Jessie
“You felt her,” the Elder said to everyone gathered. “Do as she commands.”
I didn’t waste time, pushing off into the sky. Ulric was there immediately.
I reiterated the magical commands for the basajaunak and then hit the garhettes with their orders. Namely, Get into town and work your magic, literally and figuratively. They didn’t even really need to understand the commands outside of go. They’d handle the rest naturally.
Ulric flew me as fast as he could, half the speed of Tristan, and that was fine. I wanted a moment to assess the situation and get my head in the game.
Cyra and Hollace had made quick work. A lot of shifters had retreated into buildings or under porches, hiding from the lightning and fire. It had mostly cleared the streets.
Another crowd of people were centered around Austin’s bar. I recognized quite a few alphas.
I wiggled to get free and brought the gargoyles in closer, leaving Tristan in the sky with them. Watch. Guard.
I didn’t want a sudden rush of shifters dodging fire and lightning to attack me. I might get nervous and overreact. Someone had been stabbed already—I didn’t need to explode anyone.
I landed, still holding my muumuu. I hadn’t even noticed that when facing off with the Elder. That had probably looked weird.
I shifted and slipped the muumuu on, slowing near the door. Waves of stay back emanated from the bonds with Austin. Danger. Worry.
Ah. He was worried for my safety. Or maybe worried someone would call me a name and he’d lose what little control he probably had over his beast. He always tried to keep me from the fight, and I hadn’t been here to argue with him about that.
I was here now.
Drex, the shifter we’d visited on the mountain, stood in the doorway. He had his arms loose at his sides with aggression pumping all around.
I let magical calm emanate around me.
“Why are you standing there?” I asked him, stopping.
Hostility sparked in his eyes. “We got generational shifters throwing their weight around in there. Austin is worried it’s going to kick off. I’m providing a buffer.”
“Thank you.” I put a hand on his arm. He flinched at the contact. A line formed between his brow…and a little fire leaked from his eyes. “You can go now. I’ve got it.”
He started to shake his head.
“It wasn’t a request, Drex,” I said, still calm, but now speaking with force. “You can go now. If you want to stay close, you can go dodge lightning and fire with the others.”
The line between his brows deepened into a frown.
“Go.” I prodded him with my magic. “You can challenge me later, if you want.”
A smile wrestled his lips. “No, thank you.”
I patted him and waited for him to step away. With a deep breath, I entered the bar.
It was too early for patrons, but Niamh sat in her usual seat anyway, fingers around a glass of cider.
How she always managed to get a drink, I didn’t know.
Nessa sat beside her with a blank face. I could read the worry in her posture.
Sebastian sat beside Nessa, and his face relayed his downright fear.
I could feel why. This room held only a quarter of the usual crowd, but five times the power.
It pumped from the collection of alphas divided into two sides, growling back and forth at each other.
Aljoe and Sue stood to one side, looking at me with tight eyes.
Austin stood just in front of Kingsley, with Aljoe’s sisters, some of Kingsley’s friends, and a couple other alphas.
Across from them was Armendale and a collection of alphas, their faces blank but their bearings hostile. Another few stood around, uncomfortable, wanting to weigh in, maybe wanting to fight, maybe ready to run. Judging by their body language, they weren’t sure themselves.
In the middle of the groups was a man on a barstool. Calvin, I thought his name was, the alpha who’d lost an enforcer, one who happened to be a brother-in-law. Or mate-in-law, whatever.
The voices reduced to a murmur as I walked forward, my gaze on Calvin.
“This is a shifter matter,” Armendale said, but I ignored him. Aggression surged from Austin, and he stiffened, barely stopping himself from reacting. I sent him calm, along with reassurance.
Calvin startled when he realized I was approaching him. His face and body lost any and all expressiveness quickly, but not before a little grief and confusion had seeped through. And wariness. He did not want to be in the middle of all this. I did not blame him.
“I just heard about what happened,” I said softly, stopping in front of him.
“Some co-leader to just hear—”
I turned and stuck out a finger, cutting Armendale off. A little magic had probably escaped, which would explain his suddenly tense frame.
“I am not speaking to you. This is a convocation matter, and yes, I am a co-leader. Which is why you will stop talking until I am ready to address you.”
I didn’t beat my stare into him like a shifter probably would. He would follow my command or I’d make him. Simple as that.
Turning back to Calvin, I leaned in a little. I lowered my voice.
“I am so sorry for your loss. Please give my condolences to his family, to yours, and to your pack as a whole. If you’d like to come to Ivy House for dinner tonight and maybe tell stories and drink too much, we can make time.
Regardless of how it happened, and we’ll be trying to figure that out, it shouldn’t have.
” I put my hand to my heart. “That’s on us, and I apologize for having failed you and his family. ”
He swallowed, his eyes growing a little bigger. They flicked Armendale’s way, and then Austin’s before he closed down again. He was caught in the middle. What a horrible place to be after you lost someone.
I put a hand on his forearm even though that was kinda taboo, especially with shifters. But I’d already messed up so much, what was one more touch? Armendale could add it to the collection of my faux pas.
Speaking of.
I turned to him. “And why are you here, trying to be the loudest person in the room?”
His eyes narrowed, just slightly. “Can I talk now?” he said sarcastically.
“Do you not know how questions work?” I replied.
“I have to be here. Someone has to stand witness.”
“Yes, about that. I find that very interesting. How did you happen upon an out-of-the-way street shortly after the body was found, all clean and fresh and with your friends and your guys?”
The friends in question stiffened. Way to give yourself away. That helped.
“We found Calvin’s man,” Armendale lied easily.
“His brother-in-law,” I said. “They were close. Have a little respect. And how did you know he was missing when no one else did? His roommates said he went out last night. Didn’t come home.
They thought he’d found a lady. They weren’t worried, which means they didn’t know he was missing.
He was dressed like he was sneaking around—also curious.
You weren’t out last night. We have eyewitnesses that say you were tucked in your rooms. Not all your people, though, right?
They were dressed like they were sneaking around, too. Weird. What were they all up to?”
Tristan relayed that Niamh had enlisted Patty to help do a little digging. If Patty hadn’t known the neighbors before, she knew them now, and everything about their lives to boot. I didn’t know which alpha was which in here, though.
I pointed at Armendale and he tensed. Worry and aggression colored the bonds from Austin, and power swirled through the room.
I laughed. “You don’t get it, Armendale.
A mage doesn’t need a knife to kill, and I neither do I.
I can easily kill you where you stand. You would explode before you took two steps.
Or maybe your intestines would get ripped out.
It’s hard to know what horrible spell I’ll reach for when surprised.
Did you get that unused vial back, by the way? Without a cork, it’s no good to us.”
“Here.” Niamh tossed it. The durable glass hit the bar and bounced off before tinkling across the ground.
“Ah, there we go.” I jerked my head at it. “Maybe learn how mages do things before you try to implicate them. Which is a pretty dumb thing to do, anyway. It would’ve only proven the very real danger that is out there. Too bad you’re too stupid to pull it off.”
He braced again, leaning on the balls of his feet. Power swirled. Most of the shifters tensed. Expectation crawled across my flesh. I’d given him a challenge.
“You don’t have proof of any of this,” Armendale growled. “So some of my people and Theo’s went out—so what? They came home. Calvin’s man stayed out and look what happened. His wounds didn’t come from a shifter.”
“His wounds didn’t come from an animal. Last I checked, you have opposable thumbs, just like mages. I wonder, if we searched your people’s rooms, would we find the knife?”
“Only if ye also find the enforcer with the mustache in Professor Plum’s pantry,” Niamh drawled, rolling her ice around in the glass. “Oh, weren’t we playing the easiest game of Clue in the history of board games?”
Nessa spat out a laugh.
Now I did stare, straight into his eyes. The bonds from Austin screamed at the danger, basically begging me to stop. He hated when I got challenged. He would’ve lost his mind if he’d seen me face off against the Elder.
I didn’t budge. I knew how this part of things worked.
Maybe Armendale didn’t give the command.
Maybe he only applauded the foresight of the one who did.
That didn’t make him innocent. He felt no remorse that someone had died, and he’d been in here the whole time, trying to control the conversation.
Trying to sow discord in this territory just so he could hang on to a few fanboys.
Did he think we were suckers?