Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Tristan laughed, and John looked away to hide his grin. Sue’s stare did not waver, but Nessa didn’t miss the twinkle of mirth in his eyes. He’d loosened up a lot in her absence, no longer needing Nessa as a lifeguard. No longer needing her at all, really.
And strangely, for how much she’d wanted him at one time, she hadn’t thought about him like that since she’d left. Not in any real way. They were too different, and they both knew it. She was only a sunny day to make him smile. That wasn’t the real her. She existed in the shadows by trade and the darkness by necessity. And maybe also by choice.
A hazy memory drifted to the surface from last night. Of Tristan’s heartfelt speech, splashes and chops of words cobbled together.
You have always had a choice. You chose to be a hero. To do the dirty work. Not everyone has the courage. The darkness doesn’t define us. It doesn’t erase the good parts of us. We are the best heroes because we don’t need to walk in the light to enact justice. Jessie needs people who aren’t afraid of the night. Who else will battle the creatures that exist there but us?
She looked up at Tristan, drawing his notice, her eyes shining with feeling. How much of that was an actual memory and how much she’d implanted because she’d needed to hear it, she couldn’t say. But the root, the sentiment, had been his, said to her. That she remembered.
“Did I cry because you called me a hero?” she whispered.
His eyes softened. “You are a hero, little deathwatch angel. You’ve proven it many times over.”
“And so has Edgar,” Aurora cut in, raising her brows. “Edgar is a hero, and I crawl into bushes to throw up in peace. Okay? Now we all know where we stand.”
John started chuckling helplessly, his face still turned away to hide his smile. Sue didn’t join in, though. He was looking at Nessa, his eyes intense. His gaze zipped to Tristan’s thumb, roaming over her bare shoulder, and took in her position, snugged against Tristan’s chest. When they connected eyes again, she barely caught his subtle, approving nod. They’d always been best as friends, and despite not trusting Tristan in the beginning, now he approved of the big gargoyle-monster. Another little piece of her resistance melted away.
“Yes, it is good to be a hero, some of the time.”
Everyone jumped, and John damn near fell off his stool.
Edgar stepped from the shadows nearby. Not one person had realized he was there. He held a little blue pouch in his spindly fingers, tucked in at his stomach. His suit was made for a shorter lady, judging by the ample room in the breast and lack of room in the groin.
“And sometimes, to be a hero, you should start by throwing up in a bush.” He smiled at Aurora. “So, you see? You’re on your way.”
“Somehow that doesn’t help at all,” Aurora murmured.
“Here you go, Al-Joe.” He held out the little blue pouch. There was a picture of a crocheted whale on the front. “You sit there with your mind working and your hands idle. Many hands make a devil’s playground, as they say.”
“Almost got that one.” Nessa giggled. “Where’d you get the suit?”
Edgar looked down at himself, still holding the pouch. “Oh, Cyra let me borrow it on account of her creating the problem that ruined mine. Mine had holes cut into it with garden shears. Gnome accident, you know. She tried to hogtie them with the clothesline to keep them put while she rounded up the others, and one got free. It freed the others, as they do. My suit, which was hanging on the clothesline, was collated drainage, she said.”
“Collateral damage,” Nessa supplied for the others.
All of them were staring at Edgar with bewildered expressions.
“And this was on Ivy House soil, I hope?” Nessa lifted an eyebrow.
“Oh, yes, don’t worry. I sometimes know better than to bring gnomes in my luggage. Before I left, I put a flower next to one of the gnome nests. With any luck, the flower will greatly reduce the population.”
“And if our luck runs out?” she asked.
“The gnomes might befriend the flower and convince it to turn on us.” Edgar smiled with crimson-stained canines. “I have high hopes the flowers don’t fall for their tricks.”
“Well.” Nessa beamed. “That explains that. What’ve you got there?”
Edgar held the pouch a little higher. “I thought Al-Joe might like to hone his craft.”
“Al-Joe?” Nessa prompted.
“Yes.” He passed the pouch to a very unimpressed former alpha shifter. “If you get good enough, I might let you in on the secret of the doily.”
He skulked back into the shadows.
“What is it?” Aurora asked, turning to make sure Edgar was really gone.
“It’s a crochet kit for beginners. It’s a little whale.” John put it under his chair. “I have nieces. I thought one of them might like it.”