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)
Neither of them had any ego. They weren’t out to prove anything, not if they didn’t have to. It was so damn refreshing.
They bid him goodnight. He walked Fred to her sleeping mat, chuckling most of the way, and then he sat by the fire, staring at the stars for a long time, thinking. Wondering if he’d take the risk. Wondering if he dared to hope in a life that so often let him down.
25
Ulric
“Bro, I’m nervous.” Jasper’s wings fluttered as he and Ulric stood near the van. “I’ve never been to one of the top three cairns. Besides Gimerel, but that doesn’t count because we raided and left.”
“Me, neither. That’s not why I’m nervous, though,” Ulric replied. “My mom should’ve arrived over a week ago. She said she would go straight there, so she was probably only a few days late. She’s had, like, days to get all up in everyone’s business. I hope she hasn’t pissed off the new cairn leader.”
“Nah.” Jasper waved it away. They watched Jessie climb out of her van. “Your mom will be fine. She’s in her element. I’d worry more about Mr. Tom. He’s been out of the gargoyle culture for…”
“No one knows. He never mentions it.”
“Well…a long time. Long enough to be very strange. By gargoyle standards, at any rate. He won’t help our image.”
Jessie reached for her suitcase. The driver tried to hand it over, but Austin stepped in the way to retrieve it for her.
“Now, that really is going too far, sir.” Mr. Tom intercepted and wrestled the suitcase away. “There is a time to be helpful, and there is a time to get out of the way. I would’ve assumed you’d know which was which at this point.”
His wings fluttering, Mr. Tom grabbed Austin’s suitcase as well before heading to the waiting private jet. Jessie put a hand on Austin’s arm to stop him from reacting.
“He didn’t seem to embarrass us at the connection request meetup,” Ulric said slowly.
Jasper shook his head. “You didn’t listen to much of the gossip about Jessie’s setup, apparently.”
No, Ulric had, he’d just tried to ignore most of it. He believed in this outfit and he knew Jessie would eventually win the day.
But Jasper was right. Going into an all-gargoyle establishment, one of the largest cairns… Well, Mr. Tom would not fit in.
Then again, would any of them? With all the various creatures in the convocation, it was necessary to compromise a great deal. That must’ve changed them. They might be outcasts among their own kind.
“Hey, guys.” Aurora stepped up to them as the group slowly moved toward the private jet. It was customary to give Mr. Tom about ten minutes to check out the plane and get things ready for Jessie. If they rushed him, he was a nightmare.
“Hey.” Jasper put up his hand for a high-five, and she slapped his palm without hesitation. Even a few months ago, she wouldn’t have done that. “Haven’t seen much of you.”
“Yeah.” She glanced to the side, her gaze sticking to the new shifter. “Without a family pass, I’m not high enough in the pack to do much on these excursions.”
“Well, then.” Jasper lifted his eyebrows at her. “Get high enough. Word on the street is you’ve got alpha juice. You’re plenty powerful enough.”
“I’m going as fast as I can.” She shoved him. “There are rules in a pack. I’ve climbed faster than anyone else but I have to stop for a moment at each level. It’s how it’s done.”
“All due disrespect, my lady,” Jasper said with a flourish, “this is not a pack, and our great alpha is making up rules as he goes. You’ve got the training. If you’ve also got the power, knock it out.”
Her lips tweaked in a bud of a smile. Ulric pointed at it immediately. “She’s human! Look Jasper, she’s turning human. Our baby is emerging from her cyborg cocoon.”
“Oh, shut up,” Aurora said, her gaze drifting over to the new shifter again.
He had his hands shoved in his pockets and his body was slightly bowed, like he was trying not to be noticed. Even though he was moving in the general direction they all were, his body screamed wariness, and he looked ready to bolt.
Ulric dropped his voice to a whisper. “What’s his deal, anyway? A bunch of the shifters seem to know who he is. They talk about him like he’s some sort of god, but when I ask, everyone clams up.”
Aurora grabbed their arms and moved them a little faster, putting distance between them and him.
“Uncle Auzzie told people not to talk about it,” she murmured. “John wants to move on from his past, and Uncle Auzzie wants to let him. He might as well be a Dick for all he wants to do with packs and magic.”