by K. F. Breene
Three
“Another!” Niamh picked up her glass without looking up from her laptop and rattled the ice cubes within it. The evening was coming on, and she sensed Jessie was on her way to the bar to check in. Niamh had to finish up before she got there. The name of the game was to keep all nonessential information from her until she could handle bad news.
Lately, Jessie could barely handle good news.
“Hey.” Ulric stopped behind Jessie’s open seat, recently evacuated by some tall and thick yoke who slobbered a lot. One of Austin’s flunkies, no doubt. Some of the eejits who came to this town to join the pack were as useless as teats on a bull. “Any news?”
Niamh clicked a few keys on the laptop. “Like what, a call from Elliot with a detailed schedule, a map of his premises, and an explanation of his motives these last lock’a months?”
“In a good mood, then?”
“I’m always in a good mood until someone asks stupid questions.” She clicked through to another magical peon’s social media page. Nothing was really secret these days. It had been so much harder to find information when all a body had to go on were newspapers and rumors from unreliable sources. Now younger people posted their whole lives on social media, desperate to share each fart. Niamh was making incredible progress getting back up to speed on the goings-on in the magical world, but some information remained elusive. And most of it centered on Elliot Graves.
“Did Jessie say anything about officially bringing the new people onto the Ivy House crew?” Ulric asked.
Niamh jotted down a vague post about “the snake” inviting new friends into its lair. That had to be about Elliot. Which meant the peon’s boss might be another of the attendees.
“Yeah, she plans to make them official when Cyra regains her human form. In a couple days, probably.”
“She going to ask them all?”
“Yeah. They’ll all accept, too. It still leaves us with open slots, but Austin Steele can fill in the gaps for now. She’s got enough good people to be gettin’ on with. It’s her that we need to keep our eye on. She is still very new to this world.” Niamh dug through a few more posts before clicking onto the poster’s profile. None of the other posts proved useful, so she clicked through to one of the eejit’s other social media platforms, handily listed on his profile page.
“Yup.” She shook her head, turned to the beginning of her notebook, and made a checkmark. “Rufus Fernsby has definitely been invited, and it sounds like he’s accepted. That makes five mages I’m almost positive are going. Elliot Graves is making a party of it with some experienced, highly dangerous mages. He’s planning on re-entering the magical world, I think, and he’s working on his connections to do it.”
“How does Jessie fit into that plan? She’s powerful as hell, I think we can all agree on that, but even I can see she is…not where her power level says she should be.”
“She doesn’t know her ass from a hole in the ground, ye mean.” Niamh glanced down at the robust list of mages. Once they would’ve shat themselves to get an audience with Elliot Graves. Now…
“Something I didn’t expect…” Niamh said as she flipped through her notebook. “The Anal Repository, as a few people call the guild, is a full-fledged outfit now. Before I came here, they were nothing. Not even worthy of a name. It wasn’t until Sebastian mentioned them that I pulled me head out of me arse and realized they’ve blundered into some power.”
“The Mages’ Guild?” Ulric leaned over the chair and put up his hand for one of the bartenders to see him. Why they needed help noticing him, what with his crazy hair, Niamh did not know. She couldn’t help but be sidetracked by that bright shade of pink every time he walked into the room. “Yeah,” he said, “they’ve been corrupt for years. They heft their weight around to keep other operatives from getting off the ground. Austin Steele’s brother, Kingsley, talked about his efforts to try to get the shifters to come together nationally. It seemed like every time he was close to making something happen, the guild or that nutsack crime boss Momar stepped in and hamstrung him. When he was here, he was trying to keep his hard-faced alpha thing going, but I could tell he was frustrated.”
“Just as soon as Austin Steele is up and running, he’ll make it happen, just ye wait,” Niamh murmured, shutting down her laptop and stowing it. Jessie was nearly there, walking slowly, clearly trying to work through her bad mood. “Still, the Anal Repository has some clout, and they’re allowed to police their own.”
“Have been for a while.”
“Right. Which is something ye might’ve mentioned when Jessie was getting ready to battle—and potentially kill—that idiot mage a couple of weeks ago. Kinsella is firmly established in their crap network and she is not. If she’d killed him, she would’ve had that damn repository breathing down her neck.”
“They would’ve been up her ass, actually, and I figured you knew.”
Niamh glared at him, her patience quickly running out. “Ye must be the stupidest smart fella I know. The lot of us have been practically dormant in this small town for…years. Decades! We didn’t know when, or if, someone would show up to claim the Ivy House magic. We’d all but retired. Then Jessie came to us without any knowledge of magic, so our focus needed to be on training. We don’t—or didn’t—know bollocks about the current goings-on in the magical world. Hopelessly blind, so we were. How did ye not see that?”
He pulled his lips to the side and squinted one eye as if aiming. “I was scrambling to figure out how to be part of the team and clearly missed the mark.”
“Yes, ye certainly did,” she said, then picked up her glass and shook it aggressively, the ice cubes making a sound like shrill bells. Donna down the bar put up her finger in a just a moment gesture, waiting on a group of younger women with too much booze and too few clothes. “Well, it’s a good thing she didn’t slit his throat as she oughta’ve, because the repository would’ve held an inquiry. Austin Steele wouldn’t have let them punish her, and it would’ve led to war. A war the shifters aren’t ready to fight. It would’ve been a grand ol’ mess, sure enough.”
“Jessie has enough money to buy the guild.”
“Momar basically owns them, from what I’ve gleaned, and he would never allow it. He hates shifters something fierce. That poor wee lad Sebastian wasn’t telling fibs about that. No, it’s lucky for us that useless bugger Kinsella took off. The only problem is, he’ll resurface eventually, and then we’ll have a problem on our hands.”
Ulric tensed as a swell of power infiltrated the bar. Through the link, Niamh could feel Jessie nearing the entrance. Ryan, also known as Sasquatch, had gone outside for a smoke. Jessie did not tolerate him on the best of days, and today was far from the best of days.
“She’s still pissed that we didn’t pull Cyra off her,” Ulric muttered, correctly reading the situation.
“That is the general feeling I am getting, yes.” Niamh glared down the bar at Paul, helping a crowd of shifters who’d been drinking all day and were ordering shots. Austin Steele was in the backroom and not slinging beers as he ought to be. Niamh had been dry for much too long. People would start to wonder what she was even doing there, sitting at the bar with a computer and nothing to drink. “Don’t mind her. She had it in the bag.”
“It was kind of a close call, though.”
“Nah. Ivy House would’ve reacted if it had been a close call. Hell, Cyra would’ve let go. She’s been around far too long to get lost to rage. Jessie just needed a moment to push through her fear. Worked out exactly like it should’ve, with the basajaun pissing himself and everything.”
Ulric huffed out a laugh and turned around, elbows pushed back to lean on the back of the pushed-in chair. He’d clearly given up on getting a drink.
Niamh shook her glass again.
“I didn’t even know he’d snuck up,” Ulric said.
“Only Edgar seemed to notice. That el’ vampire is Froot Loops, but he does tend to notice things everyone else has missed.”
“She took out a phoenix in one shot, after already having battled everyone for a while.” Ulric shook his head, his smile growing. “If we can get her enough training, she’ll be a real contender.”
“If we can kill Elliot Graves so he’d butt out of her life, we might have a shot.”
“Wouldn’t we have to deal with the guild?”
“They’d be thanking us. The Anal Repository has a bounty out on Elliot Graves. They’re trying to weasel into this thing he’s throwing in a couple weeks under the guise of ‘discussing the possibility of lifting the bounty,’ but Elliot Graves is ignoring them, so he is. The whole situation has social media atwitter. No one can believe he is flat-out refusing them, and they are dying to see what happens. So it seems our Mr. Graves is re-emerging into the magical world on the wrong side of the current pervasive authority.”
“Then he plans to pit himself against Momar, I take it.”
“If that’s what people are thinking, they haven’t dared mention it where I can see. Stands to reason, though.”
“Still, what the hell does he want with Jessie?”
“To harness her power? I was starting to think someone else might be using Elliot’s name, but with his invitation and all the rest of it, that doesn’t seem likely. Maybe he’s trying a new tactic. Throwing romance and riches at her and promising her the world in the hopes she’ll open up that power for him to use, like the heirs before her.”
“If that’s his game, he’s going to get an unwelcome surprise.”
Niamh watched Austin emerge from the backroom, making his way behind the bar, ignoring everyone, his eyes on the door. He had clearly come out to greet Jessie.
“I half hope it is his game, just so we can see the fireworks,” Niamh murmured.
“Fireworks? It’ll be a slaughter. Austin Steele isn’t rational when it comes to Jessie. He overheard some guy talking about her ass last week and about killed the dude. I saw the whole thing. If that’s Elliot Graves’s game, he might get his arms ripped off for his troubles.”
“Austin Steele is heading toward mating and he’s a powerful alpha—he’ll get a lot worse before he gets better, trust me. I’ve seen some things that would curl yer chest hair.”
“I don’t have chest hair. I’ll have to settle for it curling my ass hair.” He winked.
Niamh shook her head at the jest, still watching Austin Steele. “Good thing fer his power, too, because if Earl is right, Austin Steele’ll have his work cut out fer him, trying to handle her once she finally accepts him as her mate.”
Of course, there were so few female gargoyles that few had much personal experience with them. They were going off gargoyle lore, which was hardly reliable, plus a few scraps of knowledge from some book or other Earl had found.
“Mr. Tom said we shouldn’t fill her in on how a female gargoyle…goes about mating.”
“Are ye daft? Of course ye shouldn’t fill her in. That’s all she needs to know right before walking into a large gathering of experienced and cutthroat mages.” Niamh shook her head. “She’s stubborn about some things, and rushing into romance after a divorce is one of those things. Rightfully so. Hopefully she doesn’t officially decide about Austin Steele until after we’re out of the woods.”
“Out of the tunnels, you mean, and that’s if we make it that far.”
“Well, yes, to be sure. But if we don’t, we’ll be killed, so it really won’t matter.”
“Comforting.”
“What am I, yer mammy? I’m not tryin’ ta’be comforting. Ye knew ye’d be in the thick of it if ye signed on to Ivy House. Expect the worst, hope for the best.”
“Can I get that on an inspirational poster?”
“I’ll tattoo it across yer arse, how’s that?”
“It would be hard to see, but I’ll take what I can get.”
“Based on the women ye go home with, I’d already figured as much, yeah.”
Ulric spat out laughter. “Touché. Mr. Tom seems to think she should have played the field more. I get the feeling he’d prefer to see Jessie with a male gargoyle.”
“He’s a Muppet. There isn’t anyone better for her than Austin Steele, wings or no.”
The chatter died down as Jessie came through the doorway, her face closed down in annoyance. There was no way of knowing if she’d encountered Ryan/Sasquatch outside the bar, but she’d taken her time coming inside. Her mood radiated off her in waves of power.
Heads turned her way and eyes widened. People shuffled or stepped out of her way, nodding as she passed by. Many greeted her with “Miss Ironheart,” giving her the respect due to an alpha. Others looked down at their feet, acceding to her dominance.
The shifters from the training earlier had already told anyone who would listen that she’d taken out the phoenix. Now they all knew what Niamh had known for some time—Austin Steele wasn’t the only power player in this territory.
Niamh sat up a little straighter as Jessie walked toward them, feeling a rush of pride in the Ivy House heir.
Austin Steele leaned forward against the bar, staring at her, ignoring the customers trying to order drinks as he waited for her to meet his gaze. He was proclaiming Jessie the most important person (to him) in the room, a distinction an alpha reserved for his or her mate and children. His intentions were laid bare for all to see.
That she didn’t look for him immediately upon entering the bar—his establishment within his territory—sent its own message. She was powerful in her own right, he wasn’t her alpha, and she didn’t claim him as her mate. Not yet. She held all the power.
Jessie might not realize it, but that was the message she was unconsciously conveying. Austin had told the Ivy House team, in no uncertain terms, that they were not to explain any shifter rules to her. And because fair was fair, he’d asked not to be told how female gargoyles mated. He wanted to experience this as nature intended, apparently. He’d probably live to regret that. Maybe he already did.
“Hey.” Jessie nodded at Niamh and Ulric, who immediately moved out of the way. Even though anger still curled through her middle, she’d chosen to acknowledge her team first.
Finally, as Ulric pulled the high-backed bar chair out for her, she looked up and met Austin’s eyes.
Her eyes lit up and a big smile spread across her face. Hunger sparked in his gaze, and she blushed and leaned toward him just a little, hands braced on the bar. Thick slabs of muscle popped under Austin’s tan, long-sleeved shirt. Power curled through the room, his claim on her manifesting into a surge of magic. She answered with her own burst of power, a feeling like little bubbles slithering across Niamh’s skin, potent but pleasant.
“Everyone freeze,” Ulric murmured, holding out a hand.
A woman down the bar squealed, another shrieked, and a man’s booming laugh shattered the scene.
Austin’s focus shifted, his head snapping to the Dicks and Janes down the way.
The pleasant feeling of Jessie’s magic changed in an instant, turning pressurized and angry, bearing down. Ulric swore. Pain twisted along Niamh’s spine and boiled through her blood. She barely stopped from wilting over the bar.
Grunts erupted all around her, people starting to sink down. Screams and shouts reverberated down the way.
“Silence,” Jessie said, her voice a whip crack of power, ominous and full of authority. Niamh’s limbs tightened until she couldn’t move them if she’d tried. The shouts and screams died off. The entire bar ceased movement until it was dead silent.
“Hi,” Jessie said to Austin softly.
His focus came back to her, and passion flash-boiled through the link, Austin’s response to Jessie’s dominance.
No, his animal’s response. Her gargoyle was calling the shots right now, and the polar bear in him liked it. She was much deeper into the mating slide, as the shifters called it, than any of them had realized. Earl wouldn’t be pleased, the wanker.
For a moment, Austin’s brow creased. He looked like he was on the ve
rge of asking her questions, but a rush of wariness flooded the Ivy House link from Ulric. Although no words transferred through the links, just feelings, the message was clear: Don’t question her, just go with it.
Austin took a deep breath, and his bearing relaxed, his eyes softening. A moment later, a little smile tickled his lips.
“Hey, babe,” he replied, easy and confident.
His blistering passion at the dominance she was displaying cut away, as did Jessie’s sudden surge of heat. She’d made their link private, keeping her emotions—and his—to an independent line, no longer shared amongst the whole crew.
A soft breeze blew through the stagnant air, carrying the smell of daffodils and crisp mountain mornings. The pain eased from Niamh’s spine. A little thrill of adrenaline wormed through her blood, giving her a shock of energy. The bubbles resumed their slide across her skin, pleasant again. A sense of peace filled Niamh as Jessie smiled.
“Good to see you,” Jessie said to Austin as she finally lowered into her seat.
Ulric shook himself a little before stepping forward and pushing in Jessie’s chair. The pressure from around Niamh ceased, her ability to move restored as the magic ebbed from the room.
Gasps sounded from down the bar, the Dicks and Janes clearly freaked out or at least very confused by what had happened.
“Go sort that out,” Niamh told Ulric.
“Yep. Life of the party, coming right up.” Ulric peeled away.
Jessie took a deep breath and looked around. The link opened back up, and a thread of confusion leaked through it.
“Want a drink?” Austin asked her, recapturing her attention.
“Oh, uh…yeah.” Jessie frowned, tilting her head to the side, and glanced behind her. “I just told everyone to…be silent…right? My head went foggy there for a moment. Is my magic getting away from me again?”
“And why wouldn’t ye tell them so?” Niamh said, holding up her glass, the ice nearly melted. “With all that screeching down there, ye couldn’t get a word in edgewise, so ye couldn’t.”
