It did have a certain ring to it…
Before now, he’d resigned himself to failure. He’d devoted hours to watching her, tailing her, analyzing her thought processes, to no avail. Delaying finding her a solid wingman was putting her in danger. He already had five guardians that might do a better job picked out. They weren’t as fast or strong as some of the others, but they anticipated her better than the rest. Better than he did.
But interceding today had felt…different. More his speed. And now, he understood why.
Nathanial had been great at observation, holding back until the moment Jessie faltered. Only then would he step in. But Tristan didn’t work like that. He didn’t wait for things to happen—hemadethem happen. He liked control. He liked to orchestrate what went on around him, and that failing, he thought on the go. He couldn’t do things Nathanial’s way, and it had been stupid of him to try.
Then there were Jessie’s motivations…
You don’t like being the bad guy.
I really don’t. I’ve gotten better, but…
He watched the ethereal female gargoyle dive, putting herself in the way of a guardian as though he were an attacking mage. She was ready to take a blast. To protect her own.
And while that would have been a good move if her opponent had been a mage, it wasn’t smart with a guardian. Not without backup. She was fighting as if she were solo…probably because she was used to being the only one doing magic. Even with Sebastian, she’d had to play defense when he attacked.
She had to protect her people.
Hundreds of dots connected in a flash, and Tristan felt like he’d been blinded.
Jessie was a caretaker by nature. She had been in her Jane life, and then she came here and was handed the house and a staff, and then an army. Her duty was to take care of them all.
More than that, though, she was a female gargoyle. A battle species, yes, but not like him. Not like the other guardians. Not even like the garhettes. She didn’t rush into battle, club people over the head, and shout her victory. Instead, she united her people, connected them, and made it her duty to protect them. That was why she’d sacrificed herself at Kingsley’s and why she hadn’t taken the honor for doing so. She hadn’t viewed her actions as heroic, but as a necessity. And after…as a failure. She was supposed to protect her people, and one of hers—someone dear to her heart—had died.
Stupid,he berated himself.
Why hadn’t he thought of that before?
And their differences in battle tactics? Simple: Jessie didn’t know what the hell she was doing. He’d trained all his guardians, even ones who’d come to him with impeccable previous instruction. They’d had to learn how to work with his setup. He hadn’t trained her, though. Instead, he’d followed her lead, not sure how the magical aspect of things worked.
Now that he did know, he saw the truth: she had virtually no experience in aerial combat. She was the newest among them, lacking the basics and relying solely on survival instincts. She couldn’t tell when to maneuver or hold her ground, struggled to maintain the guardians’ formation while dodging and diving, and had no idea how to build a unified defense. She needed structure.
It hadn’t been lost on Tristan that Nathanial had gotten to see her in her flying infancy. He’d helped shape her reactions. And Sebastian had trained her how to counter mageattacks. They’d worked together seamlessly, having forged that connection in the same way.
Hopefully, as Tristan refined Jessie’s training, he could gain the insight that had made Nathanial so effective. Maybe down the road, Tristan could honor Nathanial’s memory by continuing his outstanding teamwork.
Dare to dream.
He’d give himself one more month. One month to do thingshisway. He’d confront problems with her and Ivy House in the same way he’d confronted problems in his former cairn. At the end of that month, if he wasn’t a helluva lot closer to being what she needed, he’d start trying out other guardians.
He had to figure this out, not just for her, but also because he really didn’t need Niamh heckling him with anI told you so.
SEVEN
Jessie
The crowd for Aurora’s challenge consisted of about two dozen people in a field, all standing around chatting. They weren’t in a line or a circle, and there didn’t seem to be much expectation or heightened energy surrounding the event. In fact, it wasn’t an event at all, not like the time I’d been challenged.
Aurora stood within one of the clusters of people like this was no big deal. I couldn’t tell from those gathered whom she’d challenged.
Austin stood with Broken Sue off to one side, removed from the others. Neither of them seemed tense.
Tristan pulled my door open, then stepped back so as not to hurry me.
“Thanks,” I murmured, pushing myself out of the car. “Have you seen one of these before?”
“Many, yes. I try to see all the major challenges in the pack. They’re people I need to work with.”
