His words were drowned out by Phil bending over, guffawing.
FIFTEEN
Jessie
I ran my palm across Austin’s shoulder and then down to his hand before threading my fingers through his. His hand tightened around mine as he stood on a curb surrounding a swatch of grass in a large parking lot. The resort we were staying at spread out all around us, a collection of buildings separated by walkways and paths and patches of grass. A ways behind us, jets of water arced through the air in the late afternoon sun and landed in a fountain basin.
The rear doors on the rental vans were open, and people were grabbing their things and all of our supplies. I could feel Austin’s nerves through our bonds. He stood stoically, though, not letting any of it show.
We’d have dinner with his brother later this evening, and tomorrow would be the first meeting to push forward the idea of our convocation. Tomorrow, we’d all have to show well. I knew he would, but I wasn’t sure about the Ivy House crew.
“Now, miss.” Mr. Tom held out a basket when he reached me. “How about some refreshments? I noticed you partook of thelovely assortment of snacks and drinks I had on the plane, but as soon as it landed, the alpha whisked you away without a to-go bag. It’s as if he has no fear of your being hangry. Not to worry, I’ve packed some snacks here, and I’ll outfit your room with all the best options. What would you like? Chocolate truffle? Roasted peanuts?”
He paused with raised eyebrows.
“Do you want anything?” I asked Austin, leaning into him. He was the one who needed to be pampered, not me.
He squeezed my hand. “No, I’m fine.”
“Sir, I do happen to have scotch. It’s right over there in my emergency pack, which is being rifled through by that miserable old woman who has tired of the alcoholic provisions within that eyesore of a cooler. I can run over there and wrestle her for it. It’s never wise to take alcohol from a puca, but if the situation calls for it, I will brave her wrath. You just say the word.”
“I’m good,” Austin said with a clenched jaw.
“Word to the wise, sir, I’d take that cooler off her as quickly as possible. You don’t want her banging that thing around when we meet the other alphas. We’ll be laughingstocks!”
Austin ignored him, but I could feel his annoyance rising.
“It’s okay, Mr. Tom.” I smiled at him. “We’re good for now. Maybe just put the snack basket and a bottle of wine in our room when it’s ready.”
“Very good, miss. I’ll just run and get that room sorted now. Broken Sue said he was handling it, but you know him. He’d probably answer a question by flaring an obscure muscle in his left thigh and giving that hard stare, and nothing will ever get done. I’ll go use mywords.”
He turned and bustled away, handing off the basket to Edgar as he strode by. Edgar looked down at it in confusion, then hugged it to his chest. He walked over to the closest shifter,stood much too closely, and whispered, “I have the snacks. You let me know if you’re hungry, and I’ll break the rules for you.”
The shifter couldn’t stop a deep crease between his eyebrows. His body screamedwariness.
Edgar nodded, as if that had been the divine plan, and strolled over to the next person. He whispered, “I have the snacks. I hear they’re delicious. I wouldn’t know; I drink out of a vein. If you want to trade, we can. Or if you just want to reach into my basket, that’d be okay, too.”
This shifter edged away slowly, as if he were afraid to turn his back on a hungry vampire, which was probably the right way to play it.
“That vampire…” Austin murmured to himself, looking off into the distance.
I waited with him patiently, letting the shifters grab my things and prepare to move them to our room. Austin surveyed the proceedings like he was the captain of the ship and didn’t trust them to properly swab the deck. It was all for show. If anyone was watching—and they probably were, since all the packs attending the meeting would stay at this resort—they’d know he was alpha.
I guess they’d also know I was his mate, or maybe the co-ruler, but that wasn’t why I was by his side. His nerves were worrying me. For the first time I could remember, it felt like he was doubting himself. He had what it took to do this, we all knew that, but from what I understood, his reputation might be the thing to sink him. They might not even give him a chance, all because of his actions when he was young.
Which was crap, obviously. The real problem wasn’t his reputation. It was fear. They were afraid of trusting a new setup, or maybe of being a target of Momar. Hell, maybe they were afraid of losing the status of “most powerful shifter in the room.”Austin, with his wild past, was a scapegoat. In time, they’d see that. And if they didn’t? We’d force them to.
Austin bumped my shoulder with his and looked at me. “You’re confident enough for the both of us, huh?” He must’ve felt my assurance and determination through the bonds.
I smiled up at him. “Itismy turn, after all. You were my rock with the gargoyles, and then in Elliot Graves’s caves. And actually, with the basajaunak, too. It’s my turn to be the tough guy.”
He leaned down to kiss me. “Too true.” Taking a deep breath, he straightened. “I didn’t, in my wildest dreams, imagine myself being this nervous.”
“Then why are you?”
Austin started forward, pulling me along with him. As we set off, Broken Sue emerged from a hallway, clutching something. He gave off a distinct aura of annoyance, and I had a feeling that was due to Mr. Tom pushing him around.
“A lot is riding on this,” Austin said. “Some of these shifters are prickly. They don’t give second chances—hell, they barely give first chances. If we can’t get these bigger packs on board, I worry we won’t have enough might to bring it all together. We don’t have a lot of gargoyles, we won’t have the shifters, we havezeromages who want to work with us right now…” He sighed. “This venture is off to a rocky start, so we don’t have a strong case with these people. We can’t fail—our safety depends upon this working—but our odds aren’t nearly as good as I’d prefer.”
