“Calm,” Austin murmured, squeezing my hand. “It’s what we have, and what we have is incredibly effective in battle. We might not show well in a line, but what we bring to the battlefield is plenty.”
He really had grown as a person, because I just couldn’t with all this. Formonthswe’d practiced. Two months! How was getting in a line so damn difficult?
“Two people,” Austin said as we entered a square flanked by two large buildings. Each was named and featured two double doors evenly spaced apart. Above each double door was an A or B. The doors on the building to the left stood open—clearly, the place we were headed, though you wouldn’t know it from the silence. At the top of the square was a food truck serving barbecue, and off to the side was a makeshift bar. Attendants stood idly, not stoic like shifters but with nothing currently to do.
“That’s what we’re having for dinner?” I asked.
“No. That’s what thepersonnelwill have. They’ll bring in more trucks as the meeting wears on. This is for the setup crew, probably. Only the alphas will be served dinner from the kitchens, after our discussion. The kitchens aren’t nearly enough for a full-scale dinner for all of our crew.”
“Gotcha.”
Austin slowed as we neared the first set of double doors on the left, under A. He kept hold of my hand and finally stopped just before the door. Through it, I could see most of a pack lined up at a diagonal in the back corner. Standing out front was a woman with dark skin, a loose black dress, and no shoes. I bet she didn’t have underwear, either. It would take very little time for her to change shape.
Of the Ivy House crew I could feel through the bond, the line was about as straight as it would probably get.
“Ready?” Austin asked.
“Two people?” I asked belatedly.
“Two extra people. I included Aurora,” he replied. “I want her to see what this is like, and I want her to do damage control.”
I hadn’t noticed her slipping into the line.
“Damage control?” I whispered, trying not to move my lips as we entered the huge space. The partition down the middle had been pushed away, merging areas A and B.
“For you. If something unexpected happens to me, she needs to keep you from killing everyone. She has experience jumping in front of very dangerous people. Before you ask, she volunteered for the job.”
Had she been wearing a suit? Honestly, I hadn’t even noticed. I had no idea what she was wearing.
In addition to the pack in the corner, nine other groups of people were spaced around the area. Kingsley was directly next to us upon entry, and the corner to our immediate right was vacant. That would be our area to show off.
It wasn’t big enough.
Huge hanging curtains had been gathered in that area, and various seats and chairs were stacked. Tables lay on the ground, and boxes with numbers were somewhat haphazardly placed. Whatever had been in here last hadn’t taken everything away, and it severely diminished the space we had in which to mass.
“Did you tell them how many people we had?” I whispered, barely moving my lips.
“Yes. Minus two. They’re trying to assess how we handle an unforeseen hurdle. Sometimes, the old-timers do this to a newly emerging pack.”
“Joke’s on us. We won’t handle this well at all. Here…” I released him. “You deal with your people. Show off. I’ll…take mine…away.”
Austin split off from me as though this had been the plan all along. He made small movements and almost unseeable gestures. Tristan and Broken Sue understood him perfectly, directing anyone—most of the gargoyles—who didn’t. They folded their lines so that they were in rows, Tristan and Broken Sue still at the front, big and strong and intimidating. Austin took position ahead of them as if they were in a synchronized dance.
The whole situation took no time at all and had been orchestrated to perfection.
I huffed. “That easy, is it?” I grumbled to myself.
This wasn’t going to go smoothly for me, especially because I had no idea where my people were supposed to be.
“Should I just…guess?” I whispered to Austin.
His eyes sparkled, mirth came through the bonds, and he’d clearly lost his mind, because he didn’t offer me any help.
“Aurora?” I called, but she was hidden away in one of the lines.
Ivy House bonds told me my people were uncertain. So was I.
“Have no fear, miss—I am perfectly capable of handling this matter.” Mr. Tom’s wings fluttered, and he was probably just about to prove why he wasn’t in the gargoyle line.
