Lillian bubbles with anticipation at the feast laid out on the table. “All of this food looks amazing. Thanks for hosting us, Ada. We appreciate all the hard work it took you and Norrell to prepare this.” Everyone expresses their agreement and thanks as we pass the dishes around the table and fill our plates.
“I’ll hand it to you, yeti. You have kitchen skills. I hope you made a lot, because I eat like a horse,” Clancy jests around bites of food.
“Thank you, Clancy. In the settlement, if we wanted a good meal, we would often have to make it ourselves,” Norrell acknowledges.
“He’s taken over the kitchen, and I don’t mind a lick,” I exclaim.
“Well, I’m glad he’s doing his part to take care of you, Ada. Seems like he took those friendly reminders to heart,” Clancy remarks, winking at me.
“Congrats, Walt, on the win a couple weeks ago. With all the new blood on town council, you’re going to have a packed house again for your meetings. I stopped attending when Ben took over the business, but I might have to start up again at the next meeting in a couple weeks,” Nicolas says from across the table.
“Nicolas looks forward to holding court during the public forum at the end of each meeting like he used to,” Lillian jokes, smiling affectionately at her mate.
“I’m looking forward to the friendly discussion and banter again. It had been sorely missing for a time,” Clancy chimes in, shaking his head.
“Hear, hear!” Nicolas agrees.
“You’d have thought the meetings were political,” Walt adds drily. “I’m glad to help change that.”
“It still keeps me up at night how close we came to disaster. That we’re not even out of the weeds yet with that fae lingering in containment. And still no cure for Ada. I don’t think I’ll get a full night’s sleep for a while yet,” Clancy admits, the look in his large brown eyes softening when they meet mine.
“We stalled out on progress and Ada suffers for it. It is frustrating to just sit and wait,” Norrell concurs, his expression turning dark.
“It’s eye-opening to realize how much damage some deranged, power-mad warlocks could do in such a short time. We’ll be dealing with the fallout for a long time,” Thea laments.
“At least there’s hope again for our community with the new town council,” I chime in, not wanting the dark cloud hanging over us to put a damper on our celebration. “Monstera Bluff will be stronger for it.” What I can’t say to them is that I may not be here much longer to see it.
“A silver lining was that Cara was only subjected to one meeting of torment,” Ben says ruefully. “And that she didn’t pack up and leave that very night.”
“Well, someone told me how they really felt and changed my mind,” she admits with a bashful smile on her face.
“Who knew Ben was such a charmer?” Lucas quips and claps his brother on the back. Ben had been gazing affectionately at his mate, but he twists toward his brother on his other side and flicks him on the shoulder in return, cracking Lucas up.
“How long are you in town, Lucas?” I ask, curious because he came home for a week right after Ben and Cara were injured on Samhain.
“Turns out I felt really homesick after I left last month.” He chuckles self-consciously. “I wasn’t planning on it, but I figured I’d request an extended leave this month. My bosses knew I had left for a family emergency. They’re so impressed with my work,naturally, so they told me to work remotely the entire month of December. I’ve been busy hanging out with family and old friends, taking advantage of this time at home. I’m not looking forward to going back next week if I’m being honest.”
Clancy perks up. “I knew you’d be back for good!” he announces smugly as he rubs his hands in front of him. The two of them are almost as close as brothers since Clancy was a regular fixture at the Garde-Pierre household during his entire childhood.
“Well, notquiteyet. In the next year or two,” Lucas clarifies. “I have a lot left to learn. My bosses are exceptional engineers. They’ve been excellent mentors too.”
“We’re glad to hear this. He’s been away for so many years. All my boys will be together again,” Lillian adds with a happy sigh as she smiles fondly at the males. She has always treated Clancy like a third son.
“I can’t believe you’re not chomping at the bit to come home.” Clancy chuckles at himself. “But I am glad you weren’t part of Niven’s tracking teams. We had a few gargoyles here. One got stuck in a fae-made trap set by the warlocks. It wasn’t pretty.”
“His team brought him in during my shift. The damage to his wing resisted healing for quite some time. It took several of us using an incredible amount of healing magick to mend it well enough so he’ll fly again,” Thea replies, shaking her head. “It’s lucky we didn’t see too many other patients that day because we were almost spent.”
“I might be the only gargoyle in New York City who isn’t on one of those teams. They’re the only other gargoyles I’ve met so far. They’re a tough bunch. An injury won’t stop any of them for too long,” Lucas remarks.
Clancy nods. “I joined them for a time when they were conducting sweeps after the warlocks were caught. They stayed behind for a few days after Niven Whitehall left and made sure there weren’t any other nasty surprises left behind. I wanted to see for myself where those warlocks holed up and that everything was put to rights. It was squalor. Any magick they had used to spruce up the place had worn out already. There were a few items left behind obviously supplied by the fae. They were packed up and taken to New York for safekeeping. Good riddance,” he recounts.
“Ashes, we had a terrible time fixing that hole they made in the ward,” Sunny adds with a roll of her eyes. “Sounds a lot like that gargoyle’s wing. The fae spell the warlocks used was like an infection. We had to cut it out of the ward to close it again. It almost reminded me of surgery!” As she speaks, she ties back her long dark hair adorned with a new enchantment for the holiday. The red, green, and gold streaks glimmer in the light.
“All of us in the coven who are of age have been casting magick into the ward’s new security measures. It’s been difficult to fit them to our existing ward. None of us want to start from scratch though, so we’ve been making it work,” Thea says.
Much of this is new to me since I can’t join in. It stings knowing all of this has been going on without me.
“I’ve learned more about wards and travel amulets this past month than I ever thought I would,” Sunny agrees, blowing out a long breath.
