He twiddled his thumbs, and this time he looked at Tristan.
“Nelson is the biggest fool I have ever heard of for letting you go. I don’t care where you came from, you willalwayshave a friend in this cairn, and a standing job offer.” He leaned toward Tristan marginally. “Did you hear me about the standing job offer?”
Tristan grinned. “Nelson letting me go was the best outcome possible. And no, I’m good where I am. I leveled up because I have shifters around me who are impeccable in their battle acumen.”
“You don’t have to use big words to impress me.” He smiled as he glanced at Austin and Sue. “That stands to reason, though. Flying in uniform is one thing—we can see each other to correct positioning. But you guys had perfect formation while running around buildings and converging seemingly at random. That is a level I don’t think most gargoyles realize. I’m still a little baffled by it, honestly.”
“They have exemplary training,” Tristan said.
“They must.” Evan nodded. “There are many impressive facets to your visit, Jessie, Austin. My cairn noticed the most spectacular of them.” His eyes narrowed, a grin pulling at his lips. “But it’s the little details that I am most impressed with. Your team has learned gargoyle culture so well that they use that culture against us.”
I frowned at him and glanced at Tristan. What was Evan talking about?
Evan grinned at Tristan. “I heard about the capes, and about the disrespect towards my gargoyles. I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out why your gargoyles would stand for it. You weren’t just pissing on us. Your team was pissing on their own. I wondered if there was dissension in the ranks, so to speak.”
I released a breath and leaned into Austin’s side. Niamh had visited after the skirmish yesterday to explain what they’d been doing. Honestly, it was a great idea, and I understood why it was kept from me beforehand. Had I known we’d started the discourse, I would’ve tried to calm it down or at least take it easy on them. We wouldn’t have impressed them to the level we had.
Evan shook his head, his gaze still on Tristan. “Very clever, sir. Now, about that job opening…”
“Wasn’t me.” Tristan leaned back and entwined his fingers on his stomach. “That would be our puca. She has a knack for finding pressure points, and she is good at poking those points to get a reaction.”
“The puca?” Evan put his foot back down on the floor. “I’ll be damned. Well, she’s done her homework. Nice touch to show that your people can hang like ours, drunken violence and all, and that in your crew, different creatures can get along and have fun together.”
“I’ve settled the bill for the table, by the way,” I murmured. “Sorry.”
“All’s fair with debauchery, didn’t you know?” Evan laughed, waving that away. “Another little detail is Patty. Where do I get such a marketing expert? She didn’t want a job, either.”
I laughed. “Ulric sold her as someone with a lot of connections.”
“And she’s made a lot more here, it seems. I knew she was buttering me up on your behalf, but I didn’t realize she wasfarming me for information that she’d then feed back to me to prove a point. Or post on social media to crowdsource various reactions to attempt to sway me.”
“Did it work?” Tristan asked.
Evan smiled. “Not with me, but I will say that I’m surprised I didn’t have to fire a few more advisors.”
“And why are you so open-minded about so much change?” Austin asked. “You could lose status for this. Your people might want this now, but what about down the road? This isn’t a slam dunk for you.”
“A what?” Evan asked. Apparently they didn’t have basketball. We’d already realized they didn’t have TVs.
“This isn’t a home run—” Austin cut off. Evan probably wouldn’t know that one, either.
“It’s not a guarantee,” Sue helped. I pointed at Sue, nodding.
Evan put out his hands. “Gerard hasn’t lost an iota of status from joining your convocation. He’s actuallygainedGuardians and garhettes. No one talks about the garhettes, but they are essential to keep a community thriving. If they are happy, we are all happy. If they aren’t happy, life is a living hell I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
He and Tristan both laughed. Apparently it was funny because it was true.
“His cairn is thriving and expanding,” Evan went on, “which means he’ll be able to pick up another production cairn or two and bring in more money. My advisors didn’t see the correlation.”
“They didn’t want to see it,” Tristan said. “Nelson in Gimerel has similar advisors, and theydefinitelydo not like change.”
“And they will get left behind because of it. In answer to your question, Austin, Idothink this is a slam run.” He’d gotten close. “I think we’ll grow. I think we’ll stop caring so much about status in a stagnant community and start caring more about steppinginto the twenty-first century. I mean to escort us into the future. Ambitious, I know. Pompous even. But I trust in my gut, and that is what it’s saying.”
He’d chosen the side of winners, and he wasn’t looking back. Excitement and pride in my people filled me. Austin lowered his arm from the back of the couch to my shoulders, feeling it through the bonds.
Evan looked between us, drumming his fingers on his thighs. “Are you sufficiently bolstered? Because this is the part where I ask for the world.”
“You’re either going to be really well liked in the gargoyle community,” Tristan said, “or torn from your position and made an outcast.”
