Sebastian
Austin parallel parkedon the cutest street in the history of the world. Sebastian loved the pop of color from the flower boxes and the hanging vines in the shop entryways. The cobblestones were so clean the street looked like a movie set, and there was not one piece of trash on the slightly raised wooden walkways. It was clear these people put a lot of care and diligence, not to mention pride, into their town.
The grocery store sign jutted out from a red awning, the letters glowing faintly in the dim noon sun.
“I wish it would storm or not, you know?” Nessa said, climbing out of the Jeep and peering at the sky. “It’s gloomy.”
“Yeah.” Austin closed his door after he’d stepped out. “We should really put the top back on the Jeep. I wonder if there is a way for the gargoyles to fly it in.”
He wasn’t totally healed, but Jessie had given him the go-ahead to trek into town and buy some things for their lunch. He didn’t want to leave his ingredient picking to Nessa. Jessie could, and was, continuing to heal him from a distance. Tristan hadoffered to stay behind with her, freeing up Broken Sue to follow Niamh and make sure she didn’t get into any trouble. Broken Sue would have his work cut out for him on that score.
“Are we making the dish how we think it’s best,” Austin asked, “or getting the exact same ingredients and going from there?”
Nessa twisted her lips to the side. “How we think it’s best. Should I bake something, too? She might need some chocolate after today. Tristan would like that, too.”
“Since when do you care what Tristan would like?” Sebastian asked innocently.
He didn’t miss her slight flush as she shrugged. “He’s fun to taunt and chocolate makes taunting him easy.”
Sebastian smirked. She was finding a fun and intoxicating game in that gargoyle-monster, but more importantly, all the teasing and taunting and forced proximity was starting to break down her shields, little by little. She was letting her cracks show, and Tristan was paying attention. Maybe he’d finally be the one to get her to let down her guard and trust. Sebastian sincerely hoped so. High time she was taken care of for once, by someone who would know how, someone who could protect her better than Sebastian had ever been able to. Someone who would guard her heart as well as her person.
Lost in his reverie, it took him a moment to recognize the crawling sensation. A watcher, and not one that evoked a primal response, like a powerful shifter or gargoyle. This one was the result of intense focus— someone assessing or analyzing him. It was a feeling he’d grown incredibly used to whenever he’d played the Elliot Graves role. It was a mage.
A flash of adrenaline heightened his senses, but he didn’t look around. Muscle memory kicked in, not as Elliot Graves, but as a guy who didn’t want to be mistaken for his other persona. He hunched and ran his fingers through his hair. His clotheswere already creased and mussed, so he put his watch hand into his pocket as he followed Nessa and Austin down the wooden walkway.
Nessa picked up on the change in him immediately.
“Where?” she asked out of the side of her mouth, and then she started laughing to detract from the seriousness of the situation. She didn’t have any makeup on, thankfully. Her clothes were wrinkled, almost frumpy, and her hair was in a ponytail. She wasn’t dressed like the Captain right now.
“Somewhere to the right,” he replied, barely moving his lips.
Austin picked up on the situation and tensed, then shook it off, controlling his bearing like Sebastian and Nessa.
“Oh, Austin.” Nessa put her hand on his elbow and steered him past the grocery store to a little cooking and appliance shop beyond. “Have you seen one of these?” She pointed, stopping at the window. “I’ve been meaning to get one of these pots—wait, is it this one?”
Sebastian hunched even more and assumed an attitude of boredom, glancing to the right. He spotted the woman immediately. She was standing on the walkway on the other side of the street, and she’d stopped dead, facing him, her body stiff. Frizzy brown hair framed her round face, and thick, black-rimmed glasses sat atop her small nose. She wore a flowing black top tucked into a brownish-paisley skirt and lacking any sort of style.
It was her hands that caught his attention. She held them in front of herjust so, out and bent, ready to do magic.
As he watched from under his lashes, the pad of her pointer finger reflexively grazed her bare wrist. She wasn’t wearing a watch at present, but she was used to one. Or had been, at any rate. She was currently feeling its absence, which meant he reminded her of it.
“What is it?” Nessa asked as she leaned closer to the glass, hand still on Austin’s elbow.
He shuffled a little closer to her and kept his voice low, pretending to be absorbed by the window display.
“A mage,” he murmured, leaning against the wall and facing Nessa. You did not turn your back on a mage you didn’t know. Hell, if you had any sense, you didn’t turn your back on a mage youdidknow. That was a fast way to get killed.
“Why the hell is a mage here?” Nessa said in a calm voice, but Sebastian knew she was already thinking of ways to fight back and escape. They’d been in this situation more than a time or two, except not with friendlies. Not with shifters and gargoyles and Jessie.
“I don’t know,” he replied as she straightened again.
“This would explain why Drex wondered about a particular spell earlier,” Austin murmured, turning for the grocery store.
“Yeah,” Sebastian said, remembering that comment.
“Why wouldn’t they tell us outright, given our history?” Nessa asked, taking his cue and heading that way.
Sebastian used their movement as a distraction to get a good look at the woman. Would he recognize her? He knew all the big players, especially those in the Guild, and especially anyone dangerous.
