“We’ll be keeping to ourselves this evening,” Austin said in a hard tone. “We can postpone the dinner until tomorrow or not at all. I think it’s best for all involved if we keep to our own devices. We might have one or two of ours in town, but they’ll know to keep their heads down, and they won’t be mages.If they experience any trouble, they’ll handle it brutally. You’re warned.”
“Yes, alpha,” Vessa said crisply. “I apologize for this lapse in etiquette.”
Austin put his hand on my shoulder, steering me away. “Nessa and I still need to get groceries and now organize dinner for everyone tonight. I want to give some orders, as well. Why don’t you go back to the house with Tristan, and I’ll meet you there shortly.”
I glanced around the street and then the sky, getting an idea of numbers. Austin would be fine. If something happened, he wouldn’t need my help. This town didn’t have the sort of fighting prowess they thought they did, at least not compared to us.
I nodded and shifted back into my gargoyle, fatigue dragging at me. All the fighting, healing, stress, and shifting was wearing me down. Staying in tonight and relaxing was a dream come true.
Austin
“Tristan,”Austin called, then waited for the gargoyle to drop lower in the sky. Jessie paused when he spoke. “Take Sebastian with you.”
Sebastian nodded in understanding and walked away from Nessa, putting up his hands like a child. Tristan swooped down and grabbed him, flying a little too closely to Nessa and dusting her with the upswing of his wing.
She jerked back and wiped at her face. “Really?” she said in irritation. “Keep it up and I won’t make you any brownies.”
He blasted into the sky, trailing Sebastian’s scream behind him.
“C’mon,” Austin told Nessa, not sparing another moment for that beta. She probably did not look forward to relaying all this to her alpha. One thing Austin understood, however, was the frustration of wild cards. He had a great many in his setup, and clearly this alpha did, too.
“How did you know those mages weren’t dangerous?” Nessa asked as they walked back to the grocery store.
He slowed to allow her to enter first. “The woman was practically screeching with fear as she cast her spells.”
“Her body language?”
“Yes. She clearly thought she had no other choice and didn’t think much of her odds. If the beta hadn’t requested we stand down and acknowledged that we had the upper-hand power-wise, I would’ve let Sebastian handle it. As it was…”
“And the other mage?”
“I caught sight of Edgar loitering near a flowerpot down the way. By the time Sebastian was readying magic, Edgar was nearly to the mage. I figured he’d handle it. I did not know how, and really hoped it wouldn’t be fatal, but there wasn’t much I could do at that point.”
“Huh.” She grabbed a small shopping cart. “That was a lot of very fast deduction followed by excellent decision-making.”
“And that is why I am an alpha.”
“It seems so.” She led the way, starting at the aisle to the far right. The other patrons made themselves scarce, leaving the way clear.
She collected a few ingredients, her mood obviously pensive, and he followed in silence. Halfway through the store, she took out her phone and looked at the screen.
“Zero service,” she murmured, slipping it back into her pocket. She chewed on her lip. “There are not a lot of high-profile female mages.”
“Oh?” He pointed at a box of brownie mix and raised an eyebrow.
Her expression soured. “How dare you,” she said, mimicking Mr. Tom. “I do not make things from a box. What do you take me for? Oh! We should get some good coffee. Mr. Tom brought his French press.”
They turned toward the next aisle.
“I should say thereweren’ta lot of high-profile female mages,” she amended. “In the Guild there still aren’t. Much like the Dick world, where there aren’t nearly as many female CEOs and VPs and all that, the Guild tends to elevate men. There is a lot of misogyny.” She chewed her lip again and put a couple more items into the cart. “The females that do get elevated tend to be tough and great at their trade.”
“Their trade?”
“Yeah. If a mage is lower powered, they still have options. They can excel in certain types of magic. If Sebastian was a lower powered mage, for example, he could still get placement in engineering new spells and potions. He’s a genius at it. I could get placement at the admin level, organizing teams for extractions or attacks or whatever else.”
“What does that have to do with high profile female mages?”
She glanced around. “Let’s finish up.”
