“Why’d she try to attack you?” Tristan asked.
Sebastian made a face. “Because she thinks Elliot Graves would make an example of her. He’d drag her into the public eye and viciously kill one of the Guild’s precious workers.”
“And would he?” Jessie asked.
It was Natasha who answered. “Depends on why she left. She helped the Guild orchestrate some atrocities. She’s complicit in their crimes. If she had no choice because they wouldn’t let her leave, that’s one thing. But doing it of your own free will?” She tsked. “An example would need to be made to show magical people that we will not stand for it.”
“If you were to try that here,” Austin said, “it seems Drex and his pack will try to stand in the way.”
“In the way of us,” Sebastian said, “and in the way of the Guild when they invariably break in and get what they came for. This pack clearly doesn’t understand the hell they are inviting to their doorstep.”
11
Jessie
The evening passed uneventfully,with a big cookout in the backyard and the taste test between the lasagnas. Sadly, for Austin and Nessa, both dishes were incredibly delicious, and people were so blinded by their tastebuds, they forgot which one they’d sampled in their hurry to get seconds.
I had to admit they were both incredible. I had a long history with lasagna. It’s the thing I made when someone needed dinners during a trauma recovery of some kind. It was a good potluck dish, or something that created a lot of leftovers and kept me from cooking for a few days. My lasagna, however, was mediocre at best, something to stave off hunger. I should’ve known Austin would create something exceptional. He always did, and I now knew Nessa was talented in the kitchen, too. It was obvious she loved cooking. If Austin were ever detained and Mr. Tom wasn’t around, I’d invite myself over to Nessa’s house for dinner.
I was finding all sorts of ways to keep from cooking.
Nessa had also made brownies, but they didn’t make it to the cookout. We each had one, and Tristan ate the rest. I had no idea how he kept his figure with the amount of chocolate he consumed. Jealousy might not become us, but it didn’t stop me from feeling it.
I stood in the kitchen as Mr. Tom tidied up after breakfast. He hadn’t waited to be invited over this morning. Instead, he’d stolen the front door key the night before and had let himself in before I’d gotten up. My pant suit had been pressed—by him—and my shoes shined. Also, by him.
I wasn’t wearing either.
Niamh had come over last night with a lot of rumors and speculation. The townspeople were wary about the mages but appreciated the quiet peacefulness of the community. They weren’t prone to raising a fuss. That is, until the mages randomly attacked visitors. Vistors the townspeople quite liked—Niamh was on her best behavior.
Those rumors, though, told in whispers, were nothing compared to what Sebastian and Nessa knew about Tilda. That mage had some serious explaining to do, starting with why she was endangering a pack and ending with why Drex was letting her.
And so, I wore my muumuu. If Drex tried to stand in my way of mage business, there’d be a battle.
“Ready?” Austin entered the kitchen wearing rip away sports sweats, a T-shirt, and flip-flops. He was dressing down in anticipation of shifting, but it was still a meeting with another alpha, and he apparently drew the line at a muumuu.
Sebastian walked in wearing a suit, an extravagant, sparkly watch inlaid with way too many diamonds, his hair slicked back, and all the swagger of a rich, powerful mage at the top of the hierarchy. In other words, he was going as the grim reaper, Elliot Graves himself. He had his own statement to make, and he hadnot taken kindly to Tilda impassively watching him as he was dragged to and from the torture chamber all those years ago. She hadn’t shown one hint of remorse or sadness or any emotion at all, and he held a grudge.
Nessa followed him, her heels clicking against the floor. She was wearing a cream silk romper, a chunky necklace of red beads, and her own flashy and extravagant watch. The Captain was on duty.
She pointed at her flowy and fashionable clothes. “She’ll know this means I want to show off the blood I extract from my victim. Her, in this case.”
Her bubbly attitude heavily contrasted with her words and, quite frankly, made them that much more terrifying.
I swallowed. “What happened to you not wanting to get your hands dirty?”
“This is a family matter. She wronged my brother, and that I can’t stand for. Besides”— she shrugged nonchalantly— “this is war, and mages are violent. So are shifters. And gargoyles. I think maybe I needed a little perspective.”
“You needed the freedom to choose,” Austin said, checking his phone. “We all get a choice, and then we go hard. We don’t do things by halves in this team. You’re no different. Let’s get going. Everyone is ready.”
Nessa gave me a glittering smile, squeezed my hand, and practically bounded after Austin as he headed for the door. Her mannerisms seemed usual from all the time I’d known her, but somehow they also seemed wholly different. She almost looked…lighter, somehow. Graceful and carefree. Joyous. I couldn’t put my finger on why, or even if that was true, because maybe it was just me being better at reading body language, but regardless, I was happy she was happy, as cliche as that sounded.
Everyone loaded into the vehicles. Austin held my door for me before climbing into the driver’s side of the Jeep. This time, Tristan and Broken Sue sat behind us. We’d lead the procession.
“I anticipate an interesting meeting,” Tristan murmured as we got underway. Fred gave us a thumbs up from the porch of the house she was staying in. She’d remain behind in case things got dicey.
“To say the least,” Austin said, following the directions to Drex’s house.
“Drex better have a damn good explanation for why he has those mages harbored here,” I said. “If he doesn’t, we don’t want his support for the convocation. We can’t bring on a guy who willingly hides and protects the deviants of the mage world, the same people we are trying to root out.”
