weight, or you can have Broken Sue put me down so I can take a revealing potion first.”
This situation straddled Austin’s domain and mine, but I didn’t have to work through the nuances of who should do what—the details were crystal-clear to me, as if we’d been doing this forever. Broken Sue was his pack, so Austin needed to make the command, but the woman—Nessa—was appealing to me about Elliot, which made it my decision. Perhaps mating had opened up these new insights, or maybe they’d unfurled for me because I’d finally unleashed my gargoyle. Whatever the case, the simple equality between Austin and me made my heart sing. We were bringing our two factions together, and one day we’d build something even greater.
I’d made a good decision with him.
I also wanted to rush him to someplace quiet and rip his clothes off. Would this craving ever cease? Did I want it to?
After a deep breath, I glanced at Austin.
“Drop her,” Austin barked.
Broken Sue pulled his arm away. The sound of the body hitting the floor made Edgar start laughing.
“Not as pleasant as being carried,” Nessa murmured. A moment later, a middle-aged woman with curly brown hair, severe cheekbones, and high-arching black brows nodded at me as she tucked an empty vial into the back pocket of her jeans. “Hello, everyone. I won’t bother asking if you want a seat…or some sweats. This won’t take but a minute, and then we’ll get you some transportation. The jet is standing by to take you home.” She pointed at me. “Do you remember what Chambers said to you before Broken Sue ripped him into pieces?”
“Momar intends to go after Austin’s brother’s pack. How do you know?”
“We have cameras all over this place. Don’t worry, Sebastian turned off the ones in your rooms. You had privacy. No one else did. For every camera they found, there were two they didn’t.” She turned a finger to Austin, and I felt a sinking in my gut. We hadn’t even checked for cameras. Hadn’t even thought about it. “And you remember the deal his people tried to make with you?”
“I wasn’t really listening,” he said gruffly. “I was noticing all their weaknesses. Jess mentioned something about this yesterday evening, but…” He tensed, and I knew he’d just held back one of those twitches that were making Elliot so nervous. “I wasn’t in a logical place.”
“Yes, the mating.” Nessa squinted. “Sebastian knows more about that than I do. I confess, I don’t really get it. Regardless, you better get in your right mind quickly. Momar has his sights set on your brother. This is what Sebastian was going to tell you before the vampire ate him. Momar won’t advance quickly, because your brother is the biggest fish he’s ever gone after. By far. Word is, he’s collecting mages to help advance his cause, and he’ll get them because Kingsley hasn’t been quiet about pushing back on the Mages’ Guild’s influence in the magical world. Momar means to hit him with an overwhelming force.” Broken Sue tensed. Nessa noticed it and nodded at him. “Yes, that’s their jam, as you know. They don’t fight fair. They buy grunts to do the dirty fighting and then follow behind with spells. That’s why they didn’t know how to combat you guys in the colosseum. In a fight with equal numbers, the shifters will clearly dominate. But that’s not how mages fight in real life.”
“What kind of numbers are you talking?” Austin asked.
Nessa studied him for a moment. “We don’t know exactly. We’re working on it. We have some time. A couple months. Maybe a few. After that, Kingsley is going to have his hands full.”
Austin nodded but didn’t comment. I studied his face for a long moment, knowing we’d help, obviously. That wasn’t a question. We’d need more guns. More firepower. We were no strangers to fighting against large odds, but Momar was a growing power in the magical world, and he had access to a huge swell of people who hated shifters, would not balk at helping to take them out, and would fight as dirty as possible.
“I can pull in the gargoyles,” I said softly, touching Austin’s arm. “Nathanial can command them.”
“Yes,” Nathanial said, standing taller.
“And if anyone can bring the various alpha shifters together, you can,” I told Austin. He’d already been talking about it before we knew about Momar’s next intended victim.
“Not in three months,” he replied.
“Sebastian can help,” Nessa said. “We are owed favors everywhere.