He can’t bring in the shifters, but he can get you an audience with some big players.”
“Other alphas are working with Elliot Graves?” Austin asked.
“Obviously not. A good mage deals in secrets and backdoor discussions. Our network, which Sebastian controls, can get you the meetings. And after this, we’ll have some powerful mages who will either stand with us, or stand aside and not interfere.”
“Why would you want to help my brother?” Austin asked.
“Me? I don’t, particularly,” she said without flinching. “If he wants to reclaim his mantle from Momar, there are safer ways of doing it. Shady dealings and double crossings. The mage way. But Sebastian fought beside your brother, I believe, against the phoenix.”
Cyra nodded. “He is noble, that tiger.”
“Sebastian talks about Kingsley with the utmost respect,” Nessa went on. “He also wants to help Miss Ironheart. She’ll want to help you. You will, without a doubt, help your brother. So Sebastian is connected to this cause. Even if you don’t consent to his friendship or his teaching, Jessie—may I call you Jessie?—he will try to help you. He promised as much when he took you on as an apprentice. Those pledges aren’t ironclad among mages, but it was to him.” She spread her hands and stepped back. “Look, you can figure all that out for yourself. You’ll see what you’re up against pretty quickly. Jessie has a crapload of power, but she doesn’t know dick. She needs a teacher, and you won’t find another mage as powerful and knowledgeable as Sebastian who doesn’t want to use you. It was his sister’s dying wish that he follow this journey to the end of his life. A smart woman would realize what that means.”
“A smart woman can deliver a manipulative speech in the guise of sisterly love,” Hollace said.
Nessa laughed. “If she’d killed Sebastian, I would’ve died trying to avenge him, hopefully taking her down with me.” Austin tensed, and power pulsed through the room. Nessa rubbed her arms. “Yeah, yeah, the bear is protective. I get it. Listen, think it over. And if you decide not to allow him into your life, can you leave behind that jewelry we gave you in the basket? That stuff was amazing. I’ll take it, no problem.”
“Let’s go.” Austin turned and strode for the door.
“I’ll arrange transportation to the jet—”
“Don’t bother,” Austin cut in. “Jess, can your people fly us?”
“Yep.”
Kace softly groaned.
“Okay, well,” Nessa called after us. “I guess I’ll just mail your stuff to you?”
“Sir, if I may?” Broken Sue murmured as we walked through the tunnel.
“Go,” Austin said.
“I know that your inclination is to keep the situation with your brother a shifter matter. In times of danger, especially with our families, we feel like we can only rely on those we trust. We stick with our own. I felt the same way, and I lost everything. Your mate is the doorway to survival, for all of us. Even if you get all of the shifters to stand together, it still won’t be enough, not against the kind of might these mages will throw together. They don’t fight even remotely fair. They go after the vulnerable, and they use the mercenaries they bring in like pawns. Lives to be thrown away. They have no loyalty themselves, and so they do not adhere to the normal principles of warfare. If you want to truly help your brother—help us all—you will heed that woman’s words. You will trust your mate to bolster your pack with people you otherwise wouldn’t have access to. To fight beside you with magic. I think you two were brought together for a reason. That is only my opinion, but that’s the way I see it.”
“The stars are guiding us,” the basajaun said. “This mountain is quiet. Peaceful. It does not want violence. This meeting was important. I will call on the elders. The basajaunak will join this fight.” Austin glanced back, shock riding the link. “Edgar, we will need more flowers,” the basajaun continued. “Maybe some of those violent ones. That was tasty.”
“My mother is the biggest busybody in the history of the world,” Ulric chimed in. “She knows gargoyles from all over. You want to talk about a network? My mother has a network. I’ve told her that she isn’t allowed to tell anyone outside of the parish there’s a new female gargoyle—I was waiting until Jessie was a little more up to speed—but say the word and she can make sure the biggest cairns in the