the memory of the largish basalt-gray gargoyle. She’d seen bigger, tougher, and more advanced fliers, but he’d do fine for the current situation. He shouldn’t be too hard to control either. If he got too rowdy for Jessie, then Austin Steele could handle him, Niamh had no doubt. She hadn’t yet met someone the vicious shifter couldn’t take down. She rued the day when she did. “It was a tense couple of minutes. You missed it.”
“It couldn’t have been more tense than being dangled below a large gargoyle over incredible heights for a very long time.”
“Ah, stop yer moaning. The standoff would have been even tenser if Austin Steele had thought Jessie was in any real danger—”
“Are you sure he didn’t? I saw the gargoyle alpha from the very high cliff. He looked huge compared to the others.”
“The whole host of them were standing there, Jessie off to the side. If Austin Steele had thought they were a threat, he would’ve approached from behind and barreled through them all, taking on the largest last. Otherwise the rest would have piled on him while he tangled up with the big ’un. Honestly, Edgar, how have ye lasted this long?”
“Hiding in holes and shadows, mostly. People seem to forget about me pretty easily…”
She scratched her nose, then knocked on Earl’s head. It was nice when he was quiet, but it was also nice when he served her beer and snacks. Although, when he came to and realized she’d bled all over the rug, plus pulled off the trick with the doilies and potted plants, he’d probably need a cooling-off period.
She reached down and checked the leg wound, a nasty affair. The mage who’d hit her had attacked with some sort of healing-resistant spell. She’d leaked out her leg all the way back to the house. Thankfully, as soon as she touched down onto the property, Ivy House had patched her right up. It still hurt like a Texan’s butthole after a chili contest, but the blood had stopped pouring. She’d mend.
She’d mend, and she’d hold a grudge.
Someone had sent those clowns after them, and that someone was going to die slowly and painfully. She’d make sure of it.
“Well, ye can believe me when I say Austin Steele knew they were no threat. Still, I half thought he was gonna launch himself at that big el’ gargoyle. He wanted to, I could see that. He wanted to give that gargoyle a nice el’ slap,” she said, thinking back with a grin. She shivered. That had been a nice little treat, all that hostility. Too bad the pain of her wound had blocked out the rush of adrenaline.
“Why do that if he knew there was no threat?”
Niamh knocked on Earl’s head again. She really did want a beer. Or a cuppa with a biscuit. She hated sitting around empty-handed. It wasn’t right.
“Because they are two alphas, that’s why.” She grinned. “They are two alphas who can each handle a large territory without blinking, and this is a very small town.”
“Oh. Yes, that is a problem. Austin Steele doesn’t like competition.”
“It’s not competition he’s worried about, it’s insubordination. And this other guy won’t like that someone is trying to make him submit, especially someone that doesn’t hold the actual title of alpha.” She rubbed her hands together. “And here I wanted to retire before Jessie came along.”
“This is the danger Jessie felt coming.”
“Must be. Those two together will be trouble, ye mark my words. Very astute, our Jessie. Very emotionally in tune. It’s probably because she’s a mother. Mothers seem to sense things normal people don’t. If it wouldn’t have meant looking after a carpet shark, I would’ve had a bebe just to get the extra powers.”
“I don’t know that they are exactly powers…”
“A little extra patience for dealing with you and Mr. Tom could certainly be counted as a power…”
“Yes, I see what you mean.”
A presence interrupted the plane of Ivy House, immediately morphing into the feeling of Jessie and Austin Steele.
“Speak of the devil and the devil doth appear,” Niamh murmured, wincing as she stood from her chair. “Come on, Edgar, let’s go watch the fireworks.”
The front door swung open as Jessie neared, Ivy House welcoming its mistress home. Her hair formed a fuzzy halo around her head, and her tired eyes drooped. A smudge of dirt darkened her rosy complexion, and her disheveled clothes revealed a little more side boob than she probably realized.
“Hey,” she said when she saw Niamh. Glancing around