“I’ll give you a tickle,” Sasquatch muttered sourly.
“Grand. As soon as you can find yer wee willy, you go right ahead and give me a tickle, that’d be fine. Now give us a little peace, and move.”
“He was there first,” Paul said softly, his expression like he’d just eaten a bug. He did not like standing up to Niamh, but he apparently thought he had no choice.
“Nah.” Sasquatch batted his hand through the air. “Last thing I want to do is listen to a bunch of chickens clucking.”
“I beg your pardon,” Mr. Tom said, puffing up in indignation.
“You heard me,” Sasquatch groused, pushing off the stool and leaving the bar.
“You’ve really ruined his drinking habit since you came to town.” Niamh turned back to her cider.
“What’s up with you?” I asked Niamh as Mr. Tom pulled out my stool. “I’m fine, Mr. Tom, I can—”
“You’re in a tight dress, miss, one it took us all day to find and a grisly fight for me to pay for. I do not wish for you to rip it trying to get onto this stool like some sort of cowboy straddling a horse. Now.” He patted the seat.
No, I was never going to win a battle of wills with Mr. Tom. It would just never be worth the effort.
Once seated, which, to be fair, required some gymnastics on the part of Mr. Tom, Niamh answered me.
“I am knackered.” She drooped a little more. “That training today was more tiring than usual, but then dealing with Tom and Jerry throwing their weight around after you left and already trying to establish a pecking order in which they are on top…”
“They weren’t trying to—”
Niamh silenced Mr. Tom with a raised hand. “No. No more. I cannot handle any more nonsense from gargoyles today. The lot of you are as thick!” She shook her head. “Stubborn bastards if ever there were any. They’ll be staying in that house with you now, Jessie. Ye invited them in, and now they get a room each until you kick their big, dumb butts out. They won’t make the cut, mark my words. That Cedric fella is going to get me foot in his hole, too, if he keeps on with how things should be. Well, I’ll tell him how things are, and that will be that.”
“What happened after I left?” I asked as Paul placed a bottle of cider next to Niamh’s glass.
“Jessie? What can I get you?” Paul asked, smiling.
“The usual. Pinot Noir, whichever one is somewhat fresh.”
“And for you, Earl?”
Mr. Tom leaned forward, his hand on the bar. “I haven’t had a chance to tell you, being that I am not a lush like some people who often grace this establishment…”
“Keep it up, see how it goes,” Niamh mumbled. “I’m not in any sorta mood tonight.”
“My name is Tom now.” Mr. Tom patted the bar, and Paul’s brows pinched. “Mr. Tom.” He smiled expectantly.
“O-kay.” If Paul was looking at Niamh and me for help, he wouldn’t get it. I shrugged, and she ignored the situation completely. “Uh…Tom—”
“Mr. Tom.”
“Right. Mr. Tom, what can I get you?”
“A sherry would be nice, thank you.”
“Hey.” Austin sauntered over to us, wiping his hands on a white bar towel and giving me a tentative grimace. “So, how’d it go?”
“Well, tonight I was the Gary.” I recounted the situation, noticing Mr. Tom’s wings flutter, just slightly. The feeling of someone watching me tickled between my shoulder blades. A glance back and I saw why.
I groaned. “I told them to go home.”
Cedric and Alek lingered to either side of the door, leaning against the wall, staring at me. The other patrons in the bar noticed, glancing furtively between the gargoyles and Austin, clearly wondering if these new guys were a problem.
“But you did not tell them to stay there, miss.” Mr. Tom put his finger in the air. “As I said, their job is to protect you. Which they are doing.”
“Their job is probably to help me fly.” I took a sip of the wine. “That’s what I was thinking of before the summons. I didn’t expressly ask for help, but…” I shrugged. “That’s my guess.”
“And when are you going to attempt that?” Austin asked, dropping the towel onto the back of the bar. If he was annoyed by their presence, he didn’t show it.
I heaved out a sigh. Something in me said flight was the cornerstone of my magic. Learning to fly would usher in the rest of my abilities and cement my role as the heir of Ivy House. It would prepare me for this new life.
Except I was starting to wonder if it would ever happen.
“Sooner the better, I guess.” I shifted my gaze to Niamh. “That guy tonight was perfect—”
“She was way out of his league,” Mr. Tom interrupted.
I gave him a flat stare. “He would’ve been great, if it weren’t for this circus following me around. But they did help me realize it doesn’t make sense for me to date non-magical guys. It was my way of holding on to the past, but it’s probably time for me to own my situation and ease further into the magical world.”