“I hate to criticize, Jessie…” Niamh said, watching him go.
“If you couldn’t criticize, you’d never utter a word,” Mr. Tom said.
“…but you might’ve given that old vampire the gift of youth. Or even just shaved off a few years so he wouldn’t look like such a muppet when he runs. I don’t think his limbs work quite right. Look at the state of him!”
Austin loped around the house, passing Edgar, before he stopped and shifted into his human form. He stalked toward us, crossing the grass and then the street, like a predator about to take down a kill.
I put out my hand to tell him not to mess with Damarion, but I didn’t need to. He gave Damarion a wide berth, clearly pushing aside their differences because of the situation.
“What’s the plan?” Austin asked, having stopped in the place Edgar had just vacated.
“Find anything?” Niamh asked.
Austin shook his head, his gaze roaming my face and then body, probably sizing up the state of my health. His skin had the same waxy quality as mine, his freckles or sun spots also burned away, and his face looked a few years younger. Clearly we’d lost our top layer of skin and were still in process of growing a second coat, as it were. I hoped I’d never have to do it again.
“All the strangers around town have checked out,” he said. “I have people working on checking the neighboring towns. The communities are small, so we should get some information soon.”
I gave them a quick rundown about the basajaun as Edgar hurried back with the bouquet.
“I’m going to attempt to fly there.” I took a deep breath. “I might not make it all the way, though. I didn’t do great the other day.”
“It was your first flight, but you held a mountain of muscle with those tiny wings,” Ulric said, and I frowned about the wings comment. I didn’t think they were that small. “You did great.”
“I will carry you when you need it, but we should not approach that basajaun, Jessie.” Damarion moved closer. “It is—”
“I’ll follow in my other form.” Austin didn’t need to step toward me—he pulled my attention to him. Mine and everyone else’s. “We’ll be prepared to extract you if that basajaun decides you aren’t so fun to chat with when you’re out of your cage.”
“This is a mistake,” Damarion said.
“Doing nothing is a mistake,” I said. Niamh disappeared into the house, and I called after her to grab a bag. “Waiting for them to trap me again is a mistake. Striving to protect myself is not a mistake. That basajaun will talk. Get ready to catch me if I fall out of the sky, though. That’s the only part of this plan I’m not real sure about.”28Niamh touched down on the mountain right after an exhausted Jessie, who still looked great despite it. She had that beautiful, swirly magic streaking the air behind her wings, the effect incredible. Female gargoyles were worth all the fuss. If only Jessie could get her magic working like it should, she’d be on fire.
All they needed was time. After this, hopefully they’d have a little of it.
If not for Austin Steele, they would’ve already lost her, Niamh had no doubt about that. They would probably still be searching for the lower cave opening, long after the team of mages had already moved her.
Faster than the males, Jessie changed into her human form and then sank to her hands and knees, panting with fatigue. With a thrum of wings, the male gargoyles landed all around them, Damarion changing immediately so he could go to her.
He clearly hadn’t gotten the—pretty obvious—hints that Jessie had been throwing out all morning. Whatever that gargoyle had done the other day, he’d completely lost her interest. Niamh could not wait to hear the story.
First, though…business.
Trees crowded in around them, cutting off their view, and hopefully the view of anyone in the area. That big ol’ basajaun could smell them, though, if it was around. Those things had sharp senses and mean tempers. Niamh did not want to tangle with one of them. She almost couldn’t believe Austin Steele was going along with this plan.
Then again, Austin Steele had changed. The shift had been subtle at first—Niamh honestly hadn’t noticed it—but it had been as blatant as the nose on her face since the incident at the cave.
Something had clicked over for him. A switch had been flipped. He’d become more of an active leader—and not in the chest-beating sense. He was confident, strong. He didn’t bother with Damarion anymore. It was like he’d stopped seeing the gargoyle as a threat. Niamh was very curious as to why.
There came the huge polar bear now, slinking in between two trees, stopping to stare as Damarion helped Jessie to her feet.