“I do not know. I did not make it.”
There was no point in asking who had. If the creature knew, he’d spend the whole day talking about it, I was sure. We had to get going. My courage wasn’t an indefinite thing.
A tingle worked through my skin as I pushed my hand forward, but the sensation stopped at the point of contact and did not travel up my arm. I pushed them further in, my hands disappearing into the rock slab, and the tingle left my hands and continued up my arms. Further still, I felt a familiar heat at my back—Austin had changed into his human form.
“I’ll go in with you, Jess.” He stepped up beside me, putting his hands out.
“Baaa-kk our-ff baa-re.” Damarion’s wings rustled as he neared, and power curled around us, the alphas about to square off again at the worst possible time.
“Not now!” I flung my hand back, frustrated and annoyed and entirely too keyed up. A rock-solid sheet of air slammed into Damarion, sending him flying backward.
It didn’t stop, though. It crashed into the others and forced them back a couple of steps, pinning their arms so they couldn’t lift their hands to protect their faces or ward it off.
“Ooh, I felt that.” The hair on the basajaun’s face contorted into what was presumably a smile. “That might be a nice trick to confuse hikers with.”
“I think he has taken that hobby a little too far,” I murmured, my heart starting to beat faster. To Austin I said, “You don’t have to.” I paused. “Which is just something I’m supposed to say to be polite. I’m not going to turn you away.”
“We don’t know what will be on the other side of that magical barrier.” Austin’s shoulder bumped mine as he got into position. “There’s no way I’m turning away.”
“The mages, probably.” The basajaun leaned a shoulder against the rock and crossed its hairy arms over its chest. “They were not pleased that I killed one of their kind.”
“Wouldn’t they want to leave?” I asked, pulling my hands back quickly as everyone else pushed forward again.
“The mountain is my territory, not what lies beneath it. My duty is to guard the prisoner, and that is the only time I am below the mountain. I do not live there.”
“He denied them access to his territory,” Niamh said, “so they can’t go up the mountain. Nor can they go into town or seek shelter in one of the surrounding areas—Austin has guaranteed that. And they know better than to seek ye out at Ivy House. We haven’t been able to find the entrance to the cave, so they know this is their only sanctuary in these parts, so they do. Ye’ve got ’em cornered, girl—time to bag ’em up.”
“Have we met?” the basajaun asked Niamh.
“No. I would’ve remembered all the hair.”
I met Austin’s eyes and saw the call of battle burning within them. I’d seen that look before, right before we’d stormed Ivy House a few months back. This was it. It was time to eradicate the vermin.
My limbs started to shake. A past battle in which I’d observed more than fought, plus a few skirmishes, weren’t nearly enough to prepare me for rushing into the fray. I’d better get used to it, though. After these mages there’d be someone else, and someone else still, people coming after me until they were sure I could not be taken. Then the wining and dining would begin, and I’d be wary about poison and knives to the back.
“Why did I sign up for this?” I muttered.
“Because adventure keeps us young.” Niamh rubbed her hands together. “Bigfoot, what sort of size can we expect these tunnels to be? Can we fit in with our other forms, like?”
“That name is hurtful to those of my kind,” the basajaun said. “I don’t call you grumpy old woman.”
“Ah, sure, ye might as well. It’s true enough. What about the size?”
“The polar bear can fit. The spread wings of these ugly creatures will not.” He speared Damarion with a glare. “I will not be accompanying you—”
“Yeah, yeah, so ye said, we get it, quit goin’ on about it. Jessie, let’s go.” Niamh motioned me forward again. “Like a Band-Aid. Should’ve brought some of those weapons, but we’ll just berate Mr. Tom for that later.”
“I have weapons. Claws.” Mr. Tom hunched down, getting ready to change. “So do you—or did you forget how to change into your third form?”
“Ack.” Niamh’s face soured. “That one hurts to change into.”
“Losing your nerve?” Mr. Tom asked.
“Why not? Ye’ve already lost yer marbles.”
The sound of rocks rolling filled the little tree-enclosed area, the gargoyles who had shifted to human previously now changing back. Niamh stripped off her top, her body quickly morphing and reducing down into a small creature that looked like a cross between a goblin and a gremlin. With a hairless, bony head and huge eyes that sparkled like grayish gems, this form was literally what nightmares were made of. I gave those dolls a lot of heat, but now, seeing her, I could see why she’d never been afraid of them.