Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
That bracelet was nothing compared to the necklace and earrings Jessie and Alpha Steele had created with larger gems and impeccable workmanship. Alpha Steele’s jeweler had outdone himself, having clearly marveled at the size and quality of precious gems scattered around Ivy House and made something that would shine. Nelson would lose his shit when he saw them. All the wind would go out of his sails when he inevitably compared his wealth to Jessie’s…which was the point.
One of the points, anyway.
Nelson still sneered about his lost raid against Ivy House. He’d spun the story to make himself look better. He hadn’t left his bracelet behind because of Jessie’s team, oh no. He certainly hadn’t lost to Jessie herself, an upstart who’d gotten her magic from a house. A Jane. Someone who wasn’t fit for gargoyle culture. No, he’d lost solely because of the house. The house had trapped him, not Jessie. Without the house, she was nothing.
Today, if everything went according to plan, Jessie would bitch-slap that tired rhetoric. Deniers of her power would be silenced. She wasn’t just going to own the leader of Gimerel, one of the most prestigious of all the cairns—she was going to embarrass the hell out of him. She would, not the house.
Tristan was giddy with anticipation.
The white vans worked up the side of the mountain. Alpha Steele and the crew were halfway there. Time to kick things in gear.
Tristan sped up. He wanted to get the timing perfect.
His people spread out around him, a new strategy he’d devised after the battle at Kingsley’s. During that skirmish, his people had too easily been scattered. The team turned into individuals, and that had turned into far too many deaths.
Now he had pods. Each pod had a team leader and a second, like a mini pack. Instead of scattering individually, they’d scatter in teams. Each pod looked after their other members. This mock battle would be a trial run.
Tristan watched Austin’s convoy climb, slowing in some places but not stopping. Tristan had always kept watchers on that road, despite Nelson saying there was no point. And at the time, there hadn’t been, honestly. Now there was. Nelson and his new lead enforcer would learn the hard way.
Bodies ran around the grounds, people getting in position. From the distance, he couldn’t see any organization.
Come on, come on, Tristan thought impatiently, holding himself back from putting on a burst of speed. He couldn’t wait to show Nelson what he’d lost. Nelson’s disdain hadn’t stopped at Jessie. He’d told everyone about Tristan’s muddy history, discounting Tristan’s prowess and shrugging off all he’d done for the Gimerel cairn. Nelson was working hard to keep Jessie’s and Tristan’s statuses as low as possible.
Tristan increased his speed, cutting the distance. Watching Austin. Feeling Jessie’s anticipation build through their connection.
Over the cairn, guardians rose into the sky. They spread out over their homestead, using the flight pattern Tristan had devised. Their airborne numbers would top Jessie’s.
It wouldn’t matter, not even a little. Tristan had learned from Alpha Steele and the shifters, and his strategies and planning had grown in leaps and bounds. He’d come a long way in a short time. Gimerel would feel their wrath.
His heart thudded. Jessie’s magic matched it, the drumbeat of war. She fed it through the connections, invigorating them all. Getting them on the same page.
Alpha Steele was nearly to the last tunnel. There, they’d exit their vehicles, shift, and head up the rest of the way in beast form.
Guardians beat their wings above their fortress. At the top, a lone figure walked out onto a wide landing.
Nelson.
He’d watch the battle from his stoop, the way he always did. He’d probably assume a smug expression as he did so, assured of his victory. He had no idea what he was about to face.
Here we go, Tristan thought, pushing himself to attack speed. Austin’s motor brigade stopped. They exited quickly, hyper-organized.
Jessie braced herself within Tristan’s grasp. She didn’t wiggle to free herself yet. They were still too far away.
Thunder rolled through the sky. It drifted all around them as the great thunderbird flying above the guardians sounded his readiness. Cyra was next to him, probably a streak of fire. Below the guardians were Jessie’s immediate crew, Jasper, Ulric, Niamh, and Mr. Tom.
Another peal of thunder reverberated across the valley. Jessie’s magic pounded them with anticipation.
The big polar bear emerged from the other side of the tunnel, moving at a measured pace. His shifters followed. Basajaunak ran last. Their purpose would be to scare the absolute hell out of anyone on the ground while the guardians battled above.
Closer now. Nearly above them. Jessie’s magic swelled, and the power in it stung his eyes.
She’d grown by leaps and bounds as well. When she’d confronted Gimerel’s raid, she’d had training wheels. Now, she was a force to be reckoned with. She had more experience, more determination, and fewer reservations about ruthlessness. She’d found her darkness and learned to bask in it the gargoyle way.