Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Arthur then explained about our ability to feel presences or see past the potions, making Farris give me a placating smile.
“And you believed her, Arthur?” He tilted his head. “You must’ve been born yesterday.”
“We can certainly prove it,” I told him. “Just have one of your people try to sneak up on someone from my team. Do it slowly, though. You wouldn’t want them to react impulsively. That usually leads to violence.”
That shut Farris up. He watched our people with a long face.
“Please, have a seat.” Arthur indicated an empty couch.
Tristan drifted closer to the couch, staring down at some empty space until the person standing there must’ve moved. I didn’t bother with magic, not getting any dangerous vibes from these people. They were clearly well below my power scale and didn’t seem to intend any harm. They were trying to relax around my crew, even. At least, that was what it seemed like. I noticed them taking deep breaths after looking at Dave, or smiling nervously in clear determination not to seem wary of Edgar. They were doing their best to trust me.
“Jessie, if you wouldn’t mind, would you walk us through how you came by your magic?” Arthur asked politely. “We’ve never encountered a…female gargoyle. They are quite rare, is that correct?”
Tristan tensed, turning his upper body quickly and looking at the wall behind him.
“You okay?” I asked before answering Arthur.
He didn’t answer right away, his body flaring with muscle. “Yeah. We’re good.” He didn’t turn back very quickly, though, and when he did, his eyes were glowing a little harder.
“There’re no more surprises here, are there?” I asked Arthur seriously.
“N-no.” He jerked his head from side to side rapidly. “No, not at all. Why? Is something happening?”
Tristan shook his head. “We should be good. If our outside people saw something, we would’ve gotten an alert by now.”
He seemed a little on edge, though—something Austin must’ve noticed, because he was also studying the monster-gargoyle. Frowning for a moment, I checked in on my connections. Nothing abnormal came back—everyone was watchful but unworried.
“I actually feel safer with them here,” said Emma, a woman in her mid-fifties with braided salt-and-pepper hair. “If any of the Guild try to break in, for example, they’d probably get an unwelcome surprise.”
That brought me up short. “Is that a possibility? The Guild breaking in?”
Arthur gave me the kind of smile a grandfather might give a naïve ingenue. “Those of us with more power are constantly under threat from others of our kind, especially if magic is done on the premises. There are many things in this house they might try to steal, recipes for various potions being the most common. I’ve had break-ins in the past, but no one has ever gotten past my wards and defenses.”
“Wards like the one that was on the front door?” I pointed in that general direction.
“Similar, and some much more volatile spells.”
“What I mean is, with that power level?”
“Yes. I’ve made all my own spells and potions.” His smile was vain. It really shouldn’t have been.
“That power is nothing compared to what Momar threw at us,” I said seriously, wariness starting to creep in. “It’s nothing compared to what I can do. Do you have enemies? Could Momar and his people know I came here?”
A crease formed between Arthur’s brows, his pride in his magic stripped away.
It was Bert, an older man with a trim frame and bald head, who answered. “Mages usually set dinner dates such as this, a meeting of powerful people, with very little notice. It’s specifically so enemies will not have enough time to properly prepare an attack.”
“We don’t have many enemies, though,” Ester assured me with a comforting smile. “We mostly stay on the perimeter of the larger magical factions.”
“The mage factions, she means,” Bert said.
“We don’t step on any toes—”
“When it can be helped, and it usually can,” Bert interrupted Ester.
She nodded. “We try to stay out of people’s way. For mages like us, the most dangerous thing is getting caught in the crossfire. Or the Guild deciding we should pay more dues. If we don’t fall into line, then yes, they might pay a visit.”
“Yes,” Arthur said. “That’s how mages work in this day and age. If you get in the way of someone like Momar, for example, or even someone not nearly so powerful as him, you should fear for your life. It happened to me once in my youth, and I then took steps to ensure it didn’t happen again. I stick to safer business and magical acquisitions and pursuits to relieve myself of intense scrutiny from the powerful players. When the Guild comes around, which is very rare at this point because I stay consistent, I pay what is owed and live a mostly peaceful existence. I don’t stand in the way.”