Magical Midlife Battle (Leveling Up, #8)(10)

“What did you just say to me, mage—”

“Cam!” Tristan’s voice was a whip crack. The shifter leaning into Nessa jerked away. “What’s the delay? Get moving.”

Tristan wasn’t in charge of the shifters, but it didn’t seem to matter. Cam straightened up quickly, pulling back on the aggression. Without a word, he turned and headed back toward the vans.

Tristan stood a little removed from the others, his blank gaze on Nessa. In a moment, he went back to scanning the goings-on of everyone else.

“How gross would that be?” Sebastian asked as he grabbed his carry-on. “His sex doll? Ew.”

She grabbed her bag, and they walked toward the motel. “I know, but he’s a dimwitted grunt. I knew he’d miss the details. I would’ve had a field day if someone had said that to me.”

“I’m still stuck on ew.”

She laughed as they entered the shabby room that hadn’t seen an update since it was probably built in nineteen-too-long-ago.

“See anything?” she asked, jerking her head in the direction of the street.

“Only looky-loos so far. Our outfit is turning heads.”

“Of course it is. There’s a bunch of hard-eyed stacks of muscle standing around outside of luxury vans. Half of them have capes, for goodness’ sake. Everyone in this tiny town is going to know within the hour.” She affected an older man’s voice. “Hey, Ethel, there’s a bunch of guys dressed up as Batman at that motel on the strip. Damndest thing I ever did see.”

“Yeah, true. None of these people have probably seen gargoyles before. Even the Dicks who are used to turning a blind eye will talk about that. If Momar has people monitoring the towns bordering Kingsley’s territory, and he’d be a fool not to, they’ll know we’re here in no time at all.”

“I’ll shower first,” Nessa said, putting her suitcase on the double bed nearest the little table in the corner. “I need to do hair and makeup and all that. It’ll take forever.”

When she’d finished showering, he quickly rinsed off the airport cooties and dressed in smart attire. He’d asked around to find out what everyone else planned on wearing before picking out his threads. No flashy dressing this time around. He needed to fit in.

“Which watch—” Nessa pulled the curler away from her hair, cocking her head to look at his bare wrist. “No watch at all?”

“A watch on me would be a dead giveaway. It’d be like a fan in the hands of a debutante. I’ll

unconsciously give subtle cues without meaning to, and any mage even remotely worth the air they breathe would clue in. No, I’ll bring it with me and slip it on right before we meet Austin’s brother.”

“And which watch will you be slipping on, pray tell?”

He reached into his case and brought it out, a classic diamond-studded Rolex, a brand everyone knew with the added bling to make a statement. It was a watch meant to wow people who knew nothing about watches.

Nessa’s eyebrows climbed. “A bit much, no?”

“Naomi told me to dress like I was going to a mage function and I was the most important mage there. In shifter terms, the alpha. I can’t very well change my clothes in the car—that would be too awkward—and not even Tristan is planning on wearing designer attire, so I figured I’d add the bling with the watch.”

“So you’re going to strap on the Elliot Graves persona for the shifters?”

“Yes.”

A knock sounded at the door. Sebastian opened it to find a gargoyle with a thick chest and unruly hair.

“Shower free?” he asked in a collection of grunts. “I won’t interrupt you banging your girl. We just have a lot of people—”

“It’s free, it’s free.” Sebastian stepped away, waving the gargoyle in. “She’s just getting ready.

Both of us are.”

The gargoyle grunted again as he headed into the bathroom, not bothering to shut the bathroom door behind him.

“I swear.” Sebastian closed it for him. “These guys are so blasé about sex and nudity.”

“Yeah. It’s nice. I like how open they are. Anyway, Sabby, I know Naomi isn’t trying to steer you wrong, but she doesn’t really know you, either. Donning that persona will make you a target.”

“That’s what I told her. I was going to wear something simpler, but then Niamh, who was eavesdropping, told me that I’d stand out regardless, being the dirty mage, and this way they’d know it didn’t bother me.”

“Did she mention that you’d be inviting trouble?”

“No. I think Niamh hopes it’ll catch me by surprise and plans to laugh at the fallout.”

Nessa sighed. “You willingly went along with this plan?”

“When those two women gang up on you, you do what they say.”

She smiled as a lock of hair slid from the curling iron. “I’m just making sure you know what you’re getting into. If you play high-level mage with those shifters, you need to be Elliot Graves down to your core, something you’ve had trouble with around powerful shifters. You can’t let them see your weaknesses if you present yourself as having none. They’ll rip you apart.”

He looked in the somewhat crooked mirror hanging on the outside of the bathroom door, working on a magical face that was entirely new. It was the blandest one he could construct. It would hopefully ensure eyes slid right by him, especially since he wasn’t particularly tall or muscular.