Magical Midlife Battle （Leveling Up, #8）(20)

Old me would’ve crumbled. I would’ve forced the basajaunak into the vans and told the guy thanks but no thanks. I would’ve tried to please Austin.

Magical me realized, however, that it did not matter one bit how the basajaunak showed up. They could be riding tricycles or wearing tutus, in some beater camper or stuffed in a luxury van too small for them. In whatever manner they arrived, they would bring the wow factor, more so than any other creature. Just having them on our team was incredible, something Austin was currently forgetting.

So I didn’t go after him. I didn’t try to smooth things over. I let him be grumpy and gruff and unyielding, and when I proved him wrong, I would absolutely expect groveling.

After ten or so minutes, a line of trucks ambled down the street. There must’ve been ten campers in all, from spruced up and shiny to a million years old but still running. Our new friend had called in favors to help us out.

Tears actually clouded my vision this time. I was such a sap about this stuff.

They parked on the side of the street, still taking up part of the road and not worrying about it. The guy from earlier stepped down from his truck and met me on the sidewalk.

“Thank you so much!” I gave him a hug. “This is really amazing. I can’t thank you enough. All of you.”

I stepped back and waved down the line. Beeps sounded back, their acknowledgement.

I stuck out my hand to him. “I’m Jessie.”

“Howdy, ma’am. Hank.” He shook it before looking at the motel. “Okay, then. Let’s get ’em all

loaded up.”

It didn’t take long, all the basajaunak organizing quickly and stowing away with plenty of head-and legroom.

“What are they? Bigfoots?” Hank asked after he closed the door to his camper.

“Basajaunak, actually. Don’t call them Bigfoots. They hate that, and if you piss them off, they are about the meanest, most violent creatures you’ll ever encounter. Grizzly bears might as well be teddy bears in comparison.”

“That right? Huh.” He flared his eyebrows and shook his head. “You see summin’ new every day.

All right then, what should we do, just follow y’all?”

“Yeah, that would be amazing. How much— What can I pay you for all this?”

“Ah now.” He waved that away. “We’re just bein’ neighborly. Happy to help.”

Austin met me at the first van, waiting beside the open door. Everyone else had been tucked in, with doors closed and motors running.

He stopped me before I took my place, his eyes so open now.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I wasn’t thinking back there. You were right—the basajaunak deserved better than traveling like a bunch of sardines in a can. Forgive me?”

I threaded my arms around his neck. “I had it all planned out—I was going to prove to you that I was right, then give you the cold shoulder until you owned up to it. But now here you are, taking away all my self-righteousness.”

“Please kiss her in an area that won’t ruin her makeup,” Mr. Tom called out from the van behind us, having to lean over the gargoyle in the front passenger seat to do it. “I won’t be able to fix her from way back here. I’m not Go-Go-Gadget!”

I held my breath for a moment. “He’s amazing at ruining a moment.”

Austin smiled down at me. “Yes, he is. And he apparently thinks you don’t know how to do your own makeup even though you just did it, without his help, an hour ago.”

“I think he’s trying to forget that, actually. He’s tucking it into his blind spot and hoping he still gets to do it in the future.”

Austin kissed me on the forehead, and then the tip of my nose. His eyes lingered on my lips, and I felt the heat of his body pressed against me, the gravity of our mating bond within me.

“Don’t do it, sir,” Mr. Tom called. “You don’t have the makeup in that car to fix her up.”

Austin laughed just a little before hugging me tightly. “If he wasn’t trying to help me by helping you, I’d probably go back there and pull his arms off.”

“He’ll never know how close he came.”

Austin handed me into the van and stepped in after me. He pulled the door closed and gave the order to get going. Tristan sat in the front passenger seat, with Sebastian and Nessa in the far back.

Mimi shared the seat with them.

“You moved the mages up to the front van, huh?” I asked, seeing Sebastian turn around to access his suitcase.

“I want my brother’s pack to know that I value these mages,” Austin replied, clasping his hands in his lap as he looked ahead. “That they have a place of importance in our setup. There is going to be some animosity toward them because of the situation. This is my effort to negate that as much as possible.”

“They’ll be glad for these mages before it’s all through,” Mimi said.

“It might not be a fun ride getting to the finish line,” Sebastian murmured as he pulled a watch from his carry-on. “Especially since I’m strapping on my arrogance.”

“That’s the very thing that will keep them at bay,” Mimi told him. “At least long enough for Nessa to sneak up behind them and stick one of her knives in their throats.”