Magical Midlife Battle （Leveling Up, #8）(60)

“Well now, miss,” Mr. Tom said indignantly. “You’ve been shut up and whisked away and taken out—when would one of your poor, loyal, forgotten servants have the ability to beg you to be included—”

“Okay, okay, okay.” I put up my hands to stop him.

“We’ve had to twiddle our thumbs, hoping you aren’t dead or—”

“Okay, I said. It’s not like we’ve been here long. It’s been one day, Mr. Tom. I hardly call that forgotten.”

“And last night.”

“Twenty-four hours. Let’s keep our expectations in check, shall we?” I put my hands on my hips, turning back to the alphas. “Sorry, guys. False alarm. The patrol must’ve given Edgar a knock. The good news is, the patrol is effective. The bad news is—”

I cut off as another connection pulsed, beaming joy and cunning ruthlessness. It was in the same location as the others. My phone rang, and I stared at Tristan’s name for a moment before answering.

“Hello?” I asked, putting it to my ear.

“Edgar got one.”

“Wh-what? Got…one what?”

Tristan laughed. “A mage. Our gargoyle patrol felt something strange leaving the territory and followed it toward the river. That must be when you clued in. The presence stopped. Our gargoyle thought whoever it was might feel wind from his wings, so he went a little ways away and landed, then snuck up on foot. The mage mustn’t have noticed Edgar. Our patrol certainly didn’t. Edgar says he was just minding his own business, picking a nice little area for Clarence the Clubber, when he bumped into something and got a fright. That something was the mage, who tried to hit Edgar with a spell, I guess. He was too close, though, so the mage banged him over the head with a flashlight.

Edgar grappled for the flashlight, got a hold of it, and banged the mage with it. The mage fell, our guy hurried toward the commotion, and now we have a knocked-out mage and a vampire asking to be retired because he went against your orders and was creeping around the territory when he shouldn’t have been.”

Tristan stopped to laugh. Both alphas were staring at me with barely contained impatience.

“I’m going to be honest, Jessie,” Tristan continued, “that vampire can definitely try the patience, but when you least expect it, he is useful. Damn useful.”

“Yeah.” What did you do with all of that? “Okay. Ah…well, fly in that mage. Get him to Austin’s house, stat, before he wakes up. Maybe bring Edgar in case the mage needs a bite to keep him

knocked out. I’ll meet you there. He needs to be magically contained or he’ll be dangerous, and that’s a job for Sebastian. I’m sure Kingsley—sorry, the alpha—and Austin will want to meet the patrol wherever they are. First, though…are you sure this mage was alone?”

Tristan let go of a breath. “No, Jessie, I’m not. I can see in the dark, but the ground is hard out here. I can’t see enough detail for subtle tracks, if they even left any. You can try getting shifters with good noses out here to see if something got through whatever potion they used.”

“Yeah, will do. Good work, all of you. You pass that on to the patrol. He would’ve gotten the guy if Edgar hadn’t gotten in the way, I have no doubt. That was a win for both of them, and you for reacting so quickly.”

“I deserve an award. I ate a crapload earlier. I have a cramp, actually. It hurts. That was a good lasagna.”

I rolled my eyes and said bye, then hung up and explained everything to the alphas.

When I was finished, Austin turned to head toward the house but stalled when Kingsley didn’t budge. I felt his alpha power beating into me, antagonizing my gargoyle.

“We’re going to have words, Jessie Ironheart. You need to rein in yourself and your people. This is not how I run my territory, and it is not how I’m going to handle this coming assault. Do I make myself clear?”

Austin’s power swirled, his beast now antagonized, but Kingsley wasn’t being scary. He was like a parent telling his child how disappointed he was in them, and for some reason it was devastating coming from him.

“Yes, sir,” I answered in a small voice, wilting.

He touched my shoulder, gave it a little squeeze, and I felt like crying in gratitude that he’d give me another chance. What a trip.

“And you.” Kingsley speared Austin with his hard gaze. His whole demeanor shifted, aggressive now, brimming with frustration. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, and I won’t ask. But if you’re going to handle whatever it is yourself, you better tone it way down, or I will be forced to step in. Do I make myself clear?”

I frowned in confusion, not sure exactly what he was talking about, as Austin said, “Crystal.”

Kingsley let out a slow breath. “Whoever would’ve thought your fruit loops vampire would show up my experienced shifters? I’ll never live this down with Mimi. Come on, we have work to do. We need to scout out the territory while Jessie and her people handle that mage. I assume your mighty beta shifter is as good in the field as he is at riling up my people?”

“Better.”

“At least that’s something. And after this is all over, I’ll want to know why that enormous beta gargoyle has eyes that glow. That’s not a gargoyle trait. I looked it up to make sure. You’ve got secrets. I don’t like secrets.”