Magical Midlife Battle （Leveling Up, #8）(96)

Silence was not golden. Our mages were getting increasingly nervous that Momar was mobilizing.

Time was short, but Nessa still had to pick up the shipment of guns, an apparently seedy affair involving dangerous characters who were just as likely to double-cross her as deliver the goods.

Arrangements were being made slower than she’d anticipated. The garhettes were doing well with their knife work and hand-to-hand combat, no shortage of aggression and a good dose of speed, but they needed those weapons. Without them, most of them wouldn’t be able to stand up against a mercenary, even an unarmed one.

I stilled my thumping heart and focused a little harder, feeling Nathanial touch my foot before soaring above me. I pushed up skyward and then snapped in my wings so he could grab me, flying me fast toward the north end of the perimeter and then quickly maneuvering east, practicing his ability to fly at dizzying speeds with quick changes of direction while holding on to me.

Without warning, he tossed me left and dodged right, simulating what would happen should someone blast a gun or spell directly at us. I swooped down to confront a potential enemy before

climbing back up again. He dove below me, and I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to simulate. He was trying to do double duty, work with Tristan and equally help me.

Another gargoyle grabbed me, flying me south, and now it seemed like I was a prop. All well and good. Few of the gargoyles were used to carrying one of their own in battle. They needed to learn.

Lives might depend on it.

“You’re trying too hard,” Ivy House told me, the first time she’d spoken to me since we’d left.

“What do you mean?” I replied, opening my eyes as the gargoyle dropped me and swerved away.

Another grabbed me quickly, diving before pulling out gradually and releasing me at exactly the wrong moment.

With a growl I worked to right myself and fly straight, shooting magic at him to let him know he’d screwed up.

“You’re trying to get too detailed with the connections,” she said. “That part of your magic isn’t supposed to work like the Ivy House connections. It’s supposed to be a general guide. It needs to connect everyone together, not just connect them to you. You’re pulling at strings when you should be pulling at groups and teaming that with magic.”

That didn’t make much sense to me.

After a moment of being flown south by a big gargoyle without a lot of speed, I told her as much.

“It’s easier in battle, but here…”

Strange tingles covered my skin, and I zapped the guy holding me so he’d let go. I pushed him away and lowered so everyone would know I didn’t want to be bothered.

The tingles turned into pricks of pain, and then it felt like my hair was standing on end. Within my mind’s eye, I sensed a swell of lights and colors moving through me and then over and under me, all around me, merging together. The strings I’d been plucking one by one joined together into a symphony, notes rising and falling above the mass to pull at my attention.

“Do you see?” she asked. “This is rudimentary, since I’ve never been able to directly teach the heirs, but it’s an idea.”

“It’s a very good idea, are you kidding me? You’re telling me you could’ve been helping me all this time, and I’ve instead been blasting my crew and flailing around?”

“No, I can help you with certain things, like the connections to your team and issues relating to the property, but magic on the whole is your responsibility. I don’t do spells; I house the magic.

Because I’m a house. See how that works?”

“And you couldn’t offer this up before now?” I asked with a tone.

“I’ve learned that when the heirs figure things out for themselves, they have a better grasp on the magic.”

“And how has that worked with the past heirs? You know, all the ones who have died early?”

“Again, I just house the magic,” she said, now also taking a tone. “I don’t pick their terrible mates who try to steal the magic in jealousy or won’t take the magic out of cowardice…”

She was talking about Austin now.

“Thanks,” I said, because she had helped me get a handle on this new way of perceiving the gargoyle connections. It was certainly a lot better than what I was doing before, but I got what she was saying—I’d need to develop some finesse.

A shock of pain brought me out of my reverie. Another followed it up quickly, stabbing into my side. A third through a wing.

I looked around in confusion and rising panic, taking in the grove of trees in the park at the southeast edge of the town below me. The grassy area beyond it was devoid of people. Patrols mostly

passed through here going elsewhere, as this area of town was not heavily populated yet.

Something struck my leg, digging in, and more popped through my wings. Arrows. Someone was shooting arrows at me! What in the…

I twirled to look around, but I’d sunk low in the sky, lost in my own world. No one flew nearby, giving me space. Another arrow flew up and pierced me. Pain reverberated through my wings with each pump, and wind passed through instead of keeping me airborne.

There, in the trees, a person—a man—stepped into the clearing and lifted a bow. He let go, and another arrow flew, missing me. A second person—a woman this time—stepped into the space between the trees, and a man walked onto the grass beside her. They had their bows out. More arrows flew.