“That’s not her choosing a life path. That’s her struggling with her demons. Different thing.” She tsked in annoyance, pulling off her muumuu. “Men are daft. They think they have all the answers. They try to decide what’s good for women without bothering to understand a woman’s wants and needs, and then wonder why the women aren’t grateful. A bunch of wankers, if ye ask me. And yes, I’m talking about ye, Tristan, specifically, in case that wasn’t clear.”
Tristan studied her silently for a long moment before looking back toward the house. “It was plenty clear.”
“Too late now, though. We don’t have time to change things up.” Niamh realized she’d forgotten her satchel and lacked a proper change of clothes. “Here, Sebastian, run over to the porch there and grab me satchel, would ya? I can’t be wearing a muumuu to a Dick bar, like. They’ll take all sorts of notice.”
“I think it’s sweet what you’re attempting,” Sebastian said to Tristan after he did as Niamh had asked. “She’s never had anyone try to look out for her like you’re doing. She usually gives more than she receives. But Niamh is right, I guess. I never really thought of it that way, but it makes sense.” He held on to the satchel, knowing that he’d be riding on her back and therefore carrying it. “And you should be afraid of her violence. Jessie makes Nessa pretty tame. It’s easy to feel safe here. But you haven’t even seen Nessa’s wild side. What she’s capable of when she feels threatened. Not even close.”
“What’s the plan with Edgar, by the way?” Tristan asked after stowing his clothes in the satchel with Niamh’s. He clearly wasn’t worried about Nessa’s wildness. He’d have to find out the hard way. Hopefully. “I thought he was part of this.”
“We don’t need him for the bars,” Niamh said, stepping away a little to shift. “He’d just creep people out. I had Ulric drop him at the warehouse to set things up and then work on his doilies. I didn’t give him any specifics. Whatever he comes up with is going to rattle our new mage friends, I have no doubt.”
TWENTY-TWO
Sebastian
AFTER NIAMH and Tristan changed behind a closed movie rental store with boards on its windows and a foul-smelling dumpster off to one side, Niamh handed the satchel back to Sebastian and led the way around the corner.
“Just follow my lead tonight,” she said, motioning for Tristan to walk beside her, on the side closest to the building. “I’ve established a different rapport with each bartender and let slip certain details that should help us round up all of the mages. We’ll have to be sly, o’course, or it might get back to Kingsley, but if we just keep our heads low, it should be handy enough.”
“In four days or whatever it is, you’ve managed to become friends with all the bartenders in three different towns?” Sebastian asked in disbelief.
“Lads, listen to him,” she muttered to herself. Then to him: “These are tiny towns in the middle of nowhere. There are two or three bars per town at the very most, and the mages seem to only visit the very busiest, which are not that busy. The shifters stopped coming around, too. Mostly, anyway. These bartenders are cryin’ out for someone to talk ta. All I needed to do was show up, like.”
“Right, but…” Sebastian slowed as they approached the bar they’d visited the day they’d arrived.
“You piss people off more often than you make friends.”
“Only when I don’t need somethin’。 Ah, there’s Phil.” Niamh nodded to a clump of bushes and trees just beyond the bar. Sebastian barely noticed the furry foot sticking out, exactly like someone might expect of a Bigfoot foot.
“How’s he going to know if he needs to grab someone?” Tristan asked.
“How’d he get here?” Sebastian wondered aloud.
“He’s got a walkie-talkie. Sebastian, run over there and pick up the other one. And he ran, how else? Did ye think he grew wings? I bet ye think that cape will actually help ye to fly, too, do ya?
Maybe you should try it when this is all through.”
“I feel like we’re circling back to my question about you making friends,” Sebastian grumbled as he started jogging toward the foot.
“Don’t jog, for heaven’s sake!” Niamh seethed. “Janey mack, everyone is going to know something’s up. See what ye did, Tristan? I blame ye. Instead of the competent one, we get the weird one.”