Her eyes narrowed just slightly, her stare aggressive. Her power swirled, hitting him in a rush, one hundred percent alpha. The challenge caught him off guard, rattling through his mind and yanking on his beast. A rush of rage immediately flooded him.
Before he could blink or even get his bearings, the air in the kitchen flash-froze, turning solid.
Anger boiled up from his bonds with Jessie, quickly replaced by calm, cool understanding. Magic still pounded, though, slicing through the dense air, throwing a wall between Austin and Aurora. He could see it shimmering, knew who put it there, knew the cause.
“Jess,” he said, struggling to speak. He could barely see her through the now-throbbing magic, making his eyes sting. “Are you good?”
“I’m having a scary little moment just now. I felt her challenge you, and my gargoyle nearly swept me away. I’m good, though. I’ve got it. I’m just trying to calm everything down, which is not easy because Kingsley’s magic has popped off, and Earnessa’s magic is pounding at me and my people felt my stupid magical pulse I didn’t mean to send through the connections and are coming here for battle.
Lots of big personalities in the mix. I’d really love to step outside and cool down, but if anyone
rushes me right now, things might get…messy.”
It seemed Austin’s mom would have a new member of the family to worry about. At least Austin wouldn’t be alone with his title of unpredictably dangerous.
“Earnessa, Aurora, stand down,” Kingsley commanded, his power crackling through his words.
“I can make them stand down, Kingsley,” Jess said through clenched teeth, “but I cannot handle much more of your power smashing into me.”
“End the spell, Jessie, and I’ll get a handle on this,” Mimi said. “Denise, when you can, get Earnessa out of here.”
“Let’s all find our chi,” Jess said right before the magic slid from the room.
Austin’s mom and grandma moved quickly.
“What was that?” Earnessa demanded, pushed from the room by Denise.
“Come on, girl.” Mimi practically dragged a stunned and wide-eyed Aurora off her stool. “What sort of a fool are you to challenge a woman’s new mate? Are you out of your mind? That is the fastest way to get yourself killed—”
Her voice drifted away as they hurried down the hall.
Another pulse of magic shot out from Jess, calling off her people.
Kingsley tensed. “What was that one, an all-clear?”
Jess hopped from her stool and hurried to Austin’s side, plastering herself to his body. She breathed him in, her eyes closed, tilting her head up for a kiss. He complied quickly, knowing she was acting on her gargoyle’s need to ensure her mate was safe. This was purely primal, all of this. Aurora should’ve been old enough to know better. He said so.
“I’m sorry,” Jess started.
“I’m not talking to you, Jacinta,” he said firmly, pouring alpha into his tone. Into the magic emanating from his body.
She shuddered against him, badly shaking now that the adrenaline was wearing off.
“Yes, please keep doing that,” she murmured. “I am not in my right mind just now. I’m making all of our people nervous. Tristan is coming, even though I sent the magic to call him off.”
“That new mate bond hasn’t calmed down yet?” Kingsley asked, leaning against the counter on his elbows.
“No,” Austin said. “If anything, it’s gotten stronger. Did you hear what I said?”
His brother gave a world-weary sigh before standing to grab the bottle of wine and refilling his glass. “Yeah, I did. And yeah, she knows better. She’s just at an age right now when she’s trying to flex. She’s got a lot of power, and she’s getting impatient about using it. I’ll talk to her.” His gaze went to Jess. “Jessie, I apologize about that. Thank you for not…doing the million things you could’ve done that would’ve been infinitely worse than what you did.”
Jess shook her head and peeled away from Austin. “I still need to get a breath of fresh air. I’ll have to talk to Tristan, anyway. He’s nearly here.”
She headed for the door at the other end of the large room, leading out onto the patio.
Kingsley leaned forward again, rotating his glass and watching the wine swirl within it.
“Aurora’s been a handful these last few years. She’s got a streak of Dad in her.” His gaze came up to Austin. “Like you.”