I don’t care.”
“No, that’s not—”
“A female gargoyle should have female guardians,” the kind-faced woman said, her balled fists on her hips now. “That’s just logic.”
“You know what?” Tristan once again drew their attention, his hands out, now shepherding them back toward the car. “You have some very good points. Very valid points. You’ve given us a lot to think about. What do you say we go grab something to eat and let the alphas talk it through? Because your ability to fight isn’t the only consideration. They’ll need to make sure we have room for everyone, and there are some Khaavalor guardians coming in as well.” All their eyes lit up. They were clearly not from one of the higher-status cairns. “How’d you…” He glanced around. “How’d you get to the territory, by the way?”
“Oh”—Aunt Florence waved her hand—“we took a bus from the airport, but it would only go as far as… Oh now, what was that town called?”
“Sa… Seh…？” Tekkie screwed up her face in thought.
“Anyway, one of the towns close by,” Aunt Florence went on. “There was this cute little café, so we stopped for a cup of coffee and a slice of coffee cake and got to talking to the woman who works there. Lovely person—”
“Danica,” Tekkie said.
“Yes, Danica. And wouldn’t you know it, she said her nephew was at home doing nothing—
playing video games or something—and he could run us out. Well, that was just fine. So he dropped us at the edges—you know, because cairns can be wary of strangers, and I wasn’t sure if shifter packs were different—and then we walked in far enough to meet this fine shifter.” She pointed at the still-surly driver. “He’s a wolf, I guess. He wouldn’t show us his other form, though. Anyway, he drove us here.”
“Fantastic,” Tristan said, taking all of that without batting an eye. “How about this? Let’s get you that bite to eat or maybe just another coffee while the alphas chat, okay? Patty won’t arrive for another few hours or so. I’ll meet you there with Ulric.” He glanced at Kingsley.
“Take them to the Hot Plate,” Kingsley told the driver. “Tell them to bill me.”
“Fantastic. Here we go, ladies.” Tristan corralled them toward the car. “I’ll see you in just a minute, okay?”
“He’s handsomer than everyone says,” one of the women said as they got situated in the car.
“So large and strong, did you see his arms and chest? Phew.” Tekkie in the front seat started fanning herself. “I’d think it was a hot flash if I wasn’t beyond those.”
They cackled as the car pulled away.
I faced Kingsley immediately. “That’s not on me. This is not my fault.”
“Ulric is on your team, as is Patty,” Austin said with a smirk. “The garhettes are with them, and they are with you. So they are—”
“Tristan’s,” I said quickly. “They’re Tristan’s. He handled them so well, and they know and respect him. Tristan is yours, which then makes Aunt Florence…” I pointed at Austin.
“Yours,” he replied. “Tristan is a gargoyle.”
“This is all fun and games, but can they fight?” Kingsley asked. “Are the magical guns a viable option? Because if they can’t, we can stow them in the border towns.”
“You probably should anyway,” Ulric said, watching the car turn a corner.
“They have the strength, speed, and power of a gargoyle,” Tristan said, standing with us again.
“Just not the claws and wings.”
“They can fight,” Dave said, clearly remembering the occasion in which Patty had attacked him after a joke gone wrong. “They can help.”
“Many of the younger garhettes have trained in various fighting styles,” Tristan said, “trying to convince the cairn leaders to let them take part.”
“The magical guns are a viable option,” Nessa said, her phone out. “I’d have to pick them up from a…not very reputable character, but it wouldn’t be the first time. If those garhettes have courage—and given what we know about Patty, they do—we can station them around the territory and tell them to point and shoot. Worst case, they can guard the innocents. More hands on deck is not a bad thing here.
I say we use them.”
“But where are we going to put them?” Austin asked.