Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
“You’d definitely find someone tonight,” Jasper murmured. “He already knows they don’t like him, though.”
Ulric rolled his eyes. “I keep thinking those idiots are going to get tired of coming after me, but they always find new people who like to bully a smaller guy.”
“The smaller guy who kicks their asses.” Jasper elbowed him.
Shivers coated Nessa’s body. Their talk was confirming her suspicions. “What’s this now?”
“It’s nothing.” Ulric waved it away.
“This pair of idiot shifters decided they didn’t like Ulric when he first got here,” Jasper explained. “Didn’t you go home with one of their girlfriends or something?”
“She wasn’t even a girlfriend—she was just a girl these clowns were trying to pick up.”
“Anyway,” Jasper continued, “they’ve been making his life hell ever since.”
“Not hell,” Ulric replied. “It’s not that bad. They’re not that great at fighting. But then they bring in more people to outnumber me, and it’s a pain in the ass. Everyone else they’ve targeted has decided to drink elsewhere, so until they find someone new, I get all their attention.”
“What joy is yours.” Jasper smirked at him.
They got to the corner of the street and crossed over. “Have you mentioned this to Austin?” Ness asked.
Both guys paused to stare at her.
“Are you serious?” Jasper asked. “How’s the guy supposed to hold his head up if he has to have someone else fight his battles? That’s sure to bring a bunch of other clowns looking for an easy fight.”
“And you can’t just accidentally-on-purpose kill one of them while defending yourself?” Nessa pushed.
Ulric shook his head. “I’ve landed a dream job. It might take a second, but eventually other gargoyles will envy us. I don’t want to put that in jeopardy by going too hard with a couple idiots. It’s fine. They’ll get tired of losing eventually.”
That night, actually. They’d get tired of losing that night—Nessa would make sure of it. After she identified the troublemakers, she’d make them an offer she hoped they’d refuse, because if they did, she’d get to leave their carcasses in the woods.
“Hey, Ivy Hozers, wait for me!”
Everyone turned at the sound of the male voice. One of the basajaunak emerged from the trees on the other side of the road—the one who drank with Niamh. He had on his hard hat, reflective vest, and too-short kilt. His long legs helped him close the distance in no time, a big smile on his hairy face.
“Hey!” he said again when he got closer. “Are we all going to the same fun-time watering hole?”
“Hozers?” Jasper said as Ulric repeated, “Fun-time watering hole?”
“For a little libation, yes,” Nessa said, starting to walk again.
“Good training today.” The basajaun slowed down his long stride to keep pace. “You guys are really working as a team. Buln’dan—I mean, Dave is going to see if we can’t participate in some way. Harder to help from the ground, but we want to be of more use. That battle the other day was a great time! Too bad we had to pull back. I could’ve killed a few of them with the spears alone if they’d let me. I am actually an excellent shot. One of the best. Her is a little better, but she can’t throw as far.”
Nessa had thought Dave was violent, but he was nothing compared to a couple of the new ones. They’d been so wound up that Austin needed to step in to protect the gargoyles, lest the basajaunak go overboard. Given there wasn’t much for Nessa to do during the battle but laugh at Edgar making all the downed gargoyles uncomfortable, she’d had a lot of time to watch their antics.
“You guys should probably train with the shifters,” Sebastian said, glancing up. “I should, too. The non-fliers of Jessie’s crew need to train with other non-fliers, I think.”
“Welcome back,” Ulric told Sebastian.
“What?” Sebastian asked as they reached the bar.
The guy Jessie didn’t like stood outside, sucking on the end of a cigarette. He glanced at the newcomers, shaking his head a little when he caught sight of the basajaun. He didn’t say anything, though, apparently reserving his wittiness for when Jessie was there and could throw it back at him. Or else not wanting to engage when the basajaun was on hand.
The bar was busier than usual, which was saying something, because these days it was always busy. Nearly half the people had wings flowing down their back, many of them big guys and more than a few from the visiting cairns.
“Wow,” Ulric said softly, grabbing Nessa’s arm for some reason.
“Hello, boys and girls.” Patty appeared out of what seemed like thin air, her blond hair perfectly curled and a big smile on her made-up face. “Ulric, you’re looking well. Come here, come here. Niamh mentioned you’d be by, so I’ve opened up an area for our heroes!”