“Hello, handsome,” she told Broken Sue as he hopped up, reaching for the bags. “No, no, you’re fine. I’m already here. Sit down and relax.” She set the bags down on the island before turning back to him. “Did you bring six white stallions and a carriage to take me to the ball?”
“I’m here to speak to Alpha Steele…but I can take you to the barbecue after if you want?”
“Yes, I do. Sebastian always manages to get the good back seat, and I have to sit on a spring. Or maybe they both have springs. Hard to tell. Are you going to be here long? I can go get dressed.”
“What were you up to?” I asked, moving to peer into the bags.
“Nope.” She put her hand out to stop me as Austin walked into the kitchen. “Okay, Mr. Alpha, here’s the situation.” Nessa pointed at the two bags. “Those are ingredients for a blind cooking contest. The ingredients are exactly the same. You can cook whatever you want—”
“I’ve seen cooking shows before. I know how they work,” Austin said, eyeing the bags with interest. “Who picked out the ingredients, or is this a cheat to win scenario for you? Not that it would matter. I am going to absolutely slaughter you.”
“Patty did, smarty. I just picked them up.” She waved him away. “I’ve got your number, now.
You’re a one-trick pony.”
“One-trick pony meaning I use salt with every meal?” He grinned.
She narrowed her eyes before pointing a finger at him. “Laugh it up, chuckles. After this is over, I’ll be the one making fun of you.”
“Dream on. Hurry up—the barbecue has already started.”
“I can take the mages,” Broken Sue said. “Sir, before you go, I wanted to bring to your attention that there are several places in the small mountain range to the north where a helicopter could land.
Farther out, there are more. They might not be coming through the towns at all; they might fly in and use an off-road vehicle to get here. They could hit us at first light without us getting any advance warning.”
Austin grabbed the keys from the counter slowly, his gaze distant. “Yeah, you’re probably right, though we’d hear helicopters.”
“True,” Broken Sue said slowly.
“Still, it’s worth covering our bases. I’ll talk to Tristan and Gerard about posting a couple of gargoyles high enough to see.”
“It won’t be any one thing,” Nessa said, looking at the plain brown bags. “It’ll be several. A helicopter. Campers through town. Horses, who knows. And while they’re moving in, there’ll be a distraction to provide them cover. Burning buildings, those dog things racing through town, and other atrocious things all of us would prefer not to think of.”
Broken Sue and Austin stared at her for a silent beat.
She turned their way and issued a glittering smile. “Not to be Debbie Downer or anything. I think an extra pair of eyes is a very good idea. Now, Austin, we have a problem to solve. There are bound to be items in those bags that need to be kept cool. How are we going to get them into the fridge without you cheating?”
A HALF-HOUR LATER, Austin and I were en route to the barbecue, those razor-tipped butterflies once again fluttering through my stomach. “I want to fly ’round and ’round this territory, not go to a barbecue.”
He was quiet for a beat. “I think everyone does. We’re all wound up. Patty’s right—it’s probably a good idea for us all to have a distraction.”
I wanted to mention that Sebastian was worried. That I was worried. That Nessa wasn’t normally this keyed up. But what would be the point? Worrying more wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t somehow make us all more prepared.
“Kingsley rigged all the music players in the cars,” I said instead, watching the town pass from the window.
“Yeah, I heard. He’s got an odd sense of humor.”
“It was nice of him to get the cars. We hadn’t thought about how everyone would get around.”
“It was. I was…surprised by what he said last night.”
We’d chatted in bed last night for a long time, but he hadn’t brought this up. I hadn’t pushed.
“He mentioned you said something to him,” Austin said.
I thought back. “Yeah, it must’ve been when we were squaring off in the office. We were in a silent bubble, and I said something about his old wounds not condoning his behavior. I may have also implied he wasn’t setting the greatest example for his kids. You know, for not kicking that idiot Bruce out and for letting his team treat you poorly. Though I supposed I shouldn’t call him an idiot now that Broken Sue…dealt with it.”
He nodded, quiet for a while, looking for a parking place.
“It hadn’t occurred to me that he was holding a grudge,” Austin finally said, parking a few blocks away. “Not sure why.” He got out of the car and came around to my side as I did the same.
“Probably because he didn’t act like he did. Not outwardly. It was during that situation that it dawned on me.”
“I should have apologized sooner. He’s always been so patient with me. So forgiving.”
“Well.” I toggled my hand. “Mostly, right? But it seems like he’s trying to smooth the waters now.
He brought the kids over. That’s a good sign. Aurora didn’t seem pissed.”
“She’s good at hiding her feelings. She’ll be an excellent alpha someday, but she needs room to grow.”
I stopped mid-step with sudden horror. “Shoot, should we have brought something?”
He laughed and tugged me along. “No. We’re alphas. We bring ourselves.”
THIRTY-TWO
AUSTIN
AN HOUR INTO THE BARBECUE, Austin stood on the outskirts with Brochan and Kingsley, who were both very familiar with an alpha’s role at these things. Flames reached up through the grills all around the park, with meat sizzling and veggies steaming in their tinfoil. Each of the guys held a plastic cup filled with bourbon, a little formal for a barbecue, but Kingsley’s people had handed them around.
Maybe a peace offering. Maybe they were just being polite.
Organized pits had been prepared for bonfires, although the sun was hours away from setting. The garhettes were clearly planning for this to last a while, and judging by the contests going on with the shifters, gargoyles, and basajaunak, all challenging Niamh to a drinking match, it just might.
“Alphas.” The basandere walked up, her hair braided in various areas down her body and her demeanor loose and easy. “I heard that time is officially ticking down.”
Kingsley looked to Austin.
“Our mages got word that the enemy is mobilizing. We don’t know how long that’ll take, though.”
She nodded, looking out to the west. “Dave—or is it Missus Smith with outsiders?”
“It’s only Missus Smith to outside mages, I believe,” Austin clarified, fighting his grin at his brother’s suddenly bewildered posture. He still didn’t much understand the Ivy House crew.