Magical Midlife Meeting (Leveling Up #5)(75)

“Here, what’s goin’ on, Jessie?” Niamh demanded, walking over to us. Broken Sue didn’t drop his cargo. “Why isn’t he dead?”

“He claims he’s Sebastian,” I answered, turning and finding Edgar, already drifting toward one of the corners. “Edgar, I need you.”

“Oh, how nice. I love to be needed.” He loped toward me.

“I’ll never get used to how that vampire runs,” Elliot muttered.

“Elliot says that you bit Sebastian. Can you tell a person by the taste of their blood?” I asked.

“Yes, of course. Mostly.”

I lifted my eyebrows, losing confidence. “Okay, well, can you bite him, then?”

Kace walked forward from the flank of my crew. “Alpha, I smelled Sebastian when he was in town. Should I verify?”

“How do we know this isn’t mind control?” Niamh asked. “Sebastian told me that he could control minds if he wanted.”

“I said I could control moods, not minds,” Elliot said. “I cannot implant ideas into people’s minds. If my scent didn’t match, or my blood, I could make you feel okay with that, but I couldn’t erase your knowledge of the discrepancy.”

“All due respect, miss,” Mr. Tom said as the basajaun found the nearest wall and put his hand on it. “How do we know he isn’t lying?”

“Ivy House says he is Sebastian as well,” I replied.

“Yes, miss, and that is interesting, but she is also old and bored and cunning, and she’ll slit a proverbial throat to help you get ahead. I do love that house, but she is rooting for Austin Steele, and I must say one final time that a gargoyle would be just a bit more fitting, don’t you think?”

“He’s never going to let that go,” Austin murmured, and he didn’t seem mad. But then, how could you be with Mr. Tom? There simply was no point.

“The house’s goal is to keep Jessie alive,” Niamh said. “What’s that ye say, Jessie? Ivy House approves of Sebastian?”

“I don’t know that she—”

“I approve of him, ” Ivy House cut in.

I gritted my teeth. “Turns out she can hear my conversations no matter how far I am from Ivy House, so that’s something you might not have known, and also, yes, she apparently does.”

“Well, then.” Niamh looked around the room. “That’s fine. Do ye have any whiskey? I could do with a pint. Or maybe a bottle. This situation has made bags of the day, so it has.”

“So, shall I…” Edgar stopped just beside and a little behind Elliot, hands at his sides, looking down at the mage’s neck.

Elliot breathed deeply, his gaze rooted to mine, his expression saying he was not comfortable with Edgar standing there. Which was understandable, really.

“Yes.” I motioned Edgar on.

“I also have those flowers for the basajaun, if he can taste the difference,” Elliot said, his voice strained. He held up his hand. “Oh, wait, this is going to put me out.”

Edgar’s bite caused his victims to temporarily lose consciousness.

“That’s okay. I need time to think anyway.” I nodded at Edgar, and he moved with amazing speed, clamping down on Elliot’s neck.

Elliot gave a shriek, and then he slouched, his limbs relaxing. Edgar gulped twice before straightening up.

“Ah, yes.” He pulled on Elliot’s sleeve and then bent again to dab his mouth. “I remember that taste. Very spicy. Magic will do that. I’ve feasted on many mages. He is the spiciest of them all. He gave me terrible heartburn. Does anyone have any Tums?”

I blew out a breath, remembering all of the time I’d spent with Sebastian, remembering his patience, his easy communication, his eagerness to help.

“Elliot Graves knows an awful lot about shifters,” I finally said, standing up.

“I was thinking the same thing.” Austin joined me. “What will you do?”

“I don’t know. Let’s go home. We’ll talk about it on the way, since it’s pretty clear this affects you and your pack, too.”

“I have your stuff,” came the disembodied voice from earlier. “We have a plane standing by for you. Also, there is something you should know regardless of the decision you make. I can either tell you while hanging from a very strong arm that doesn’t seem to feel my weight, or you can have Broken Sue put me down so I can take a revealing potion first.”

This situation straddled Austin’s domain and mine, but I didn’t have to work through the nuances of who should do what—the details were crystal-clear to me, as if we’d been doing this forever.

Broken Sue was his pack, so Austin needed to make the command, but the woman—Nessa—was appealing to me about Elliot, which made it my decision. Perhaps mating had opened up these new insights, or maybe they’d unfurled for me because I’d finally unleashed my gargoyle. Whatever the case, the simple equality between Austin and me made my heart sing. We were bringing our two factions together, and one day we’d build something even greater.

I’d made a good decision with him.

I also wanted to rush him to someplace quiet and rip his clothes off. Would this craving ever cease? Did I want it to?

After a deep breath, I glanced at Austin.