Page 70 of Magical Midlife Conclave

“Likely not,” Sue said, his posture swelled with pride. “I also think anyone who planned to challenge Jessie just changed their tune.”

Jessie returned as though nothing had happened. “Let’s eat, shall we? I’m starving.”

15

Tristan

“These shifters, man.” Gerard put his fingers to his head and gestured like they exploded outward. “I had no idea they were this volatile. They do such a good job of holding it all in.”

The aggression in the air was palpable as they stood outside on the grass, having finished a subdued dinner an hour ago and then moving out to the non-alphas. A few packs had already left, their bodies tight and eyes down. None of the visiting shifters had dared look at the basajaunak lounging around the trees or grass. The large creatures showed zero concern for the pounding hostility around them.

Alternately, the gargoyles laughed and joked and mingled, meeting friends from other cairns, people they’d met over the last couple weeks, and just generally having a good time. They didn’t mind the basajaunak at all, not even the Elder. They didn’t bother themselves with the stoic shifters, either, giving them plenty of space. They might like to battle, but they weren’t idiots.

“They can be, definitely. But this lot…” Tristan took a sip of his drink. “Some of them are laughable. I had no idea how good I had it with Austin and Sue and all of them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Some of these shifters are so firmly steeped in the concept of hierarchy that they base their worth on it. If they feel someone with less power, they want to claim dominance over that person. They get pushy and try to boss the other person around. If the other person has the same title, they puff up and take offense. They’d probably all be fighting right now if not for the basajaunak.”

“Ah.” Gerard nodded. “Challenges galore tomorrow.”

“Probably.”

“They’re easy to rile up. I might try to challenge one, though they don’t seem to have many fliers.”

“No. And I’ll bet they go for the wings first.” Tristan felt adrenaline thrumming in his middle. “I don’t care. I bet I can prod one into challenging.”

Gerard laughed. “I’ll let you go first.” He scratched his chest. “Why didn’t Jessie and Austin invite any of the garhettes? I thought they were part of the fight now?”

“Jessie thought they’d work with the basajaunak and settle everyone down.”

Gerard scoffed. “Or else they’d take offense to something and beat down some shifter.”

“Or maybe that, yeah.” Tristan grinned. “They were at Ivy House earlier having their third garden party.”

“Oh, chasing the gnomes around?”

“Yeah. They’ve staked their claim. None of the gnomes venture close to Ivy House anymore, but the garhettes aren’t having much impact on the deeper woods. The gnomes have organized, I guess. When the garhettes venture too deep, the gnomes overwhelm them and force them back. It’s a full-scale war with very strange weapons.”

Gerard bent over, laughing. “What kind of weapons?”

“Well, the gnomes have their garden supplies, and the garhettes have random household objects, like brooms and rolling pins and whatever they have at hand. I saw one chasing a gnome around with a chair.”

Gerard kept laughing. “Why?” he wheezed. “Why not actual weapons?”

Tristan’s grin was crooked. “I don’t know. Maybe because magical guns don’t work on them? Or maybe they just like the brutality of bashing a gnome with a blunt tool and we don’t have enough swords or mallets?” He thought for a minute. “Actually, do we have any? Maybe we just need to get better weapons. I forget to inquire because the garhettes always just handle everything. I’ll mention it to Jessie.”

“I actually want to watch that all unfold…but I’m scared.”

It was Tristan’s turn to laugh. “Wise man.”

Sebastian walked up with a stiff body and zero swagger. He was dressed like a casual Elliot Graves but currently acting like an uncomfortable Sebastian.

“What’s up?” Tristan asked the mage. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Sebastian pulled at his collar. “There are a lot of shifters here who really hate mages.”

Tristan scanned the crowd, finding Nessa chatting with a group of three guys. She leaned and swayed and laughed, touching arms or brushing her fingertips across chests, keeping their attention and their interest as her energy swirled and danced around them. She’d figured out a long time ago how to influence people, subconsciously pulling on a type of magic no one seemed overly familiar with. Or maybe mages just discounted it, opting for the robust spells and potions and prizing anyone good at them. Now she was learning how to consciously work her magic, blending it with tactics she already knew worked.