“I don’t remember meeting them,” I whispered as Austin’s hand drifted away, taking the heat with it. I shivered again at the sudden chill in its wake.
“Everyone around here knows who you are. The magical people, anyway. Magical people keep their eyes on dangerous things.”
My face heated and I wanted to come up with an offhanded remark to deflect being called dangerous, but the news about my parents had put me off my game.
“Have you had to fight anyone to retain your alpha title?” I asked as a distraction, coming up on a dentist’s office.
“No one I wouldn’t have had to subdue anyway. Outsiders with too much liquor trying to stir up trouble.”
“Well, yeah, that’s pretty standard fare for a bar.”
“Not my bar.” He motioned for me to cross the street, then directed me through a little alley between two businesses run out of converted houses. No dumpsters loitered along the way, and there was no trash blowing across the ground like urban tumbleweeds. This town, small and cute and clean, was nothing like the haunts I’d gotten used to in L.A. The change of pace was nice. I hoped my parents wouldn’t bitch that it was boring. You just never knew with them.
Halfway through the alley, the space opened up, showing the rear of a business situated on the main drag. I spied Jasper at the street corner. Gargoyles could blend into their environment, especially if the surfaces contained stone or rock, rendering themselves invisible, but I’d learned how to magically strip away their camouflage. So I could see Jasper’s deep gray gargoyle form, threaded through with tan and brown. He was one of three gargoyles who lived in Ivy House—a strong and silent type who’d proven excellent at guarding my back while keeping just enough distance to allow me my privacy.
It was more than I could say for the small collection of gargoyles who’d become long-term guests at a hotel in town. Around a dozen of them had answered my magical summons, but I’d already gotten rid of the guys obviously not cut out for the role, and one guy had left of his own accord. He couldn’t handle Niamh picking on him for his lack of hygiene. The remaining six were still auditioning for permanent roles in Ivy House.
Jasper nodded at me in greeting, glanced at Austin, and then turned back to the street. He would guard our front, trusting Austin to guard the rear.
“Jasper found us,” I told Austin, slowing with him.
“I know. I smelled him.” Austin led the way into what was essentially a small business’s backyard. He checked out the dumpster positioned against the fence on the far side, separating this space with the business next door. A pile of empty wine boxes, and a wine barrel standing on end, sat near a set of three steps leading to a back door. Obviously this was the back of a tasting room, this area of the world being big on wine.
“What are you looking for?” I asked, clasping my hands behind my back and watching his movements, my gaze only occasionally snagging on the play of muscle across his back and his tight, well-shaped butt. I was getting better at not staring.
“The actual winemaking for this winery happens at their country estate, about half an hour away. They grow most of the grapes they use.”
“All of the wineries in town make the actual wines elsewhere.” I tilted my head to read the name on the side of one of the boxes, very familiar with the wineries in town. I grimaced. This one wasn’t great.
“There isn’t much room back here for a gathering of any kind.”
I frowned at the small space, the gravel crunching under my feet and a dark stain near the dumpster making my nose curl. “It isn’t a place I’d like to hang out even if there was space.”
“What if it were spruced up a little?” He stopped in the center and put out his hands, then squinted up at the sky, getting a full dose of sun on his face. “A few people could hang out back here.”
“Next to the dumpster? Are you planning a party or something? Why not just have it in your bar?”
He lowered his face and hands, gave the space another look, and then motioned me toward the front, the busiest strip of businesses in the town. A woman in her twenties caught sight of me emerging from around the corner. When she noticed Austin behind me, her face turned red and delighted surprise flashed in her eyes.
“Hi, alpha,” she gushed.
“Alpha.” A man behind the woman nodded before stepping into the street around her, avoiding the temporary traffic jam.
“Alpha,” someone said across the street, putting up his hand to wave.
Austin ignored them all, staring straight ahead and resting a hand on the small of my back. “Just here, Jess.”