“You were,” I commented as Austin got out of the Jeep.
“I wasn’t doing it for myself,” Sebastian said. “I was doing it for you. Difference. I’m a peon, and you’re a gargoyle, so we aren’t breaking any stereotypes. In case that might bother you.”
I smiled, happy he was okay. “Can you stay a little while? For tea or a beer or something?”
“Sure. I’m too tired to walk home right now, anyway.”
Austin stopped next to me and, before I realized what he was doing, lifted me into his arms.
“I’m not hurt,” I told him, though I didn’t try to escape his arms. I didn’t want to.
“You’re more powerful than those spear guns,” he murmured, his voice low and still full of pride.
I leaned my head against his shoulder. “I guess so.”
“Are we thinking dinner or a snack?” Mr. Tom asked as Austin walked me to the door, having just shifted back to human.
“We’re thinking ye need to cover yer bollocks,” Niamh said. “They’re down around yer ankles.”
“It is an awful burden to have your company always forced upon us.” Mr. Tom sniffed as he followed Austin and me indoors.
“I’m starving,” I told Mr. Tom.
“Perfect. I shall prepare something and alert you when it’s ready. Austin Steele, will your brother be joining us?”
“No. He’s going straight back to my house. Sebastian, follow us.”
Austin took me back to my smaller, mostly private sitting room and situated me on his lap. It wasn’t strictly the most professional setup, but I didn’t care to fix it.
“You were magnificent today,” he said as Sebastian detoured through the kitchen, apparently thinking he needed to take the long way and give us a moment. “I’m glad you stood up to my brother. I would have done things differently, but you need to stick up for what you believe in. I respect that.”
“You did do things differently. I saw your guys help a few of the wounded into that good night.”
Austin trailed his lips along my jaw. “It was your fight, but it happened in my territory, so…bygones? They were calling us filthy names.”
I closed my eyes, soaking in the feel of his lips against my skin. “That’s what I figured. I didn’t try very hard to save the surly ones.”
“You saved a good few mercenaries.”
“Yeah, well, they were just doing a job. Niamh said that if I saved their lives, they wouldn’t ever take a job against me again.”
“They won’t, especially since a good few of them want to join our territory.”
“Our territory?”
He touched my chin and gently applied pressure until my lips were close to his. “Yes. Some called it yours. Some called it mine. Some called it ours. I think ‘ours’ makes the most sense. Your interactions with the magical world will always spill out of this property. You need to have a say in how things are handled.” He kissed me softly.
“Is that allowed, though? Won’t your people be confused?”
“Nothing about our setup is normal. They won’t be any more confused than they are now.” He kissed me again as Sebastian approached the door. Then Austin rose, lifting me with him, and deposited me onto the couch. “I know you want to ask him about joining the council, so I’ll let you talk to him alone. When you’re done, I’ll meet you in your bedroom?”
A rush of heat stole through me and I nodded. Sebastian, just about to enter, hunched down and backed up, letting Austin pass.
“Hey,” Sebastian said, straightening up as he came in. He stalled by the door. “Open or closed?”
“Closed, please.”
He shut the door, and I closed my eyes and leaned back.
“Tired?” he asked. “I mean, I know you’re tired, but…”
“I am, yes. I’ve never done so much healing. Fighting with magic didn’t actually tire me out like it has in the past. Like…” I frowned. “Kind of at all. It felt…so much easier.”
“They were all so far below you. If we were to battle, it would be a different story. Or another mage of my caliber.”
“You’d kill me pretty easily.”
“In a one-on-one fight away from Ivy House, yes, I probably would. But only because I have more experience. Add in your alpha and his shifters, and I wouldn’t give myself great odds, even with a team. I might run, like Kinsella did.”
I frowned as my eyes met his pale gray gaze. “What do I do about that? Do I hunt him down, or assume he’s learned his lesson?”
“In the magical world, normally I’d say you’d have to hunt him down, but you’d need to take him out in a cunning way, in cold blood, and I don’t know that you are capable of that. Plus, your territory is not entirely established yet. Let him run in disgrace. If he resurfaces in any meaningful way, and he is a thorn in your side, then you take him out.”