“Where’d we get the nightmare alicorn?” I asked stupidly.
It struck me that this was my new reality. I was being transported through the air in a large canvas sack by a gargoyle, fleeing a crew of invading creatures, beside a black alicorn ridden by a vampire. Only the severely twisted could make something like this up. It was too insane not to be real.
Which left me with a choice: I could either join this magical world with the magic stored in that house or run like hell and never look back.Twenty-FiveAs soon as all four hooves touched the ground, Niamh bucked, trying to fling Edgar off. She hated having people on her back. She didn’t understand how normal horses stood for it.
He held on, his long nails digging into her sides. She neighed and readied for another, but before she could rise he threw his leg over and jumped to the ground.
Austin Steele waited for them near a large clearing in front of a small cabin, pushed back some ways from a lake. A lone camping chair sat in front of a fire pit.
He came out here to be alone, Niamh knew. This was his escape from the town and all the people who knew him, looked up to him, or wanted something from him. He also came out here to heal after he had to turn someone away at the border. The cabin was his sanctuary, a place where he could be physically alone instead of just emotionally alone like he was within the town.
Niamh was surprised Earl even knew about this place. Before Jessie had moved into Ivy House, Niamh hadn’t even realized Austin Steele spoke to Earl. Most people tried to avoid the old nutter. Niamh only knew of the cabin because she’d seen Austin Steele running through the trees in animal form when she was flying over the area at dusk one night. She’d gotten curious and stalked him from the air for a few months.
She shifted to her human form, one of three forms she had to choose from, as Earl reduced down to a statue. Jessie stiffly climbed out of the sack she’d been carried in. She rubbed her butt.
“I’ve had better escapes,” she said. She froze when she noticed Austin Steele. Her eyes widened, and then her gaze slowly tracked down his exposed upper body, cut with muscle. He kept himself in pristine condition as befit one in an alpha role.
Loose, light gray sweats covered his powerful lower half. With no Jeep in sight, he had clearly run here in his animal form and pulled on sweats while he was waiting.
“You made it.” His smile was still startling. Before Jessie had shown up, Niamh hadn’t even realized his face muscles could move that way.
“Yeah.” The breath gushed out of her, and she glanced back at Earl, emerging from his stone stupor and beginning the transformation back to human. “Thanks to you.”
“Why, what happened?” Niamh asked, poking through the sack for a change of clothes.
“He changed into stone before telling me I needed to think about what I wanted from him,” she said, crossing her arms over her braless chest in a futile attempt to hide it. Her face flamed red, and it was clear she embarrassed much too easily, both with her bralessness and with the nudity of others. “Austin had to tell me.”
Niamh put her hands on her hips, waiting for Earl to complete his transformation. When he had, she said, “Well that was pure stupid, now wasn’t it?”
He blinked in confusion for a moment before putting it all together. His eyebrows lowered defensively. “I’d used my magic earlier in the night. I thought she was in the loop.”
“She didn’t understand what she was doing earlier,” Austin Steele said. “But it doesn’t matter now. She had the presence of mind to call for help. We made it this far.”
“Earl, did you not think to put a few pieces of clothing or a towel or something in the sack while you were bungling your escape?” Niamh asked.
“Might I remind you that I am Tom, now. Mr. Tom to you, you awful jackass. Respect my new identity—”
“Identity? It’s a name for a nitwit and I don’t have to respect anything.”
“—and for your information, we were running for our lives. We barely got out of there! I had to lead her to the spiral staircase. Hopefully that doesn’t jeopardize her ability to access the magic, but I didn’t see any choice. The house should understand. I was acting in her best interest. I couldn’t wait around all day for her Royal Heinous to come break us out. So no, I didn’t pack a wardrobe for you. Or myself, as you see.”
“Yeah, we all see,” Jessie muttered, making a point of looking the other way.
“Enough,” Austin Steele said, and a current of power snapped Niamh’s mouth shut.