I frowned at her.

“Well, that’s it. Too much change isn’t good for a person. It can mess with their mind.” My dad reached for his beer. “At least she has this cult or whatever Martha said it was. That’ll keep her busy for a while. Police tend to give cults a wide berth until they get out of hand.”

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen, o’course,” Niamh said.

My dad nodded as though all of this made perfect sense—the pile of bodies, the creatures that Edgar had to take down, burying people out back… There were no limits to what this guy wouldn’t rationalize to keep his current world-view. It was madness.

I let it go. It would just be easier. My mom was on board, and my dad had an explanation he could live with. If I couldn’t call that a win, I could at least call it good enough.

“Anyway,” I said, “Mom says you guys are leaving tomorrow?”

“Yeah, it’s probably for the best. There is too much excitement around here for me.” My dad patted his belly. “The plumber has our toilet patched up and they’re working on fixing the water damage, so we’re about ready, anyway.”

“Well, it was nice having you,” I said, aiming for an even tone. It was almost truthful. Next time would be much easier, if there was a next time.

“Yeah, thanks for having us. Oh, Jessie, where’s that big fella you pal around with? Not the really hairy one, but the other one? What is he, six-two or three?”

“Austin. He had to head to his bar.”

“Oh, too bad. He’s a good guy. Well, you know, I don’t like to get involved in these types of things, but if shopping came to buying, I don’t think you could go wrong with a guy like that. You know…” He adjusted in his seat, squinting at the ceiling. “Matt was always a fine choice—” He motioned to Niamh. “Matt was her ex. He was fine. Had a good job, good…” He paused. “He was all right. But that Austin fellow—well, he’s a bit more capable, you know what I mean? He’s a bit more solid regarding the important things in life.”

“Like helping run the cult, ye mean,” Niamh said. I glared at her again.

“Not… No, not the cult so much, but… Well, anyway. He seems capable, is all. He’d be one to protect you, not leave you out to dry. From what I’ve seen in the last week, you need it.”

“Boy, doesn’t she ever,” Niamh agreed. “She’s in up to her eyeballs most times.”

“Would you stop?” I said through my teeth. She grinned at me.

“Anyway…” He squinted at me this time. “What is the story with all the people around here in capes? That’s an awfully odd uniform choice for the cult. I think you should let them dress normally.”

Niamh’s face turned bright red and she shook in her seat, clearly holding back laughter. I didn’t even know what to say.

Foreign footsteps traveled up the walkway. The humor dripped off Niamh’s face, and I could feel Mr. Tom heading to the door.

“I’ll be right back, Dad,” I said, stepping out into the hall as someone knocked.

“Jessie, let Earl get it,” Niamh called.

Mr. Tom was heading toward the stairs, but I closed the distance to the door anyway, feeling Niamh walking my way. I half expected to find Elliot Graves on my doorstep, tired of all these close calls and cat-and-mouse games, come to grab me himself. It would sure put a fast end to our drawn-out situation.

But when I opened the door, two boys in blue stood there, one I recognized from a previous house call, under similar circumstances, and one I did not.

“Ah, fer feck’s sakes, Chuck, what are you at?” Niamh kept walking toward the door as Mr. Tom jogged down the stairs.

The younger guy with close-cropped brown hair, a large chin, and hands braced on his utility belt gave Niamh a bulldog-type stare. “I’ve had some complaints about the noise,” he said to me.

“What noise?” Niamh looked around. “We’re just enjoying an evening in, so we are.”

“Yes, yes, we know the very idea of police officers doing their job is offensive to you, you crusty old woman.” Mr. Tom stepped between Niamh and the officers with a wide, very fake smile. “My apologies. She isn’t housebroken.”

“They know who I am.” Niamh stepped out of Mr. Tom’s way. “I’ve been mindin’ me manners, haven’t I, boys? Haven’t had to take me in in a dog’s age, have ye? No. So why ye’re comin’ to pick on me now, I haven’t—”

I walked out onto the porch and shut the door behind me, the officers moving back quickly so I wasn’t in their space. “Don’t mind her. She isn’t great with authority. Which you know, I’m sure.” I smiled nervously, then licked my lips, then wished I hadn’t licked my lips because it probably made me look guilty.

A light clicked on overhead, and the door opened again, Mr. Tom stepping into the space.

The officers squinted at us, and I realized we hadn’t cleaned off all the dirt.

“Looks like you had some issues with your yard.” The older cop in the back clicked his flashlight on and painted light across the dirt lines running through the grass. Someone had, thankfully, turned the base lights off, so the damage wasn’t quite as noticeable or glaring.

“Yes. Edgar is planning some improvements,” I said quickly.

“Hello…”

The cops both flinched, dropping their hands to their guns but not taking them out.

Edgar waved to them from the corner of the house. “It’ll look worse before it looks better, but don’t you worry, we’ll be a shoo-in to win first place at the garden festival this year. This yard will really sing. I have big plans!”

“Yes, well…” The officer clicked off his light. “It seems there was some yelling from this area not too long ago.”

Genuinely confused, if only because there’d been a noise block, I looked back at Mr. Tom. “Did you hear anything?”

“I most certainly did not. Edgar was howling much earlier than that—he gets in an awful state when he rips at the garden—but we’ve kept to ourselves as normal.”

The younger one, Chuck, took his hand off his gun. “Well, Niamh has been downright placid since you came to live here, ma’am. We thank you for that.”

“Oh.” I put my hand to my chest. “I don’t know that that’s necessarily my doing…”

“It certainly doesn’t seem like it has hurt.” He nodded at me, eyed the front yard, and stepped back. “If there isn’t any trouble…?”

“No.” I shrugged, also looking around the front yard. “No trouble.”

Chuck nodded. “Just try to keep it down.”

“Thank you, officers.” Mr. Tom pushed back into the house, gesturing for me to follow. “We’ll try to keep a leash on her.”

Edgar waved awkwardly when they glanced back at him. They wisely pretended not to notice.

I stayed outside for a moment, checking the dark, silent street, wondering if a man with a goatee would appear out of nowhere and whisper on the wind. Nothing happened, though. I waved as the police car pulled out of the circular end of the street, and then closed the door on the crazy aftermath of the day. If Elliot Graves had called the cops this time, he hadn’t done it so he could make an appearance.

I wondered if he would.

I wondered if I would actually meet him soon, like he’d promised those many months ago.

I wondered if I’d escape his next attempt to capture me.

Twenty-Five

“Ready?” I asked Ulric and Jasper, the only two gargoyles I’d offered a place on my team. A permanent place, with an assigned seat and Ivy House magic. They were the only two who’d really jibed with the house crew, and who also did great work with very little prompting. They followed me loyally and gave their all when helping me train and in battle. I could do far worse than these two.

It had been only two days since the battle, but I hadn’t wanted to keep stringing them along. Everyone needed an answer, including the gargoyles I wouldn’t be using. They’d agreed to stay, anyway, and would be joining Austin’s pack once he got around to officially forming one.

Jasper nodded, as silent and resolute as always, but Ulric shifted in place, a sheen of sweat covering his forehead and his mouth a thin line.

We stood just outside the council room. The house crew was already seated, waiting for Ivy House to assign roles to these two.

“You okay?” I asked Ulric quietly.

He wiped his hands on his crisp black dress shirt—his palms were apparently sweating, and he was too distracted to realize how gross that was. “Yeah. It’s just…” He licked his lips and his eyes turned glassy. “If my mom could see me now. No one ever thought I’d amount to anything. They looked down on me, looked down on her because of me—she’s the only one who believed I’d make something of myself. And here I am, about to join the most elite force my kind could hope for. I get to help protect a female gargoyle, one of only three gargoyles chosen for that task. All my hard work, all the brick walls standing in my way in life, and now…” He wiped away a tear. “This is a dream come true. Beyond a dream come true. Thank you for choosing me, Miss Jessie. It is an absolute honor.”

I pulled him into a hug. “You earned it.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him that if he wanted an elite force, this wasn’t the place. If he hadn’t figured that out already, he had blinders on as thick as my father’s.

“Okay, when you get in there, you just let the house steer you, okay? I choose the people; she chooses the seats.”

They nodded, and I turned, walking slowly into the room in a pantsuit that somewhat matched the color of my gargoyle skin. Mr. Tom had tried to sew rainbow-colored sparkly streamers to the back, signifying the eddies of light, but I’d refused. There had to be lines drawn against the weird in this house or it would run amok.