Which reminded me…

“Would I have to trade for your involvement on the team?” I asked.

“It would not be a trade, but a basajaunak partnership. Like family. If I am slighted, this small magical family will be entitled to claim vengeance, and vice versa. If your family is in trouble, like young Master Jimmy, it will be within my power to go to his aid. The same would be true if my family were in danger.”

“We doing okay?” Austin approached us from the house, glancing back and forth between us. He rested his hand lightly on the small of my back.

“The basajaun thinks the stars led us all here,” I said, “and it’s a sign that Elliot Graves’s stronghold is embedded in mountain tunnels. He wants to join the Ivy House crew.”

Austin’s expression didn’t change, and no surprise trickled through the link. He’d clearly been in hearing range, because otherwise I didn’t know how all that hadn’t blown his hair back.

“He says that if he joins the crew,” I went on, “then it basically joins our families. So if something were to happen to Jimmy, he’d…probably pop heads off and spike them like footballs, as he likes to do, and if something happens to his family…I guess we need to return the favor?”

“Yes. As is standard,” the basajaun said.

“As is apparently standard, sure…” I said.

“Can I speak to you for a moment, Jess?” Austin asked, oddly formal.

“Yes, sure.”

We took a few steps away, and I covered us in a soundproof spell.

“Is this not throwing you for a loop?” I asked Austin the second we were cut off from the basajaun’s hearing. “Everyone has always been surprised that the basajaun even fights with us. I got the impression basajaunak families are very tight-knit and don’t care for outsiders. I don’t want to piss them off. And…what if the basajaun wants to live in Ivy House? I don’t have a bed that big. Does he shed? Mr. Tom would pitch a fit if there are rolling balls of hair all the time.” I ran my hand over my face. “I know that I should be jumping for joy, since he is a very good creature to have in my corner, but this has really taken me by surprise. I wasn’t ready for it.”

“It’s ultimately your decision,” Austin said, bending a little to catch my gaze. “But you should know that this is an incredible honor. This basajaun is essentially offering to add you—all of us—to his family. He is connecting us with the rest of the basajaunak the world over. You’re right about their usual attitude toward outsiders. They rarely bother with anyone but their own kind unless it is to get something they need or to claim vengeance for a perceived wrong. Usually their council of elders would need to approve of this decision, and maybe he got it to them somehow. Or he might just assume they’re on board. The thing he said about being led by the stars…he’s talking about fate. He thinks fate is guiding his feet—all of our feet—and their kind do not turn their backs on fate.” Austin glanced back at the basajaun, in his bow tie with his freshly braided beard. “If you take him on, you’d have the whole of the basajaunak at your disposal. You’d be their family, and they would protect you with their lives.”

My stomach dropped out of me. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what I could say.

Austin nodded slowly. “Yes, this is a big deal. A huge honor, like I said. It has happened occasionally in the past, but it is incredibly rare. You are on the precipice of securing a powerful ally.”

“But what if they refuse to honor the connection?”

“I’m sure they could cut him out of the family if it came down to it, but special allowances are made for situations like this one. The basajaunak really do believe in following the stars. From what I understand, anyway. I’m certainly no expert.”

“You think I’d be crazy to pass this up?”

“I think you need to be comfortable with your team. That’s the most important consideration.”

I glanced over at the basajaun, who was now eyeing the nearest flowers. “I mean…the hair…”

“I doubt he will want to sleep inside. That’s not really what they do.”

“Right, true. He was really good with Jimmy when he was here. And he’s always been nice to me, in his way… I mean, if I had thought he’d ever want the position, I totally would’ve offered, but it was just such a surprise that it threw me for a loop.”

“What will you do?”

Nine

I tore the privacy spell away and took a deep breath. “I usually do dress a little nicer for these things,” I said, offering the basajaun a nervous smile. “I’ll head up now and change. I’ve just had a lot on my mind—”

“Yes, with the trials ahead.” The basajaun nodded gravely. “I can help. I am as proficient under a mountain as I am atop one.”

“So…you know that Graves’s lair seems to be a collection of tunnels within the mountain, not necessarily below it, right?”

“Yes.” The basajaun frowned at me.

“Right. Just…making sure. Yeah, okay, sure, come inside. I’ll go get changed for the ceremony.”

For the first time in a couple weeks, the stress in my shoulders and the coiling in my stomach relaxed a little. Having the basajaun with us would be an incredible help, especially if he felt at home in the underground lair that would have the rest of us itching to escape. An incredible help. The fact that he’d actually sought out an invitation eased my mind too. He knew exactly what he was getting into, and he had chosen to add his name to the roster. That was good news.

“Miss—”

“Hah!” I jumped and karate-chopped the air, three feet from Mr. Tom waiting near the table in my room. I could feel him both through the link and through my awareness of everyone on the house’s grounds, but given he was basically white noise to me, I never bothered to check his location.

Mr. Tom pursed his lips. “I do hope you will refrain from that method of attack once you are among the other mages. I can’t imagine it’ll be a good look.”

I let out my breath and clutched my chest. “You know I try not to use my magic in the house. The last thing I need is to accidentally kill one of you after a jump scare. Why are you standing in the shadows like a creep?”

“It is not creepy to wait patiently while conserving electricity.”

“Yes it is. Take a note.”

“You’re running late. The others are nervous that you’re having second thoughts.”

“No. The basajaun showed up.” I told him about our conversation.

“I wondered why he was showing such an interest,” Mr. Tom said as I took out some slacks and a blouse. “I must admit, I didn’t expect that.”

“Yeah, me neither. Austin said it isn’t for me to ask about how that decision will go down with his family, but…it’s definitely on my mind.”

“Basajaunak are certainly touchy about dealings with their families. They are very private, even within their own species. Definitely better not to mention it.”

“So does that mean soon he’ll be touchy about all of us?”

“Likely. Now, hop into the shower and wash away some of that stink. I’ll refresh the champagne and tell them you’ll be down in a minute.”

I paused in turning around. “They’re nervous I had second thoughts? They’re eager to join, then? Even though it’ll be really dangerous?”

“Nathanial knows there is no higher honor than to protect you from danger. The more intense the danger, the higher the status he’ll gain within the gargoyle community. All of us will. The others answered your summons when they could have resisted, and they were immediately confronted by Austin Steele’s incredible power and your ever-growing strength. They aren’t fools; they see the vast potential in this outfit and want to be on the winning team. Of course they are eager to join, miss. You are not seeing your worth clearly, which is why your decision not to play the field, as it were, concerns me. Have you even considered anyone with wings?”

“Oh my God, what is your malfunction?” I said on a release of breath, and turned toward the shower. He’d always been weird about my sex life, trying to get me to bang everyone in town, it seemed like. I had a man. I wasn’t like the gargoyle guys—I didn’t need more than one, especially not at the same time. I’d tried that in college once. More than one dong just got tedious after a while.

Clean and dressed, I hurried down and found everyone in the front sitting room, the basajaun among them, sipping their champagne and talking quietly. They fell silent as I appeared in the doorway, Mr. Tom approaching with a glass immediately.

“Welcome everyone,” I said, because I didn’t really know what else to say. Other than the basajaun and Austin, they all lived here, so why was I welcoming them to their own sitting room? “Do you want to follow me back?”

“Me first.” Cyra shoved Hollace, who rolled his eyes at her toddler antics. To be fair, she was only a week old in her current iteration. The dolls, scattered around the room, ran forward with their glasses or cups of water, liquid sloshing down their fronts. Cyra wasn’t even shedding fire at the moment.

“It’s not first come, first served,” Hollace drawled as he followed her. A doll ran across his path, and he kicked in its direction. It swerved just before his foot could connect. They were getting smart to his antics. Too bad.

They followed me down the hall, the others behind them. At the door to the council room, I stopped for a second and took a deep breath.

“Here we go,” I said quietly.

I’d already explained what kind of magic they’d get: a sort of fountain of youth in every way but one. They’d feel younger, with more energy, stamina, and ease of movement, but they’d retain their current appearance. They’d become immortal unless killed, if they weren’t already. I’d also explained the link that would develop between us, and between them and Ivy House. I’d laid all this out before asking if they’d like to join the team.