“Well…I mean, you are calling in family. Extended family. You’re bringing in me, and I’m bringing all my gargoyles and my Ivy House crew. The basajaun is bringing in his family—”
“I can’t believe that. That would be…incredible.”
“Yeah. So you have him. And Ulric’s mother will apparently make my gargoyle influence bigger, so we have that. And Elliot and his hookups—some families are just really big. But they’re still family.”
He huffed out a laugh and shook his head, putting his arm around me and pulling me in. “I know.” Another quiet beat. “How will you punish Sebastian for lying to you?”
I laughed as we pulled up to the house. The driver came around and opened my door.
“I’m not sure. I have to think of something vile. Maybe Niamh can help me with a practical joke. I don’t even know how I’ll—”
The words died on my lips. Right there on the stoop, holding a long stick topped with a filled kerchief, sat Elliot Graves. He stood as I walked up the path.
“After your battles, I always have the last say,” he said, the stick resting on his shoulder.
“How’d you get here before us?” I asked.
He gave me a smile. “Magic. Do you have a couple hours so I can fill you in on my plans? I’ll tell you everything. We can knock Momar to his knees and signal to the world that you”—he put his hand to the side of his mouth—“and I…aren’t to be messed with, and neither are shifters. The shifters can organize and force the Mages’ Guild to start playing by the rules. I have complete confidence we can pull it off, Jessie, but only if I start training you now. There is no time to lose. When you set foot on that battlefield, you need to own your title as sorceress.”
I gave him a lofty stare. Austin waited behind me, and I could sense the rest of my people climbing out of the limos. Ivy House was, thankfully, quiet.
“Fine, Elliot—”
“No.” He put his hand on his chest. “My birth name is Sebastian. Please, Elliot Graves was a stage name I made up for a different, more ruthless person. Sebastian was what people called me when I was just a weird nerd who liked to play with magic and geek out with Star Wars. I’d like to be your friend again, Jessie. I know I tarnished your trust, but I really did want to stay and train with you. I was happy doing magic in the bowels of Ivy House, or helping Edgar with his flowers. If it was a different world, and I didn’t have the name I do, I’d even love to join your team. I am comfortable here. I feel like I can finally be myself.”
And just like that, the ice within me melted. I never had been very good at holding grudges.
“Okay. Sebastian. But we won’t just bring Momar to his knees. We will tear him off his perch and make an example of him. You do not threaten my friends and live to tell the tale.”
The door swung open as I neared it.
Sebastian fell in behind Austin, following us. “Are you ready, alpha? It’s time to climb atop your own perch. The female gargoyle and the most ruthless shifter the world has ever known.”
“I’m already on that perch,” he replied. “The enemy will find out the hard way.”
“Okay, but…remember, I’m supposed to be the bad guy,” Sebastian said. “Don’t steal all my thunder.”
As I settled into a chair in the front sitting room, heaving a sigh of relief to be home, Ivy House said, “I told you so.”
. ~ . ~ . ~ .
There will be more in the Leveling Up series!
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Try Sin & Chocolate
Check out Sin & Chocolate, the first book of the Washington Post & Amazon Charts bestselling Demigods of San Francisco series…
Some people are ordained for greatness…
Those people usually have a lot of drama in their life. Drama I happily do without. I live in a forgotten corner of nowhere for a reason: there is safety in anonymity. I have enough problems just trying to get by.
But when Kieran, a sinfully sexy demigod at the pinnacle of power, crashes into my life, suddenly my whole world is turned upside down.
He’s harboring a deadly secret, one that could destroy all he holds dear. He thinks I’m the key to his salvation, and he wants me to help him claim vengeance.
He also wants me with a passion that burns my body from the inside out.
To ignore him is impossible, but to give in to my desires, even for a night, would thrust me into danger I might not survive.
Remember what I said about drama? Now I’m in it up to my eyeballs, and I’m not sure if I should run…or fight.
Try it here
Also by K.F. Breene
Leveling Up
Magical Midlife Madness
Magical Midlife Dating
Magical Midlife Invasion
Magical Midlife Love
Magical Midlife Meeting
Magical Midlife…? (Coming soon)
Demigods of San Francisco
Sin & Chocolate
Sin & Magic
Sin & Salvation
Sin & Spirit
Sin & Lightning
Sin & Surrender
Demon Days, Vampire Nights World
Born in Fire
Raised in Fire
Fused in Fire
Natural Witch
Natural Mage
Natural Dual-Mage
Warrior Fae Trapped
Warrior Fae Princess
Revealed in Fire (coming soon)
Mentored in Fire (coming soon)
Warrior Chronicles
Chosen
Hunted
Shadow Lands
Invasion
Siege
Overtaken
Darkness Series
Into the Darkness
Braving the Elements
On a Razor’s Edge
Demons
The Council
Shadow Watcher
Jonas
Charles
Jameson
Stand Alone
Secret of McKinley’s Mansion
Finding Paradise
Fate of Perfection
Fate of Devotion
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About the Author
K.F. Breene is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Amazon Most Sold and #1 Kindle Store bestselling author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy and fantasy novels. With over four million books sold, when she's not penning stories about magic and what goes bump in the night, she's sipping wine and planning shenanigans. She lives in Northern California with her husband, two children, weird dog and out of work treadmill.
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