Page 11 of Magical Midlife Rescue (Leveling Up #11)

He cut through the air on autopilot, his interactions with Jessie during the last hour swirling within his mind.

It was no surprise to anyone that he wasn’t filling Nathanial’s role.

Everyone thought he was too self-centered, too headstrong, and too used to doing things his own way to be the wingman Jessie desperately needed.

But he wanted to surprise them, damn it.

He wanted people here to know that he was more than what he seemed—much more.

He also wanted to repay Jessie’s faith in him by being her shield, being her power and endurance when she needed it.

He didn’t want to shine—he wanted to help her shine.

And he didn’t freaking know how!

At every turn, she surprised him. She went left when he assumed she’d go right.

She balked when he talked about financially hurting a cairn, but then wanted the leader tossed out on his ass.

She was fine with him killing people because his leader told him to but not okay with a guy stealing. It didn’t make any sense.

What did make sense was how he felt when he’d stepped in to help her earlier that morning.

Tristan had heard the voices when he was walking down the hall and realized what was going on pretty quickly, but it wasn’t until he noticed Jessie’s tightened frame that he’d intervened without thinking.

Sending Ivy House people on their way was child’s play.

Dealing with guardians had been so much harder.

His goal had been to afford Jessie some breathing room.

He hadn’t expected to be handed control of her schedule, and certainly not her professional well-being.

Was Tristan now Jessie’s work-life Mr. Tom?

Was this the point at which he needed to randomly create a new name for himself?

Call him Weatherby. Mr. Weatherby, if you please.

It did have a certain ring to it…

Before now, he’d resigned himself to failure.

He’d devoted hours to watching her, tailing her, analyzing her thought processes, to no avail.

Delaying finding her a solid wingman was putting her in danger.

He already had five guardians that might do a better job picked out.

They weren’t as fast or strong as some of the others, but they anticipated her better than the rest. Better than he did.

But interceding today had felt…different. More his speed. And now, he understood why.

Nathanial had been great at observation, holding back until the moment Jessie faltered.

Only then would he step in. But Tristan didn’t work like that.

He didn’t wait for things to happen—he made them happen.

He liked control. He liked to orchestrate what went on around him, and that failing, he thought on the go.

He couldn’t do things Nathanial’s way, and it had been stupid of him to try.

Then there were Jessie’s motivations…

You don’t like being the bad guy.

I really don’t. I’ve gotten better, but…

He watched the ethereal female gargoyle dive, putting herself in the way of a guardian as though he were an attacking mage. She was ready to take a blast. To protect her own.

And while that would have been a good move if her opponent had been a mage, it wasn’t smart with a guardian. Not without backup. She was fighting as if she were solo…probably because she was used to being the only one doing magic. Even with Sebastian, she’d had to play defense when he attacked.

She had to protect her people.

Hundreds of dots connected in a flash, and Tristan felt like he’d been blinded.

Jessie was a caretaker by nature. She had been in her Jane life, and then she came here and was handed the house and a staff, and then an army. Her duty was to take care of them all.

More than that, though, she was a female gargoyle.

A battle species, yes, but not like him.

Not like the other guardians. Not even like the garhettes.

She didn’t rush into battle, club people over the head, and shout her victory.

Instead, she united her people, connected them, and made it her duty to protect them.

That was why she’d sacrificed herself at Kingsley’s and why she hadn’t taken the honor for doing so.

She hadn’t viewed her actions as heroic, but as a necessity.

And after…as a failure. She was supposed to protect her people, and one of hers—someone dear to her heart—had died.

Stupid, he berated himself.

Why hadn’t he thought of that before?

And their differences in battle tactics?

Simple: Jessie didn’t know what the hell she was doing.

He’d trained all his guardians, even ones who’d come to him with impeccable previous instruction.

They’d had to learn how to work with his setup.

He hadn’t trained her, though. Instead, he’d followed her lead, not sure how the magical aspect of things worked.

Now that he did know, he saw the truth: she had virtually no experience in aerial combat.

She was the newest among them, lacking the basics and relying solely on survival instincts.

She couldn’t tell when to maneuver or hold her ground, struggled to maintain the guardians’ formation while dodging and diving, and had no idea how to build a unified defense. She needed structure.

It hadn’t been lost on Tristan that Nathanial had gotten to see her in her flying infancy. He’d helped shape her reactions. And Sebastian had trained her how to counter mage attacks. They’d worked together seamlessly, having forged that connection in the same way.

Hopefully, as Tristan refined Jessie’s training, he could gain the insight that had made Nathanial so effective. Maybe down the road, Tristan could honor Nathanial’s memory by continuing his outstanding teamwork.

Dare to dream.

He’d give himself one more month. One month to do things his way. He’d confront problems with her and Ivy House in the same way he’d confronted problems in his former cairn. At the end of that month, if he wasn’t a helluva lot closer to being what she needed, he’d start trying out other guardians.

He had to figure this out, not just for her, but also because he really didn’t need Niamh heckling him with an I told you so .