Page 29 of Magical Midlife Rescue (Leveling Up #11)

“Steal on your own time.” At least she hadn’t brought that dirty old cooler.

“Come on, get in line. Let’s go.” I kept waving them on, noticing the variously colored suits.

The shifters and gargoyles all wore black to match Austin, with the shifters sporting blue pocket squares and gargoyles choosing purple.

Perfect. My team, like in Elliot Graves’s caves, were also supposed to wear black with colored pocket squares to match their magical type.

Mr. Tom matched the gargoyles, like Ulric and Jasper, but they were the only ones who fit in.

Hollace had his cream, Niamh was in brown, Edgar and Indigo wore different shades of green?—

“Where is Cyra?” I demanded, checking my really cute, chic watch. “Come on, you guys, hurry up!” My magic blasted everyone present. “We’re going to make Austin late!”

“I’m here!” Cyra ran around the corner without a stitch of clothing on her but carrying a somewhat burned red suit under her arm.

Dave fell in with his pink kilt. Bringing up the rear, not actually having been invited, came Fred. She wore a pastel-yellow pantsuit with red trim. The pants stopped at her shins, and her boots had half-inch spikes sticking out of them.

“Sorry, Jessie!” Cyra shoved Niamh out of her place, jostling Hollace. “Sorry! I thought I saw a gnome, blasted fire without thinking, and accidentally scorched part of my suit. I was trying to DIY a solution, but…”

She spread it out to show me the jacket. Holes were burned into the chest area, and I had a sneaking suspicion it would be the tips of her breasts. She didn’t have an undershirt with her. The pants had been scorched down the thighs, and half a pant leg was burned clean away.

Edgar and Indigo, having righted themselves and taken the stairs back to the second floor, jogged in, each with a limp. Their limps didn’t match, as they’d hurt opposite feet. Their suits were ripped in several places and stained in many more.

My eyes stung with unshed tears. Austin was always so perfect when I needed him. He was patient, put me first, and handled his end without a hitch. Yet after practicing with my team for months, I showed up like this ?

My throat tightened, and I nodded. “Just put it on, Cyra. Mr. Tom, will you get her an undershirt? We’re out of time, and I don’t have anything else that will fit you. My suits— in the correct color— are tailored.”

Mr. Tom ducked back into my suite to grab one.

“Oh, no, Hollace, I made her sad,” Cyra whispered, stepping into her pants. “I feel terrible. My heart hurts, Hollace.”

“I definitely think you deserve it,” he replied.

“That was not a gnome, Jessie.” Edgar raised his hand from his position at the end of the line. “I did not bring any gnomes on this journey. I’ve possibly learned my lesson. Time will tell.”

“Well, it could’ve been a gnome.” Indigo turned to him. “Just not one of our gnomes.”

“Oh, yes, quite right. That’s true. It could have. I can check it out?—”

Finally, in utter defeat, my tears winning, I faced Austin. “I’m so sorry. I?—”

He put a palm to my cheek, and amazingly, I didn’t feel anger in the bonds. Or frustration. Or anything I really should have.

“I suspected something like this would happen. Maybe not so”—his gaze flicked toward the constantly moving line my crew was attempting—“flashy, but certainly not uniform. It’s better the packs know what we are up front and agree to it anyway than to agree thinking we’re something we’re not.”

“Like able to get in a straight line,” Hollace murmured.

Austin tilted his head in a nod, checked his watch, and turned. “We’re a bit early. Let’s get moving.”

“Wait.” I checked my own watch. We were ten minutes late.

“Not uniform, and never on time,” he amended as we started forward. “I planned ahead.”

I glanced at Broken Sue. “Shove my people into place if you have to. Keep them from wandering off. You too, Tristan.”

“He already is,” Indigo said with a grunt. “Shoving him back doesn’t yield any results, in case anyone else thinks to try.”

“I could get results with a shove,” Cyra said.

“You’re in enough trouble,” Hollace reminded her.

“This is my life,” I muttered. “ Why didn’t you wear the right color?”

It felt like a whine, but the volume of my voice made it a yell. I simply couldn’t help it.

“Are these not the right colors?” Niamh asked. “I was told to order brown.”

“A brown pocket square,” I said as we descended the stairs.

Soon, I’d have to button up my personality.

The other packs were probably already there.

They’d want to see this mess of a crew show up.

“A brown pocket square . Like at Elliot Graves’s cave, remember?

I’m not crazy, you were all there. This is not a new situation for any of you.

And how did Fred get a suit so quickly? More importantly, why is she here?

No offense, Fred, but you’re not magical. ”

Mr. Tom cleared his throat, catching up to us.

He handed off the undershirt to Cyra. “That might be my fault, miss. About the suit color, not about the off-center Jane tagging along without permission. It seems I misunderstood what you meant. I was very precise in ordering the correct suits and getting them tailored, as requested, so Edgar had plenty of room at the front of his pants. They come in all colors, and you’d been firm on the color scheme when I asked. I wasn’t aware it was just…the square.”

“But then why are you dressed appropriately?”

“Because that’s what Ulric and Jasper said we were wearing. With the purple pocket… Ah . Yes, I see. I should’ve put two and two together. Well…” I could hear his wings flutter. “There is nothing for it. Miss, I humbly ask to be retired in disgrace.”

“I’d take him up on that,” Niamh said.

“I had my own suit, don’t worry,” Fred called up. “I’ve found my people!”

“That’s not something to be proud of, I don’t think,” Ulric murmured.

“You’re one to talk,” Jasper said. “You two have the same hair.”

“Are you color-blind?” Ulric shot back.

“What are you even doing with me?” I asked Austin, sagging once again.

He took my hand and threaded his fingers through mine.

“Remember when we arrived at the town outside of Kingsley’s?

” he murmured, directing me to the interior of the resort.

“You were trying to squish a basajaun into a van when a local asked if you wanted help. You agreed, and I realized then that we’d be showing up with a lot of dirty, decrepit trailers and motor homes instead of the sleek, matching fleet I’d reserved.

I’d worried, above all, about losing style points.

About not showing well to my brother and his pack. ”

“Yeah. Old me would’ve caved and resumed shoving the basajaunak into the vans.”

“Yes. And old me would’ve been a nightmare when I didn’t get my way. I realized that at the time—that I was acting like a remnant of my old self. In trying to show my brother I’d changed, I was regressing.”

He hadn’t told me that.

He nodded, as though hearing my thought. “The realization shocked me. Scared me, honestly. It’s why I apologized. Why I backed off. And in the end?”

“They were impressed that the locals would help, and the basajaunak…were the basajaunak?”

“Yes, but also, in a moment with just the two of us before our final goodbyes, my brother complimented me on how I’d handled that situation.

He’d been impressed that I’d allowed it.

That I’d let you handle your side of things, even though it didn’t follow custom.

At the time, he couldn’t believe I’d been that calm.

No alpha likes to look messy on arrival like that.

Our training forbids it. To do so, to look messy, makes the leadership look weak.

It was only after getting to know you and your people, and seeing how you lead, and learning how incredibly effective your style of leadership is with the power amassed in your crew, that he came to respect my reactions.

To him, I proved my growth as a person.”

Now I teared up for a different reason. “Why didn’t you tell me all of that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t really believe it, or thought that if I voiced it, the shine and glimmer would wear away, and it would stop being true. But…well…”

“Here we are again.”

“Here we are again, and this time, I’m calm. Like I said, I expected it. And what I said was true—it’s better they know about your leadership now than find out as a surprise.”

“Okay, but let’s get serious. The colors of suits, fine. The extra person…sure. Hopefully, it means we can keep her, because from what I’ve heard so far, she’s invaluable.”

“Did she say I was invaluable?” Fred asked from the back. “Is that what she said? I’m eavesdropping as much as I can, but I’m no bionic woman.”

“Yes,” Mr. Tom said. “Now, shh . The miss doesn’t like to be reminded we eavesdrop.”

“ Seriously, ” I said to Austin, lowering my voice a little more. “Burn marks on the suit? Rips and stains? A line that looks like a snake slithering through the grass—no, I don’t have to look back to know it. It’s happening. I can feel it happening. This is on a level…”

I shook my head.

“Calm,” Austin murmured, squeezing my hand. “It’s what we have, and what we have is incredibly effective in battle. We might not show well in a line, but what we bring to the battlefield is plenty.”

He really had grown as a person, because I just couldn’t with all this. For months we’d practiced. Two months! How was getting in a line so damn difficult?

“Two people,” Austin said as we entered a square flanked by two large buildings.

Each was named and featured two double doors evenly spaced apart.

Above each double door was an A or B. The doors on the building to the left stood open—clearly, the place we were headed, though you wouldn’t know it from the silence.

At the top of the square was a food truck serving barbecue, and off to the side was a makeshift bar.

Attendants stood idly, not stoic like shifters but with nothing currently to do.

“That’s what we’re having for dinner?” I asked.

“No. That’s what the personnel will have. They’ll bring in more trucks as the meeting wears on. This is for the setup crew, probably. Only the alphas will be served dinner from the kitchens, after our discussion. The kitchens aren’t nearly enough for a full-scale dinner for all of our crew.”

“Gotcha.”

Austin slowed as we neared the first set of double doors on the left, under A.

He kept hold of my hand and finally stopped just before the door.

Through it, I could see most of a pack lined up at a diagonal in the back corner.

Standing out front was a woman with dark skin, a loose black dress, and no shoes.

I bet she didn’t have underwear, either.

It would take very little time for her to change shape.

Of the Ivy House crew I could feel through the bond, the line was about as straight as it would probably get.

“Ready?” Austin asked.

“Two people?” I asked belatedly.

“Two extra people. I included Aurora,” he replied. “I want her to see what this is like, and I want her to do damage control.”

I hadn’t noticed her slipping into the line.

“Damage control?” I whispered, trying not to move my lips as we entered the huge space. The partition down the middle had been pushed away, merging areas A and B.

“For you. If something unexpected happens to me, she needs to keep you from killing everyone. She has experience jumping in front of very dangerous people. Before you ask, she volunteered for the job.”

Had she been wearing a suit? Honestly, I hadn’t even noticed. I had no idea what she was wearing.

In addition to the pack in the corner, nine other groups of people were spaced around the area. Kingsley was directly next to us upon entry, and the corner to our immediate right was vacant. That would be our area to show off.

It wasn’t big enough.

Huge hanging curtains had been gathered in that area, and various seats and chairs were stacked.

Tables lay on the ground, and boxes with numbers were somewhat haphazardly placed.

Whatever had been in here last hadn’t taken everything away, and it severely diminished the space we had in which to mass.

“Did you tell them how many people we had?” I whispered, barely moving my lips.

“Yes. Minus two. They’re trying to assess how we handle an unforeseen hurdle. Sometimes, the old-timers do this to a newly emerging pack.”

“Joke’s on us. We won’t handle this well at all. Here…” I released him. “You deal with your people. Show off. I’ll…take mine…away.”

Austin split off from me as though this had been the plan all along.

He made small movements and almost unseeable gestures.

Tristan and Broken Sue understood him perfectly, directing anyone—most of the gargoyles—who didn’t.

They folded their lines so that they were in rows, Tristan and Broken Sue still at the front, big and strong and intimidating.

Austin took position ahead of them as if they were in a synchronized dance.

The whole situation took no time at all and had been orchestrated to perfection.

I huffed. “That easy, is it?” I grumbled to myself.

This wasn’t going to go smoothly for me, especially because I had no idea where my people were supposed to be.

“Should I just…guess?” I whispered to Austin.

His eyes sparkled, mirth came through the bonds, and he’d clearly lost his mind, because he didn’t offer me any help.

“Aurora?” I called, but she was hidden away in one of the lines.

Ivy House bonds told me my people were uncertain. So was I.

“Have no fear, miss—I am perfectly capable of handling this matter.” Mr. Tom’s wings fluttered, and he was probably just about to prove why he wasn’t in the gargoyle line.

“Pretend it’s battle,” Tristan whispered, and Austin faintly nodded.

Battle?

I glanced around at the other alphas and their people, who were patiently waiting. Their focus was acute. They were clocking all this.

It was Kingsley’s faint nod, though, that gave me the confidence I needed.

I shrugged. They’d gotten themselves into this mess. They’d reap what they sowed.