Page 38 of Magical Midlife Rescue (Leveling Up #11)

It was clear she wasn’t a sexual being, which invited so many questions about how phoenixes existed through the ages…and also made him want to laugh manically. She was so genuine in her absurdity.

He grabbed a muumuu.

Jessie and Alpha Steele stood with Kingsley and a couple of the other alphas. The rest were clustered by the somewhat discolored car.

“Very”—Margery, one of the more powerful alphas, swallowed hard—“eye-opening.”

“She’s just one mage,” Alpha Steele told her. “ One . And she could do all that.”

“From a distance,” Kingsley said. “Now, imagine hundreds of them, spaced all around your territory with trained combat professionals besides. You just saw what Jessie and Austin’s team are capable of, and yet it was almost curtains for us.

Think that through next time someone says mages pose no threat for an alpha of their stature or a pack of their size. ”

Kingsley put out his hand to direct Jessie and Alpha Steele away.

Margery and Kevin, left standing behind, looked at each other warily.

It was, Tristan presumed, one thing to hear about it and another to actually see it.

Although, in fairness, he had never seen that level of horror from any other mage.

He bet Sebastian hadn’t, either. Ivy House had some seriously hardcore spell books.

Others like it had probably been outlawed somewhere through the ages, and burned.

Kingsley lowered his voice. Brochan stepped up, his body language saying he was looking for directions, like Tristan was. Since none of the alphas tensed, telling them to move on, they both hung around.

“That was…” Kingsley swallowed hard and gave Jessie a poignant look. “I didn’t realize I was squeamish until today.”

“Yeah.” She checked her phone screen. “Those spells aren’t something I can use all the time. They take a lot of energy to pull off. I didn’t want to scare the townspeople or anything, so I didn’t intend on practicing, but then they…played dirty.” She shrugged. “I reacted.”

His jaw clenched. “You did, yes. It was ingenious how you handled that. The soft touch for Austin to keep him in line while working yourself closer so your spell would be effective. I explained how you can connect with your team. How you were able to call in the basajaunak when you needed them. That’s what you were doing, right? All that?”

“Yes. There was a lot going on. Everyone was keyed up. I was trying to time everything so those kids stayed safe.” She shook her head. “As safe as possible, at any rate.”

“I was about ready to detonate,” Alpha Steele said gruffly. “It took every ounce of control I possessed to keep from exploding into my beast.”

Kingsley inclined his head. “You showed well. Those in my car could see your battle for control. Margery almost got out when we saw their hostages. I told her not to aggravate matters, that you’d handle it.

” He put his hand on Jessie’s shoulder. “You showed extremely well. You can’t keep your people in a line while walking, but when it really counts, your level of precision and battle acumen is unparalleled.

The way you handled everyone, including checking in with the people afterward…

” He nodded proudly. “You’ve proven every single claim I’ve laid at your feet, and you’ve done it spectacularly.

Your gargoyles have as well, especially your monster.

” His eyes sparkled for Tristan, his version of a full-blown smile.

“Brochan, however, didn’t get to do nearly as much as he would’ve liked, I think. ”

Brochan’s shoulders hitched, and he turned just slightly. Not relevant…

Kingsley glanced over at Aurora, who was clad in a purple muumuu and talking to the townspeople. Brochan hadn’t been relevant because Aurora had handled matters.

“Yes, she’s always been great at anticipation,” Kingsley said.

“She beat me to it.” Brochan cocked his head. Fair play to her.

“She said…” Kingsley shifted his weight. Uncomfortable. “She mentioned, Jessie, that you worked her out of her beast in a challenge. Not forced her out, as usually has to happen, but coaxed her out.”

“Yeah.” Jessie checked her phone screen again. Still nothing. “I had to learn that myself. It helps when someone guides you. I had Austin, and she has both of us.”

He looked at Alpha Steele. “I didn’t realize she had that much of Dad in her.”

“I didn’t either,” his brother replied. “I also didn’t realize it was a problem until Jessie gave her a teaching moment in front of all her peers. Amazingly, it just made Aurora look more badass.”

“Jessie has a gift.” Kingsley winked at her. “Controlled chaos. I cannot wait to say ‘I told you so’ to the other alphas. I’ll see you back at the hotel.”

With that, he turned and strode away, any looseness of manner quickly returning to his stoic alpha facade.

“It speaks highly of you two that he treats you as equals,” Alpha Steele told Brochan and Tristan. “Now, let’s get all this cleared away. The others have already agreed to set this place to rights and offer the help these people need. We’ll head back.”

Tristan asked Jessie about Cyra’s fire—about burning all the blood and goo so the townspeople didn’t need to clean up.

“Yeah, probably should. Damn it, why no news?” She handed her phone off to Tristan. “Hold that, will ya? She’s going to go too extreme, and I’m going to have my hands full trying to keep the whole place from burning down.”