Page 43 of Minions and Magic
“What…what happened?” Stanley looked around, eyes wide. “Briarly said Bart needed to talk to me—something urgent. Then there was wolfsbane, and that’s all I remember.” He shuddered again. “Stuff nearly killed me twenty years ago when a tree branch broke and I felt into a patch of it.”
“Briarly threw you over the cliff, but you got caught on the tree and this ledge.” I shifted slightly, trying to look over. Were the two werewolves down at the bottom, broken and injured? Or dead? I almost didn’t want to look.
But if I hadn’t looked, I wouldn’t have seen Tink, climbing her way up the rockface, jabbing her claws into the cliff on her way. She was covered in blood, but had a determined expression on her face that reminded me as tiny as she was, she was still one hundred percent the alpha.
“How’s your leg?” I asked Stanley, wondering if he’d healed enough that he could make his way up the rocks the same way Tink was.
Stanley grimaced. “Healing, but not to the point I can climb with it. I could just stay here an hour or so, then climb up.”
“Nonsense.” Tink pulled herself onto the tree next to us that had previously held Stanley’s legs. Sometime during the climb she’d shifted back into human form and was both naked and still covered in blood. “You can do it three-legged. Shift into wolf form, and I’ll help you up.”
Stanley did as she commanded, careful not to crowd me off the ledge. Between the two of them, they both made their way up the rest of the way. I held my breath, nearly having a panic attack each time one of their hands, or paws, slipped, letting it out as they both disappeared over the top.
Now it was my turn.
I was shaky from all the adrenaline, but going up had always been easier for me than climbing down. By the time I heaved myself over the top edge, I was thinking I needed to get back into climbing again. Maybe I could take a look at my schedule and take Tuesday mornings off? I wondered if Xavier liked to climb.
Tink and Stanley helped me to my feet, Stanley gingerly putting weight on the leg that had been broken.
“Thanks for healing me, Glenda. Again.” Stanley wrinkled up his nose and shuddered. “Whatever that was you shoved in my mouth, it was worse than your smoothies. It was like eating poop, and not the good kind either.”
There were good kinds of poop? I really didn’t want to know about that. Instead I patted Stanley on the shoulder, examined Tink for injuries, and joked about making her lick the melted chocolate off my hand to heal her.
“No way,” she laughed. “I’ll suffer. I don’t want to be put off eating chocolate for the rest of my life.”
It was then that Cassie, Lucien, Adrienne, Dallas, and Clinton all burst into the clearing.
“Too late, as always,” I called out with a smile to let them know we were all okay. My smile must not have been too reassuring because Dallas grabbed Tink in his arms, nearly crushing her, and Cassie immediately began to examine me, asking questions, as she exclaimed over every tiny scratch and minor bruise.
“I had worse when I used to climb as a kid,” I told her.
“Yeah, and I about had a heart attack every time you headed up the mountains with your gear. I celebrated the day you gave all that up and decided just to cook instead.”
I rolled my eyes, thinking my eldest sister probably still worried about my burning myself on the stove, or slicing a finger chopping vegetables. That’s what Cassie did; she worried. And now was definitely not the time to tell her I was thinking of taking up climbing again.
“What’ll happen with Briarly?” I heard Stanley ask Dallas and Tink.
I nearly fell over with astonishment when Dallas turned to Cassie. “Assuming the sheriff needs a call on this one?”
Two months ago, the werewolf pack would have handled it themselves, either by delivering a death sentence or banishing the wolf who’d gone against her alpha’s laws.
“Yes, but we’ll be taking your input on this one, Dallas,” Cassie replied. “I doubt a long prison sentence would be appropriate for a werewolf, and we don’t really have the facilities to jail a wolf for a decade or so.”
Dallas nodded. “Thinking banishment once she’s healed, but I want to hear what Stanley wants to happen.”
I turned to the lone wolf, shocked once again that the alpha of the pack was allowing a lone wolf, an exile from their pack, input on appropriate sentencing.
Stanley nodded. “I don’t want her dead. She’s Bart’s sister. I’m thinking exile from Accident with a review every ten years regarding reinstatement?”
“Agreed.” Dallas looked down at Tink. “Do you want to coordinate her retrieval and escort her into town to the sheriff’s office?”
Tink grinned. “It would be my pleasure.”
We all made our way back to the clearing, where the guests had gone leaving only my sisters cleaning up my supplies and loading them into the van. Desiree and her helpers had come back and were making short work of the tables and chairs. The beautiful ice sculpture remained, glistening as it slowly melted in the sun.
The party had been a huge success. Stanley’s attacker had been caught and would face justice. Things were changing in Accident for the better.
And I had a boyfriend, who was probably waiting naked for me at home. Grabbing a few empty trays from the buffet table, I shoved them haphazardly in the back of the van. I didn’t care what sort of mess I was making. I’d deal with it tomorrow. All I wanted right now was to go home—to go home to my demon.
