Page 84 of Magical Midlife Conclave

I laughed softly. “I’m sorry I hung up on you. And ignored your attempts at chatter before training. And your attempts after training. And during the car ride.”

“I don’t hear an apology for humbling me.”

“Correct.”

He laughed and put his hand on the door handle. Before he got out, he sobered. “Please keep me in the loop, too, Jessie. I’m still learning. I still need guidance. I need to know when something isn’t working.”

“I know. We’re all still learning, I think.”

“Are you going to give Sue the disappointment spiel?”

“Maybe he’ll get my anger instead.”

“Lucky bastard.”

I nearly bumped into a shifter as I got out of the car. He stared me down. Power swirled all around him.

“Oh my God, please spare me the posturing.” I rolled my eyes at him. “You guys are exhausting.”

He gave me a funny look as I shut the door. I met Tristan at the front bumper.

“And now I should probably sequester myself away from people. I’m getting a little too blunt.”

“It’s good for them.”

“Right. So, am I reffing or just watching?”

“Reffing for Aljoe⁠—”

“Someone challenged Aljoe? Are they out of their mind?”

“Mindzzz, plural. Two shifters who don’t believe Aljoe is what they’ve heard. Three gargoyles. He decided to take them all on.” He paused. “At the same time.”

“What? No. Are you serious?”

“Yeah. He’s incredibly blasé about it. He even agreed not to mess with the gargoyles’ wings. You’ll need to pull people out as they tap out. Sue will be helping. Aurora says that once Aljoe’s beast takes hold, he’s…wild. She used a lot of expletives.”

“Who else?” I asked.

“Sue, a bit later on. He’s got another alpha challenging him. Pissing match, I think. Me.” He preened. “I finally got challenged.”

“Do you get to fly?”

“Of course I get to fly. He can go for my wings, though.”

“Is he powerful?”

“He’s a beta, but it’s something.”

I chuckled.

“Cyra,” Tristan said.

“No.” I looked at him with wide eyes.

He stopped at the edge of the field and motioned me right to walk around. “Yeah. One of the alphas. Everyone says he’s half mad. If they can’t talk him out of it, you’re going to earn your keep with that one. Getting her to stop, I mean.”

“Damn. She’ll probably come after me, too. I hate fighting her. She seems so sweet and clueless and then she tries to burn your eyes out.”