In the beginning, Austin had only really felt a magical connection with Jess, but he could now keep tabs on the whole crew, something that helped him gauge Jess’s level of safety. Her anger earlier in the day, for example, had been met with Jasper’s confusion and wariness instead of alarm. Whatever she had reacted to, it wasn’t a potential threat.
Austin set the glass down in front of the mage, meeting his gaze again. Increasing the weight of his stare, pouring power into it, Austin tried to force a reaction.
“Thank you,” the mage said, but didn’t reach for the glass. He didn’t look away.
No spike of adrenaline came, no hint of challenge. No fear. No expression at all. Nothing!
This mage was an enigma, and in Austin’s experience, enigmas were dangerous.
Niamh watched Austin Steele as he walked away to help someone else, his eyes lingering on the stranger as he moved away. That was odd. It seemed like the alpha couldn’t figure out what to make of their new friend, and neither could she, truth be told. She’d yet to meet anyone else who could hold eye contact with Austin Steele like that. Besides Jessie.
She grunted and took a sip of her cider.
“What do ye think of the town?” she asked.
“It’s…” The mage took a sip of his drink, watching Austin Steele go about his business. “This territory should be in its infancy, right? Isn’t he a new alpha?”
“Yeah. What of it?”
He shook his head. “Looks like he’s been running this town all his life.”
“He’s basically been running it since he got here, just without the title.” She felt Jessie winding closer and wrestled a delighted smile off her lips. Niamh hadn’t told Austin Steele why Jessie was so pissed off earlier. It would be a wonderful and probably extremely violent surprise.
“I don’t know anything about shifter territories other than what I’ve read, but this place seems like a well-run magical town.”
“Well-run? Do ye hear him?” she exclaimed.
“Who?”
He clearly wasn’t familiar with that turn of phrase.
“The new people have made a right bags of this town—”
“A right what?”
“It’s a fecking shitshow, so it is. Pure chaos. There are lads running all over the place with their willies in their hands, lookin’ to fight. It’s madness. Well…” She took a sip of her drink. “It’s fun, don’t get me wrong. It’s like a game of Whac-A-Mole, but you have’ta play behind Austin Steele’s back or things get ugly. When I’m in a mood, I can always find someone to pound on. It’s great craic.”
“He seems to back people down with just a look…”
“Yeah. Take the hint.”
She was met with silence. Clearly this mage was way out of his league when it came to shifters. That would work out badly for him if he stayed in O’Briens.
“When he’s staring atcha,” she said, “he’s promisin’ to put ye in yer place if ye don’t mind yer manners. He’s being nice to ye right now because of Jessie. It’s the only reason he’s ever nice. Otherwise he’s a fair but hard-hearted el’ bastard, so he is. Good man but as dangerous as they come.”
“So staring is considered a challenge?”
“Yer not going to last long in this place, boyo, unless ye cop on.”
He stared at the side of her head. “I’ll assume that is a yes. So if he takes it as a challenge, what happens next?”
“Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph. Ye get a clatter, that’s what happens. Ye try to see out yer ear after he thumps ye. Look.” She turned a little so she could better see him. “Here’s a word of advice. If ye want to try yer hand against a shifter, and I don’t blame ya if ye do, pick someone else. Anyone else. Don’t start with him. Don’t even end with him. He was born an alpha, and now he’s actually trying a little. It won’t be long before he tries a lot and claims the reputation he deserves. For Jessie’s sake, stay away from him. She needs help, and ye can’t do that if Austin Steele rips ye in half.”
“All due respect, you aren’t born an alpha any more than you’re born a mage. You are merely born with talent. It’s up to the individual to hone and shape that talent into a skill set.”
“What are ye, a philosopher?”
“When I have nothing better to do…yes, I suppose so.”
She grunted again. So much for idle chitchat.
“What made him…try a little, if I might inquire?” the mage asked.
She took a sip, debating how much information to share about the area and the people running it. Austin Steele might not know what to make of the mage, but he didn’t seem to consider him a threat. Niamh never really tried to assess anyone, assuming everyone was an arsehole, but she had to admit that the mage didn’t annoy her. He wasn’t pushy, he wasn’t too chatty, he drank when pushed—and a drink to be proud of, at that—and he just minded his own business when no one engaged him.
He did have a staring problem, though. He was as bad as the horny girls that filled this place, watching Austin Steele’s every move, hoping to go home with him. Only this guy wasn’t looking at Austin Steele’s arms, back, or butt. He was paying attention to the way he handled people, taking in what the alpha noticed and reacted to.
That should’ve probably set off warning bells. It didn’t.
“Are you using magic to alter the moods of the people around you?” she asked.
It was her turn to get analyzed. “You don’t seem overly put out about the possibility.”
She shrugged. “Ye’re not annoyin’ me. If it takes magic to make that a reality, then I’m not beat up about it.”
A crooked grin worked at his lips, as though a novice puppet master were maneuvering his mouth. “What a strange place this town is. You aren’t afraid of magic controlling you.” It wasn’t a question.
“Not afraid, no. Though that kind of thing can make a body irrational.”
“Meaning?”
“If you were, and I’d had enough, I’d kill you.”
“I would expect no less. In answer to your question, no, I’m not using magic to control you. I’m using it to eavesdrop around the room, but since I can hear you just fine, the spell isn’t near you.”
“Oh yeah?” She glanced at those flat gray eyes, his face utterly expressionless except for that strange smile. “Hear anything good?”
“A great many ladies would like to bed the alpha.”
“You don’t need magic to know that.”
“Well…I do. I’m not very good at reading social cues or understanding human behavior. I’m slightly…socially awkward, we’ll say. Socially deficient, maybe.”
“Jessie will be glad to hear it. What else?”
“A group in the back doesn’t like the way the alpha is scheduling supervised fights to handle pack placement. Nor do they like the way he throws his weight around.”
Niamh sniffed. “They don’t like their own inferiority.”
“Sounds like one of them’s an alpha from another pack? I can’t be sure, but…”