Page 55 of Perfectly Perfect Pixie

“Can I ask you to keep this incident to yourself?” I asked Sedrick.

“I don’t keep things from Phil,” he answered instantly. “I’m sorry, but that’s just how it works between mates.” Sedrick didn’t really sound all that apologetic.

“Understood.”

“I don’t see the need to tell anyone beyond that, and I can’t imagine Phil will either. Except . . .”

“Peaches,” I easily finished his thought.

“Yeah. They’re friends. In some ways, they’re best friends.” Sedrick didn’t sound entirely happy with that thought. “I love Phil, but I’m not a pixie. There are some things I just don’t understand, and Peaches does. If you’re really interested in Peaches, then you’ll have to accept that too.”

It was a valid point. It was one of the complications of interspecies relationships. It was not a complication that couldn’t be overcome. It was simply something one had to wrap their head around and accept if one wanted their partner to be as joyful as possible.

“I believe this is something Peaches should be made aware of,” Instinct told me to protect Peaches. Sometimes the best way to do that wasn’t to keep information hidden.

“Good. That means it’s just you, me, the pixies, and Johnny. Leon too, if Johnny gets him involved.”

“He will.”

“And you trust Johnny and Leon.”

“Without question or hesitation.” I didn’t have to spend a moment’s consideration.

“Okay.” Sedrick blew out a breath. “Then what’s the plan?”

“What makes you think I have one?”

Sedrick chuckled, the sound deep and sonorous. “You’re a vamp, Lucroy. The king of the Southeast nest. You don’t get that title by being an idiot. You’ve got a plan, and if you don’t have it fully fleshed out yet, then you’ve got a basic framework.”

I smiled, the first one of the evening. I might have shown a hint of fang, but Sedrick didn’t appear to take offense. Raising my cup of chilled blood, I held it aloft across the table. “I need a little more information, but you are correct. Traps are not only useful, but they are also often amusing.”

Raising his mug of beer, Sedrick clinked it against the side of my glass, saluting me before he swallowed the remainder. I threw my blood back like a shot. Only years of practiced control stopped my disgusted grimace.

I didn’t hide my reaction as well as I’d thought.

“Not as good as pixie?” Sedrick correctly guessed.

“No.” I didn’t elaborate. Maybe I didn’t have to. It was something only a handful of fortunate vampires would understand. Those precious few who’d found their beloveds. I was among that illustrious rank, though few knew it, and right now, I was paying the price. It was, of course, a bill I would happily pay if it meant a lifetime of Peaches cuddled up next to me, golden pixie dust filling our home. I never thought I’d have the chance to see the sun again. Peaches proved me wrong.

ChapterTwenty-Two

PEACHES

“How can you act so casual about this? Someone tried to poison you.Poison.” I flew toward Lucroy, landing on his lap. He’d traveled out to my orchard tonight. Bree drove, just in case something happened. Leon and Lucroy still weren’t taking a lot of chances. He promised he still felt well, but that could change, and none of us wanted him behind the wheel if that occurred. Besides, given that someone was trying to kill him, it was probably a good idea not to travel alone.

Unable to fully settle, I jumped off Lucroy’s lap and started pixie pacing. My cottage was too small to go very far. “And that poor human.” Running my fingers through my hair, I sadly gazed at Lucroy. “They killed her. Goddess. They gave her a horrible disease, and that killed her.”

Lucroy told me that Leon tracked the human donor down. Her name was Catherine, Katie to her friends and family. She’d gone missing. It was only for a few days. Her body had shown up in Chesapeake Bay. Her tox screens had come up negative. Infectious disease testing indicated she’d been infected with a tick-borne disease that attacked her red blood cells. Drinking the blood likely wouldn’t have killed Lucroy, but it would have considerably weakened him. I was right. Whoever did it intended to poison Lucroy, not kill him outright. I had no illusion that death was the end goal.

“I have compensated her family as best I can.” Lucroy paid for the funeral and set up funds in her name the family could draw from. Katie had a young child and had been going to college. She’d most likely become a donor for the easy cash and health benefits. It was a decision she’d lived to regret.

“Oh, I know. That was very generous of you.” I wasn’t sure if all vampires took care of their private donors the same way or not. Something told me that Lucroy was special. Then again, I already thought he was special.

I’d been a hot mess since I’d found out. Lucroy had called and told me himself. I still couldn’t believe how lucky we’d been that Sedrick had been there and scented the damaged blood. I couldn’t say how many times I’d asked Lucroy if he was sure he hadn’t already drunk the toxic substance. None of us knew when the first tainted bottle had shown up.

Lucroy wasn’t certain. He said it likely wouldn’t have been something he could have discerned. That hadn’t done my sense of calm a bit of good. Regardless, Lucroy was adamant that even if he had, blood circulated through a vampire’s system but didn’t stay long. Whatever magic animated their flesh used the blood up at an alarming rate. The benefit, in this case, was that there wouldn’t be any lingering effects.

I still wasn’t mollified.

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