Page 67 of Perfectly Perfect Pixie

By slow degrees, I regained control. It wasn’t complete, and the room still swam in crimson, but it was enough for me to converse.

“Thank you, Sedrick,” I finally managed.

“No thanks necessary. Peaches is part of my pack. I should be thanking you for alerting me that something was wrong. And that’s saying nothing about what Peaches means to Phil. I don’t like thinking of my mate suffering that level of grief.”

“We are well agreed then.” Now that the crisis was over, or at least on the mend, my mind tumbled, considering what could have happened.

“Where Peaches health is concerned, we will always be in agreement.”

“His color’s better,” Phil shouted, his voice strong and full of hope.

“That’s good,” I said and heard Sedrick repeat my words to his mate.

“Give me a minute,” Sedrick said, and I heard him walking. The surrounding sounds of sprites dimmed, and I imagined he was distancing himself from Phil and Peaches. “Sorry, those sprites are making my head hurt, and I need to be able to think. Phil told me that you had someone you trusted drive Peaches home last night.”

“Early this morning,” I agreed. “Before the sunrise. Her name is Bree.”

“Before you ask, I didn’t see a pile of ashes around.”

It was a reasonable observation. Given the time of day, if Bree had been in that ditch beside Peaches, she would have burned.

“I also didn’t see your Jeep anywhere either. Do you think someone took her?” Sedrick asked in a neutral voice.

“I do not know, and given the time, I am unable to find out.” Vampirism had frustrating limitations. It was not the gift many humans thought.

There was a brief pause before Sedrick asked, “Speaking of the time, how in the hell are you still awake? And how in the hell did you even hear your phone ring? I thought vamps couldn’t be roused during the height of the day.”

“You are not wrong. As for me . . .” I hesitated. I hadn’t even told Leon yet that I’d woken during the middle of the day. “The last three days have been . . . different.”

“Hmm, you think Peaches’s blood has something to do with that?”

It was a fair question, one I’d been contemplating. “It is the only reason I can think of.”

“Whatever the cause, I’m damn glad. I don’t know if the outcome would have been the same if Peaches hadn’t been found until nightfall.” Sedrick blew out a heavy breath. “I don’t mean to rattle your cage more, but when I get a hold of whoever did this, there won’t be much left.” I got the distinct impression Sedrick was having as much trouble controlling his wolf as I was with my vampiric nature.

“You may have the scraps to chew on when I’m done disemboweling them.”

A huffed snort that sounded suspiciously like an abbreviated laugh was Sedrick’s response.

Now that I’d calmed enough to properly think, I asked, “You’ll stay with Peaches until I can get there tonight?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions. Of course we’ll stay. I’ll call Burt and Ollie and ask them to head over to the house so someone will be there when the kids get home from school. They’ll hang out and watch over them. I don’t envy those two. Dillon will be pissed when he finds out what happened. He’ll demand someone drive him out here. Knowing Ruthie, she’ll back up her brother. Burt and Ollie are gonna have two difficult werewolves to wrangle.”

“Will Philodendron be okay that long away from your home?”

Phil had been bonded for several months now. Being separated, even for shorter times, could be draining.

“He should be fine as long as I’m here with him. Since Phil’s bonded to me too, it gives him a little more leeway.”

I inhaled, lifting my chest. It didn’t exactly remove the ache that had settled in, but it did help calm me.

Sedrick took a sledgehammer to that calm when he said, “This needs to end, Lucroy. I realize you’re dealing with some tricky shit in your nest, but I won’t have Peaches in harm’s way. I get that he’s special to you, probably more special than you thought he’d be, but Peaches is part of my pack, and as his alpha, I can’t tolerate this. If you don’t do something, then I will.”

It was probably best Sedrick couldn’t see my smirk. Alpha werewolves were powerful, but a vampire could best them. Wolves were as lethal as any vamp. But it came down to speed, and no one was faster than a vampire.

Still, the point was understood. I’d hoped Frederick would make his move last night. If my ruse had any impact, then Frederick wasn’t certain if it was the tainted blood he believed I was still drinking or Peaches’s blood. Either way, if something happened to Peaches, he wouldn’t have a scapegoat for the reason I’d supposedly weakened. It wouldn’t make any sense for him to go after my pixie.

“Alpha Belview?” I questioned, earning a low growl.

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