Page 76 of Perfectly Perfect Pixie

“You knew Horatio?” Lucroy asked, voice neutral.

Nirgal gave a slow nod. “He was my child. I was already considered ancient when I sired Horatio.” With a shrug, Nirgal sighed. “I cannot tell you what tempted me to change him. I doubt few can. There was simply something about him that called to me, and until the end, I was not disappointed by my choice.”

“Nirgal, I was not aware you knew Horatio, let alone sired him,” Cassius stated.

I could have been wrong, but I thought I detected a hint of betrayal or perhaps disappointment.

“There was no reason you should know,” Nirgal answered matter-of-factly. “Horatio passed far before your time.”

Just how old was this guy?I wanted to ask but thought it might be rude.

Evidently, Phil didn’t feel the same and blurted, “Wow, you must be old.”

While the other vampire council members appeared annoyed, Nirgal simply nodded. “I have lost track of the years, but I believe your current scholars place my time and place somewhere around Samaria.”

“Oh. Wow.” Phil’s simple answer summed things up well.

Nirgal waved a dismissive hand. “The time is unimportant. Time moves as it will, and instead of fighting its tide, I’ve learned to flow with it. I tried to teach Horatio this lesson, but he was willful. Horatio had ideas of what a powerful vampire should be, and perhaps, more detrimentally, what they should not be.”

Nirgal’s eyes turned distant. “Pixies. Beautiful creatures. Some see that beauty and nothing more. It is a façade to most, something flashy but superficial. Few see the strength deep within. Horatio was not one of those few, and yet, he fell in love.”

“Everyone knows that,” Gashan said. “It was Horatio’s undoing that he fell in love with a pixie, that he drank her blood, and that it weakened him.”

Nirgal dropped his head. “Time is an interesting thing. So many things change, and yet others remain the same. It is amazing what everyone believes theyknow. It was not Horatio’s love of his pixie or her blood that weakened him. It was his denial of that love.” Nirgal raised his head, gaze boring into Lucroy.

Fingers tightening a little more, Lucroy remained still, the beat of his heart slowing to near nothing. “She was his beloved.” Lucroy sounded breathy.

“She was,” Nirgal answered.

“And he denied her.” Lucroy’s voice changed, a damaged quality whispering around its edges.

From somewhere behind me, Leon groaned. The sound pierced my heart just as a wounded animal’s would.

“He denied her,” Lucroy repeated, as if he couldn’t believe it. “He denied his beloved.”

“Just as many still believe, Horatio thought loving a pixie made him weak. He thought giving in to that love, claiming her as his beloved, would lower his status within the vampire community. Sadly, he wasn’t wrong. Most likely, it would have. Horatio chose status and power over everlasting love, and in the end, he paid the price. As did his beloved.”

I grasped the fabric over my chest, my wings furiously beating. “She died?”

“Eventually, yes, though she lived longer than Horatio. For some reason, her fate in the story never seemed important enough to include. Or perhaps, she was simply forgotten. As I said, vampires are status-oriented and would have cared little for a pixie’s fate, especially one whose blood they suspected of tainting a vampire of Horatio’s standing.”

“Sweet Goddess.” I turned my face into Lucroy’s chest, allowing him to wrap his arms around me. “That poor pixie.”

I couldn’t imagine Lucroy turning me away. Maybe I’d been concerned about that when we’d first started seeing each other, but that fear had quickly been replaced by the one where my blood caused his death. I’d been more concerned that Lucroy would refuse to give me up.

“That’s why you came.” Cassius tilted his head. “You haven’t left the compound, haven’t stepped out from underground, in centuries. When you demanded we come, that we investigate the werewolf’s claims, I did not understand why.”

“I wanted to see if Horatio’s folly was destined to be repeated. I suspect it has already happened. I wonder how many vampires have ignored their attraction to a pixie because of fear. I am beyond pleased to see that King Moony is made from sterner stuff. I’d heard his nest was different from others. I have been disappointed far too often in my long life. The occasions when I am not are precious.”

“You honor me, ancient one.” Lucroy’s chin touched the crown of my head.

“I honor no one. You honor yourself.”

It was subtle, but Nirgal’s demeanor changed. His movement was so smooth he appeared to glide upon the floor as he turned and faced Frederick. “I will grant you a gift, King Moony. I believe you asked this disgraceful fledgling a question earlier. Or perhaps, it was more of an accusation. Ask your question again. This one can no longer lie.”

Frederick’s body stiffened, but not in the natural way vampires did. This wasn’t of his own volition. Freddie gasped and clawed at his throat.

“Relax. Speak the truth, and it will not be uncomfortable,” Nirgal ordered.

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