Page 10 of Perfectly Perfect Pixie

As I expected, Frederick blanched.

“I’ll bear witness,” Leon kindly offered.

“As will I,” Johnny offered, and I held up my glass, tipping it toward him in thanks.

Taking another sip of blood, I swirled my glass, watching the contents coat the inside, slowly draining back to the bottom. It was my usual blend—a human-ogre mix, heavy on the human. It wasn’t to everyone’s palate, but I’d grown a taste for it over the years and drank it to exclusion now.

Freddie silently fumed, and I’d had enough. “If that’s all, Frederick, I’m afraid I have other duties to attend to.” I remained seated, my intention clear. Freddie was the one that needed to leave.

“Lucroy, is this a bad time?”

My gaze flashed to the left, the move too quick to ever be confused as a human. Stunned, I stared at the two pixies who’d entered my bar. Humans would have found a joke in there somewhere.

Freddie’s presence fell by the wayside, the unpleasant business of earlier superseded by the golden flutter of pixie wings. “Peaches? Phil? I wasn’t aware you planned a visit today.” With ease, I rose from my seat. Without a word, Leon slid to the side. Peaches deserved my full attention.

Peaches gave a hesitant smile. “I wanted to thank you again for coming out to the festival. It was really nice.” Peaches turned his head, looking anywhere but at me.

It was sweet and exposed the length of his neck. I didn’t think he did it on purpose. On any other species, a vamp would take it as an invitation. I made a mental note to speak with Lizbeth. Vampires’ innate fear of pixie blood made Peaches and Phil safer than any other being visiting Dusk. However, a studded collar wouldn’t be amiss.

Phil stepped around his hovering friend. Unlike Peaches, Phil’s feet were planted firmly on the ground. “Hi, Leon,” Phil greeted. To my knowledge, Phil and Leon didn’t know each other well, but Leon was around enough during Phil’s short stint as a bartender and even shorter term as a bouncer.

“Hello, Phil.” Leon patted Phil on his shoulder, the move gentle. “How have you been?”

Phil’s face lit up like fire. “Good,” he managed before clarifying, “Great, actually.” Shuffling, Phil twisted his hands in his shirt’s bright pink fabric. “It’s been a while since I saw Johnny.” Phil leaned to the side, a wide smile splitting his face as he waved at the faun behind the bar. “Hey, Johnny, how have you been?”

“Good! It’s damn fine to see you again, Phil. You got time to fly up and get down a couple of bottles of vodka and that rum over there?”

“Of course.” Phil lifted off the ground in a haze of pink pixie dust. Flying over the bar, Phil easily retrieved Johnny’s requested items. All the while, Peaches watched his friend with a sappy grin on his face.

“You know, I think Phil kind of liked tending bar,” Peaches said, voice low enough that Phil wouldn’t hear him. “Obviously, not as much as taking care of Sedrick, the kids, and the house, but he really likes Johnny, and I think he even liked talking to the customers.”

“It was a far better position for him than a bouncer.” I’d mentally scolded myself over that decision. I wasn’t sure what I’d been thinking. Phil’s size was deceiving. I’d been undead long enough to know better than to judge someone by their outer shell. Phil was true to his pixie nature, no matter how large he was.

“And he didn’t have to cut his hair.” Peaches gave me a scolding look, and Leon laughed, long and loud. It was tired ground, and I didn’t think Peaches would stop stomping over it anytime soon. Peaches held more of a grudge than Phil did.

Holding up the palms of my hands, I admitted, “It was a mistake.”

Peaches made a huffing noise, crossing his arms over his chest and thrusting his chin into the air. His posture said more than words ever could. Far from intimidating, I found Peaches . . . cute.

Turning, I motioned toward the bar. “Would you like to . . . I’m sorry, Frederick. Is there a reason you’re still here?” Having already dismissed Freddie from my mind, I’d nearly forgotten he was still present. In fact, I thought he’d simply slinked away at some opportune moment.

If he’d been alive, red would have infused Freddie’s cheeks. He didn’t even attempt to hide his angered bigotry. “This,” Freddie spat, “is what Dusk has become? Now you’re inviting pixies into our territory?”

Johnny tensed, and Leon hissed, both ready to defend me.

I held up a hand, silencing my friends. I had no idea what drove Freddie’s bigotry. Vampires didn’t have a feud with pixies. We might not be traditional friends, but there was no long-standing animosity. If anything, the two species were fairly indifferent to each other.

“Frederick—”

“I’m not foolish enough to challenge you, Lucroy.” Freddie managed to interrupt and insult me in one move. “I’m not old enough, but others are. When it gets out that you’ve gone soft, someone stronger will come along to challenge you. The council doesn’t like weakness, Lucroy. If you keep messing around with . . . that,” Freddie spat, pointing toward Peaches, “you’ll find your head on the chopping block.”

My body stilled. “Are you threatening me, Frederick?”

“No.” Freddie adamantly shook his head. “Just giving you a piece offriendlyadvice.” Freddie’s grin was far from congenial. The scathing look he sent Peaches before he stomped away nearly signed his death warrant.

“Lucroy?” Peaches’s voice was small, barely a whisper against the musical backdrop of the club.

“You want me to do something?” Leon asked, pulling my attention away from Peaches. “A few nights and days in the box might bring Freddie a little more . . .clarity.”

---