Page 41 of Purrfectly Peculiar Pixie

Phlox sat down beside me, shoulders slumped, elbows on his knees, and head hanging. Placing a hand on his thigh, I gently squeezed. “You are concerned.”

“I am. I don’t know much about necromancers beyond the Magical Usage Council echoes Ray’s sentiments.”

“Warlock Kines is conscientious. He will do his best to recommend a reputable necromancer, should one exist.” My necromancer knowledge was woefully inept. “Vander can be trusted. He was very useful during recent events concerning a djinn.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard a little about that. Not as much as I’d like, but enough to know I’m glad I only heard about it after the djinn was contained.”

I wasn’t certain Aurelia was ascontainedas Phlox hoped. She was currently peacefully napping, but one wish from Peaches would wake her and bring Aurelia back on the playing field. It was anyone’s guess what her disposition would be. Her hatred of Professor Arthur Stover made usfriends. Djinn had a long history of killing their masters. I could only hope the same fate would not one day befall Peaches.

Slapping his thighs, Phlox flew off the bed, pushing my hand aside as he moved. “Well, we’re not going to solve the world’s problems by staying down in this underground hole. Time to go up and see what kind of trouble we can get into today.”

I grabbed Phlox’s outstretched hand, my larger one dwarfing his. “Give me a moment to dress,” I said before lifting his hand and kissing the back. Phlox flushed bright red and spluttered something incoherent. That was just fine with me because somewhere along the line, Phlox had completely forgotten about the warming blood bottle taking up space on the counter. I’d take the reprieve while I could. I could go without for another few days. It would hurt and I’d have to watch my temper. Hungry vamps had notoriously short fuses. Regardless, it was worth it. I’d suffer through anything for my beloved. I just needed a little more time, a few more hours to figure out how to tell him without risking him running for the nearest airport.

ChapterFifteen

Phlox

Twenty-four hours had never felt so long. Given my recent capture and subsequent escape with Leon, that wasn’t quite true. Pixies weren’t known for understating situations and in that respect, I hadn’t fallen far from the pixie tree.

We’d heard very little from Vander and Parsnip’s camp. The only information we’d gotten was that Vander was “working on it.” I don’t think any of us understood exactly what that meant or the timeframe we were looking at.

“I wish Parsnip would give me a little more information,” Peaches lamented while staring at his phone. His fingers flew across the screen as he typed something back to Parsnip.

“If he knew more, he’d tell us,” Phil said, tone eternally dripping with understanding. “It’s not like necromancers advertise their services. At least, true necromancers don’t.” Phil looked decidedly uncomfortable. “I talked to Sedrick about it last night. His knowledge is second, or maybe, thirdhand. Sedrick said his grandmother told him a story about a necromancer their pack used once.” Phil shuddered. “If half the things she told him are true, then we need to be very careful. I’d rather Vander take his time.”

Peaches’s fingers tapped along the wooden tabletop. His face was scrunched, and his nose looked like he’d scented something foul. “I hate how right you are.”

Leaning into the bench, I spread my wings out, much like my pixie tablemates. Arms crossed, I glared at Peaches’s phone, willing it to ping with more information. I’d been mulling something for the past few hours and finally decided to ask, “Do you think Sylvie’s strength while alive will affect her…” I waved a hand in the air, unsure what to call what we were planning. It wasn’t reanimation. That’s what priests and priestesses did with zombies.

“When we bring her consciousness back from the dead?” Phil thankfully filled in.

“Yes, that,” I agreed. “She was powerful enough to enact a transportation spell. That’s no small feat. And she did it using her own magic.”

Phil shivered. “Parsnip’s told me about the one Letty Fox used on him. He said it was horrible and made him vomit.”

“Parsnip’s not wrong.”

“Ugh, I’m glad I just got a face full of sleeping dust.” Peaches took a long drink of his mead. “That was bad enough and as close to magic as I want to get.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. Pixies utilized magic all the time. The way we did it was different than other species, but we wouldn’t be who we were without it. Pixies weren’t fairies or brownies. Those speciesweremagic. There was a difference. A Grand Canyon-sized difference.

Phil rubbed his forehead and Peaches leaned in and asked, “Are you okay? Have you been away from the house too long?” Worry laced Peaches’s voice and he looked ready to spring into action if Phil so much as hinted that was what was wrong.

“No, it’s not that. At least not yet. I just hate this whole situation. I hate thinking about pixies being taken and…” Phil couldn’t finish his thought. “I’m so fortunate to have never experienced something like that. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Parsnip.”

By now everyone who knew anything about Parsnip understood his past and why he only had a smidgeon of his natural aqua color remaining.

Peaches reached across the table and clasped Phil’s hand. They interlocked fingers and essentially held hands. Sedrick and Lucroy were across the floor, near the bar. They were talking with Johnny and Leon. The three of us had stayed behind. My gaze wasn’t the only one that kept straying toward them. With his hand clasped within Phil’s, Peaches’s head was turned toward the bar, exposing the length of his neck and the fading bite marks there.

I stared at that patch of skin, unaware of how rude I was being. When Peaches reached up and covered the area with his hand, I finally blinked and drew my eyes away. Peaches’s chin jutted out and he had a stubborn pout fixed upon his face.

“Problem?” Peaches asked as if begging me to say yes.

I aggressively shook my head. “No. I’m sorry, I know I was staring, but it’s probably not what you think.” I reached up and unconsciously rubbed the healed patch of skin on my neck. Clearing my throat, I said, “You see, I, uh… While we were captured, Leon needed to feed. Prior to our transport, he’d been caught in the early morning sun. His skin was burned, and he need to be at full strength if we wanted to get out of there. Plus, I didn’t like seeing him in pain.”

Peaches’s hand dropped, exposing his neck. He now appeared more confused than confrontational.

“That sounds reasonable.” Peaches’s golden gaze flicked from me to Phil. Our larger than average pixie companion simply shrugged.

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