Page 58 of Purrfectly Peculiar Pixie

“And you sold them all to the same buyer?” Ray asked.

“No.”

“Were all the buyers associated with the same organization?” Ray asked, undeterred.

“Yes.” Sylvie was sticking with one-word answers but so far she was being truthful.

“I see,” Ray calmly said. “A lot of money has changed hands. Money can be a precious commodity to some, but the current scale seems exorbitant, especially considering the risk. Should they be found out, death will be swift and immediate.”

Sylvie said nothing. She stood there, staring out into the distant orchard and lips little more than a thin line.

“I am curious what one would need with all that money. What would make the risk worth it?” Ray mused out loud but still hadn’t asked Sylvie a direct question. He corrected that calculated mistake when he asked, “Do you know the purpose of those misbegotten funds?”

Sylvie hesitated before she answered, “I’m sure I wouldn’t know.”

“Lie,” Erasmus flatly stated. “You get one warning, Sylvie Tabitha Danube.”

Sylvie’s hatred only grew and for a minute I thought her head might explode with all her barely suppressed rage. “I do not know exactly, only that they are seeking something rare, something powerful, something that can even destroy your precious Fairy.”

Wendall gasped, Trinket wailed, and Ray remained stoically silent.

“Something that can destroy Fairy?” Vander shifted closer, fingers still entwined with Parsnip’s. “What in the hell could that be? The only thing I can even think of is… Gaia, no. That can’t be it.” Vander’s head turned toward Ray. “She can’t be talking about what I think she is.”

“I believe it is entirely possible,” Lucroy said, walking closer to the porch edge. The sun was lower in the sky, its rays not as potent. Leaving the porch, Lucroy walked into those dying rays without hesitation. Peaches flew by his side, yellow-gold pixie dust trailing in his wake.

“Shit, fuck, and damn,” Vander cursed while palming his forehead.

My attention snapped between each of them, wondering what I was missing. “What?” I asked. Beyond brownies, I couldn’t think of anything that might be a threat to a fairy, let alone the land of Fairy. “What am I missing?”

“I’d like to know that too,” Erasmus said. He didn’t sound nearly as casual as before. “Anything that threatens Fairy gets my attention.”

Ignoring Erasmus and me, Ray asked Sylvie, “Is that their goal? The destruction of Fairy?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea what their objective is, only that whatever it is they are looking for is the most powerful weapon ever created.”

“Djinn.” Parsnip’s voice was so low I barely parsed the word.

Erasmus’s shoulder snapped taught. “Djinn? They don’t exist.” Eyes wide, Erasmus gaze fell on each and every one of us. While I’d not been involved in the incident with Aurelia, I knew of it and knew that djinn did indeed exist.

“I mean, they used to, but that was a long time ago and…” Erasmus’s words drifted while he came to terms with the fact djinn were real and still present within the world. “Well, fucking fuck.” Erasmus threw his hands in the air and twirled, walking away while his mind processed the fear assaulting his heart.

Sylvie’s grin was nothing short of evil. “If that is what they seek, you are all dead. Including you, necromancer.” She raised her voice, allowing it to travel the distance Erasmus walked.

“Yeah? Well, looks like you bit the big one first,” I spat. It wasn’t a very good comeback, but it was all I had.

Ray was more professional than me and asked Sylvie a few more questions she didn’t know the answers to. Erasmus confirmed she wasn’t lying. Sylvie didn’t know where the other pixies she’d kidnapped were. She didn’t know the true name of any of her contacts. She didn’t know how many others were involved in the ring. In the end, she didn’t know a hell of a lot and what she did know only served to scare the shit out of me.

“I believe we are finished,” Ray finally said. “You may do with her as you will, necromancer.”

“His name’s Erasmus,” Wendall scolded. I was glad he spoke up. I didn’t know Erasmus well enough to say if I liked him or not. What I could say was that he’d done what we’d asked and not charged as much as his fatherrequested. What I also knew was that his abilities were scary as fuck. Could he really do all the things he threatened Sylvie with? I wasn’t certain. The very idea was horrid. While Erasmus himself wasn’t so bad, what he was capable of was. I could understand why others were so leery of necromancers.

Erasmus gave Wendall a fist bump as thanks before becoming serious. Erasmus exhaled deeply before he said, “Sylvie Tabitha Danube, I release you. May your afterlife be a reflection and judgement of your living days.”

Sylvie’s eyes shot wide before her corpse crumpled to the ground, little more than an empty husk once more.

We all stood there, staring at the Sylvie’s unmoving remains.

“Ray, do you—” Wendall started.

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