Page 32 of Purrfectly Peculiar Pixie

The hall was windowless, and I wasn’t certain if we were above ground yet or not. I thought I scented fresh air ahead and Leon agreed.

“I smell salt.”

Lifting my nose higher, I sniffed again and agreed. “We must be near an ocean.”

“Perhaps an island,” Leon mused.

An island could be more of a problem than I currently desired. While pixies could fly, we were sprinters, not marathon flyers. There was no way I could make it across an ocean. I wasn’t sure how well Leon could swim. Then again, it might not matter. Since vampires didn’t need to breath, maybe he’d just sink and walk along the ocean bottom. I wasn’t sure what the pressure would do to him. Maybe it depended on just how deep the ocean was.

I was about to ask when sounds caught my attention. It was barely a murmur, but I couldn’t decipher the words. Zeroing in, I turned to Leon and placed a finger over my lips, indicating the need for silence. Leon didn’t disappoint. If there was one thing vamps were experts in, it was silence.

We made our way down the hall, the sound growing. The words became increasingly distinct, as did the owner of that voice. Raspy, deep, and rattling didn’t fit with Sylvie. Oxley was near.

Holding up a closed fist, Leon stilled as I leaned against a cracked doorway. Oxley’s gruff voice drifted through the slightly open door. It sounded like he was on the phone given that, from Leon and my perspective, it was a one-way conversation.

“…fucked up. Sylvie thinks it might not be so bad though,” Oxley said with a bit of indifference. “I don’t see what the big deal is. He’s a vamp. If he gets outta hand, I’ll just toss him into the sun.”

I stiffened and my feline teeth pushed against my gums. Leon must have felt my tension and laid a hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah, I know, but they don’t even know where we are. I think Sylvie’s making a lot more of it than she should.” I could visualize Oxley’s eye roll. “Yeah, I’m just the dumb muscle. She doesn’t care what I think. If the money weren’t so good, I’d ditch the witch.” Oxley chuckled at his rhyme. “Hmm…no, I don’t think so. Yeah, she said she’s gonna contact someone.” There was a pause before Oxley huffed. “Of course she didn’t tell me who. You think Sylvie would trust me with that?” Another pause. “Yeah, you’re right. Probably not a matter of trust. More like she doesn’t think I’d have anything to contribute. Dumb troll.” If Oxley wasn’t our kidnapper and planned to profit off my eventual death, maybe I’d give more of a shit that his feelings were hurt.

“Nah, I don’t think she’s heard back yet and if she has, she wouldn’t come runnin’ to tell me. I tried askin’ earlier but Sylvie shooed me outta her room. She won’t admit it, but she sort of shot her magical load gettin’ that pixie.” Oxley chuckled again, this time louder. Yeah, the troll was fucking hilarious.

“She’s all shut up in her room. I think she’s been asleep most of the day. Maybe she’ll hear back soon. Chances are she’ll only tell me if we need to haul that vamp outta the cellar and dump his undead ass on the east side of the island.”

I swallowed hard at the confirmation that we were truly on an island. Leon’s fingers tightened on my flesh, but his grip wasn’t painful.

The one on the other end of the call must have said something Oxley found hilarious if his booming laughter was any indication. The conversation soon devolved into sexual innuendo and debates regarding the best kind of rotten meat. My stomach churned, my earlier hunger receding.

Waving my hand, Leon and I silently crept by the open door, Oxley none the wiser. At least we’d confirmed one thing—it didn’t look like anyone knew that we’d escaped our cells.

The house turned out to be a maze of corridors and tiny rooms. It was bigger than I would have imagined, but not a mansion. A set of stairs led upward, and Leon silently walked up them while I flew. A new voice caught my attention, and I instantly recognized it as Sylvie’s. It was muffled, her door closed. Leaning my ear against the solid wood surface didn’t help. I couldn’t make out what she said. Her words were sparse and if she were talking to someone, then it was sporadic. I also thought I heard the clack of computer keys, but again, I couldn’t be certain.

I looked around the small foyer, working the problem and attempting to find a way in. While I wasn’t certain of the time, I figured ours was dwindling. We were fighting against the sunrise and hopefully rescue. I couldn’t let this opportunity go to waste.

My gaze caught on an airduct. It was small and my current form wouldn’t be able to fit. Good thing I had a second form. Motioning toward a nearby, empty room, Leon and I ducked inside and quietly closed the door.

I pointed toward the nearby airduct and quietly whispered my plan. “I think I can fit.” I shimmied my body, trying to convey my idea of wiggling through the duct.

Leon did little more than raise an eyebrow and give a nod. “Be careful. If you are in danger, I will not be responsible for my response. I doubt the witch will live long enough to be useful.”

Hearing someone’s willing to kill for you shouldn’t be such an aphrodisiac. Flying up, I pecked Leon on the lips. He turned that little touch into an inferno when he deepened the kiss. I came away breathless and Leon and I were both hard.

Palming his interest, I said, “We’ll need to explore this later.” And there would be a later. We were both getting out of this mess, and we’d do it with enough information to nail this asshole to the wall.

Leon palmed my ass before releasing me. “Give me a hand up?” I asked and Leon nodded. I could sprout pixie wings in my Pallas’s cat form. I’d done it before, and Auntie Tandra had pictures as proof. Of course, I’d threatened my auntie within an inch of her life if she ever showed them to anyone. She’d gushed about how adorable I was—a cat with wings, capable of flight. I had no doubt I was as cute as she thought. I didn’t want to be cute. A plush cat with a pair of pixie wings didn’t exactly inspire trepidation.

I shrank down, becoming smaller and smaller until I was the size of a typical housecat. My dense fur made me look larger than I truly was.

Leon scooped me up, motions gentle as he lifted me into the air. I heard his joints pop as his arms elongated. He kept his talons in check, and soon I was at the level of the duct. The cover was easy enough to pry off, and Leon snagged it before the metal could tumble to the floor.

With a little shimmy and a smidge of contortion, I wiggled into the narrow duct. It was a tight squeeze, but I managed. Slinking along, I followed my ears and made my way closer to Sylvie’s voice. The first opening I came to didn’t allow me to see much. Thankfully, there was a second. Scurrying through another duct, I came out with a much better view. I was practically on top of Sylvie. More importantly, I had a direct view of her computer. And what a view it was. I grinned. It was too bad no one was around to see it. No one would see me as anything but the badass agent I was if they could see my sharp teeth and wicked grin.

Jackpot! I silently whispered.

ChapterTwelve

Leon

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