Page 34 of Purrfectly Peculiar Pixie

“Hmm…a beautiful locale. Perhaps we can enjoy an evening stroll along the beach tomorrow.”

Given his wings, Phlox couldn’t turn in my arms. He did lean over his shoulder and tilt his lips up for a kiss. I was more than happy to oblige.

“Troll first?” Phlox asked.

“Troll first,” I easily agreed.

* * *

Eliminating Oxley as a threat was easier than even I’d thought. Although large and powerful, Oxley was no match for me now that I’d supped from my beloved. A fatal blow might not have been necessary if we’d had a better way to contain him. As it was, we could not take the chance of him recovering during the day while I was so vulnerable.

Phlox barely batted an eyelash at the carnage.

With the troll taken care of, we made our way back to Sylvie’s door. Our efforts were met with silence on the other side. I thought it too much to hope she was asleep. Sunrise was mere minutes away. I had seven, maybe eight minutes before the cresting rays impacted my capabilities. Speed was of the essence.

Phlox pointed to the room we’d used earlier and whispered. “I’ll crawl through the ducts again. You come at her in a frontal attack. I’ll be the surprise.”

His plan sounded as good as anything I could conceive. Hastily following our previous actions, I lifted Phlox into the open duct. This time I maintained my vampire form and left the room. I attempted to wait the allotted time I knew it would take Phlox to get into position. The wave of intense magic that suddenly filtered into Sylvie’s closed door erased my patience.

I’d figured the door would be locked. While the magical barricade wasn’t completely unexpected, its strength was.

A hellacious growl rumbled through my chest. I wasn’t sure if she’d been tipped off somehow or if her door was always magically blocked. It was possible she’d heard us dispatching Oxley. Either way, I couldn’t get inside. Not this way at least.

I stared at the thick plastered wall. If this witch thought she could keep me out, keeping me away from my beloved, then she had another thing coming.

I scanned around the area, feeling my magical way along the wall. Sylvie’s magic didn’t extend past the doorway. If Phlox and I were lucky, the reason Sylvie hadn’t reinforced the surrounding walls with magic was because she was still too drained from the transportation portal she’d used to bring us here.

The sound of a metal grate hitting the floor followed by Sylvie’s high-pitched scream heightened my need to get into that room. Arm pulled back, talons extended, I slammed my razor-sharp appendages into the wall. The old plaster cracked and crumbled. Five more punches shattered the wall, and I ran inside.

My entrance immediately drew Sylvie’s attention. Lips curled back in a snarl, words I didn’t understand flew from her lips and fiery light sparked from her fingertips. Taking advantage of the distraction I’d created, Phlox, still in his Pallas’s cat form, launched himself off the bed, claws extended and aimed for Sylvie’s turned back. With her attention on me, she’d ignored a very small, yet potent threat.

Sylvie’s pained screech pierced my ears. Her hands flew to her back as she squirmed, attempting to dislodge Phlox’s claws. Phlox was having none of it. Reeling back, his head shot forward and, fast as a snake, his teeth sank deep into Sylvie’s flesh.

Her second scream of pain was far worse than the first. Efforts increasing, Sylvie stopped trying to dislodge Phlox’s claws and teeth and instead ripped his body off. Holding him by the scruff, Sylvie threw my beloved across the room.

An unholy roar tore through my chest. I didn’t think. I just moved. Instinct is a damnable thing. Thoughts of keeping the witch alive fled my mind. Thrusting my arm forward, my talons punched a hole through Sylvie’s chest. When my hand came out the other side, it held Sylvie’s dying heart.

The witch gurgled, incomprehensible words twisting through her lips. Sylvie expired where she stood, my impaled arm the only thing holding her upright. Pulling my arm back eliminated that last vestige and her body crumpled to the floor, her bloody heart still in my hand.

My bloodlust satisfied, the roar filling my brain faded and the sounds in the room slowly filtered back in. The rapid beat of wings hit my senses before Phlox’s pixie dust entered my vision. But when I glanced up, it wasn’t what I expected.

Sylvie’s heart slipped from my hands, landing with a splat as it joined her body. My crimson washed eyes receded as did my vampiric form. I would challenge any vampire to retain their battle form when faced with a plush kitty with fluttering pixie wings. The wings were proportional to Phlox’s Pallas’s cat form and dust filled the air around him. The scene would have been sickeningly sweet had it not been for the disappointed rage filling his yellow eyes.

Head purposefully pointed down, Phlox’s gaze shot to Sylvie’s very deceased form before that glare focused back on me. I stared at the carnage littering the floor and dripping from my hand.

“I thought she harmed you,” I said defensively.

Phlox rolled his large, yellow eyes before light shimmered around him and he transformed back into his pixie form.

“But she didn’t harm me.” He pointed over his shoulder to his wings. “I can fly, remember.”

It was difficult to forget. “You were in your cat form.” The implication was clear enough. Phlox’s dusty cheeks and averted gaze told he me understood.

“Yeah, well…as you can see, I can fly in that form too.” Phlox got in my face and jabbed a finger into my chest. “But if you tell anyone what you just saw, I’ll make your second life a living hell. You got that?” He jabbed a little harder for emphasis.

“My lips are sealed,” I promised.

Phlox folded his arms over his chest and heavily sighed. “Well, this is a big fucking mess.”

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