Page 6 of Purrfectly Peculiar Pixie

“And I adore who you are, Phil. It’s fine. We’ll figure this shit out.”

“Sedrick is correct, Philodendron.” I wasn’t sure if Lucroy was referring to Phil’s home-and-hearth nature or the fact Sedrick had promised to solve the current pixie trafficking horror. Either way, I agreed.

“In this instance, I hate to agree with Sedrick, but he is not wrong regarding our stymied investigation. Queen Silvidia is most dismayed by the lack of progress and continued loss of life. Even with multiple resources and several individuals on task, Fairy hasn’t had any better fortune. I do not believe I have ever seen Hamish so…annoyed.”

Sedrick’s growl was an even lower tenor this time.

“Sedrick,” Phil scolded lightly. “Hamish is trying to help, and he did save Peaches and Lucroy’s lives when Aurelia was under Arthur’s control.”

“I know,” Sedrick grumbled. “That doesn’t mean I have to forgive him for what he tried doing to you.”

“As a fairy lawyer, Hamish was doing his job,” Ray defended.

Wendall’s wide eyes stared up at Ray, their peaceful seas turning turbulent.

“Yeah, but he did it in a sneaky, underhanded way,” Sedrick huffed. “And don’t try and tell me any different. Even you didn’t agree with what he tried doing to Phil. Phil could have died.” His last words were laced with so much pain I felt my chest constrict.

“But I didn’t die, and everything is fine. Besides, I think I’m just as responsible, if not more so, than Hamish. I should have realized I’d bonded with the house—with you and the children. It was my own stupidity, I—”

“No more of that.” Peaches flew to Phil, golden dust filling the air. Ray barely covered his nose in time. Wendall didn’t and sneezed a couple of times. “I won’t stand here and listen to you call yourself stupid. You were naïve and didn’t know better. That’s a far cry from stupid.” Peaches crossed his arms and flew a little higher, wings mercilessly beating and spreading even more dust.

“Beloved,” Lucroy calmly cajoled. “While I love your passion, I’m afraid the non-pixie, breathing among us are having a little trouble with all the dust.”

“Oh! I’m sorry.” Peaches’s wings stopped so suddenly he nearly dropped to the ground. Lucroy’s hands grabbed his waist and eased his descent.

“It’s okay. If you hadn’t scolded him, I would have,” Sedrick said, laying a hand on the side of Phil’s cheek. Inhaling deeply, Sedrick released a heavy sigh. “The point is it’s difficult for me to hear Hamish McIntyre’s name and not sprout claws.”

Ray sounded perfectly agreeable when he answered, “While that is understandable, Hamish excels at whatever task he has agreed to take on. We are fortunate to have him on our side. The fact he has been unable to trace this trafficking ring is more than disheartening. This particular group is far more organized and well controlled than past iterations.”

“Most likely that is because it isn’t ogre run,” I added, pulling all eyes toward me.

“We already knew that,” Vander said, his voice a little hollow coming through the computer speakers.

“Yes.” I nodded. “The Magical Usage Council in conjunction with the Ogre Addiction Organization has confirmed this. We’ve managed to arrest two ogres that we believe are involved, however, they are so low down within the operation that they have no pertinent information regarding those higher up. The bottom line is we need to get closer. The Magical Usage Council has tried infiltrating the group, but whoever’s in charge is far too cagey, or perhaps, paranoid to gain any inroads. In short, that plan has failed. Miserably.”

Grunts, groans, and dispirited sighs filled the air.

“Then what’s the plan?” Sedrick asked, his gaze flitting around the room, amber orbs lit from within, his wolf close to the surface.

Instead of answering directly, I turned my attention toward Ray. The slight tilt of his head was permission enough. This was a plan approved by both Fairy and the Magical Usage Council. It was the reason I was here.

“The plan,” I said, licking my suddenly dry lips, “is bait.”

“Bait?” Phil and Peaches echoed in unison.

“Who would…” Phil’s words faded, his wide, pale green eyes staring at me, a soft “no” drifting from his lips.

I didn’t wait for the others to catch on. I simply nodded and grinned. “No better bait than a tiny, defenseless pixie.”

My prospective kidnappers would learn I wasn’t asdefenselessas I appeared.

ChapterTwo

Leon

It was a typical Wednesday night. We were in the time of year where the sun went down later and later, which meant my nestmates didn’t amble into the bar as early as a couple months prior. It was the way of our kind. Except for Lucroy, every other vampire I knew lived and died by sunrise and sunset. It was so ingrained within our vampiric nature that we couldn’t be roused when the sun was at its most deadly zenith.

I’d spent the day inside Dusk, using Lucroy’s underground den. As a typical rule, vampires didn’t like sharing their resting spaces. Few, if any, were allowed inside. Lucroy and I’d known each other for centuries. I was his second and current heir of the Southeast nest. To my knowledge, Peaches and I were the only ones he’d ever allowed into his private sanctuary. So, while I didn’t feel unwelcome there, it wasn’t home either. What it was was convenient.

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