Page 88 of Purrfectly Peculiar Pixie

Sedrick’s body cracked, his transformation close at hand.

“Easy,” Phil whispered, and Sedrick calmed. At least for now.

Alpha Arie Belview looked good, if not a little wild around the edges. He was a broad individual and his bulk pulled at the bespoke suit that bunched and stretched across his chest. Alpha Belview’s thick, chestnut hair and beard were peppered with gray. His cheeks were filled out and his posture was one of smug ease.

The same could not be said for most of his pack. While some appeared well fed and hearty, the majority were too lean. Not emaciated, but whipcord raw with haunted, shifting eyes. Others simply appeared resigned, as if they’d rather be anywhere else than standing on the edge of a bonded pixie’s territory.

“Janus,” Arie said and suddenly the djinn appeared, as starkly underdressed as before. Janus said nothing, simply stood beside Arie, anticipation lighting his wicked grin.

But it wasn’t Janus’s appearance that made Vander swear, it was the appearance of a warlock, one with a mere smattering of gray at his temples. This warlock was young.

“That’s a bad sign,” Vander grumbled before striding forward. Despite his halting hand gesture, Parsnip followed, a barely audible “as if,” echoing from Parsnip’s lips as he darted past me.

“What the fuck are you doing with the likes of him?” Vander shouted, waving a hand in Arie’s general direction. “Sweet Gaia, I don’t even want to think of what he asked you to do, let alone the possibility that you agreed.”

“Ambrose is a very talented warlock,” Arie answered, glee filling every word. “Much more talented than you.”

Far from offended, Vander scoffed, waving off the dig. “I doubt that. He’s younger and stupider. Most likely he’s got ability, but whatever he’s got, he threw his life away when he agreed to try and do what we all know you want.”

Ambrose was already sickly pale. I hadn’t thought it possible for him to get any whiter and yet that’s exactly what Vander’s words achieved.

Alpha Belview’s laughter slithered across my skin and wormed its way into my soul. With glinting, amber eyes, he turned his gaze on Sedrick and Phil. There was far too much pleasure in that stare, too much unmitigated joy.

“Where are my grandchildren, Sedrick?” Arie hummed. “Close by, I’ve no doubt. We stopped by that little hovel you call home first. I wanted to give you and your…pixie”—Arie sneered the last word, as if calling Phil a pixie was laughable—“a gift.”

“We don’t need jackshit from you.” I don’t think any amount of cajoling on Phil’s part could calm Sedrick’s wolf.

“Oh, I am perfectly aware of that,” Arie answered.

“Alpha Arie Belview, you are precariously close to breaking your oath, sworn on fairy law. I would advise choosing your following actions carefully, however, I believe we both know that you have already committed far worse crimes.” Ray stepped forward. Heat radiated from him as he slid past. Wendall didn’t go with him. He stood his ground. Trinket came running from the forest, shimmying up Wendall’s leg and settling on his shoulder, her tail firmly wrapped around his bicep. The ground shook as Ruthie and Dillon followed, still in their wolf forms. The smaller wolf, the one I figured was Shawn, stayed by the tree line, unsure what to do. I was glad the boy stayed where he was—out of sight and out of mind.

Alpha Belview threw his head back and laughed. At least two-thirds of his surrounding pack flinched at the sound.

“You amuse me, Hellfire Rayburn.” Arie’s grin was positively dripping with arrogance. My eyes flew wide. I’d never heard anyone so boldly insult a fairy.

Ray’s eyes swam with fire. “A curious response. A foolish one as well.”

All traces of humor fled as Arie’s facial features hardened. “It is you who are foolish. The end of fairy law—no, the end of Fairy itself is close at hand.” Thrusting out his arm, Arie made a sweeping motion in Janus’s direction. “I finally found something more powerful, and I hold its leash.”

Janus’s eyes narrowed and a handful of tattoos flared. Alpha Belview appeared far too self-absorbed, caught up in his own self-aggrandizing to notice. It was a dangerous oversight. Even if Arie won the day, the creature he hung his victory upon would one day be his destruction. Arie Belview either couldn’t or wouldn’t see it. More likely still, Arie’s arrogance wouldn’t allow him to believe he’d meet the same fate as all Janus’s previous masters.

Sedrick’s rumbled growl vibrated up my spine. “Your stupidity will be everyone’s downfall.”

“Stupidity?” Arie mocked. “I’m hardly an idiot. I’m an entrepreneur.” Arie’s chest puffed with pride. “When I’m told something is impossible, I see it as a challenge.” Arie’s grin was back, more wickedly pleased than before. “Take pixie bonds, for example.”

Everyone stiffened. Parsnip and Peaches dropped, temporarily grounded by fear.

But Arie wasn’t looking at them, his eyes had a single target. “I understand my grandchildren have become rather fond of your pixie, Sedrick. You might want to send them away. I doubt you’ll want them to see this.”

Sedrick strode forward, Dillon and Ruthie flanking him, all three standing before Phil. Dillon lunged and snapped, growling low. Ruthie took on a wide-based stance, ready to spring at a moment’s notice, all of them determined to protect Phil.

With a casual shrug, Alpha Belview said, “Suit yourselves. Ambrose.”

It was all the warlock needed. Raising his hands, sigils danced in the air, floating around a large uncut diamond. Words I didn’t understand spilled from Ambrose’s lips, drifting into the night, leaving a swath of pain in their wake.

“Fucking shit,” Vander cursed. “Don’t do it. Don’t—” Vander’s words were drowned out by Phil’s scream.

ChapterTwenty-Nine

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