Page 91 of Purrfectly Peculiar Pixie

Lucroy’s neck popped, unnaturally twisting from side to side. Talons erupted from his fingers, their touch whisper soft against Peaches’s exposed skin.

“You realize he won’t stop,” Vander bluntly said. “This time it was Phil. Next time it will be Byx or one of your nestmates. Maybe Johnny or Lizbeth. Arie will keep dangling carrots just outside Peaches’s barrier, attempting to lure us out and pick us off one at a time. And while he’s doing that, he’ll make Peaches’s life as hellaciously painful as possible.”

“The warlock is correct,” Aurelia said plainly. “Rarely have I seen a soul as dark as that alpha’s. His core is rotten, and he spreads that rot like a disease. Janus will be all too happy to aid in that endeavor.” Aurelia’s gaze was distant, staring into the night. “There is only one thing Janus values more than death and destruction.”

I started to ask what that was, but Aurelia had already walked away, headed toward the edge of Peaches’s barrier.

“Aurelia,” Peaches yelled after her. “I wish for you to protect yourself.” Peaches bit his bottom lip and scratched at his arms. I knew what the order cost him and yet he’d done it for Aurelia. Djinn had little power if not under the direct command of a wish.

Twisting her head just enough to see her grin, Aurelia said, “Your wish is appreciated and shall be enacted without hesitation.”

“What’s she doing?” Parsnip asked, hovering closer to me.

“I’ve no idea,” I answered. “Any thoughts, Peaches?”

“No, but Arie pulled his pack back. They aren’t trying to breach my barrier any longer so I’m grateful.” When I glanced at Peaches, he was slumped against Lucroy’s side.

“You really wished for Aurelia to ‘do as she liked’?” Vander asked.

“I did. It seemed the right thing to do. It’s the closest I can come to giving her a modicum of freedom,” Peaches answered.

“Beloved, Aurelia herself said it is unwise to free her.”

“Yeah, I know. I just… I can’t stomach thinking of anyone enslaved like that. It’s wrong.”

“No argument here,” Vander agreed. “It’s just a dangerous gambit, that’s all.”

Leon’s lean body stiffened, and his fingers tightened against my side. “Yeah, I know,” I said, confirming his silent agreement with Vander.

Ray remained eerily quiet. Trinket shifted on his shoulder—a coiled snake ready to strike. I wanted to ask what he was thinking, but I swallowed my words when Aurelia reached the edge of Peaches’s boundary and spoke.

“Is this the path you truly desire, Janus?” Aurelia asked.

Janus walked forward, stopping just on the other side of the barrier. Arie’s face flushed and his cheeks puffed. Lips pulled into a snarl, I figured it was killing him that Janus made a move without his specific authorization.

Janus’s gaze slipped past Aurelia, staring each and every one of us down. “I’d say you’ve gone soft, but you always were the weakest of us.” Janus’s beefy arms crossed over his chest. “You lack the necessary instincts to do what’s required.”

Aurelia tilted her head to the side. With her back to us, I couldn’t see her expression, but her voice was bland when she answered, “I rarely saw the necessity in what wasrequiredof me. Only the waste of it all.” Hands stuffed into the deep pockets of her camo pants, Aurelia rolled her shoulders. “As a courtesy to one of my own, I will offer this warning: Djinn are not as indestructible as once imagined. I was asked to speak with you, to see if there was any hope of salvaging your current state. If so, then every effort will be made to preserve you. If not…” Aurelia shrugged. “The choice is yours.”

Janus gave an expectedly suspicious smirk. “A new low, even for you. We are too powerful to have use of lies.”

“I am well aware.”

Janus’s smirk temporarily fell but it returned with frightening speed when Arie said, “Janus, I wish for you to do everything in your power to destroy Peaches’s barrier. Use whatever means. Kill anyone not associated with me or my pack.”

Janus’s grin widened into a teeth-revealing smile. “With pleasure, master.”

Hands spread wide, Janus stared Aurelia in the eyes as the ground beneath our feet shook. Anyone with wings took to the air. Leon’s legs widened, bracing himself.

“Goddess, he’s ripping apart the ground,” Peaches gasped.

“I’ll dig deeper than your precious boundary. And when I find the end, I’ll lift the earth, tipping it upside down and destroying the land you love.” The glee lighting Janus’s words shivered down my spine, shaking me more than the ground.

“Do not say I did not warn you, Janus,” Aurelia said before she winked out, disappearing into the night. In her place stood a wholly different creature. Aurelia brought the necromancer onto the playing field.

Head bent and shoulders rounded, Erasmus deeply sighed and said, “I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”

Erasmus. Necromancer. Untested and untried savior. Our only hope had finally shown. I slid my fingers under Leon’s shoulders, ready to pull him off the ground. I wasn’t certain my small body could hold him aloft. What I was certain of was I would expend every ounce of will to make sure I kept Leon safe.

---