Page 58 of Winter Unleashed

He nodded. “I’ll be back soon. If not, I’ll call you.” He kissed me, long and deep, before moving to stand next to Astrid.

“Don’t worry, my child, I’ll take good care of your mate,” Astrid said before they both disappeared.

I stared at the empty room for far too long before I went in search of the others. Ever since Celeste screwed with my brain, Isaac and Ciara had made excuses to stay at Liam’s. I’d expected to find at least one of them as I wandered the main areas of the huge house. When I didn’t find anyone other than staff members cleaning or doing other tasks, I texted them all to meet me on the back patio.

Isaac and Ciara joined me first. Ciara’s shirt was misbuttoned, and Isaac’s curls were tousled. Philip and Stella came not long after. They were equally mussed.

“Sorry to have disturbed your busy day,” I said, with a wry grin. Being a smartass does a body good.

“Just tell us why you called us here,” Isaac said.

“Um, where’s my brother,” Ciara asked.

“Astrid came by and took him back with her. She couldn’t tell me why, but said it wasn’t anything bad.” I shrugged. “He said if he can’t come home tonight, he’ll call me.” I wondered about that. How could he call me from another realm? I shrugged again and decided if anyone could make that happen, it was Astrid.

“Great,” Isaac interjected, impatiently. “Now, tell us why you called us here.”

“Technically, I didn’t call you.” I shot him an evil grin when he growled at me. I let him suffer a little longer before telling them everything Astrid had told me about swarming pixies, the vinegar, and even the salt.

“You’ll need to pass the word through the Summer pack,” I said to Isaac. “But I don’t want anyone using salt unless it’s necessary. Spray them with vinegar then cut their little heads off or step on them.” I gagged a little when my brain envisioned what that must feel and sound like.

“Salt would be more efficient,” Philip said. “Add it to the vinegar, one spray will knock them out and dissolve them.”

I gagged again. “How do you know it won’t hurt them?”

“It will. It’ll burn like hell until the vinegar does its job. That won’t take long but trying to stomp every bug will.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “It seems Astrid didn’t tell you everything about the pests. If the pixies get you, they will tear you to pieces with their razor-sharp teeth. They will delight in your pain and keep you alive so they can enjoy your torment as long as they can. They are evil, vile creatures and a short amount of pain before they die is not even a fraction of what they deserve.”

I huffed out a breath. “Fine. Isaac, tell them about the salt.”

Isaac nodded. “I’ll let Wallace and Porter know to tell their packs as well.”

“No, that’s okay, I’ll call them. You have more than enough people to deal with.”

Isaac nodded again and pulled out his phone to notify the rest of our packmates. Rounding up an entire pack may seem daunting, but since the overall shifter numbers are still on the low-ish side, and we are all divided among counties and territories throughout the world, an individual pack in one county is doable.

“Phil, do you mind telling the Autumn pack while Liam is gone?” I asked.

“It will be my pleasure,” he replied with his creepy grin.

“Great. And I’ll call Mr. Fleming,” I said. “Getting to carry around squirt guns might just make the kids happier than they have been since this shit started.”

“Except if the pixies don’t show up there and they never get to shoot them,” Stella said with a stunted laugh.

“They’ll show up,” Philip said. “If they’re given the freedom to cross into the human world, they’ll come.”

“Wonderful,” I muttered as I stood from my seat.

“Once we tell everyone, they will strip the stores clean of anything that squirts,” Ciara said. “I’ll go online and order as many water guns and spray bottles as I can. We can give them out to anyone who falls short on their own supplies.”

“That’d be great thanks. Until then we can dump whatever we have in squirt bottles and replace it with the vinegar solution,” I said.

“I’ll handle that,” Stella said. “Liam’s staff can help me round up everything we have.”

“I’ll go call Mr. Fleming and the other Alphas. I’ll be in Liam’s office if anyone needs me.”

A couple hours later, a soft knock sounded at the office door. “Come in,” I called out as I shutdown my laptop.

After I’d finished speaking with the Alphas and Mr. Fleming, I’d settled into my writing. I was so far behind my deadline I felt like I would never finish the book. It was one time when being an independent author came in handy, except for the potential to lose readers and income. So, having a deadline was important even if it was just for myself or my editor.

---