“Found another one!” an officer approximately twenty-five feet away announced.
My head jerked up, a hushed “fuck” slipping through my lips.
“What the hell’s going on?” Johns said, his tone nearly as silent as mine had been.
My teeth clenched so hard I felt the pain even through Warlock Holland’s charm. “I don’t know, Johns, but I intend to find out.”
The area I’d settled in, the place I called home, would not turn into some psychopath’s dumping yard. We had enough graveyards littering the area. There was no need for more.
Chapter
Eleven
Erasmus
The sun had been up for nearly two hours when Phlox and Leon passed through Pops’s wards and knocked on my door. Hurrying from the kitchen, I swung the door open, afraid of what I might find. Vampires and sunlight did not a friendly relationship make.
Much to my relief, Leon’s exposed skin wasn’t smoking, and he appeared to have all his appendages still intact, not even a hint of ash blowing on the wind.
“Goddess, that was a long flight.” Phlox shoved a charm in my hand. “Activate that. It’ll help with the dust.”
Doing as told, I activated the charm none too soon. Wings fluttering, Phlox flew into my house, his blue-and-tan dust following in his wake. While pixie dust typically expired quickly, it wasn’t fast enough not to cause a sneezing fit. The charm I’d been given alleviated that problem.
Mesmerized, I watched the dust inch closer only to vanish before it could be inhaled. “That’s fantastic.” I turned the charm over in my hand. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.” I had no idea why. It was incredibly useful.
Phlox waved me off. “Vander made it. He keeps all of us pixies supplied with them.”
Warlock Vander Kines was younger than Pops. They were frenemies of a sort, and it was Warlock Kines’s inquiry that first introduced me to the strange medley of individuals living on the East Coast.
I made a mental note to hold onto the charm. Pops would be interested.
While Phlox gracefully floated into my home, Leon followed at a much more subdued pace. His expression was pinched and his lips drawn into a thin line. Leon’s crimson hair was shockingly bright against his pallid skin. Hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket, Leon looked like something even the cat wouldn’t drag in.
“Are you okay?” I asked Leon as I shut the front door.
Leon’s forced smile hid his pointed teeth. “As my beloved said, it was a long flight.”
Phlox flew to Leon’s side, his fingers lightly touching Leon’s face. “Now that I’m Leon’s beloved and he feeds from me, the sun is no longer the danger it once was, but I’m afraid it’s still draining on him.”
“It’s itchy,” Leon said, utterly confusing me.
“Would feeding help?” Phlox asked.
This time, Leon’s smile wasn’t as forced. “No. I have fed enough, beloved. Resting would be appreciated. Preferably somewhere dark.” Leon sent a hopeful look my way.
“I don’t have a basement, but I tacked some dark sheets over the windows in the guest room. It’s on the north side of the house, so I don’t think the sun should be too bad. I’m sorry. It was the best I could do.”
“That is more than sufficient.”
I led Leon down the hall. Phlox followed, hovering and fussing about. After showing them the room, I left the two ofthem alone to settle in. It wasn’t long before I heard the click of the door shut. Phlox flew into my kitchen, bare feet settling on my wooden floors. Dressed like a typical pixie, Phlox’s lightweight, deep blue, loose pants flowed around his legs while an equally similar garment draped over his upper body. Hands fisted on his hips, Phlox huffed and jutted out his chin. He looked livid, and I only hoped it wasn’t due to something I’d done.
“I swear, one of these days I’m going to maul that fairy.” Phlox’s eyes shifted color, turning into whiskey gold, his pupils rounding as his Pallas’s cat shined through. To punctuate his point, Phlox snapped his feline sharp teeth.
I almost dropped the second glass I was pulling out of the cabinet. “I, uh… And what fairy would that be?” As dangerous as Phlox was, he was no match for a fairy.
“Ray,” Phlox said the name like a curse. “He could have transported us here likethat.” Phlox snapped his fingers. “It’s nothing for a fairy.” Throwing up his hands, Phlox lifted into the air again, pacing back and forth. “It’s nothing for them. Fairies just open up a rift, and wham, bam, there you are. It’s like walking through a doorway. Ray could have saved us from an agonizing flight that was delayed four fucking hours. Four!” Phlox held up four fingers, waving them my direction as if I didn’t know what the word meant and needed the visual cue. Throwing a hand toward the hall leading to the bedroom, Phlox’s expression turned pained. “You saw Leon. The sun might not cause instantaneous death, but it still doesn’t feel good. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. It was torture for him trying to stay awake all that time.”
I saw where the rage came from now. This wasn’t about the plane ride so much as worry for the vampire he loved. I’d met the “Ray” Phlox spoke of. Hellfire Rayburn was the fairy queen’s most storied warrior. I’d seen Hellfire Rayburn in actionand wholeheartedly believed the tales I’d heard were far from exaggerated.
