“Your daughter is quite an entertaining storyteller,” Peter said loudly, then lowered his voice. “I don’t remember Roderick telling you to come here today.”
I almost lied and said that I’d run into Roderick and he told me to come, then changed my mind. I was done with disguises and deceit and everything else I’d been dealing with for more than a decade. “He didn’t,” I said. “I just came to see my family. You and the others can keep my part of the—” My voice caught as I realized what Peter must have come to sell. “Does Roderick already have the shipment of live pixies?”
Peter shrugged. “Probably. He went to meet the boat this morning, or at least he was supposed to. He thinks I’m here to collect payment.”
“But you’re not? What are you doing here?”
“Just thought I’d come have a chat with the buyer so they know what they’re getting.” His gaze never wavered. “After all, I know more about pixies than anyone else.”
Thoughts continued to tumble over themselves, one after the other, all whirling together faster and faster until it seemed like a tornado was trapped inside my head. None of this made sense. Peter was working with Roderick. He wouldn’t turn him in…unless he intended to keep all the money for himself. And he couldn’t do that unless Roderick, Lochlan, and I were all out of the picture.
My apprehension increased. What did he have planned? Had Peter been planning this whole time to turn us in and keep everything for himself? Or had I simply misunderstood? Ifrantically racked my brain, trying to remember anything that might indicate what Peter had planned.
“Roderick will be here any minute,” Peter said.
Papa straightened. “Ah, yes. Let’s go finish up the paperwork, shall we? I’d like to get this done so I can catch up with my daughter.”
Peter inclined his head, still looking at me with that same focused intensity, then followed Papa into the back room.
I immediately turned to Nora. “Please don’t say you trust him.”
Nora’s lips twitched to the side. “Not in the slightest. I get the impression that he would stab anyone in the back the moment they let their guard down. But he did tell us things about pixies we didn’t know. Did you know pixies can grow and shrink in size? Peter says he knows a way of how to control it, but?—”
There was a banging at the door. “Open up!” a gruff voice called, then Roderick elbowed his way into the room with a large crate clutched in his arms. The wooden slats were all painted green, and the whole crate glowed with the same golden light that came from pixie dust.
The final shipment had arrived.
CHAPTER 32
With a sigh of relief, Roderick set the crate down on the table and looked around. Papa and Peter had come from the back room and were gathered around the crate, looking through the narrow cracks to see the mass of pixies cloistered inside, huddled together in a group and staring back at us with wide eyes.
“Well, this is more of a gathering than I expected,” Roderick said, turning to close the front door behind him. “Gil, where’ve you and Lochlan been?” He looked around. “Where’s Lochlan?”
My momentary desire never to lie again faded instantly. “We had to shake off some of the Nightsworn that were trailing us. We split up,” I told him. Peter shot me a questioning look, but I shook my head slightly. “I followed Peter here.”
“Wanted a piece of the action, did you?” Roderick turned to Papa. “Five hundred thousand and not a shilling less.”
Even hearing such a number made me freeze, shocked that anyone could even think of paying such an amount for anything, but Papa nodded without a flicker of surprise on his face. “Of course. We have it ready for you right back here.”
Roderick followed Papa, and the instant they were out of sight, Peter seized the crate.
“What are you—” I began, but before I could finish, Peter kicked the door open and smashed the crate down on the ground outside with deliberate force. Instantly, the wood splintered and there was an explosive blast of golden light as tiny pixies poured out of the crate, flying up in a flurry of glittering dust. These weren’t like Tinkerbell, who was the same size as a human, but tiny, only a few inches tall, and fluttering their wings as they rushed to escape.
Nora gave a shout of surprise as the pixies all flew into the woods, and there was a bellow as Roderick came charging toward us.
“What have you done?” he screamed, swinging at Peter.
Peter ducked under Roderick’s massive fist and pulled out his dagger. “I do what I want.”
Roderick drew his own dagger, and as he and Peter began circling each other, Papa and Nora faded back against the wall.
I looked between Peter, Roderick, my family, and the splinters of the crate where a few trapped pixies lay beneath the crate’s boards. Then as Roderick lunged for Peter again, I saw the Nightsworn emerging from the forest beyond the line where the pixies had disappeared.
They were coming for the Employer.
Roderick slashed at Peter, who slid under the blade and pivoted to swipe with his own dagger.
In the confusion, I darted past the pair to lift the boards off the faintly wiggling pixies. “Go,” I told them, carefully picking off the boards that held them captive. Several flew off once freed, but three others looked too injured to fly. I scooped them up and cast an uneasy eye at the approaching Nightsworn. Marta and Lochlan were at the front, running toward us with weapons drawn.
