Page 61 of Pixie Problems
I swiveled in Rhys’ lap and sat facing the council. I was ready to pull my big girl panties up and stop acting like a woe-is-me damsel who didn’t have a brain in her head, or an ounce of courage in her body. I mean, I was Paradise Hart. I ate fear for breakfast. I’d come here to this town, licking my wounds, searching for a safe space. A place where Hux and his pack wouldn’t kill my family. And I’d found so much more. I’d found friendships I’d never expected, a star elf who might possibly be willing to fight dragons for me, and a town that had mostly accepted me, snarky attitude and all, into their open arms.
Not all of them, obviously. I eyed Shandra with disdain. Her body language screamed her irritation and petulance to the room. I had no patience for people like that. I ignored her, giving her no more of my time or thoughts.
But, yes, I’d found a lot here, and I didn’t want to give it up.
While I’d been pondering my existence, and having a Rocky moment where I wanted to pound my fist against my chest, and punch the sky, and maybe growl a bit, the council had moved on. Lucinda Heterol, the nice hedge witch that had had pancreatic cancer, was speaking quietly to Shandra, and Shandra’s lips kept getting thinner and thinner. Whispers and speculation about the bombing created a low buzz in the room. Draven had his eyes still closed, and his jaw was clenched. A huge dragon shifter—the rarest of paranormals—from the top row of the stadium, plush seating was looking at Draven with concern.
Draven opened his eyes, and the room went so utterly quiet that you could hear a strand of hair falling to the floor. Theoretically. If you were a shifter or a vampire. “Hux’s pack have violated not only Moonhaven Cove laws, but shifter and paranormal laws as well.” The dragon shifter nodded, and I perked up, interested. Who was he? “Because they’ve been able to avoid law enforcement, I’ve asked Roark,” he indicated the dragon shifter with a chin tilt, “to do as many fly overs as he can in the next few days as well as others who are flight capable. I’ve also assigned a few of my security—those that I can spare—to the cause.”
He looked at me, and even though I knew he was hangry at the moment, his face was gentle. “We’ll find them, Dice. We know now that they’re somewhere within the city limits of Moonhaven. Otherwise the remote magical detonation wouldn’t have worked. Even the strongest remote magical detonation switches only work within a thirty mile radius.”
That was both good news and terrible news, but . . . “Doesn’t that mean that they had eyes on me somehow?” I mean, yes, right? They had to knowwhento hit the detonation switch.
Draven nodded. “My guess is they had someone on the roof of one of the businesses across the street from your apothecary, planted there until you checked in on it or showed up for work.”
“My grandparents could have been in that shop, Mr. Leto,” I said with a huge lump in my throat. “Kids could have been playing on the street.” Rhys squeezed me tight, and I soaked up his concern and warmth. My parasite began cursing in my head again. Apparently the fact that others could have been hurt in the blast had not occurred to it until now.
I know. It’s an awful thought. Thanks for being here with me. At the time of your invasion, I had no idea you’d end up being comforting.
He grumbled at my ‘invasion’ quip but said, “I’m always here for you, Dice. I hope we can be friends.”
Huh. Friends with a parasite.
Stranger things had happened in my life.
And recently.
* * *
The council meetinglet out after we’d all been thoroughly questioned, Draven and the council members looking for anything, big or small, that would help them nail Hux and his pack to the floor—Roark’s words, not mine.
August and Cy had gone ahead, waiting in the jeep for us, and Rhys and I were slowly walking through the Municipio’s halls hand in hand, both of us still in shock from earlier, when I heard Roark’s voice, quiet, but menacing. I stopped, and my eyes went wide.
“If you don’t bite my wrist, right now, I’m not inviting you to the grand opening of my new restaurant.”
“I’m fine. I’m just a bit tired.” That was Draven’s voice.
When Rhys heard Draven, he stiffened, and stalked into the office. It was palatial and masculine, with leather seating, and a dark, wooden desk. Bookshelves lined the interior walls, and chandelier lighting lit the subdued interior with a pale glow.
“Or you could biteme,” Rhys growled. “You clearly have been blood fasting and not sleeping. You need a paranormal with an abnormal amount of magic in their blood to bring you back to flush.”
Draven sighed. “I wish you two would stop molly-coddling me. I’m a vampire more than a millennium old, I know the limits of my own body.”
I put a hand on Draven’s arm. “They’re just concerned about you. You look . . .”
“Terrible,” Roark growled. “He looks terrible. We don’t need you serving on the council right now. You’re trying to put out too many fires while your mate is being targeted, and it’s eating you up inside. The rest of the councilors and I can handle things. Go home and stay there.”
“I don’t have a mate,” Draven protested softly. “At least . . .”
He trailed off, looking thoughtful for a moment before Roark straightened to his full, hulking height, and said, “You’re. Not. Needed.”
I wanted to both make a run for it and stay and watch in fascination. Dragons were, to put it bluntly, massively powerful. They were so powerful that they had been hunted by paranormals several hundred years ago almost to extinction. In a fight between a master vampire and a non-shifted dragon shifter, I was insanely curious about who would win.
“My money’s on Roark,” Rhys whispered. Draven’s eyes shot to him and he looked a little hurt at the lack of faith his friend had in his prowess. Rhys shrugged. “You’ve starved yourself, probably unintentionally, I realize, and now you’re probably weak as a baby. Roark would win a rumble between you two, hands down right now.”
The hulking dragon shifter folded his arms over his chest and snorted, making the room smell like char and smoke. “I’dalwayswin a rumble against this pantywaist.”
Have I mentioned how much Ilovedit when paranormals insulted each other? Especially those over a few hundred years old? Yeah, it was usually old-timey insults that made me breathless with laughter. I laughed and turned it into a cough when the dragon shifter’s piercing opaline and azure gaze landed on me.
