21. Sedrick
Sedrick
“I ’ve never heard of gnomes doing that.” Ray’s arched eyebrow rose even higher. Ray’s ginger hair was smooth as silk and flowed over his shoulders like a waterfall. I’d thought it was impressive in the past, but that was before I’d seen Phil’s shades of pink. Phil’s hair made Ray’s look boring.
Ray tapped a finger against his chin. “Gnomes can be aggressive, but what you just described . . .” Ray shook his head.
“That doesn’t sound like their normal behavior at all.
Once Peaches began ringing the area with thorns, they should have backed off and retreated to the center of their colony.
I’ve never heard of them flinging themselves out or willingly injuring themselves.
” Ray frowned and made notes on the tablet he’d brought along.
“I haven’t heard of it either.”
Phil seemed to be on the mend, and after spending yesterday at home with him and the kids, he’d shooed me out of the house this morning and said he and Dillon could handle things on their own.
Dillon had puffed up and practically dared me to challenge his capability.
It was going to be a problem when Dillon was older. For now, it was just cute.
I leaned my elbows on my desk, staring across it as my lawyer continued typing on his tablet. “I asked Titan Gladstone about it this morning.”
Ray’s head snapped up. “You called the exterminators again?”
“I did. Turns out, Hue Buttons was as good as his word and spoke with Titan.” I snorted while sitting back, leaning heavily into my broad chair. “Titan told me he’d cut the emergency fee by 25 percent.”
This time, both of Ray’s eyebrows rose. “How positively magnanimous of him.”
“Yes, very generous.”
Ray scoffed and set his tablet aside. “And did you take him up on the offer?”
“Of course. I don’t see how I’ve got much choice.
Now that it’s complete, the barrier Peaches put around the garden perimeter seems to be holding, but I don’t know how long that will remain true, and neither does Titan Gladstone.
” I reflected on our conversation and added, “Titan thinks the gnomes are acting uncharacteristically too. I got the feeling he’s got some ideas as to why, but he didn’t want to say, or maybe he’s not sure enough to say.
What I did find interesting is that Titan said he wants to be there the day the exterminators come out, and I get the feeling that’s not typical protocol. ”
Ray gave me an unhelpful “interesting,” and I figured that was the end of the conversation.
Entwining his fingers on his lap, Ray sat ramrod straight. Most fairies did. They didn’t slump or ease back into furniture. Sometimes, when they were still enough, they almost looked like statuary art instead of living, breathing creatures.
“Although I dislike how it happened, it might be a blessing. Arie Belview’s lawyer managed to get the timetable moved up on the hearing, and it would be good to have the gnomes taken care of before the proceedings.”
I contained the growl that always bubbled up when Arie’s name was mentioned. “How come I’m not surprised.”
“No reason you should be,” Ray answered matter-of-factly. “In the end, it makes little difference overall. His lawyer has yet to release information to me regarding the case Mr. Belview is bringing against you. Given the shortened timeframe, I expect to hear from him within the next few days.”
“And what’s happening with the law firm my brother hired to draw up the will?” From what I understood, they were countersuing Arie Belview. Fairies didn’t like their reputations besmirched, and Arie Belview hadn’t just poked at them; he’d taken a battering ram to their door.
For the first time in a long time, I witnessed Ray flinch before his face twisted in disgust. I understood why when he stated, “They’ve dropped their lawsuit.”
“They what?” I sat forward so fast that I almost launched myself out of my chair. “Why in the hell would they do that?”
Ray didn’t act like my sudden loss of self-control affected him in the least. “Why do you think?”
I could no longer suppress the growl. My claws slipped free and gouged deep troughs into my desk.
There were deeper marks on its thick, wooden surface.
“Moon Goddess, what do you think he threatened them with?” Fairies were practically immune to bribes.
If Arie got to them, it had to be a threat, not cash.
Ray shrugged. “I’ve no idea, and since they seem to be playing ball with Mr. Belview, I doubt I ever will.”
I tried to calm my wolf, but it wouldn’t back down completely.
My claws subsided, and my fangs retreated, but my vision remained crisp, and I knew my wolf was still close to the surface.
“And what about you? Have they attempted to threaten you too?” Was I going to lose Ray?
I had no idea what I would do if that happened.
Ray’s head tilted ever so slightly, his lips thinned but pulled away enough that the tips of his pointed teeth glinted in the light.
Fairies rarely allowed their teeth to show.
They always looked so calm, so civilized.
But their teeth betrayed that illusion. Fairies were predators through and through.
They were more cunning and vicious than any vampire I’d ever met.
Sometimes I thought their civility was the ultimate game.
Fairies had no natural predators. Brownies were perhaps their biggest threat, but their overall gentle nature didn’t put them at odds often.
Burt and Oliver had a theory that fairies had taken up law and the peaceful rule simply out of boredom.
The devilish look on Ray’s face and his whisper-soft “They’ve tried” sent shivers down my spine and made my wolf hesitate. By far, we weren’t the biggest and baddest in the room. No, that title belonged to the ginger-haired fairy sitting opposite of me.
* * *
I left work early that day. I called home and checked in with Phil and Dillon before heading out.
They assured me that everything was fine.
Knowing that, I spoke with Burt and Oliver for a few minutes.
Things were moving along well, and we expected to deliver our first load of palladium the following week.
I was two parts excited and one part dreading the day.
Today, I had a quiet little mining operation.
Next week everyone and their brother would want a piece of the action.
The drive out to Peaches’s orchard was peaceful and just what I needed.
The countryside was beautiful this time of year.
Buds hung heavy on the trees. From what I understood, Peaches would have his bonding ceremony with the orchard soon.
The trees wanted to wait until they were in full bloom and at their showiest. It was weird to me that trees were that vane.
Then again, I didn’t speak to them on the regular, or at all, to truly know.
I’d gotten the orchard information from Marty Buttons.
The orchard wasn’t far from the boarding house, but it was far enough that the owners sent a car out to get Peaches and bring him there.
Unlike my pixie, Peaches’s wings weren’t strong enough to make the flight himself.
My wolf liked the thought that I had the strongest pixie around.
Phil told me that he’d rarely leave it once Peaches bonded with the orchard.
His home on the property was already built and simply awaiting his bonding.
The orchard owners paid for it all; most likely, they’d been thrilled to do it.
Not all garden pixies bonded with their plants. Not everyone wanted them to either.
I pulled up to the edge of the orchard and got out of my truck. Peaches didn’t know I was on my way, and I wasn’t exactly sure how to find him. The orchard wasn’t huge, but that didn’t mean it was small.
Walking across the grass, the scent of spring assaulted my senses.
It was one of the most pleasant times of the year.
Everything was fresh and new, pushing away the decay of winter.
Peaches’s trees stood tall and proud. Their canopies were impressive, and their trunks sturdy.
Like all the other blossoming trees I’d seen, these looked ready to pop.
Scratching the back of my head, I took a few steps into the orchard and said to absolutely no one in particular, “I’m looking for Peaches.”
The wind rustled, and I could have sworn I heard the trees whisper.
A few of last year’s spent leaves fluttered past my boots, and I took a couple more steps into the orchard.
So far, I hadn’t felt any magical push telling me I wasn’t welcome.
Since Peaches wasn’t officially bonded yet, I wasn’t sure if he could keep me out or not.
I had no desire to find out, and it wasn’t like I was here for nefarious reasons anyway.
I was ready to stupidly open my mouth again when I caught the distant sound of fluttering wings. I turned my head in that direction, and Peaches’s pixie dust’s golden sparkle caught my eye. Out in the open, it wouldn’t bother as much as it had when I’d been closed up in the house with him.
Peaches artfully weaved through the trees. Again, it might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn the branches reached out to rub against him as he fluttered by.
“Mr. Voss?” Peaches hovered a few feet from me. Off the ground, he was at eye level. Phil was only a couple of inches shorter than me and didn’t have to fly to look me in the eye. “Is Phil okay? Did something happen—”
“Phil’s fine,” I hastened to soothe Peaches’s worry. I should have thought about that before I showed up out of the blue. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”
Peaches’s wings stuttered and slowed, dropping him a foot so that I now had to crane my neck down to look him in the eye.