35. Sedrick
Sedrick
I tugged at the tie around my neck. The damn thing felt more like a noose than fashionwear and bore far too much resemblance to a collar for my liking.
Arie Belview didn’t have that problem. He wore his suit and tie like a second skin as if it were as comfortable as the fur riding just below his skin.
“Stop fidgeting,” Ray scolded me.
“I can’t. It feels like I can’t breathe. Why in the hell do I have to wear one of these things anyway?”
Ray made a noise somewhere between a huff and a sigh. With a single tap of his finger against the knot of my tie, I suddenly felt like I could breathe again. I ran my finger beneath the length of my tie. It still seemed tight. “What did you do?”
“Stopped your whining,” Ray answered.
I didn’t press. Fairies had more magic than brownies, and neither liked to share.
“Uncle Sed, where should we sit?” Dillon’s voice tugged my attention.
When I looked down, Ruthie had a death grip on her brother’s hand, her brown eyes blown wide with fear.
I looked around the courtroom, trying to see it from my niece’s and nephew’s points of view.
Like most government buildings in Virginia, Rutherford Haven’s courthouse was steeped in old southern charm.
Ornate woodwork scrolls capped white pillars that looked too sturdy to ever fall.
Old wooden floors creaked underfoot, and worn spots littered the aisle separating the two sides.
Desks were set up to either side, with church pews spread out behind them.
The front of the room was built up higher, an overwhelming seat of power front and center.
Unsure if the kids should sit with us or not, I looked to Ray.
My lawyer was already moving, ushering Dillon and Ruthie into the pew directly behind where he and I would be sitting.
The kids slid in easily. Dillon sat toward the aisle, ever the protector.
They both looked small, swallowed up, and out of place.
“I don’t like them here,” I growled, low and deep into Ray’s ear, careful to keep my words quiet enough that Dillon and Ruthie wouldn’t hear.
“It will be fine,” Ray assured me. “Trust me,” he added with a twisted grin. “Everything is going to work out just fine.”
I wished I had as much faith as Ray. Maybe faith wasn’t the correct word when it came to fairy beliefs.
Life was far too unsure right now. Had Peaches gotten to Phil in time?
How ill was Phil? Would a few minutes at the house really be enough to right all the wrongs that had been done to him over the past couple of weeks?
Would the judge truly respect the fact Phil had bonded to my home?
To the kids and me? And if so, what would Arie’s response be?
One thing I had absolutely no doubt about was Ray’s opinion.
Cool, annoyingly calm, steady as a warm summer day .
. . That was my typical impression of Ray.
The fairy vibrating beside me wasn’t what I was used to.
Ray looked battle ready. By fairy standards, I was young.
I had no idea what Ray had been like before fairy law blanketed the world.
Staring at him now, I imagined he’d traded in his armor for a suit and tie.
The battle attire was different, but the state of mind wasn’t.
The doors leading to the hall swung open, and Hamish McIntyre walked in, followed by Arie Belview. My hissed breath turned into a rumbled growl when I saw who followed Arie.
“Interesting.” Ray sounded more gleeful than disengaged.
“I’m beginning to hate when you use that word,” I argued. “Arie bringing his second to this dog and pony show isn’t interesting . It’s aggressive.” My voice dropped. “It’s a challenge.”
“Easy, Sedrick.” Ray’s placating voice did little to truly ease my wolf.
Dillon’s worriedly spoken “Uncle Sed” snapped me out of my growing snit.
My gaze immediately found my nephew. His concerned eyes darted between Ruthie and me. “I don’t . . .” Dillon licked his lips. “I’m not sure what happened, but . . .” a tiny whine slithered its way through his clenched teeth.
I didn’t hesitate. Within half a second, I wiggled my way into the aisle holding my niece and nephew. Ruthie was curled into a quaking ball. She’d turned her body, twisted it to become as small as possible, and tremored like she’d physically crawl into her brother if possible.
The alpha in me reacted immediately. Fingers wrapped around the nape of Ruthie’s neck, I found her pulse and immediately synced it to mine. Slowly the rapid-fire faded, matching my calmer rhythm. I didn’t fight the demand in my voice, the one that called to Ruthie to obey. “Ruthie. Calm.”
She did, but the fear was still there in her wide, terrified eyes.
She’d been scared when we’d walked into the courtroom, but she hadn’t been petrified.
This was an escalation I hadn’t seen. I stared hate-filled daggers in Arie’s direction.
He was the cause of all this bullshit. Arie was the nidus of infection that had to be ruthlessly cut out if the rest of the body was to be saved.
My alpha power placed Ruthie into a functional coma. I didn’t like it, but given the situation, it was the best I could do.
My nose twitched, and I inhaled deeper, pulling the scent of home deep into my soul. The air felt saturated. My eyes slid closed, and when I opened them again, the area was cast in a thick, pink haze.
“Phil.” His name exited my parched lips like the prayer it was.
“Sedrick, I’m . . .” Phil hovered in the aisle.
Peaches and Lucroy Moony stood like sentinels at my pixie’s back.
I stared, my eyes fixed while I took in the breathless beauty of the one I’d foolishly cast out of my house, out of the home he’d turned it into.
Phil was magnificent. Dressed in the clothes I’d asked Peaches to order, Phil was an explosion of shades of pink encasing milk pale skin.
Hair down, the crown of Phil’s head started off white-blond before blushing into the softest shade of pink, ending in magenta tips that hung down to his waist. Pink wings fluttered at his back, spreading pixie dust and making the air sparkle.
As an added benefit, I heard sneezes from Arie’s section of the courtroom.
Phil twisted his hands, a nervous gesture that didn’t belong on a creature so marvelous.
“I’m sorry, Sedrick.” Phil’s head hung low.
“I didn’t even realize I bonded with your house.
” Phil’s head snapped up, and his grass-green eyes shimmered with wetness.
“I never would have done that purposefully, not without your permission. I can’t apologize enough. I—”
I darted forward and pulled Phil into my arms. The loose clothes hid the fact Phil had lost weight.
Tightly tucked against my chest and cradled within my arms, I could feel the loss, and my wolf whined its displeasure.
At the very least, Phil was pack. At my hopeful best, he was mate.
Either way, I’d let him down and had caused harm.
Phil’s hair felt like a cotton dream against my skin.
Nuzzling into my neck, Phil’s skin was silky soft and soothed parts of me I hadn’t imagined needed it.
“Phil,” I whispered against the crown of his head, “don’t ever apologize for bonding to our home again.
You didn’t do anything wrong, and I can’t thank the Moon Goddess enough that you did.
” I pulled away just enough to look into Phil’s eyes.
I needed to know that he didn’t just hear my words but listened too.
“The only regret I have is asking you to leave. We can discuss how we were both idiots later. For now, could you please look after Dillon and Ruthie for me?” I pulled away, allowing Phil to get a good look at the kids.
It was all Phil needed. With a gasped, “Oh,” Phil had Ruthie in his arms and Dillon snuggled tightly into his side. “What in the goddess’s name happened to her?” Phil stroked Ruthie’s head, smoothing down her hair and tucking her face into his chest.
Dillon answered, “I don’t know. She was upset but doing okay until Grandpa Arie walked into the room.” Dillon growled the last part, and I had to put a hand on his shoulder when he started to stand, ready to go after his grandfather.
“It was almost like she was in shock.” I filled in the missing pieces as much as possible when Phil gave me a questioning gaze. “I had to use my alpha voice on her. It’s not something I like doing, but it was necessary. Ruthie’s heart rate was too fast, and I was afraid she—”
“Just like your brother.” Arie Belview’s arrogant, self-righteous words arrowed through my heart.
Turning enough to see him, I caught Arie’s accusing finger pointing toward Ruthie as he sneered, “You’ve just proven my point, Sedrick.
Were all Voss alphas taught to be so overbearing?
Throwing your alpha influence around those weaker than you.
” Arie shook his head and condescendingly tsked.
“I’ll be sure to have Hamish point that out to the judge. ”
Saying his lawyer’s name brought my attention to Hamish.
I expected Arie’s fairy lawyer to be as smug as his client, but when I saw the look on Hamish’s face, nothing could be farther from the truth.
Hamish wasn’t looking at me; he wasn’t even really staring at Ruthie, though his gaze did fall in her general direction.
The one who held Hamish’s attention was Phil.
I followed that gaze, initially pissed that Hamish’s attention was on my pixie.
But that ire melted into little more than a sizzle.