Page 87 of Deadly Avarice

Phlox’s lips twisted into a half grin. “I can’t imagine you could ever do that.”

I hoped Phlox was right. “Have you… I mean, is there anything going on with the Magical Usage Council that’s concerning to you?” I chewed on my bottom lip, wishing Lucroy was by my side to offer some support. “In particular, the director?”

Phlox went completely still, which was unusual for a pixie. Our wings constantly twitched. My best friend Phil’s mate Sedrick called it instinct.

“Now, that is an interesting question. A very interesting question,” Phlox answered while sliding off his stool.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because you’re not the first one to ask me that.” Phlox’s gaze darted around the room again and I didn’t like the way his eyes narrowed when they fell on the shadowed corners. “Let’s take this conversation somewhere darker. Somewhere the shadows can’t hear us.”

Phlox whistled and Leon immediately turned to look at his beloved. Lucroy’s attention quickly followed, only zeroing in on me. Phlox inclined his head toward the security door leading to Lucroy’s previous den, a space now often occupied by Leon and Phlox.

Our beloveds rose from their table, their fluid, vampiric movements mesmerizing. Without a word, they joined us. Phlox turned and yelled, “Hey, Johnny. We’re heading downstairs. Hold down the fort?”

“You got it.” Johnny tossed a towel over his shoulder. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he added with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“Goofy fauns,” Phlox lovingly grumbled while heading for the door.

Lucroy’s cool hand settled along my lower back. It was a sturdy, reassuring presence. There was a time he would have led the way, but this wasn’t his den any longer, and he allowed hissecond, Leon, and his beloved, Phlox, to punch in the security code, adding a bit of their DNA to the mechanism to ensure its compliance.

We descended into the pitch-black darkness. “Don’t turn on the light,” Phlox ordered when my fingers automatically started that direction.

“Hold onto me, beloved,” Lucroy said. “Leon and I can see perfectly well in the dark.”

“I can too.” Phlox tapped the corner of his eye with the tip of his finger and before the door behind us shut, I caught a glimpse of his shifted, catlike eyes.

Only when there was no light and no shadows did Phlox say, “It’s safe. Now, tell me what you know.”

I could only relate what I’d learned from Erasmus. While I may not have been able to see, I could certainly hear Phlox’s creative cursing.

The room quieted when I finished laying everything out, including Erasmus’s desire to ask Aurelia for aid. Phlox’s frightened “we’ve got a problem” cut through the darkness, sending a spike of unease through my soul. That spike grew when Phlox added, “A very big problem.”