Chapter Twenty-Eight

If I don't say my piece now, I'll never do it. Pax knew that the same as he knew his own name. He hated confrontation, he hated unpleasantness of any kind. His dreams in the few hours' sleep he'd had, had been haunted by dead wolves and dead crocodiles and at one point, Pax woke up crying because he was sure one of the dead was Storm. He now knew his uncle was evil, and he was going to let the man know that he knew. What happened after that…well, that's what authorities were for. But Pax wanted to know who the hell he was, and his uncle was the only one who could tell him.

His uncle was in the blue room with two people Pax had never seen before. He thought there might have been a passing family resemblance, but it wasn't like he had any basis of comparison beyond his own face in the mirror and that of his uncle's. His uncle's eyes widened as he strode in and his face paled.

"Why did you do it?" Pax stood firm, out of arm's reach because he wasn't stupid, his hands fisted on his hips. "Two innocent wolf shifters dead because of you. Seven, no make that eight, crocodiles equally dead and all wearing your mark. Why did you want me dead? Answer me. What did I ever do to you?"

"Pax, not now," his uncle hissed, turning to his guests with a smarmy smile Pax had seen a hundred times before. "You have to excuse the boy. He's not right in the head. When his wings didn't come in as a teenager, it was as if it damaged something in his brain…"

"An omega pixie. How intriguing?" The man turned, looking Pax up and down as if he was a piece of meat. "Why didn't you present him at the pixie court, Humphrey? You know that's the law with these special cuties."

"Not an omega," Humphrey said quickly. "Just deranged, affected since birth. Pax, go to your room…"

"I am not a boy." Pax held up one finger. "I am not deranged." He flicked his second finger up. "I'm a full grown adult and I got my wings, thank you very much. Now what the hell are you doing trying to get me killed off? You ordered a contract out on me!"

"You got wings? How?" Humphrey's mouth dropped open in shock. "You're defective. You've always been defective…"

"I am not defective!" Pax stamped his foot. "You just wanted me to believe that my whole life." He stabbed his finger in his uncle's direction. "You put me down, patted me on the head, told me to stay away from decent pixies because I was an embarrassment to the family name without my wings. Well, guess what, asshole. I don't even know what my family name is, and my friends" - he flicked his finger back over his shoulder, where he knew Storm and Python were waiting - "want to know that information too. There's no record of me on the paranormal register, there's no record of me anywhere. What were you hiding Humphrey and why are you paying scumbags to kill me?"

"Humphrey, is any of this true?" The woman stood up. "Have you been hiding a pixie omega all these years?"

"He's trying to get me killed, he wants me hidden that badly," Pax yelled. "While you were sleeping cozy in your beds last night, my friends and I were taking out a whole bask…float…. No, it's bask because they were on land, but anyway, crocodile shifters who were sent to Bozeman to kill me, who left dead wolf shifters on my couch, and who all had your mark, your soul catcher spell mark tattooed on their bellies. How do you explain that, Humphrey?"

"It's all lies," Humphrey babbled. "Lies, Lady Rose, lies, I tell you. I've never heard of that spell before, and crocodile shifters? Oh, my gods, you're one of them. You brought a killer into the house. Help me." He tried to melt into the back of the couch as Storm stepped forward.

"He's not a killer, he's my fated mate." Pax could debate the difference between a killer and an assassin all day every day if he had to, and he knew his mate's job had to remain a secret. "He's the reason I have my wings. Wings you told me I would never have that sprung into being the moment after we claimed each other. The man who saved me from being killed, with a bit of help from his friends. How did you get mixed up with crocodile shifters from Florida in the first place?"

"A true pixie omega." The strange man who was still sitting on the couch looked at him with a weird expression. "You have no idea how rare you are."

"I don't care how rare I am, because thanks to the man who calls himself my uncle, I could've been a lot rarer…like a dead kind of rare." Pax wasn't going to lose focus, he wanted his answers. "Who am I really, Humphrey? What's my family name, and why on earth after raising me from when I was a baby, did you want me dead now? Is it because I'm an adult now? Why?"

Pax heard the surge of magic before he felt it and he flung out his arms, capturing Humphrey in a silver magical suppressing net. "No, you're not going anywhere. No more meetings, no more calls, no more telling me to stay hidden because I'm an embarrassment to you. No more distractions. What is this family name I'd embarrass with my presence? Tell me."

Humphrey was flailing like a fish in a net, desperate to get free. Unlike the pristine man who Pax had seen growing up, his face was flushed, tears streaked down his cheeks, his eyes were blown wide, and he was clawing at the net like a mad man. "Let me out. Lady Rose, please. None of this is true. Charles, can you…"

Lady Rose sighed. "Charles, be a dear and send that one to pixie court if you don't mind."

"Excuse me," Python said smoothly. "This is a multi-species matter and accordingly that man belongs in the Paranormal Court. We have proof he used an illegal spell to remove the animal spirits from at least eight crocodiles, resulting in their deaths and the deaths of two innocent wolf shifter alphas, both of whom were bond mated and likely had pups. Every word Pax has said is true, and this man is responsible for it all, including the attempted murder for hire which was fortunately unsuccessful."

"A demon. How quaint." Lady Rose quirked an eyebrow. "The pixie omega has interesting friends. But yes, unfortunately, you are right. For all his talk of keeping you hidden, Pax, it is Humphrey who has proven to be an embarrassment both to his family name and his kind. This is going to be so humiliating for the king and queen."

"You can't take him yet. I need to know who I am," Pax insisted. If his uncle disappeared, whether he was killed or not, or whatever courts did, Pax didn't know. He just felt in his soul this was his one chance for answers. "Please tell me who I am."

His uncle met his eyes, and Pax shivered under the hatred he saw. "You're a nobody. Always was, always will be. I've got nothing to say to you. Do you see this?" He fumbled, his fingers still caught in the mesh, but he managed to pull a capsule out of his pocket. He tossed it in his mouth. "Bye," he said as he crunched down on it.

Black smoke poured out of Humphrey's mouth and a strong acidic smell filled the room. Lady Rose and Charles started to cough, and Storm slapped his hand over Pax's nose and mouth. "We have to get out of here," he said urgently. "Now, Python, we have to go."

"Time to leave, people. Lady Rose, our people will be in touch," Python said, slapping his hands on Pax's and Storm's shoulders. Seconds later all Pax could smell was the pine trees behind Cyrus's workshop mixed in with the hints of Gwen's baking.

"No, no, no," he sobbed, falling to the ground in tears. "Now I'll never know who I am. I'll always be a no-named nobody."

"You're not a nobody, you've always been special and those who couldn't see that were just blind. You're mine, precious." Storm was on the ground next to him, folding him in his arms. "I've got you. I promise I've got you, always."

That was a huge deal, and Pax knew it. He also knew his mate would never lie to him. But in that moment he just needed to cry and wash away the stresses of what had been a very busy, chaotic, and in a lot of ways disturbing, week.