Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Fucking Daruth." Storm wrinkled his nose in disgust, glancing at the door into his bedroom where Pax was sleeping. After crying his heart out, his sweet pixie had fallen asleep on Storm's shoulder and Storm had carried him back to his house and tucked him into bed. By the time he'd taken a long shower to get the smell of that damned drug out of his nose, Storm was feeling only partially better, and he was glad when he found Cyrus and Python in his kitchen, a big bag of bacon buns on his table. "Where the hell did that asshole get that that shit? I thought that substance was outlawed decades ago."

"It was outlawed back in nineteen sixty-two by the Paranormal Council because it is basically a form of instant death to anyone who ingests it, or inhales the smoke the drug can cause once it comes into contact with a liquid, like saliva in this case. It's still illegal today." Cyrus checked his phone. "The drug isn't manufactured in this country at all, and there're only a few random places in the depths of South America where the raw ingredients can be found. But it is a sought after commodity on the black market. Our information gurus believe that your dad was one of the few distributors of the stuff in this country, so that's likely where Humphrey got it."

"That would explain how he could fund his lifestyle." Storm was disgusted thinking he shared genetics with the man. "Have we been able to get a lead on who this Lady Rose is at least? Is there any chance they might have answers as to who Pax's family is?"

"The Paranormal Council knew who she was," Python sneered, and grabbed another bun. Storm didn't take offense. He knew how much Python hated dealing with the council. "We might be in luck there because Lady Rose, and her commoner mate Charles – which is why he didn't have a title – are distantly related to the current pixie king and queen. Second cousins twice removed, that sort of thing.

"But here's something about pixies I didn't know. Apparently, their bloodlines are like a badge of honor for them. Charles was right in that Pax is extremely rare, and the suggestion going around currently is that he and our late scumbag Humphrey weren't related at all. Which means there's a huge investigation going on to find out where Pax came from."

"What?" Storm swallowed quickly. "Are you suggesting Pax was stolen as a baby or something weird like that?"

"Stranger things have happened," Cyrus said. "It would explain why he never knew about this so-called inheritance his uncle said he was due to get one day."

"But someone would have to know in the pixie community if there'd been an accident or if someone's baby went missing." Storm looked over his shoulder to where he could see the bedroom door. "Pax is only just twenty-five and pixies live a long time. It would have been big news when it happened, wouldn't it?"

"Not all pixies are parenting types." Python huffed as Storm took the last bacon bun and clicked himself a cup of coffee instead. "We don't know that Humphrey wasn't paid to take Pax and raise him. Perhaps the parents, whoever they are, said they weren't going to keep paying for Pax's upkeep once he was an adult, so Humphrey decided to kill him rather than risk both his and the parents' secret coming out."

"So much freaking intrigue and no closer to any answers. No wonder Pax is so upset." Storm's heart hurt for his mate. Pax was a totally unique and wonderfully upbeat pixie. He deserved to have a loving family behind him.

He has one, his crocodile reminded him. He has us and this community.

"From what I was told we haven't even scratched the surface of the dark underbelly of the pixie community," Cyrus said. "I am sorry, Storm. I know Pax wanted answers, but for the moment we've been told to hurry up and wait, and that's all we can do. With no idea on who Humphrey actually was, and we might never know, we have no idea what his tie was to your father and his crew either – another thing we will probably never know seeing as all parties are now dead. Speaking of which, how are you doing? Last night wouldn't have been easy on you either."

"About as well as can be expected." Storm shrugged. "I'm not holding onto any grief from my dad's or my brothers' deaths. If anything, what we did was a mercy killing. Can you imagine what a mindfuck it would be, trying to live without your animal half."

"They still carried a crocodile scent though," Python said. "How the hell did that happen if the crocodile spirit had been captured, and what does that capture even mean? Are they in a jar like a trophy in another one of Humphrey's cabinets?"

"I don't think that happened," Storm said, getting up to make some coffee of his own seeing as Python wasn't offering any. "If you think about it, Cyrus you'd have some experience with this. When we make a kill our animal sides work with us. They understand that we do what we do to protect innocent people. We never take an innocent life or just kill someone randomly, it's just not done. So technically we're never doing anything that goes against a natural design. Most animal species in the wild will protect their young and vulnerable."

"What about the bear shifter who took your young mate?" Python asked. "He still had his animal spirit, didn't he?"

"Yes, or at least I think so, although he didn't shift either." Storm quickly grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and brought them and his coffee pot back to the table. "But remember I said that guy seemed to be going through a ritual, which was a fucking blessing because if he hadn't been, Pax would already be dead. It's possible part of the ritual was some way of soothing his animal side. I don't know. I don't study that stuff."

Pouring two mugs, he sat down, pushing one of them to Cyrus. "That's what made me think about the impact of the marks on the bodies. I have no idea what my dad might have been sniffing over the years. He was a madman from when I was born and probably before. He killed my mother for no reason at all, and his animal side was still there taking chunks out of me ten years later. What I was thinking was, what if Razor and the others believed the soul catcher controlled their animal sides, but it actually didn't work at all?"

"The soul catcher is a very dangerous spell," Python agreed, "but then it's usually used on non-paranormals. I have no idea what it would do to a shifter, for example, who has two spirits. However that doesn't excuse the fact that none of the shifters we killed last night still had their animal spirits, and yet they all still stunk of unwashed shifter."

"I know." Storm nodded. "I think them losing their animal sides was a very recent thing, and I believe it had something to do with the killing of those wolves that were left in Pax's apartment."

"That would explain why their scent hadn't had a chance to change," Cyrus said. "If you think about it, alpha wolves wouldn't take on crocodile shifters, even if both of the wolves were together. They'd have more common sense than that, which meant they had to have been caught unawares." Cyrus picked up his mug. "The killing was particularly messy as well. With the amount of blood all over the walls and the state of the bodies. If you hadn't scented the crocodiles, babe, I'd have believed the killings were done by a psychotic vampire."

"Humphrey must've been doing some creepy-level snooping on Pax as well, for the crocodiles to even know who the wolves were – although that could've been coincidence?" Python suggested.

All three men shared glances that indicated none of them thought that was possible. Storm didn't like to think of what his mate used to do with the wolves. That was a shifter hard no. But to think he'd been spied on, never knowing his wicked uncle, if the man was even that, diddling himself watching Pax do his business… "Ugh. I feel like someone's just walked over my grave."

"Yeah." Python reached for Cyrus's hand. "You think you've seen the worst life has to offer, and then some shit comes along and ups the ante. Our little pixie is going to need some serious loving and protection going forward."

"Our little pixie?" Storm chuckled. "Since when did he have anything to do with you two beyond friendship?"

"The poor boy doesn't have a family worth talking about so Cyrus and I decided to adopt him." Python lifted his nose, although Storm could see the grin lurking around his lips. "You can call me Daddy-O."

"You did not just call yourself that." Cyrus burst out laughing, shoving at his mate's shoulder. "Since when were you a Daddy-O?"

"It's okay, hon, you can be Papa Bear." Python leaned back into his mate. "Don't be jealous when Pax loves me best."

"You two are ridiculous. You should be on stage." Storm shook his head, but it was yet another moment when he was truly glad for his friends.