Hour of the Lion by Cherise Sinclair (android e book reader txt) 📗

"They hibernate during cold spells. She probably came out for some sun and got caught by the storm. Didn‘t make it back to her hole."

"Will she be okay?" The little thing looked dead.

"Should. We‘ll bring her out of hibernation and take her to her tree. She‘ll need food. Here, hold her while I get something for her to eat."

He handed Vic the tiny body before she had a chance to object. "But—what do I do? Jesus, Alec, I don‘t know what to do!"

"Hold her close enough to the fire that your fingers feel toasty. Try not to drop her." When he grinned, she wanted to slug him, but he stood out of reach.

Staying motionless, Vic felt the chill leaving the pixie, and it took an occasional breath. It really was alive. Fucking-A, I"m holding Tinkerbelle. When it quivered in her hand and opened pale green eyes, sheer wonder filled her. A pixie.

Alec returned with a four-foot pine branch and a handful of evergreen spriggets. "Not the finest cuisine, but it‘ll do."

The pixie blinked at him, and he smiled at her. "Hey, sprite."

"Does it speak English?" Vic whispered.

"They don‘t talk much more than a squirrel does, but they understand quite a bit." He held up a tiny piece of fir and laughed when the pixie sat up and snatched it out of his grasp. Vic stayed steady as it perched on her palm, nibbling on the greenery. "It‘s warm."

" She—and that‘s good." Alec propped the large branch against the wall, securing the base with chunks of firewood. "There. She can hang out in here and finish warming up."

Vic leaned over and extended her hand. The pixie dropped the greenery and leaped, disappearing in the foliage. "Cool."

Alec piled the pine and fir sprigs next to the branch. "Good eating, pixie. Have at it."

A tiny hand reached down and snatched up a piece."

Vic stared at the branches. "It‘s just like the pixie-thing living in the oak in my front yard. It keeps throwing things at me."

Alec picked up his coffee. "Mmmmh, she‘s been pretty bad-tempered ever since old Bert died, and the new owner turned the house into a rental. Pixies are offended by change."

"Me too." Like having little things appearing all over the place. This whole mountain was weird. She settled back into the blanket pile. "You know, I—" With his cup halfway to his mouth, Alec stared at her as if she‘d turned into some freakish pixie-thing.

"What?" she snapped.

"It didn‘t even register—you can see her."

"Well, duh, she‘s there, isn‘t she?"

"No. Not to humans." Alec scowled. "I keep forgetting you‘re not Daonain. You have the Sight."

"Do I look blind?" He was acting really bizarre. "What did you put in your coffee?

Whiskey? I want some."

He rose and filled her cup again. She sniffed it. No alcohol in hers. Didn‘t that just figure.

Silently, he settled beside her, close enough for her to feel his warmth. Close enough that she wanted to crawl into his lap and share lots of warmth.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Not hardly. We need to talk about this, Vixen. How long have you been seeing pixies?"

From the look in his eyes—so much darker a green than the pixie‘s—he really was upset.

On her part, she felt pretty fine. What a major relief to know he saw mini-people thingies too. Maybe she wasn‘t a candidate for a psych hospital after all.

"Vicki? Answer me."

"Oh. Sorry. Pretty much since I got to Cold Creek. At first I only saw flickers, maybe a hand sticking out…" She trailed off as a pixie hand poked out of the branches and grabbed more food.

"After you arrived? Not before?"

"After. I saw dwarf-looking people in the tavern one night. What other strange critters do you have in this area?"

"In this area? What—" He broke off and tilted his head, listening. A second later, Vic heard the scrunching of snow under someone‘s feet.

Alec was at the entrance before she even stood; the man could move when he wanted to. He cracked the door, then opened it wide. "I didn‘t expect you today."

"Something came up." Calum clapped his brother on the shoulder and stomped snow off his bare feet. Without even a blush, he walked into the cabin, bare-ass naked. Okay, yeah, she‘d seen him stripped before. In moonlight. Now, by the light of the lanterns and fire, she couldn‘t drag her eyes away. Hell, no woman breathing would have been able to look away. He must have exerted himself running up the mountain for every muscle on his darkly tanned body was pumped and rippling. And his body was all muscle. She swallowed.

To her regret, he dressed quickly in a black sweater and jeans from the wooden bin. After pulling on a pair of thick woolen socks, he finally looked over at Vic and pinned her with those dark eyes.

She saw an accusation in them and stiffened. Whatever it was, she hadn‘t done it. Well, maybe she had, but she was leaving. It didn‘t matter. "What now?"

When his gaze finally released her, he noticed the branch and glanced quizzically at Alec.

"Vicki found a frozen pixie," Alec said. "She saw it."

"Interesting." He put a tea bag in a mug and added boiling water from the pot.

Alec narrowed his eyes. "You don‘t sound surprised."

After seating himself at the table, Calum set his cup to one side. "I think you‘ll understand in a minute. Victoria, join us, please."

His low authoritative order made her feel like a two-year-old. Annoyed, she tossed another chunk of wood into the fireplace. They might be used to this weather, but Iraq‘s climate was a lot warmer. She took a chair across the narrow table from Calum.

Alec sat beside her.

"When you said goodbye to Thorson, you told him Lachlan made you a gift," Calum said.

She felt Alec freeze beside her and started to turn toward him.

Reaching across the table, Calum cupped her chin in his hand, his fingers warm, but firm.

"No. Talk to me." His deep voice held the authority of a master sergeant.

"Yes,