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“I wouldn’t advise digging it out, at least not yet,” Warlock Holland said. He didn’t need any dire inflection to grab our attention. The words alone were enough, not that I’d needed Holland’s opinion on the matter. Gray said not to touch the thing in the wall, and I believed him.

Keir pulled back his hand. He’d been reaching for the stone wall, palm flat as if to lay his skin against its cool surface. We’d left Lazarus behind for this little jaunt into the bowels of the Magical Usage Council. It seemed the wisest course of action considering Hikaru’s presence as well. Hikaru was fascinated by the shiny, jewel-toned eggs and his tails seemed intent on touching them. Lazarus was not impressed.

“What is it, Niki?” Hikaru asked, inching closer to the wall, as if the threat of danger pulled him in like catnip.

Holland’s hand clamped down on Hikaru’s shoulder, tugging him back. “It is the anchor.”

My head snapped up, immediately finding Gray’s gaze. “Anchor?” I asked. I didn’t like anything related to Huxley having a similar title to the one I now proudly claimed. “An anchor for what?”

“Or who?” Gray asked while shifting closer to my side. I liked him closer. Dryads didn’t have a lot of offensive or defensive abilities, so I wasn’t exactly certain how I planned on protecting Gray from danger. All I knew was I would do whatever I could to accomplish that seemingly impossible goal.

Holland’s lips tightened. “In this case, I believe the who is long gone and is now more of a what.”

Keir’s eyes widened as the blood drained from his face. “What are you saying?” I knew what Keir feared. It was what all of us were afraid of. Another victim could be laid at Huxley’s feet, all of us unaware that there was ever a soul in danger to begin with.

Hikaru’s head tilted to the side, his tails flicking. “I didn’t really understand that one either, Niki.”

Taking a step back, Nikodemus Holland pinched the bridge of his nose. The warlock appeared tired. Hikaru must have thought so too because he soon had Holland wrapped up in his tails—all eight of them. “What’s wrong, Niki?” I swear, I’d never heard Hikaru’s voice drip with so much honest concern. It was an intriguing aspect I’d never witnessed nor had I assumed Hikaru capable of.

Arm slipping around Hikaru’s side, Holland welcomed the kitsune’s affections. “I believe I’ve figured out where the buzzweeds’ magic came from.” Holland didn’t sound happy regarding the revelation.

“Where?” Keir asked the question we were all thinking.

Holland grimaced. “Pixie.”

Immediate silence filled the dank air, followed by Gray’s harshly cursed, “You’re shitting me.”

“I assure you, I am not,” Holland answered.

“Pixie magic,” Keir reverently said. “That’s… Some would say there is no stronger magic.”

“And they would not be wrong,” Hikaru answered instead of Holland.

Keir nodded his agreement before looking to Holland and asking, “Have you figured out what kind or where it came fr—” Keir’s body jerked. “No. Tell me he didn’t.”

“I’m afraid he did.” Holland grimaced.

“Goddess above.” Keir sounded as if someone had stabbed him through the heart. I for one, was still in the dark. Part of me wanted to stay there, hovering in the abyss, blissfully unaware of the latest horror attributable to our previous leader.

“I don’t understand,” Gray said, making me feel a little better that I still hadn’t put all the pieces together yet. “What did Huxley do?”

Head down, Keir bodily turned away, his hands resting on his hips as he took great, heaving gulps of air. I couldn’t tell if he was working his way up to an explanation or if he was on the verge of finally breaking.

Regretfully, Holland filled in the holes. “A home-and-hearth pixie.” Holland swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bopping. “That’s the type of magic Hikaru felt in the first buzzweed that was found.”

Hikaru frowned. “I wasn’t certain. I just told you that’s what it reminded me of.”

I wasn’t certain if Hikaru realized that during his first encounter with the buzzweeds or if he’d noticed later and then spoken of it to Holland. I got the feeling sometimes Hikaru did or didn’t say things not out of any malicious intention, but because he simply didn’t think it important.

“I know,” Holland said, his fingers carding through one of Hikaru’s tails. “At least you pointed me in the right direction.” Nodding toward the wall, Holland continued, “This solidifies my theory.”

“And that would be?” I prompted.

Inhaling, Holland’s chest expanded. “All of the buzzweeds hold a small portion of power. Think of it like slicing an apple and placing small pieces of that apple into different containers. If the buzzweeds are little bits of apple, then the thing sitting behind that wall is the core. It is what will call all the buzzweeds to it, tapping into that power, reviving it and making use of it.”

I could literally feel Gray’s confusion. “But for what purpose?” he asked.

Holland could only shrug. “At this point, that is unknown. What I do know is that pixie magic is something special. None of us know how it works; all we know is that it does. There is no greater defense than a bonded home-and-hearth pixie.”