“Wow,” I said. “Is her mother out now?”
“No,” Pyxis said, shaking her head sadly. “Unfortunately, after her last appeal was denied, Pyxis’s mother decided to take her own life rather than live out the rest of her sentence.”
“Oh, that’s so sad,” I said, and Pyxis nodded.
“Absolutely. There needs to be better mental health care in that prison. I mean, Bellatrix’s mother, Rigelle, was certainly guilty. And she should have known better than to get involved in illegal activity. But she didn’t deserve to die. And to think, she had already been in jail for ten years. She only had ten more to go, and she would have been free. No, the system let Rigelle down, I’m sure of that. But it affected Bellatrix horribly.”
“I can only imagine.”
“Bellatrix was a rebellious teenager. Her aunt had so much trouble controlling her, and I can’t blame her for that. Betelgeuse – though we all call her Betty – was always trying to walk the fine line between being supportive of Bellatrix and giving her the freedom a teenager needs while also reining her in, especially since Bellatrix had such a huge chip on her shoulder about her mother. She got away with a lot because of that, I’m fairly certain. When she was sixteen, she set a house that a vampire lived in on fire. When asked why, she said that he had hit on her when she was working and grabbed her by the shoulders when she refused his advances.”
“Did anything happen to her?”
“Bellatrix was given a warning. The fact that the vampire was a known womanizer and had a few reports of unwanted touching against him before didn’t help his case, and no one wanted Bellatrix put through the system. All the fairies – and the Enforcers – knew that if she was locked up, there would be no coming back from that. Instead, she went to therapy with one of the elves here in town.”
“And that helped?”
“Incredibly. She went from being an insolent, angry teenage fairy to a well-adjusted adult who could hold down a job and who seemed to put her anger from the past behind her. But us fairies, we remember the young fairy who would spit at people who got too close to her and who would protest in front of town hall when someone was being arrested.”
I nodded slowly. “Do you think therapy has really helped her that much? Or do you think she might revert back to her old ways?”
Pyxis shrugged. “Who am I to say? All I know is that she was an angry little girl, and now she seems to be doing well. But another fairy’s mind is a mystery to me.”
“Alright, thanks,” I said, handing Pyxis some money for the coffee and a tip for the information, which she happily slipped into her pocket.
“Anytime. Want me to bring this out to you?”
“Actually, I might take it to go, thanks,” I replied. I wanted to speak to Willow about this, as it was a big revelation, and I also wanted to see about hunting down Raoul Lupo. After all, if he was in town, he was easily the most likely suspect, and I wanted to be the one to bring him down.
Chapter 13
The Mt. Rheanier Luxe Lodge was located in a gorgeous old building right by the lake. The building itself was painted black with white shutters and trim, making it stand out from the street, along with a huge coral-colored door that really made it pop. Being a few blocks away from the hustle and bustle of downtown made it a slightly quieter place to enjoy Mt. Rheanier, and guests could spend their time relaxing in the spa or the infinity pool on the top floor that overlooked the lake.
This was the kind of place where I would have loved to holiday but never had the money to do so. Maybe one day, after I had bought my mom her house, I would treat myself to a weekend away here.
I felt it was unlikely that someone like Raoul Lupo would spend their time here, since I figured someone like him wouldn’t have the resources to spend time in this hotel. But there were only a limited number of hotels here in town, and I had to try all of them, just in case.
I had a picture of him, thanks to a quick Google search. It was his mug shot from a number of years ago, but it would have to do.
Stepping into the main lobby, I had to admit, I spent a second with my breath being taken away. The interior was full of clean lines and modern furniture, but it somehow also felt cozy. Maybe it was the large fire in the corner, magically enchanted so that the flames glittered in all sorts of colors. Or maybe it was the exposed beams in the high ceilings that leant an extra feeling of warmth. Or maybe the floating wooden shelves above the fireplace that held a bunch of gorgeous little knickknacks made of bronze and brass that stood out against the cream wall behind. The floors were marble, and the chairs and couches that lined the space were covered with warm and comfortable-looking blankets.
Yes, walking into this place was like walking into a nice, warm hug.
“Can I help you?” a polite-looking fairy asked from the reception counter. Her scarlet-red wings buzzed so quickly behind her they were practically a
