Page 27 of Pixie Problems
I winced. “Yeah, this must have been a rude awakening for you.”
She laughed. “The rudest. What of you? Have any good males caught your eye?” She grinned at me, her straight, white teeth flashing brightly against the background of her light, mint-green skin.
Rhys’s face popped immediately to mind, and my heart gave a little flutter, like it was waving at me to get my attention.
I peered deeply into my glass of soda. It was true, high fructose corn syrup was intoxicating to pixies, but I’d only had a sip! I sadly pushed my glass along the bar, and out of my reach.
“No,” I assured Aren resolutely. “Though, I’m not really looking.”
A glass shattered behind me, and I spun only to find Rhys crouched down, using a starlight-made dustbin and a little broom to pick up the pieces. His back was to me. “You okay over there?” I called to him.
“Fine,” he grunted, and I shrugged. The swix obviously had loads more work to do with him.
Aren had watched the exchange, and she looked thoughtful as she stared at Rhys’ back. For some reason her thoughtful gaze on Rhys left me feeling unsettled.
I was about to say something to change the subject when Hux slipped in through a side door. He stopped and took a furtive glance around the club. An employee had taken a delivery through that side door earlier and had obviously forgotten to lock it up. Rhys had his back still turned and was still crouching, getting all the glass up off the floor, and none of the bouncers noticed his entrance, so that just left me if Hux attacked suddenly.
I reached my hand under my shirt and grasped the butt of the gun in my waistband holster as I tensed, ready for a fight. Aren noticed my movement and sudden tenseness and followed my gaze to Hux as he spotted me and sauntered up to the bar. He leaned over the top, getting into my space. His foul breath wafted my way, and I wanted to retch. He had greasy hair, as though he hadn’t showered in a month, and his clothes looked like he’d been sleeping in an abandoned alleyway for days. His skin was sallow looking, and he’d lost a lot of weight.
For the first time it occurred to me that Hux might be going feral. Was it possible for a shifter in human form to go feral? I didn’t think so, but I would need to check into the possibility.
I knew all along that he’d ignore the restraining order and he’d seek me out. But I’d thought he’d be smart enough to catch me outside of work. In here the security was tighter than the human Pentagon. “You’re violating the restraining order I have against you and your pack,” I snarled. “Leave me alone!”
I saw Rhys’ shoulders bunch all the way to his ears out of the corner of my eye, and he spun and stood in one smooth motion. But before he could even move an inch, Aren called a pair of gigantic hands into being from the wooden ceiling thirty feet above us, and they snatched Hux up by the ankles, yanking him up with them as they retreated back to the rafters. I gaped at them and released my hold on my gun, staring in shock as Hux swung like a howling pendulum more than twenty feet above me. He cursed and spat vile curses down at Aren and I, his face going red from the blood-rush and his snarling temper.
The whole club went absolutely silent, every eye on the action happening at the bar and in the rafters. And then people went back to their drinks and their company, ignoring the fully grown man hanging from the ceiling like a piñata.
I blinked at Aren as she studied the liquid in her glass, her expression saying that she clearly wished it were something stronger. She looked up to find me staring at her in astonishment, and she pursed her lips. “You said you had a restraining order. He broke it. End of story.”
I laughed.
“That wasawesome!I seriously wish I could do that. And the wood—isn’t it dead?—listened to you! I’ve never seen that happen before.”
She tapped the rim of her glass a little ruefully. “Wood is never truly dead. Wood that has been cut off from its main life-source and fashioned into something else is merely sleeping.” She shrugged. “I woke it up.”
“Well, thank you! I really appreciate it. Is there anything I can do to repay you?” I asked, pulling my phone out of my back-pocket and dialing Finn’s number—my second speed dial number. Lucky was number one, and puppy was number three.
Aren grimaced. “I could use your knowledge of the local males. Any worth meeting?”
I nodded, then held up a finger when Finn answered, “Whatnow?”
“My, aren’twecranky?”
“Dice, it’s two in the morning. I wassleeping!”
I held the phone away from my ear, cringing as he full-on alpha growled at me. “Yeah, sorry about that. You might be interested to know that Hux came into The Laughing Elf while I was working tonight.”
I could hear him fumble with something, and then his voice came back on, much clearer. “Hewhat!”It was an alpha bark that almost hadmestanding at attention, and I wasn’t even in his pack! I wanted to say,sir, yes, sir!and salute smartly. Instead, I assured Finn that I was fine.
“He didn’t even touch me, Finn. A friend here at the bar strung him up. He’s dangling from the rafters.” I couldn’t help but snigger as I looked up again. Hux was trying to fold himself upward in half and break the hold of the wooden hands. But he couldn’t, so he just snarled and changed into a coyote, clearly trying to outsmart the hands. It didn’t work. They just adjusted their grip, and now he was dangling from the rafters as a coyote instead of a man. I would have thought dangling as a man to be more comfortable, but what did I know. I shrugged.
“Is he alive?” Finn asked in a growl.
“Yep. Alive and kicking.”
Literally.
He sighed into the phone. “I’ll be there shortly. And, Dice?”
