Page 39 of Pixie Problems
Ben smiled patiently. “With my magic and medicines, and Rhys’s magic, I’m sure we’ve got you covered.”
I sat gently in the chair as though I were sitting in a chair that a bomb was strapped to, and any movement would set it off. I gripped the bottom of the seat with my good hand, watching Ben’s movements with a frantically beating heart. “Seriously, guys. I’m good!”
Rhys pulled up a stool and sat next to me, leaving room for the doc. He patted my arm gently when my eyes widened as Ben filled a syringe. My heart was goinggalump-galump-galump;the beat of it was zoomingso fast it was starting to make me nauseous. Although that could have been the sight of the little bit of clear liquid that squirted out of the huge needle when Ben lightly pushed the plunger. I was starting to feel a little faint.
“Don’t you have a smaller needle?” I asked in a pitch of voice that I did not often hear come out of my own mouth. It was high and squeaky and was closer to the range of one of Cinderella’s mice.
“Dice,” Rhys said. I turned toward him completely unwillingly. In macabre fashion I wanted to stare in horror at the giant needle more. Rhys’s purple and gold eyes were swirling in a way that reminded me of a starry nebula. He made a movement with his hand, signaling something to doc, and then he moved into my space and without any warning or fanfare, kissed me.
Ieepedin surprise. His lips were warm and soft as they moved over my mouth in little nips and tastes. He gently brought a warm hand around my waist, and another went behind my head, digging gently into my hair as his lips slanted over mine in gentle caresses. I was in shock for a few seconds, and then I gasped and leaned closer to him until I was practically sitting in his lap as he deepened the kiss. I felt a small pinch in my hand, but I was so immersed in Rhys’s kiss that I hardly felt it. My body went flush with warmth, but the three places Rhys was touching me burned like gentle starlight. Just being around him felt that way, like through him shone the clear beauty of the stars, and the starsburned.
My eyes closed in surrender. With my eyes closed, I saw galaxies expand and contract, stars begin their lives, and stars die in fiery explosions. I felt the icy cold of some, and the powerful heat of others. When Rhys kissed me, I felt the heavens move at my fingertips, and a galaxy of something deep and starry open up wide inside of me. It was so sudden and explosive that it gave me vertigo, as though I was at the top of a high cliff and looking down at a starry expanse below me. My bellyswooped, and my soul yearned for a completion that I didn’t understand.
Rhys finally ended the kiss and pulled a few inches away from me, looking at me gravely. His magical eyes were burning gold now. So bright and swirly with galaxies that it hurt a little to look at them. I tried to read what he was thinking and feeling through them. Was that . . . ?Whatwas that? Did the same thing happen for him that had happened for me?
It was completely cheesy to say that galaxies collided from a single kiss . . . but they had. I was so shaken I could only stare at him, still in shock.
“Done with her hand,” Ben said, deep satisfaction his voice. “Now, I can get to your leg through the ripped clothes, so I don’t need you to change. If you’ll just take that shoe and sock completely off and sit tight, I’ll clean those up for you, and sew what needs to be sewn.”
I looked at my neatly stitched up hand, and then back to Rhys, and the only thing that kept going through my mind was that Rhys was way more powerful than he appeared.Way.More.
And . . . he was an amazing kisser.
Chapter12
Rhys
Iwent home that night in a daze. I still couldn’t grasp what had happened when I’d kissed Dice. It was almost like . . . my magic had pulled her in. Like I’d shared my magic with her somehow, although that wasnota thing that high elves were capable of.
I was worried about the repercussions of that, and what it would mean for Dice. For the first time in a really long time I wanted to be in a relationship with someone. I wanted to put my heart out there, knowing it could be crushed. I wanted to love someone, knowing that I could lose them.
It was a lot for me, more than I’d been willing to do before Dice. But she . . . elevated me somehow. With her, I wanted to be a better elf. Not just for her, but because she was such a genuinely amazing person. Sure, sometimes she covered it up with her snark and sass, and that never failed to make me smile or laugh, but she was secretly a softie with a heart of gold.
She wasn’t fooling anyone who really knew her. Since she’d come to Moonhaven Cove, she’d befriended—almost without his permission—the chief of police. She’d befriended Lucky, and Lucky had a hard time making friends because of the chaos that swirled around her day-to-day. She’d allowed my best friend Mia to befriend her, and I could tell it was because she felt like Mia needed a friend, not because she necessarily found it easy tobea friend. But the funny thing was, in a town of paranormals, despite her prickly outside, she’d managed to befriend the paranormals that had needed her the most. As though she had an inner radar for the beings that needed her.
And she unerringly found them.
I knew her Insight helped with the physical stuff, but I wondered sometimes if it helped with emotional and mental stuff as well? If she could sense that kind of thing from her Insight. It was a strange gift for a pixie, I would give her that much.
But I was proud of her for how she wanted to use it, and proud of her for opening up an apothecary. Even if I was disgruntled that she wouldn’t be with me at The Laughing Elf anymore.
But my magic . . .
I sighed with my key inserted in my front door. Then I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I was coming to know by heart. “Have time for another couch session?” I asked.
Draven chuckled over the phone. “Of course. Mia is asleep, but Mesmer is here.”
I thought for a moment. “Do you know where Virion is?”
I heard Mesmer say something in the background and I shook my head. Paranormal hearing was a thing most people didn’t understand. Some of us could hear as well as an owl, which was incredibly powerful. I couldn’t hear that well, but Mesmer and Draven could.
Draven came back on. “Mesmer said he’s kept track of him. He can go and pick him up if you’d like?”
I winced. “Like he did the first time?”
I could hear Mesmer chuckle and then say something to Draven. “He promises not like last time.”
I sighed. “Maybe just text him if you have his number? Thanks to both of you. Something strange happened tonight, and I need some advice.”
