Page 59 of Pixie Problems
With Rhys right behind me, I opened the door, the cool air and scent of a hundred dried plants hitting me all at once. I sighed in bliss. I loved that smell.
I was only a few steps in when a black and red blurslammedinto me and Rhys and propelled us through the glass windows of my shop. They shattered as we flew through, and since Rhys was the one that slammed into them first because he was positioned behind me, he got the brunt of it before his starlight shield engaged and we flew into the street with the speed of an out-of-control locomotive. We skidded a hundred feet across the pavement before we slammed to a stop against Cy’s jeep which was parked in the middle of the street.
At the same time that Cy jumped in front of us and went full, eight foot tall, towering, gigantic polar bear with snarling black fangs, my shop imploded, sucking everything in and around it in one huge breath inward like some defunct science experiment, and thenexplodedoutward with such force that I screamed and slammed my face into Rhys’ chest.
Since the four of us were protected by Rhys’ starlight shield, the fiery debris of my shop didn’t rain down on us and kill us. Crashes sounded almost simultaneously as pieces of wall, cabinets, bathroom fixtures, what looked like half a cash register, and a million other shattered debris hit the street and shops around us. If it hit shops, the same magic that apparently protectedthemagainst rage and magic-infused C4, also protected their roofs from being punctured by the pieces of my building. The pieces that hit their roof and shops glowed green, before magically rebounding and crashing into the street. Or in the case of a few, into Cy’s Jeep. Some of them just magically disintegrated.
I came to my knees and stared with gaping jaw and uttershockat the black hole that used to be my life-long dream. I didn’t even see Cy shift back and pull on some loose work-out shorts I was so distracted. He crouched next to us, holding out a hand and pulling us to our feet.
“I smelled the magic-infused C4,” he growled. “I couldn’t get to you in time. I’m just grateful my partner is a vampire that has sonic speed.” He ran his hand through his hair as he looked at the mess of my shop and the debris that was literally covering the street for what looked like a quarter mile.
He and August looked at each other grimly, before August pulled out a phone and called someone. Before I knew it, the scene wascrawlingwith people. Finn sped onto the scene using his siren that sounded like a jack-o-lantern dying, and barely managed to not clip a little old lady witch on the council before he jumped out of his SUV and hunted me down, barreling past everyone until he saw me.
When he saw me, he stopped right where he was, and closed his eyes and swallowed thickly. I gulped when I realized from my Insight—sluggish as it was at the moment—that he had been in nearly a blind panic and wasthisclose to tears.
He stalked forward and enfolded me in a hug tight enough to make me squeak. “You’re one of my good friends, Dice. If you scare me like that again, I promise I will take away every single one of your guns.”
“Harsh,” I said hoarsely.
He chuckled weakly, squeezed me one more time, then moved off to try to contain the chaos of the scene.
I turned back to Rhys and carefully checked him over. He was bleeding in a few places, but looked remarkably fine, all things considered.
“Sorry,” August said, as I peeled Rhys’ jacket off and winced. I didn’t know whether Rhys was in shock or not—he hadn’t spoken yet and my Insight was going crazy with the glut of information around me—but I didn’t think he’d be thrilled that his favorite leather jacket was basically in shreds.
Michael, my parasite, was cursing in my head, and it was very distracting. Finally, finally, Rhys’ eyes connected with mine, and it was like everything—the past few months of us working together, getting to know each other, and yes, even falling in love with each other—was written all over his face. And following that came stark terror, and then a grim coldness that frankly, made me want to bolt in the opposite direction down the street, it was that terrifying.
He completely ignored the EMT patching him up now and pulled me to him slowly and carefully. “I lost my sister when I was younger,” he said, his voice gravelly, his eyes laser-focused on mine. “It forever changed me. Every relationship, every friendship has been affected by it. There has not been a single day where her loss hasn’t punched a hole in my throat. She was my best friend.” His hands gripped the lapels of my jacket as he drew me closer to him in what felt like slow motion. “But I am telling you this now. If I lose you, I will gostark raving mad.”His eyes took in the devastation around us. And in a curiously detached voice, he said, “I’m going to kill him.”
Then he was hugging me with such a fierce grip that I felt like my ribcage was in danger of splintering. But I wouldn’t complain, not even at gun point. He was shaking, and I was just now realizing I was shaking too. We held each other and shook, so grateful that we were both safe, and that we’d miraculously managed to come through an explosion with only a few bruises and scrapes. The EMT sighed and left us alone when both Rhys and I refused to stop clinging to each other. He moved on to August who waved him away, and Cy who was looking at me like I was going to shout at him.
I sniffled, my eyes so blurry I could barely see, and used a groping hand to pull Cy to us, while Rhys seemed to have the same idea and pulled August in. We both ignored the EMT’s growl of frustration. “Thank you,” I whispered to them. “You saved our lives.”
Cy, who was smooshed up against me, but was so tall that he could totally put his chin on the top of my head, said, “Does this make up for scaring the fur off you at the sheriff’s house?”
August laughed and gave the huge behemoth a noogie. “She doesn’t have fur, genius.”
“Nobody’s perfect,” Cy said.
I snuffle-laughed, leaking all over Rhys’ soft, deep-maroon tee-shirt. He’d changed at Lucky’s house before we’d gotten on my bike.
Draven came up and put a hand on Rhys’ shoulder. “No one is killing anyone,” he said wearily. I was lost for a moment until I remembered Rhys had said he was going to kill Hux. Keeping myself completely smooshed against Rhys, at least until we both stopped shaking, I released Cy and turned to look at Draven.
He looked awful. Had he been blood fasting? Seriously, vampire’s shouldnotlook awful. They were ridiculously attractive, without exception. But Draven looked like he’d been up for two weeks straight, locked up in a cage with no sustenance, and someone had ripped the heart out of his favorite teddy bear and threw it in the cage with him. Like, he lookedawful.
Rhys, probably noticing and feeling my added distress, focused on his friend. “What in stars happened to you? You look like crap.”
Draven sighed. “Thank you,” he said, his tone of voice both dry and sardonic. I couldn’t help it, I laughed. It came out drippy and congested, but no one seemed to care that I was dripping snot on my—boyfriend? After tonight, I was sick of giving us space and time. I was ready for the whole enchilada. For one, it didn’t look like I was able to keep him away from the dumpster fire that was my life at the moment, and for two, I no longer wanted to.
Rhys seemed content to sit in my dumpster fire with me. Perhaps he’d even bring marshmallows.
Rhys, feeling my emotions again, wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to his warm body. I shivered, feeling a little hollow as I stared at the chaos all around us. Members of the council were here, digging through the rubble. Parked at the end of the blast zone, and past the rubble littering the street, were an ambulance, a firetruck, and a few cop cars, including Finn’s SUV. The lights were flashing, but the sound was thankfully off.
Draven sighed as he followed my gaze. “I’m so bloody sorry, Dice. I’ll help you rebuild.”
I shook my head. “I can’t let you do that.” I couldn’t let him throw more money into something that Hux and his pack would just blow up again.
Draven opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, Rhys said, “Thank you. That means a lot to us.”
