Page 111 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
The cockatrice let out a chicken-sounding buck-buck-buck that made all three of us laugh before Miles and I waved and walked in. By this point, most of the other kids working at themuseum recognized us and didn’t seem to care that we’d walked in without tickets.
We went straight for Sharp’s office, but Miles stopped me outside the door. “Do you think Chaos would want to work with us? Like, as an office manager or something like that?” He frowned. “No, I guess that wouldn’t work since he’s in school during the day. But surely I can find something for him to do so he can quit this awful place.”
God, I wanted to hug him. “You have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known, and I’m dying to hug you right now.”
His gaze softened. “I’d take it, but we should probably hold off until we leave.”
I let out a sigh, sounding completely put out. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
He grinned and nudged me, then gave Sola a scratch. “Anyway, what do you think? Could we find something for him to do? Or… maybe we can volunteer to go to his necromancer appointments as backup or something. Then he could do that more and quit working here. Ugh. I don’t know. But we need to think of something.”
“Sugar butt, we’re already helping them with food and stuff. We’ve been making sure they’re getting food several times a week lately, which I know isn’t enough, but it’s something. You know how independent they both are, and how proud they can be, especially Chaos. They’re not going to want us doing too much, not at once. Let’s just focus on making sure they’re eating for now. Once they’re used to that, maybe we can revisit the job thing.”
He sighed. “I know you’re right. He won’t accept anything else from us right now. I’m honestly considering making them lunches—or dinners or whatever you want to call it—and dropping them off here every day after work. I could even getsome of those heated lunch boxes so they could have hot meals too.”
That made me grin. I could just picture Miles walking up to the ticket booth with two lunch boxes in hand, trying to convince Chaos to take them. He probably would in the end—Miles seemed to get his way with them when it came to food—but I doubted the kid would act happy about it. He’d grump, but then he’d thank Miles and eat every last bite in what I was sure would be an overfilled lunch box.
“I can totally picture that.”
He snorted, then sighed. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
He knocked on the office door, and Dexter Sharp’s voice called out, “Come in!”
We walked inside, and Miles tensed. I wasn’t sure if it was simply because he was now mad at the guy after what Chaos said, or if he was sensing his emotions and didn’t like it. Just in case it was the latter, I put my hand on his lower back for a few seconds, out of sight of Sharp. I let Miles take a few breaths, and when he stepped forward, I let my hand fall. If he needed me again, he’d scoot back, I was sure.
Maybe I should tell him to give me a sign, like a certain finger wave type of thing, whenever he needed my null magic. That might be better than having me guess. What if I touched him while he was in the middle of reading someone with purpose? I wouldn’t want to mess him up.
That made me frown at myself, but I pushed the thoughts away for later examination. I’d talk to him about it and see what he thought. Later.
“Oh, thank god you’re here. Thank you for coming,” Dexter Sharp said, then gestured to the chairs across the desk from him. “Have a seat.”
We sat down, and Sola remained on my shoulder, but we were close enough to Miles for her to keep pecking at himaffectionately. She was clearly trying to cheer him up as well, the sweet girl.
I wasn’t surprised that Miles wasn’t being his normal polite self while trying to speak to the man. He was clearly pissed on Chaos’s behalf, and he didn’t want to say something to offend the man before we finished the job.
Beforebeing the keyword there.
I was sure he’d have words with him after.
“I spoke to the board, and they’ve given the okay, but they want me to ship the dragon egg fossil to The Faerie Museum of Mistbay City. We’re making a trade.”
“Alright. But I have to remind you that if you take the egg inside the museum, the pixies will follow it back in again.”
He grimaced. “Right. So the plan is for you to remove it and take it out to my car where a shipping box will be waiting. I’ll drive away from the museum with it. I’m making a personal delivery. That’ll work, right?”
Miles wavered back and forth. “It… should. Although, some of them might follow you.”
Sharp looked shocked. “Surely they can’t keep up with a car.”
“You’d be surprised what they’re capable of when they’re protecting something.”
“Really?”
Miles nodded. “Yes, but if you keep driving for a while, I’m sure you’ll lose them.”
The man grimaced and rubbed a hand over his face. “Right. Okay. I’ll… figure that out. Maybe I’ll drive it past the other museum until I lose all the pixies. I’m sure I can get one of the ushers to lock up the museum tonight.” He moved a few papers on his desk, muttering to himself about the different employees.
Miles and I looked at each other, then I cleared my throat. “Alright, Mr. Sharp. Do you want us to use the side gate entrance again?”
