Page 144 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
“Do you want a snack or anything?”
Aeson, who now had Confetti under one arm and the hatchling cuddled to his chest, said, “I’m okay, but thanks.”
Miles glanced at me, then back at the kids. “Do you, um, want to see the bedrooms? Or do you want to watch a movie or something? There are TVs in both bedrooms too, if you don’t want to stay down here.”
“Um, sure, let’s see it.” Aeson nodded. He didn’t look unhappy, but he was definitely nervous. After what’d happened to him—or what we assumed happened, anyway—I wasn’t surprised. But I was really glad he was giving Miles a chance.
If this worked out, I thought it’d be good for all three of them.
And me too, if I could eventually move in as well.
That was probably much further in the future than I wanted it to be.
But itwasin the future. Our future—Miles and me.
Miles waved them up, and Aeson followed, carrying Confetti and the hatchling, and Chaos scooped up Odin before trailing them up the stairs with Clucky on his shoulder. I went up last with Goliath trying to run me over to catch up to the kids.
Miles walked over to the last bedroom and opened the door, waving at it. “Here’s one room. This one has a queen-sized bed. Feel free to use the dresser and closet and stuff.” He walked over to the pink room—Laney’s old room. He hesitated at the door for a brief moment before swinging it open. “Here’s the other room. I, um, cleared it out, so you should have room for your clothes and whatever. It’s another queen bed, and, uh, sorry it’s so… pink.”
For some reason, that made Chaos snort, but all he said was, “We’ll both stay in the other room.”
Miles nodded, like he’d expected that, and hell, maybe he had. “That’s fine. Both rooms have a lock, if you want to use it.” He shrugged and headed down the hall to step up beside me. He pointed to his bedroom. “That’s my room—Win and I will be in there. And you guys have the hall bathroom to yourselves. I have one in my bedroom, so… yeah. Um…”
The kids stared at him, and after a few seconds, Aeson said, “Thank you, Miles. We, um, I think we’ll go in our room now. I’ll bring the hatchling out when he’s ready to eat, if that’s okay?”
“That’s fine.” He nodded, and we watched the kids go inside the spare room. I heard the lock engage, and Miles let out a sigh, turned to me, and rested his forehead on my chest. “Why was that so stressful?”
I snorted and wrapped my arms around him. “Because you care, and you don’t want to scare them off.”
“Ugh. You’re right on both accounts.”
“Haven’t we already established that I’m always right?”
He chuckled. “You’re so full of yourself. Why do I even like you?”
“That’s a question the universe will never be able to answer.”
He laughed, then leaned back and grabbed my face, staring into my eyes. “White Knight, I like you because you’re an amazing person with a really good and big heart. You make me laugh, you care about me in ways no one ever has, and you’re really good with animals and kids. You’re perfect the way you are.”
“I’m definitely not perfect.”
“Eh, no one is, but I like you anyway.”
“That’s good to hear.”
He pressed a kiss to my lips, then dragged me into his bedroom. I knew we weren’t going to do anything tonight with the kids here, but I was definitely down for a night of cuddles.
“Oh, before we get settled, let me let the dog out.”
He nodded, so I kissed his cheek and left the room, shutting the door behind me so he could change into his pajamas.
Goliath ran out into the backyard as soon as I opened the door, so I leaned against the kitchen counter and opened my phone. A newsfeed popped up, so I clicked on it so I’d have something to do while I waited, but then I blinked.
The first thing I noticed was the symbol for The Ringshire Faerie Sanctuary. Then I realized the picture I was looking at was the entrance of the sanctuary with about five different police vehicles around it. I zoomed in on one of the unmarked cars and sighed. Yep, that was Higgins, alright.
I pulled up the article, my eyes widening as I read.
Someone had broken into The Ringshire Faerie Sanctuary and stolen—fucking kidnapped—the carbuncle, that super rare, endangered faerie that had a jewel embedded in its head.
