Page 68 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
“Do you need help?” Aeson called over.
“We’re good, but thanks.” I sent him a grin that he probably couldn’t see because of the distance and my mask.
He grinned back, although it was hard to see since I could only see his eyes. I’d convinced him, Chaos, Lyric, and Sharp to wear masks, just in case the pixies got close to them.
“I guess the elevator’s out of the question?” Winter asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m positive there’re a few stranglers behind us, and I don’t want them getting lost on the way down. They need to be able to follow the trail.”
“Makes sense. To the stairs we go… for the millionth time today.”
I snorted. “Our legs are gonna be in great shape after this.”
He chuckled. “Truth.”
We went down the first set of steps, and I was out of breath. Holding the damn net up and fighting against the little boogers inside was no easy feat.
At the top of the next set of steps, Winter asked, “Want me to take it for a little bit?”
I almost said no. I was strong and capable of doing this myself. But then I realized how stupid that sounded, even in my own head, and my arms were hurting, so I relinquished control of the net, passing it to him.
Our fingers brushed, and we both gasped as my hold on the pixies dropped away faster than an anchor at sea.
“Oh shit! I’m so sorry!” Win yelled as he ducked out of the way of dive-bombing pixies.
His expression was so horrified that I couldn’t help but laugh at him. It bubbled out of me before I could stop it, and Win froze, staring at me in shock.
“Are you laughing at me?”
I snorted. “Nope.”
“Miles! You butthead!”
That made me laugh harder. “I’m sorry!”
“Oh my god. You’re laughing at me.” He tried to sound affronted, but he was laughing too as he dodged another swarm. “Can you please calm them again?”
With a few more chuckles, I sent out my empathic magic, calming the pixies.
Win straightened up and brushed his suit off. “Well… that happened.”
I snorted out a few more chuckles and scooped up the net with the nest pieces that he’d dropped. “Come on, Mr. White Knight.”
He sighed, but I could tell he was amused too.
This net was so much lighter, I could swing it over my shoulder without worry, thank goodness.
I kept sending out calming vibes through my magic so the other pixies didn’t attack us. Again.
It took a while to make it down the steps with Winter and me passing the nets back and forth—and Win was super careful not to touch me and break my spell again—but we finally made it into the garden outside in the back of the museum. The gardens were one of the biggest draws of the museum. They had a few acres with flowers, rare and common, with walkways and ponds and gazebos and all kinds of things.
The gardens here were beautiful, they always had been. But under the care of the very large pixie mischief, it had flourished to unbelievable levels. Honestly, I could spend my entire day here with ease. It was gorgeous and felt… peaceful and welcoming.
Which was a far cry from the dragon egg pixies.
Maybe that was why they’d left their mischief in the first place. Maybe they hadn’t fit in or something.
I had no idea if pixies worked that way, if I was being honest, but I supposed it was a possibility.
