Page 22 of Fangs and Fudge

I flashed him a smile. “I pay attention. You know that.”

He nodded. “I do. But I know for a fact that you don’t like fairies.”

The tiny blue monstrosity left its shiny silverware kingdom and darted at me.

Vena saved me with a palm to my face.

“Hey, no going for the eyes,” she said. “That’s why she doesn’t like fairies. How would you like it if every human you saw came after you with a flyswatter? Would you like humans?”

A beat of silence followed.

“Well, that’s just rude,” she said.

Since I couldn’t see, I could only imagine what the fairy had done to warrant that remark.

“Come now, my friend,” Miles said. “In my line of work, I need to welcome all my guests equally. Let’s consider this neutral territory in the future. Why don’t you lounge in my silverware a little longer while I walk them out?”

Vena slowly uncovered my face.

“Your hand smells like chocolate,” I said when I looked at her smirking face.

“For you, baby, I can smell like anything.”

Buzz chuckled.

“I can see why Anchor’s been having a hard time with you.”

Vena’s focus lasered in on Buzz. “When you say hard, do you mean difficult or hard?”

Buzz laughed again, goading Vena.

“Did Anchor tell you about the gift I left him?”

It was my turn to cover her face. Her overactive mouth, specifically.

“And I think we’re done here,” I said. “Thanks for keeping an eye on Miles, Buzz.”

“Fang-goo!” Vena said from behind my hand. Her eyes went wide, and she started to snort.

“If you snot on me, you’re cleaning the bathroom for a month,” I warned. “Bye, Miles. We’ll come back soon with some books Vena got for you.”

He waved to us as he spoke softly to the fairy perched in his silverware drawer.

Once outside, I released Vena’s yap-trap.

“Do you really want to announce to the world that you crossed a line with Anchor?” I whispered.

“Pfft. Line-schmine. He liked it.”

“He bolted at first light.”

“Because he knew he was close to cracking.” She made a humming sound. “That man has no idea how good I am at hunting. I’ll have his pleasure treasure in my hands before he knows it.”

I shook my head. “Get in. We need to get ready for work. And no teasing him tonight, or we’ll end up with someone else on our couch.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.

Vena and I saw Ink standing near the employee entrance when we parked in Blur’s back lot. I knew it was him from the tattoos covering his arm and neck and disappearing under his white t-shirt.

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