Page 12 of The Pixies' Chosen

“Such fine accommodations. I guess it’s shoeboxes for us tonight,” she chortles. “And from Mummi’s good pumps at that.”

I don’t quite get the reference, but I am smiling when I follow her over to the faucet where water is dripping every few seconds. Catching beads of water quickly soaks us, but I am quickly chuckling as we tried to avoid the worst of the splash as they break over our extended hands. Even Havoc cracks a smile as he joins us, his wings buzzing as he tries to flit out of the way of the splashes—unsuccessfully, I might add.

In the end, my heart is light as we dry ourselves on something Ammayi calls a dish towel and climb into our shoebox beds. Although our mate doesn’t join us in our bed, it settles something within me and makes me happy to see her sweet face just a short distance away as she settles in comfortably beneath her makeshift blanket. I think she may adapt to her change in circumstance rather well, but I know the true shock of how different her life is going to be has not yet sunk in. Still, there is something so precious about her that whatever she struggles with, I will be there to help her. She is worth it, and perhaps being given Ammayi was not any kind of a mistake at all. But how to convince Havoc of that?

CHAPTER 10

AMMAYI

Although I was a little annoyed that Inika insisted on accompanying us back to my apartment with Dishan in tow—mostly because I haven’t been allowed a moment of privacy since Tryst and Havoc dropped into my life, even having our sleeping arrangements micro-managed—I have to admit that I saw the wisdom in that decision pretty quickly. Especially after having returned to the apartment and noticing right away that there is little to no way to get in or out of the building, much less my apartment. Thankfully, Inika seemed to foresee this necessity—or Mummi did—and after using her spare key to unlock my front door, Inika glances over at Dishan and nods toward the balcony door. I don’t know what exactly he plans on doing over there but I cling to Tryst as he follows them inside with a rapid hum of his wings.

Tryst’s head swivels with interest as we enter the house rather than paying close attention to where we are going, but he lands without incident on the coffee table in front of my couch.Upon touching down, he gently sets me on my feet among the ceramic witches I had set there the day before among other ghostly and skeletal decorations. Tryst’s head snaps back and forth as he peers at them with amusement, and given that I’m now roughly the same size, I can certainly appreciate how odd they look, looming around us with their odd little smiles. It is actually quite funny, and I also grin.

My smile dies a quick and brutal death, however, when Havoc zips by us without even a glance in our direction as he follows Inika and Dishan to the balcony door. I don’t even think he sees Dishan, despite the fact that he’s kneeling there on the floor and pulling a hand drill and several other tools from his bag and setting them on the floor beside him. Havoc clearly doesn’t see anyone but my sister, whom he is currently fluttering attentively around. Tryst stiffens at my side, and I glance over at him in time to see his lips tighten and hurt briefly darken his eyes. It only lasts for a moment before his expression shutters. It’s like watching a mask descend over his features as he turns to me with a carefree smile and nudges one of the ghosts beside him.

“Is this common décor?” he teases. “Strange.”

“It’s for Halloween,” I cheerfully rebut. If he prefers to pretend that nothing is wrong, I will oblige him. “Or what I like to call spooky season. Nothing better than celebrating it with the classic hallmarks… witches, ghosts, and creatures,” I add with relish.

He nods thoughtfully. “It is unlike anything I have ever seen, but I like it. The shadows hide many things. It is good to enjoy rather than fear it. Being afraid does not do anyone any good in the Dark Forest. But one instead must react quickly to evade the dangers.”

Fascinated, I really want to ask him more, but the sound of the drill powering up is enough to make me slap my hands overmy ears with a shout. Tryst’s lips twist in a grimace but his big hands immediately come over my own, blocking out more of the sound. The motion brings his broad chest even closer to me, so I get a good look at the patterns on the chitin covering him. As painfully loud as the whirl of the drill is, I do get a certain amount of satisfaction noting the way that Havoc nearly falls out of the air before fluttering haphazardly a safer distance away. I would feel bad feeling laughing about it—even internally—if it weren’t for the dark glee lighting up Tryst’s face at the sight.

It makes me wonder just how close they are—or perhaps were—for Tryst to be taking Havoc’s infatuation so personally. Shouldn’t I be the one upset that a male who’s supposed to be my mate is fawning over my sister? So why is Tryst acting like a jealous lover?

Should I tell them that Havoc doesn’t have even the slightest chance with my sister? She’s as about as loyal to Dishan as they come. And as much as I relish the thought of popping that little balloon of his for the way he’s acted and the shit he’s said to me, I admit that I’m suffering a small crisis of conscience about it.

Finally, Dishan puts the drill aside, and I sigh with relief as Tryst’s hands fall away and I can finally safely lower my arms. There is a grinding sound, and I crane my head curiously. After a long moment, Dishan dusts his hands off on his pants and pushes to his feet, revealing an almost perfectly round hole cut out of my wall. Inika immediately pulls a long drape from the grocery bag I didn’t even notice her carrying and proceeds to put up the ugliest pink and lavender floral drapes that I would have never disgraced my apartment with. What’s worse is I can see that they aren’t cheap shopping drapes either so I know she paid quite a bit to give me that bit of hideousness and can’t be ungrateful.

With a practiced hand, she pins back the corners, arranging it so that the floor length folds conceal the hole entirely. Shestraightens the folds with a triumphant smile before turning a grin to us.

“What do you think? Mummi was worried about you getting trapped outside the apartment if we get hit with a snowstorm, or trapped inside if the building catches on fire, so this was Dishan’s solution. How will this work for you? I hope the fabric isn’t too heavy. Can you move it?”

I glance over at the male who is supposed to be a mate and mentally roll my eyes when I watch his glow flicker in a manner that I’m starting to pick up on as being flirtatious in response for a moment before he goes over to the curtain and tests its weight. It slides easily to the side, so it doesn’t cover the hole, and then slides back with a whisper of sound when he lets go.

He nods approvingly as he rises off the ground and hovers in the air close beside her. I could give him the benefit of the doubt and say it’s so she can hear him but my heart squeezes when she giggles at the graze of his wings. The smile he gives her is warm with approval and so unlike the hard and nasty smiles he usually directs toward me that I feel my world fall apart just a little more.

I shake my head stubbornly.Forget it, Ammayi. You already knew he wasn’t into you.Inika is clearly the preferred choice whether she’s available or not.

It stings to see that once again all the good things go to my sister, but then I remind myself that Havoc is a sarcastic, moody prick of a pixie… and he’s just as stuck with me because he has no way to exchange us out. I wish that made me feel better, however.

I’m trying not to sulk—or cheer too much when my sister breezes by him like he’s little more than a gnat buzzing around her—when Inika approaches me with Dishan trailing behind her. Dishan wears a satisfied look on his face as he makes eyes at my sister, which she covertly reciprocates. At my side Tryst tipshis head, his eyes narrowing very slightly as he curiously studies them. Does he see that they are a couple? Would this kind of pair bonding even translate into something pixies understand?

I dredge up a smile for my sister, however, when she crouches down to the coffee table and leans in close. You would think her face blown up to huge proportions would make her at least a little less attractive, but I can see the golden flecks in her brown eyes and hints of green and her lips are so artfully painted that I can see the expert mixture of glosses that she combined to get that perfect shade. Even her skin looks flawless, and I self-consciously touch my own face, wondering just how bad it looked to the male beside me when I was at my whole five-foot-three height instead of what has to be seven inches tall at best.

“That’s it. Mummi won’t worry as much now, I think, and the curtain is heavy enough that it should work to keep out some of the draft. If you change your mind about coming home, just have them bring you back, okay? You know Mummi always worries about you being alone in this apartment. And I don’t think those two are going to make her feel that much better.”

I give her a perky nod. I know if Mummi had her way, I would be living right next door or at very most just a few houses down where she could pop in easily to check in on me. I’m actually pretty sure that she has already started negotiations on one of the houses for sale on their street now that Inika is engaged.

“And hey, remember what I said about choosing a direction and committing to it. This may be your perfect opportunity to do exactly that. So make the best of it.”

She’s right, and that is mildly terrifying.

My sister smiles down at me, and at this proximity I actually notice the warmth deepening the color of her eyes. I’m not sure how I never noticed that before—probably because I always kept her at arm’s length for my own sanity, but it makes me feel awkward seeing that the chilly distance that I’ve alwaysbelieved was there despite how often she advocated for me as my big sister. Now it seems that it was more likely something constructed in my own head and coming entirely from me. I want to apologize or to just jump up and hug her, but I would probably end up clinging to her nose at that point. So I settle for giving her a genuine smile and nodding in agreement. A look of pleased surprise crosses her face, and her smile widens for a moment before she suddenly straightens.

“Good. Well, we should get going. No need to see us out,” she assures me. “I think getting off the table alone will be a challenge and there’s no reason for having one of your… ah… mates flying you to the door for no real reason. Have a good night, and don’t hesitate to let us know if you need anything—like a downgrade into a spot that’s a bit more size appropriate if you get tired of living in something so large. I’m sure Mummi would have a lot of fun with that.” She laughs at that, but I’m just betting that Mummi would.

Mummi always enjoyed a good crafty project. I remember the year she made me and Inika a dollhouse when I was seven and she was nine. I could see Mummi treating this situation similarly. But what if she tried to set me up in an overdone bird house in the back yard? Would she go that far?

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