Page 10 of Perfectly Charmed Pixie

Byx rolled her eyes. “And I’m the immature one.”

I started to make some wiseass retort when my eyebrows shot up, and panic stabbed my gut. Little puffs of smoke wafted off Byx’s head like twin horns. “Shit, you’re on fire.” I grabbed a nearby towel and pounded it down on her head, trying to beat out the invisible flames.

“Ow! Would you stop that?” Byx’s hands slapped my wrists, finally gaining purchase and pulling me away. “Goddess, what has gotten into you?” Byx pushed at her haphazard hair. To be fair, it had looked good before I’d gone on my fire-smothering mission. “You better not have damaged them, Van. It took me forever to figure out how to make them breathe fire.” Byx pulled a hair clip out, and only now, with it in her small hand, did I realize it was in the shape of a dragon.

Dropping my towel, I shifted closer and asked, “What did you do?”

Pushing her hair off her face, Byx looked up, dark brown eyes glinting with mischief. “Just a little magic. Nothing major.” Byx’s grin turned into a thoughtful frown. “Although, I still don’t think I’ve got it right. They were supposed to spit fire and smoke when I felt threatened. They should have activated earlier when that beta were was in here.”

“What?” I stared down at the tiny clip. The plastic moved, wings arching back before curling into Byx’s hand. “You magicked your hair clips?”

“Yeah. No one ever thinks to look at hair clips,” Byx answered with a shrug. “They probably wouldn’t do much damage, but it might work as a distraction. Plus, I thought it would be cool.”

Leaning back, my earlier adrenaline spike eased, making me lightheaded and weak. Nothing that beta were could have said or done compared with the fear I’d experienced when I thought Byx was in danger.

“You thought fire around your very flammable hair would be a good idea?” I raised an eyebrow.

Byx’s shoulders scrunched, neck bent, and eyes cast down. “Yeah.” She scratched her head, pushing at her hair before putting the clip back in place. Its twin had held up to my aggressive toweling better. “I see your point. To be fair, I don’t think it really worked. There weren’t actual flames, just some smoke.”

Just enough to damn near give me a heart attack.“Only you, Byx.”

The happy grin she shot my way melted whatever irritation I had left. “I’m one of a kind.”

“That you are.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Just so I’m prepared, did you magic your other hair clips or are the dragons the only ones?”

Byx twisted her hands, her pinched lips letting out a quiet “Maybe. Most of them haven’t worked out,” she hastened to add. Staring at the empty doorway, Byx said, “Given who our latest customer was, I should have tried the squirrel ones.”

I stood a little straighter, trying to remember what hair clips Byx was talking about. “You mean those cute little ones with the nuts?”

She nodded vigorously.

“What did you do to those?” If Byx was aiming for intimidating, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what she’d done to a couple of squirrels.

“I made them do that hissing thing,” Byx answered as if I were an idiot.

“Hissing thing?” Maybe I was an idiot because I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Yeah.” Byx proceeded to arch her neck, making a series of clicking, hissing, and spatting noises. “You know, how they do when Millie chases them up a tree.”

“Mr. Roderick’s dog? The Jack Russell?” It was the only Millie I could think of.

“She runs out in the yard, yipping and chasing the squirrels. Once they get to higher ground, the squirrels turn around and hiss at her. It drives Millie nuts.”

I took a couple of seconds to think that over. “And you think if it works on Millie—”

“Weres are canines too. They’re just a different kind.” Byx sounded so matter-of-fact, like I should have figured that out ages ago.

“You think werewolves can be intimidated like a Jack Russell terrier?”

“Sure. Why not?” Byx hopped off her riser, taking off toward the back of the store, leaving me mystified. I was also amused.

Sweet Gaia. I didn’t know if Byx was right but could only hope I’d get to judge for myself one day.

ChapterFive

Parsnip

Another night and no package. I stared at my empty doorway, a low, fluttery panic unpleasantly niggling my gut. I forced my clenching fingers to relax as I searched around the entryway, looking for any wayward packages or slips of paper saying I needed to pick it up or sign for it.

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