Page 15 of Perfectly Charmed Pixie

Mood ring?

I stared at my finger, the one Georgiana’s final gift was wrapped around. The standard onyx color was absent, replaced by a crimson fire that slowly faded. Fascinated, I stared at the damn thing until the glow was gone. The obsidian that took its place was shot through with thin, spidery red veins.

“Well, shit.” I twisted my hand, shifting the ring this way and that.

It had never reacted. In fact, I’d started thinking maybe Georgiana had played some final cosmic joke on me. That I’d stare at its black surface all my life, believing at some point it would dosomething. Georgiana hadn’t told me what that something might be. She’d simply said the ring would know when I encountered my one and only.

Brownies were magical, but each one leaned heavier toward a different type of magic. Or perhaps they were more drawn to a certain type. Byx leaned heavily toward healing, but she was capable of a lot more. Her mother, Georgiana, had a different specialty, one that was a little rarer.

Georgiana swore she didn’t havethe sight. She said she couldn’t see the future, but she could feel it. When I’d questioned her, Georgiana had shaken her head and claimed it was too difficult to explain. She’d also said that when I met my one and only, I’d be an idiot and wouldn’t recognize them.

When she’d learned she wouldn’t be around long enough to put me on the right path, Georgiana used up what little magic she had left to craft this ring—the one that glowed like a crimson beacon when it found Parsnip.

I sat down, and a gruff grunt pushed through my lungs. “A social pixie?” Leaning my head back, I stared at the empty ceiling, pipes crisscrossing it here and there. Part of me wanted to curse Gaia, but beyond making me feel temporarily better, it wouldn’t be all that helpful. Gaia wouldn’t be impressed either and might hold a grudge. Given current circumstances, I didn’t think I could afford to piss off a goddess right now.

“I need a beer.”

“It’s not even noon.” Byx leaned on the stairway railing, peering around the edge, a singular eyebrow raised. “That’s a little early, even for you.” Walking down the final steps, Byx shot a look toward the curtain separating the back office from the front. “Is the pixie gone already?” Arms crossed and foot tapping an irritated rhythm, Byx managed to stare down her nose at me. “What did you do, Van? Parsnip’s a pixie. Not even a social one could have wanted something that bad.”

Oh, little did Byx know.I swallowed hard. “I can’t talk about it.”

“Come on, Van. It’s just me. You know I won’t tell anyone. You’ve drilled client confidentiality into me a hundred times.”

I tilted my head before laying it back down on the back of the chair. If I stayed in that position much longer, I’d regret it. “You know I trust you, but I signed a silence pact. It’s been registered with fairy law.”

“You did what?” Given my cricked-neck position, I couldn’t see Byx, but I could easily envision the wide eyes and open mouth. “Why in the goddess’s name would you do that?”

“Don’t know. Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Instead of zapping me, Byx kicked me in the shin. Despite her diminutive foot size, it still hurt. “Stop being flippant. You don’t normally do stupid shit like that.”

I wanted to argue, but Byx was right. It wasn’t my usual mode of operation. I wasn’t in the habit of getting on the wrong side of fairy law, and I had no intention of breaking my pact with Parsnip. But intention and action didn’t always equal the same thing. I’d been around the block enough to know that circumstances changed. It was never a good idea to paint yourself into a corner before even opening the gate.

Instead of answering, I waved a hand at the fridge. “Do something useful and grab me a beer.”

Byx didn’t kickorzap me. Instead, she slapped a cold bottle of water into my outstretched hand.

“Drink it,” Byx ordered when I gave her the stink eye. Considering my stupidity only traveled so far, I decided I’d poked the magically inclined brownie enough for one morning and did as ordered. The water quenched my throat but didn’t do much for my racing heart and thoughts.

Silence settled, allowing my mind to wander down dangerous roads. Finally, Byx had enough and said, “Seriously, what’s wrong with you? I know you can’t tell me exactly what Parsnip wanted, but you’re starting to freak me out.”

The worry in her voice shattered my selfish musings. No matter how old she was, Byx would always be a child in my eyes. Brownie standards placed her somewhere between teen and young adult, but every time I looked at her, I saw big, brown eyes staring up at me through a haze of chocolate-colored hair. She’d sported a toothless grin for at least fifteen years, and that image would be forever imprinted on my brain.

The loving adoration in Georgiana’s gaze every time she glanced in her daughter’s direction was equally cemented.

Swallowing half my bottle of water, I forced my body upright, leaning forward and focusing on my troubled ward. I thought about what I could say and what I couldn’t. I had no idea why Parsnip needed an obfuscation charm. Humans didn’t have innate magic, and it was easy to tell when they were under its influence. Other species were more difficult. I’d had a sense there was something different about Parsnip, but I couldn’t peg it. Most likely, he’d been under the influence of one of the charms, thus obscuring why he needed it.

I couldn’t talk about that, but I could let Byx in on the other reason for my late-morning meltdown.

Instead of answering directly, I held out my left hand. Most of my fingers were covered in rings, and at first, Byx just sat there, staring at me like I’d left a part of my brain in the shower this morning.

I knew the instant she figured it out. Byx’s tightly drawn face fell, mouth slipping open and eyes blown wide. Her naturally brown skin paled, lightening her features to slightly tanned.

“Holy shit… Is that… I mean…” Byx licked her lips, gaze flicking up to meet mine before settling back on her mother’s ring. “It looks different.”

I pulled my hand back, tucking it between the side of the chair and my hip. “Sure does. It looked even more different when Parsnip was around.”

Byx choked on a harshly drawn breath. “You’re joking.” Scooting toward the edge of her seat, Byx made a give-me motion with her hands, and I withdrew my own, allowing her to cradle my much larger hand within her smaller ones. Eyes slipping closed, Byx lightly placed a finger over the stone’s surface. The flare of crimson below was unmistakable.

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