Page 7 of Perfectly Charmed Pixie

My light gray clothing flowed around me. My pixie boots on the floor beside the bed revealed the chipped polish that needed fixing.

My wings furiously beat as I stared down at that minuscule flaw. It was so tiny, yet it spoke with the force of a megaphone. It wasn’t real. I could fool the public. I could even fool myself sometimes. But that single chipped piece of color told the truth.

Fake. I was nothing more than a fake.

* * *

“Peaches said he can clear out the underground space we need to build Mr. Moony’s den.” Mike fiddled with something on his camera as he filled me in. “I want to get that on film. I don’t think anyone’s ever captured a nature pixie hollowing out the earth before.”

Mike’s words were full of awe I didn’t share. As far as I was concerned, nature pixies were dirty—literally. They didn’t mind rolling about in the muck. Some even stayed outdoors for months, even years at a time. Thank the goddess, pixie hair didn’t tangle and mat like many other species. Otherwise, those pixies would have looked like heathens.

Staring into my handheld mirror, I twisted my neck, shifting to see my hair a little better. My charm was beginning to wear off, and my colors were not as bright as they should have been. It wasn’t enough yet for anyone else to notice, but the way things were going, I’d have to activate my last charm tonight. Hopefully, Lance would come through, and a package would be waiting for me when I got back to the rental house tonight. I’d called again this morning, and once more, my message had gone straight to voicemail. It was…unusual.

“Divia told me Phil’s going to be there too,” Mike said offhandedly.

“Phil?” The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I wasn’t certain.

“Philodendron. He’s the home-and-hearth pixie that mated an alpha werewolf.” Mike shook his head while still concentrating on his camera. “Can you believe that?” Mike finally looked up. “This town has some weird shenanigans going on. One pixie bonded to a vampire and another to a werewolf.”

I raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. “It is interesting.” Divia had told me about the pixie/werewolf match. I’d just forgotten Phil’s name.

Mike chuckled. “Next thing you know, we’ll have a pixie/ogre match. That’d be a hell of a thing. They…”

Whatever Mike said next, I zoned out. With my heart rate skyrocketing, I sat there perfectly still as I tried trapping my fear back into the box it escaped. A lifetime with an ogre. I couldn’t contemplate it. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the thought, nor did I want to. The six months I’d been held captive were enough.

Mike was painfully naïve. He had no idea what he was talking about, what he’d just suggested. I couldn’t blame him. As a human, he had no idea just how crazy that idea was, just how tragic it would be for the pixie. Probably the ogre too. Unless the ogre wore a mask the entire time, it would be drugged out of its mind. That was no way to live.

My head felt like it was trapped in a bag. Sound was muffled, and my ears rang in time with the warning bells flaring in my mind.

The slam of a car door woke me from my internal nightmare.

Divia’s light voice helped wrangle my fear back into the cave it constantly dwelled in. “You look divine as always, Parsnip.”

Divia’s long hair was twisted into a complicated knot flawlessly perched on her head. Her double row of sharp teeth glinted in the early morning sun when she smiled.

Mike swooned, his body automatically shifting toward her.

Good thing for Mike that Divia was a reformed siren. Otherwise, she would have sucked down his soul and merrily basked in the winter sun.

“Thank you, Divia.”

It was a morning ritual, one that would have felt forced if I didn’t believe Divia was sincere. The truth was, to the untrained eye, I did look divine. I was the only one that could see the cracks.

“So, do you think we’ll have the pleasure of yet another pixie’s company today?” Divia rooted around in the large bag hanging off her shoulder.

The things she pulled out of there made me think there was a gateway to another realm hiding out in the bottom.

“Phil,” I casually answered, considering Mike still seemed led by his dick, not his brain.

“Yes, Philodendron. Have you ever heard a pixie with that name before?”

“No.” Parsnip wasn’t exactly the most glamorous pixie name, so I didn’t feel like throwing stones.

“I heard he’s big.” Divia waggled her eyebrows. “Really big.”

While rolling my eyes, I shrugged. “Is that so? Maybe you’ll get lucky today and find out. Maybe that’s what his werewolf lover likes about him.”

I didn’t know if Phil would show up today or not, let alone his mate.

---