Page 74 of Perfectly Charmed Pixie

The room was warm because I wasn’t in that ghost-town house. As soon as my hand turned that doorknob, it activated a spell—a translocation spell. Not all witches were capable of them. In fact, most weren’t. It took a fair amount of magical manipulation, and they weren’t pleasant to travel through. My nearby vomit more than proved that point. They also typically only had enough juice to work once.

My newfound warmth seeped from my marrow. My backup plan, the message I had typed out and scheduled to send to Divia and Solen, was useless. They were both out of town, but they’d call and get someone out to the address I’d sent them. And when they got there, they’d find…nothing. Abso-fucking-lutely nothing at all.

Depending on who showed up, they might be able to sense the magical signature, but they wouldn’t be able to trace the portal. I had no idea where I was, and neither would they. I’d walked into Letty’s trap. The only thing I had going for me was the tracking chip. I could only hope and pray my little trip through Letty’s portal hadn’t fried the thing. Electronics and magic didn’t always mix well.

A slow, lazy smile worked its way across Letty’s face, pulling her already thin lips even tighter. “Just figure it out?”

“Where are we?” I asked. I could have feigned ignorance, but that was pointless.

“Oh”—Letty’s gaze traveled around the room—“here and there. The physical address isn’t really that important, at least not to you.”

My fingers clamped down into tight fists. Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to cry, not in front of this tormentor. She didn’t deserve a molecule of salt. My mind swirled. I’d foolishly hoped I could get Vander, Byx, and myself out of this mess. I had no idea how I thought I’d manage that, but I’d been confident I’d think of something. Worst-case scenario, Divia and Solen would send someone to our rescue. My secret be damned. My colors, fans, and television show were unimportant compared to Vander’s and Byx’s lives.

But now, I was stuck. No one was coming to the rescue. I couldn’t even rely on my tracking chip. It was well and truly up to me, and the only thing I had to bargain with was…me.

Head up, I stared Letty in the eyes. “I’m here. Let Vander and Byx go. They’ve got nothing to do with the stupid vendetta you have against me.”

“True,” Letty agreeably answered. “But all the same, I don’t think I’ll let them go just yet.”

My heart pounded, and I started to protest, but Letty said, “You see, I made a promise to your previous warlock, Lance, that I’d take care of Vander Kines for him. It was the deal I struck in order to get all that juicy information about all the little secrets you’ve been hiding.” Letty grabbed her drink again, taking a deep swallow. “You know, it’s an exquisite feeling, finding out you’ve been right. I can’t imagine what it will feel like when I prove to the world that what I’ve been saying all along, what I’ve been posting and blogging about, is an absolute fact. That you, not me, are the disingenuous one.”

My heart pounded, and my head felt like it might explode. Vander could not be collateral damage in this. I’d never survive that. And even if I didn’t survive this night, I needed Vander to be okay. He was… I loved him. I hadn’t fully understood my feelings until the threat of losing him loomed over my head. The thought of Letty harming him…it was unthinkable.

“At least I’m not insane,” I stupidly countered. “Even if you succeed and post my true appearance, even if the whole world knows I lied and you’re the one who exposed it, you’re still breaking fairy law. You came within the restricted space. You violated the restraining order.”

“Ah, ah, ah…” Letty waggled her finger at me. “Ididn’t break the agreement.Youdid. You came to me, Parsnip. I was just casually sitting in my office, having a drink, when you came into my home.”

“Do you honestly think anyone will buy that bullshit?”

“Doesn’t matter. You are, in fact, in my home. I didn’t forcefully drag you in here. Fairy law can’t do shit to me.”

“And what about kidnapping a warlock and a brownie? You think that’s going to go over well with fairy law?”

Letty shrugged. “What fairies don’t know about can’t hurt me, and I don’t intend for them to ever find out about your little warlock lover and his brownie.”

My breath came too quickly, sucking in and out yet not allowing oxygen to flow to all the important places. “There was no reason to involve Byx in this.”

“I’ll admit, that wasn’t part of the original plan, but then she came running down the stairs, intent on saving your warlock.” Letty shook her head. “You know, I probably wouldn’t have gone after her if she’d stayed upstairs in her bedroom.” Letty’s eyes went large and round. “But do you know what I found? She still had it clasped in her hand.” Reaching behind her, Letty pulled up a stone I didn’t recognize.

“A stone? They’re all over Vander’s shop.”

“Oh, it’s not just any stone.” Letty held it within the palm of her hand, gaze worshipful. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s thrumming with her energy, her magic. It feels heavenly.”

“I…” I thought back on my conversations with Vander. He’d told me about Georgiana’s sickness, about how he wasn’t about to take that risk with Byx. He hadn’t told me directly what he’d done to try to intervene, but I was beginning to get an idea.

“It’s packed full, and yet I think it could hold more. The amount might be infinite,” Letty said with awe. “Just imagine what a witch could do with all that magic.”

Bile crept up my throat again. I didn’t want to imagine all the damage a witch like Letty could do. “It’s not meant for you,” I stated, feeling foolish but needing to say the words out loud. “That’s Byx’s magic. It doesn’t belong to anyone but her.”

“And that’s fair?” Letty snapped. “Why do brownies and fairies get all the magic?”

Now I was just confused. “They don’t. All species but humans have magic or have access to it.” I’d decided long ago that Letty was insane, but this was beyond what I expected from her. Vampires had death magic. Weres had shifter magic. Pixies were granted the magic of bonding. The list went on and on. Some weren’t as clear-cut as others, but except for humans, magic flowed in or through all of us.

Letty’s grip on Byx’s stone tightened. “We’re nothing compared to brownies and fairies. They took the largest piece of the pie and left the rest of us with scraps.”

I had no idea what to say to that. I certainly had never felt like my pixie birthright was little more than leftover magical scraps. I was proud of what and who I was. Even if that was little more than a gray-colored social pixie.

Vander was right. Every species had rotten apples, and Letty Fox stank with disease. She’d twisted her abilities into something vile, using her goddess-given abilities to harm rather than help. She was the worst of her species.

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