Page 80 of Perfectly Charmed Pixie

“I…I can’t. My wing’s damaged.” It wasn’t even close to a lie.

Franny wasn’t having it. She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. Hard.

“Make more!”

“I can’t,” I yelled back.

Letting loose a wail that shook the ceiling, Franny stomped toward Vander, her meaty fist pulled back. “You’ll make more or I’ll beat him.”

Horrified, I looked to Letty, but she was no longer paying us a bit of attention. She’d gotten what she wanted. She had the evidence she’d been after for so long. I didn’t think it made her nearly as happy as she thought it would. Regardless, she’d already moved on to a new target—Byx.

After scooping her up and off the couch, Byx’s limp body hung from Letty’s uncaring arms.

“Do with them what you want,” Letty said. “They’re both yours.”

Franny’s grin was full of ocher peg-like teeth. Staring at me, arm pulled back and ready to let fly, Franny demanded again, “Make dust. Now.”

I did the only thing I could. I gritted my teeth against the pain and moved my wings. It was agony, and I couldn’t keep the pain from my face. But it was worth it. Franny dropped her arm and leaned in, inhaling as much of my dust as she could.

Vander gazed at me, my pain reflected in his beautiful hazel eyes.

“Enough, Parsnip,” Vander whispered, voice barely audible. “It’s enough.”

I shook my head, tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. “No. I can’t let her hurt you. Not anymore.”

“She won’t,” Vander reassured me, even though I had no idea how he planned to stop her.

Despite his plea, I kept my wings going. I’d do it until I passed out. I wasn’t sure how long I could keep us both alive, but I’d do everything I could to buy just a few more precious seconds to look into those adoring eyes.

And then those eyelids slid closed, and Vander took a large inhale. His next words were spoken loudly and resonated with authority.

“I, Warlock Vander Kines, break my fairy-made oath of secrecy. Parsnip came into my shop and asked me to make an obfuscation charm. I agreed never to repeat this fact out loud. I break my oath,” he repeated.

My wings dropped, and fresh fear dug its ugly claws into my chest. It was one thing to admit that I’d asked Vander to make me a charm. My secrecy was never an aspect of the pact.

His was the binding tie.

It was a tie he’d just cleanly snipped.

It was a tie that would ultimately break him apart too.

ChapterTwenty-Nine

Vander

It was humbling to realize how utterly helpless you were. I’d been born a warlock, and I’d worked hard to gain skill throughout my life. I’d practiced and trained, honing my abilities into something I thought could always protect me and the ones I loved.

And yet, here I was, kneeling on a filth-covered floor, freezing and body pounding in pain as I watched those I loved being tortured and toyed with. Given Franny’s plans, death was the kindest thing Parsnip could hope for. And Byx…I couldn’t even contemplate the pain she’d suffer at the hands of Letty.

It was time to end this, and if the cost was my eventual life, then so be it. There was only one way out, one way to stop Letty and Franny. That one way required a sacrifice—one I was more than willing to give. My warlock abilities.

I’d broken my oath, and there was only one punishment. I would no longer be a practicing warlock. My DNA wouldn’t change, but my abilities to control magic would be irrevocably removed. I’d be a shell of what I was, dying and wasting away to nothing. If Parsnip and I were officially bound, I might take him with me. But we weren’t. Parsnip didn’t even know he was my one and only. I’d kept it a secret. I wanted him to love me for me, not because of a fated pull.

And he did love me. It was enough. It was more than many warlocks got in their long lives.

“What did you say?” With Byx still in her arms, Letty crossed the basement, standing next to a drugged-out Franny. “What did you just say?!” Panic filled her.

I’d take that with me too, that moment of utter satisfaction.

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