Page 88 of Perfectly Charmed Pixie

“How far away?” Vander asked. “Because honestly, I have no idea where we are.”

“Ditto,” I agreed. “This isn’t the house Letty gave me directions to. That was simply the address of the portal she’d rigged.” I couldn’t help my self-loathing, having fallen for the rouse. “I didn’t think she was powerful enough to do something like that.” I glared at the empty space Letty had tried to create another portal through, trying to steal Byx and haul her off to goddess-knew-where.

Ray’s eyes narrowed. “Given today’s events, I very much doubt Letty Fox’s abilities were completely her own. It is painfully obvious she had no qualms obtaining power, no matter the consequences or the law.”

Vander, Byx, and I remained silent, our agreement evident.

The silence stretched, interrupted by Franny’s gentle snores. I didn’t envy her when she woke. She’d have to go through detox, and from what I understood, it wasn’t pleasant.

“She took all my charms,” Vander suddenly said. Staring down at his naked fingers, I realized he was correct. “I don’t care about most. They can be remade, but there was one that Byx’s mother, Georgiana, made for me. It can’t be replaced.” Vander rubbed one of his fingers.

“The crimson mood stone?” I asked.

Vander blinked, and Byx started laughing. “Mood stone.” Fresh, happy tears slipped from Byx’s eyes. “Oh, Mamma would have loved that.”

“It’s not a mood stone?” I felt silly, but I wasn’t a witch or warlock. There was no earthly reason I should have known what it was.

“Your ride’s here,” Ray pronounced, and I realized we never had gotten around to finding out where we were. As if he could read my mind, Ray offered, “You’re closer to Warlock Kines’s home. I would suggest heading there.”

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Byx hopped off the dirty couch. It was ironic that she now had more energy than Vander and me combined.

“We’ll search the area thoroughly, and if we can’t find your belongings here, then it will be my pleasure to personally interrogate Witch Fox,” Ray offered with a near-feral grin, one that showed off his pointed teeth.

“Thank you, Ray.” Vander stood and held out his hand. Ray didn’t hesitate to take it. “I don’t want to think about where we’d all be if you and Anna hadn’t shown up.”

“You played a dangerous card, Vander. Although I understand your reasoning, I would not suggest tempting fairy law again. Leniency is…rare.”

I swallowed hard. I had no doubt Ray spoke the absolute truth.

“You ready to get out of this place?” Vander asked, holding his hand out to me.

I came willingly. “More than ready.” I leaned into him, loving his hard, muscular planes.

Byx was already halfway up the stairs. “We’ll tell you about Van’smood ringin the car.” Laughter echoed within the stairwell as Byx’s feet pounded up the treads.

I glanced up at Vander and said, “It’s not a mood ring at all, is it?”

“Not the way you think,” he answered, a smug smirk lifting the corners of his mouth.

Whatever irritation I felt was wiped away by Vander’s lips. They were chapped, broken, and swollen, but they felt like heaven.

ChapterThirty-One

Vander

Three days later, I still felt like roadkill. Lucroy Moony had called in a healer—the brother of a brownie, Marty Buttons, that Phil and Peaches knew well. He’d done a great job healing my wounds, but my ability to manipulate magical energy would need to come back in its own time.

Byx was doing great, better than she had a right to be. As far as any of us could tell, we’d completely drained her magical charm container. Mattie had stopped by and taken a look at it and said the charm wasn’t dead, that it could be filled back up and used again. Byx and I were both relieved. I was also relieved when Mattie told me her coven was called to bind Letty’s abilities. Mattie had gone a little pale while telling me how oily and disgusting Letty’s magical abilities felt. From what I understood, the binding was the first step, and there was a fair chance she’d be completely stripped soon. Letty had violated some very serious fairy laws, and as Ray mentioned, fairies weren’t a forgiving species.

Neither were brownies. Honestly, if I had to pick which species doled out my punishment, I would have picked fairies. Not because it would be lesser, but because it would be a hell of a lot less painful. As expected, the brownies were not pleased when they found out about Letty’s plans for Byx. They’d especially been pissed when they found out she actively drained a brownie. Needless to say, Letty was in for a world of hurt, and I couldn’t give two shits.

I’d informed the Magical Usage Council about Lance’s part in this whole fiasco. Needless to say, they hadn’t been pleased. The warlock magic streaming through the ring on Letty’s finger easily backed up my story. I’d been informed Lance was in custody, and they’d decided to strip him of his warlock powers. Everyone knew what that meant. Just like with Letty, I couldn’t muster a twinge of compassion and didn’t spend another thought on that waste of a warlock.

Ray had been by yesterday and informed us that Letty hadn’t live streamed what happened. She’d recorded it and had automatically uploaded it. During their investigation, Ray found a program on Letty’s computer. The footage was set to automatically load to her blog within three days if she didn’t disable it. Thankfully, Ray’s investigators got to it first. Thus far, Parsnip’s secret was safe, as was Franny’s identity.

Parsnip was relieved, but he hadn’t changed his mind. My one and only was content, and I believed him. That’s not to say that Parsnip was looking forward to the big reveal, only that he was committed to ending the lie. With Letty’s exposé on lockdown, Parsnip had control of the narrative, and from what I understood, he planned to use it for the greater good.

“Morning, sunshine.”

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