Page 9 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
And yet…
Unless I’d gotten into an accident and was now in a coma and this was all fake, itwashappening.
I pinched my skin to check.Ow.
Yeah, this was… this was real.
I glanced at the lovely bird beside me and found her already staring at me with her head tilted to the side, examining me.
“Don’t worry. I promise I won’t take you back there.”
Her trill was happy this time.
Before I put the car in drive, I couldn’t help but reach through the cage bars and give her another few pets. The relief and happiness coming from her was so strong, I could practically taste it. The longer I pet her, the warmer my entire body felt.
My brow furrowed. This… wasn’t a normal feeling.
I closed my eyes and concentrated, a small gasp falling from my lips.
Nope, definitely not normal.
There was magic coming off of the firebird and flowing directly into me.
What in the world?
It was as if my fingers were filling with some kind of power. It made no sense, and I had no idea what the hell it meant, but there was some kind of… spark going off between us.
It was… nice, actually. Weird, but in a good way.
I wasn’t scared. In fact, it felt like my own empathic magic was sparking in delight, which was a strange and unusual feeling for me. My magic wasn’t usually like that.
The firebird magic sort of hummed just beneath my skin, giving me a pleasant feeling that had me smiling down at her.
Maybe she was like me and could push her emotions into other people.
After a few minutes, I knew I needed to get back to work, so I slowly removed my hand from her. To my surprise, the strange humming connection remained even after we separated.
Glancing down the road toward the so-called sanctuary, I sneered, absolutely disgusted with the place. What in the world was going on there? Was it some kind of front for a place that collects or sells faeries and faerie… parts?
That was a horrific thought.
I covered the lovely firebird back up, aware of the strange connection between us but totally ignoring it, and tugged my phone out of my pocket. I stared at it for a few seconds before deciding that, no matter how much I didn’t want to talk to him, I needed to send the message.
I pulled up a contact I never wanted to use again, typed out a text, and hit send.
Me: There’s something going on at Whispering Pines Faerie Sanctuary. Pretty sure it’s a front for some shady stuff.
The response came almost instantly.
Higgins: What did you see?
Ignoring that, I stuffed the phone back in my pocket and began the journey home, then decided I should quickly call the vet tohave a look at the firebird. The last thing I wanted was to bring an animal into my home that could get my cat sick. I wasn’t even sure if there were illnesses that could pass from a faerie to a cat, but better to be safe than sorry.
The second my sort-of friend and veterinarian answered their phone, I said, “Hey, Indigo, it’s Miles. I need a favor.”
As they and I spoke, I felt my phone vibrate with incoming messages, but I ignored those too.
Indigo agreed to have a look at the firebird on my way home, thankfully.
