Page 33 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
She waved me off and said, “Let’s get these guys checked out and settled in.”
The great thing about The Ringshire Faerie Sanctuary was that every faerie that was brought in received a checkup, was given any shots or medications they needed to keep them safe and healthy, and was tagged to keep track of before they were released into the protected land. It meant they had a record ofeach and every rescued faerie, and it made it easier if any of them needed medical intervention in the future.
Sometimes the faeries that were brought in were injured or sick and needed surgery or extra care, and Fatma was not only the manager of the sanctuary, she was also a faerie veterinarian. She gave each faerie as much care as they needed to lead a healthy life. It was honestly pretty amazing considering how many people considered faeries to be pests and little things they could just kill to get rid of.
I loved this place.
It had good vibes and was absolutely beautiful.
As we carried the traps inside, Fatma said, “Did you hear about the carbuncle that was turned over to me last week?”
I had no idea what a carbuncle was, but Miles seemed excited. “Oh my god, you have a carbuncle here? Holy crap. Is it in the building? Can I see it?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, he was released into the woods a few days ago. He comes back around this area every once in a while, so you might catch a glimpse of him.”
As we went back for more traps, I leaned in close to Miles and asked, “What’s a carbuncle?”
His eyebrows rose. “You really don’t know?”
I snorted. “Nope.”
“Oh, it sort of looks like a fennec fox, or more like a fennec fox head, but its body has plates of armor on it like an armadillo. And then there’s the jewel.”
“The jewel?”
“Yep. All carbuncles have a jewel embedded in their foreheads. It’s their magic source and the reason they’re so endangered. People hunt them for their jewel because it’s one of the most powerful magic sources that naturally exists in the world… or so they say. Who knows if that’s true? I feel like so many things are exaggerated about faeries.”
“Huh. That sounds… like a weird-looking faerie.”
He snorted. “They’re really cute. Or at least they are in pictures. I’ve never seen one in real life.”
I nodded as I pulled out a crate.
When we were heading inside again, Fatma said, “Oh, I have something else you can look at. I have an injured baby sprite in the back, if you want to see her? She’s so tiny I have to wear giant magnifying goggles to work on her.”
“Oh no. What happened?” Miles asked, looking extremely concerned for a tiny being he hadn’t even seen yet.
I really loved his heart.
Fatma answered Miles. “She got her leg caught in some wire, and a random person called us to see if we could help. I went out to get her myself. Unfortunately, I had to amputate half of her leg yesterday, but the poor thing is doing a lot better. Her wings are in good shape, so she’ll be fine once she’s healed up.”
Miles looked excited. “I’d love to see her.”
Fatma grinned at him widely, clearly a kindred spirit to my boyfriend. “Let’s get the rest of your haul inside first.”
Miles nodded, and I followed the two of them back to the truck, bemused at them both. They were both super excited about a baby sprite, and for some reason, seeing Miles like that over a faerie made my chest grow warm.
After we finished unloading, Fatma led us to the back of the building where the vet rooms were and all the recovery pens.
There was a wall of smaller cages off to the side, which was where she took us, and the second Miles looked through the clear cage door, his whole face lit up.
“Oh my god. She’s sooooooo cute.” His bottom lip popped out, pouting. “The poor little baby. I can’t believe you had to amputate.”
Fatma frowned. “I didn’t want to, but it was getting infected, and I didn’t want her to become septic. We have no idea howlong she’d been stuck in that wire, but it was long enough that none of her flutter were around anymore.”
When I’d first started working for Miles, I’d learned a bunch of new terms, like what the actual group name was for different types of faeries.A flutter of spriteswas one of my favorites. Although I kinda likeda mischief of pixiestoo, since they were such trouble makers.
Miles sucked in a breath. “You mean, she was left behind?”
