Page 64 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
I pulled out the correct bin, and the two of us slipped the gear on over our clothes. Because pixie dust was dangerous, we wore something that looked a lot like a beekeeper’s uniform, minus the net on the hat, although we had a hood over our hair. Themain difference was that we also had to wear a mask to keep us from breathing in the pixie dust and to protect our eyes.
We kind of looked like we were wearing all-white HAZMAT suits.
When we were finished and ready to go, Winter stood up and faced me. Since the masks were clear around the eyes, I could see his pretty blue ones when they met mine. We stared for a beat, then both of us burst out laughing.
This wasn’t the first time I’d seen him in a pixie suit, but every single time, I couldn’t help but laugh. He looked ridiculous, like he was ready to go into battle with some giant alien beast, yet I knew we were only going up against little tiny faeries the size of bugs.
And I knew I looked just as ridiculous.
It took a minute, but we were finally over our laughter, so we grabbed some equipment we might need. I passed Lyric some extra masks and gloves for everyone, and we headed back for the front doors of The Museum of Supernatural History.
Chaos, Aeson, and the manager were all standing at the doors waiting, and the twins both chuckled at the sight of us. Although, they held it in because Dexter Sharp was so grumpy.
“You really think you can get the pixies out of the museum?” Sharp asked.
I lifted my mask, placing it on top of my head. “I do. I think they’ll follow the egg. Pixies can be very protective of their homes and of their young, so they’ll do wild things like push people around to protect their nests. Right now, those pixies are acting as if that egg is real and they’re protecting a baby dragon.”
He blinked. “Why in the world would they think it’s real? That fossil is at least two thousand years old. Surely they can tell there’s nothing alive inside.”
I shrugged. “I’m just telling you what I see. I have no idea why they’d choose that egg over anything else in the museum, but they did.”
He pursed his lips. “I… suppose letting them keep the egg is better than a lawsuit.”
Because obviously a lawsuit was more important than protecting people from getting hurt.
Before I could blurt out something rude, Winter stepped in, saying, “You’re right, sir. This shouldn’t take too long, but maybe we can get started now?”
The man’s mustache moved with his harumph, but he nodded in agreement and led the way to the top floor where the dragon section was.
I passed Sola over to Aeson, who lit up like a Christmas tree when my firebird trilled and cuddled into him. It was adorable.
Winter and I checked each other over, making sure no skin was showing and that we had all our other pixie stuff—pixie repellent and multiple large nets on our backs—and then we headed into pixie territory, leaving the others on the opposite side of the exhibit.
“You ready for this, sugar butt?”
“Nope. But let’s do it anyway.”
“That’s the spirit.”
I snorted at that, and even though this wasn’t going to be fun, knowing Winter had my back made it so much better. It made me happy to be here, despite everything else.
We approached slowly, but honestly, we shouldn’t have bothered because the second we stepped over that pixie dust line, the pixies lost their minds. Suddenly, I was being dive-bombed from all sides, little pixie missiles hitting my body over and over again, their dust so thick it was hard to see through.
Every little hit felt like someone was stabbing me with a pin, like a paper cut. They were such small creatures, but they knewhow to fly fast and make themselves hit like a bullet. We were going to be covered in bruises.
Our gear wouldn’t allow them to penetrate through the fabric, but it wouldn’t protect us from the force of their hits, either.
“Oh my god!” Winter yelled. “I can’t see anything!”
“Me either! Use the spray bottle!”
As I said it, I lifted my own spray bottle and began spraying the area directly in front of my face.
The bottles were filled with a mixture of water and cayenne pepper, peppermint, and a spelled cinnamon stick—obtained from a practitioner store—because they couldn’t stand the smell of it.
As soon as a good amount was in the air, the little things began screaming as if they were dying. I would’ve felt bad, only I knew it wasn’t actually hurting them. It was unpleasant, and they deserved it for attacking us.
Although, I supposed I couldn’t blame them for protecting their nest. We were huge predators after all.
