Page 69 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
“Over here,” Aeson called out. “We have a spot in one of the gazebos. We put a few things in there already, but Win can put the nest stuff there, and we’ll close it off to visitors. There are plenty of other spots they can sit in the gardens.”
“That sounds perfect, Ace,” I said, holding tight to the net.
“You good?” Winter asked quietly.
I nodded. “Yep. Go ahead and put the nest down for them.”
He gave a nod before walking ahead of me. It only took him a minute or two to get things situated.
“We’re ready.”
“Ace, Chaos, Lyric, and Sharp, you guys need to move away from the gazebo. As soon as I release these pixies, they’re going to go nuts and attack us. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
It was another minute before Winter popped his head out of the gazebo, his pixie gear looking worse for wear. “They’re gone. It’s just me and you, baby.”
I rolled my eyes but walked into the gazebo. My eyes widened at the beauty of this gazebo—I was surprised Sharp had been willing to sacrifice it in order to keep the pixies—but I quickly put the netted egg in the center of the new nest.
“You ready? We need to make a run for it when I open it.”
Winter nodded. “I’m ready. Count of three?” With my nod, he started the countdown. “Three… two… one… go!”
I opened the net, then let go of it—part of it was stuck under the egg, and I’d rather lose the net than fight the pixies again for it—and pushed Winter toward the exit.
I was hot on his heels, the sound of furious bell voices ringing behind us and following us through the garden.
When I saw the others up ahead, I yelled, “Run! Go! They’re still chasing us!”
There were looks of shock all around, but it only took them a brief moment to get their wits about them and start running.
All six of us ran all the way to the outdoor garden exit. Sharp had to pull out his keys to unlock the gate, and Chaos kept going, “Hurry, hurry, hurry. They’re coming! They’re right behind us!”
Finally, Sharp got the gate open, and we ran out, shut it behind us, and locked it up tight.
Of course, the pixies could simply fly over the fence. So instead of waiting around to see if they would, I led the group around the building and back to the front.
Sharp used his keys to let us inside, and as soon as that door was shut, I bent over with my hands on my knees and breathed out heavily, trying to catch my breath.
Winter did the same beside me, rubbing my back with one of his hands.
“Fuck, we still have to make another round to make sure the little shits are all outside,” I murmured to him, sounding exhausted and done—because I was.
He groaned. “Not the stairs again.”
I laughed, and Chaos said, “Oh, come on, old man. You can do it.”
Winter glanced at Sharp to make sure he wasn’t looking—he was heading for his office, not paying attention to us at all—then flipped Chaos off, making the five of us crack up.
When we finally stopped laughing, Ace said, “Come on. Let’s check for any stragglers.”
He walked over to me and swiped the second net off my back, then marched for the stairs.
Lyric grabbed the last one on my back and followed Aeson, calling, “Wait up, Ace!”
Chaos held his hand out to Winter, and Win looked at me.
I sighed, and Chaos glared, saying, “Dude, we’ll be fine if it’s just one or two. They’re not gonna hurt us.”
Winter pulled one of his nets off his back but didn’t pass it over. “Promise me you’ll let Miles or me step in if it’s more than two of them at a time.”
