34. Phil
Phil
“M aybe you should head out early tonight.” Johnny eyed me, hands fisted on hips and mouth twisted into a frown. “You don’t look so good, Phil.”
I didn’t feel so good either. I was weak.
I’d barely made it into work today, and flying up to grab a bottle of vodka off the top shelf had been a near disaster.
I’d felt increasingly worse since Peaches’s bonding ceremony three days ago.
I’d finally caved and left Mr. Buttons a note before I left, asking him to contact his brother for me.
Something was definitely wrong, and I couldn’t keep pretending it wasn’t.
“I’m sorry, Johnny,” I answered while sitting on the stool he’d pulled over for me. It was early in the evening, and things hadn’t gotten too busy yet. Thankfully we had enough help that neither of us was missed.
“I don’t think an apology is needed.” Johnny pulled up his own stool and sat down next to me. He was wearing a kilt today, and his furry fawn legs brushed against my jean-clad ones. I would have felt that soft fur if I’d been wearing typical pixie attire.
Head resting in my hands, I leaned forward, elbows planted on my knees. “I don’t know what’s wrong. I just don’t have any energy.”
Johnny cocked his head to the side, studying me intently. “When was the last time you ate?”
My stomach rolled at the idea of food, and I bent over farther, arms wrapped around my waist and skin likely going even more gray-green.
Johnny made a scoffing noise. “Didn’t like the sound of that, did you?”
I tried to shake my head, but it only made the room spin.
“Is it because of the trial?” Johnny leaned in and whispered. I appreciated that he didn’t want to spread my business around. “Lucroy told me the hearing’s scheduled for tonight. He told me they appointed a new judge—a vampire one.” Johnny smiled. “I’ll bet that stuck in old Arie Belview’s craw.”
I hadn’t heard anything. Sedrick had stuck to our agreement and hadn’t contacted me. I’d expected it, yet the lack of communication and the absence of his voice was more than disappointing. “There’s a new judge? Why?”
Johnny shrugged. “Probably because the last one was corrupt as sin itself.” I doubted very much that Johnny knew that for certain.
“Lucroy filled me in on some things. He wasn’t trying to spread gossip, but there was some concern that Arie Belview might send some of his goons in here and cause some trouble.
Lucroy wanted me to be on the lookout and let him know if there was any trouble. ”
“Oh.” I gasped. “I hadn’t thought of that.” I felt immensely na?ve that I hadn’t considered the possibility.
“Not surprising. Stuff like that’s not in your nature, Phil. You’re a straight shooter, which I like about you. The Belviews are about as crooked as you can get.” Johnny spoke with a vehemence I didn’t understand.
I didn’t want to pry but asked, “Did the Belviews do something to you?”
Johnny shook his head. “Not me or my family, but a friend. Not a lot of love lost where that family is concerned, Phil. And karma is a funny thing. She’ll come back and get you when and where you least expect it.
I’ve got a good feeling karma is about to teach Arie Belview a thing or two.
You don’t go around pissin’ on that many and not make enemies.
Eventually, the time comes where you gotta pay up and face the consequences of the animosity you’ve sown. ”
My lips parted, mouth dropping open. “That’s . . . That is, I really hope you’re right.”
Dillon’s, Ruthie’s, and Sedrick’s futures depended on it.
Johnny slapped my back, a lighter touch this time, and stood. “Regardless of what happens tonight, you’re not worth shit here tonight, Phil.”
I tried to stand and protest. Mr. Moony was nice enough to give me a second chance, and Johnny had been patient and kind to me. Surprisingly, I wasn’t half bad as a bartender. I’d never be as good as Johnny, but I was a far sight better at bartending than being a bouncer.
“None of that,” Johnny waved me off and pushed me down. “You just sit right there, and I’ll see if our driver can take you home. It’ll just be a minute—”
“Phil!”
Despite my dizziness, my head snapped up. I knew that voice. . .
“Phil, where in the goddess’s name are you?” Gold pixie dust floated through the air, glinting in the mood lighting flashing through the bar. “I swear if you don’t—”
“Over here.” Johnny stepped on the riser that ran the length behind the bar and waved Peaches over. I thought about standing again but quickly gave up on the idea.
Peaches’s pixie dust thickened into a hazy cloud, nearly obscuring him as he flew over the top of the bar. My friend looked two parts pissed and one part scared out of his mind.
“Peaches?” I still couldn’t believe he was here. I hadn’t gotten around to telling him yet that I no longer worked for Sedrick and had taken a job at Dusk. “What are you doing here?”
Peaches didn’t land. His wings beat furiously, and he ignored everyone else.
“That’s my line, Phil.” Rubbing his forehead, Peaches appeared to be fighting off a serious headache.
I had a feeling my name was written across that particular piece of pain.
“You have got to be the most infuriating pixie in the world.”
Before I could defend myself, Peaches flew at me and shoved a finger into my chest.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me, Phil. I knew you looked bad at my bonding ceremony, but Posey and Mr. Buttons told me you were fine, and . . .” Peaches shook his head violently, scattering pixie dust everywhere. I could already hear the sneezes.
“Pardon me,” Mr. Moony’s liquid voice interrupted Peaches’s growing tirade. “Perhaps I can be of some assistance, Mr. . . .”
“Peaches.” My friend crossed his arms and flew even higher. Pointing at me, Peaches said, “And I’ve come to take Phil home before he dies due to his own stupidity.”
I clutched my chest. I knew Peaches would be mad, but he’d never been cruel before. “Peaches, I—”
“How long, Phil? How long has it been since you’ve been to the home you bonded with?”
“I . . . What are you talking about? I didn’t bond with—”
“Oh, you bonded all right. And you’ve been gone from that bond for far too long.
Any longer and you’ll be dead, Phil.” Tears welled within Peaches’s eyes, then slid down his cheeks as his wings finally stilled, dropping his bare feet to the floor.
“I won’t let that happen, Phil. Do you hear me?
I won’t let Arie Belview take anyone else from me. ”
Peaches’s sobs filled Dusk with sadness, and I barely had time to catch him as he fell into my arms, soaking my t-shirt with tears.
* * *
S edrick’s house was dark when Mr. Moony’s car pulled up outside. All the lights were off. It looked as dead as I felt.
“Hasn’t anyone been taking care of the flowers?” It was dark outside, but I could still make out the wilted outlines of the flowers I’d carefully coaxed back to life surrounding the front entry.
Peaches opened the door and scrambled out. “Come on, Phil. You’ll feel better once you’re inside.” Peaches reached in and pulled me.
When I tumbled out, Peaches wasn’t alone. Mr. Moony was there with him, standing off to the side. Mr. Moony’s eyes tracked around the house, and every once in a while, he cocked his head to the side as if listening for something.
Despite the heavy boots covering my feet, I could feel the cold ground.
My heart ached when I stared up at the house I’d lovingly brought back to life.
Had I really bonded with it? I wasn’t as certain as Peaches, and yet I couldn’t deny my need to walk inside, to touch every surface, to reassure both the home and me that I was back, that I wasn’t going away again.
“It appears safe,” Mr. Moony stated, and I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. With the gnomes gone, Sedrick’s home was as safe as could be.
“Thank you for coming along.” Peaches’s voice had lilted higher than usual, and when I glanced in his direction, his cheeks were dusted with pink. “I think Phil and I should be fine from here.”
“Nonsense.” Mr. Moony moved toward the door.
“Dusk basically runs itself. I’ve no other place to be, and from what I understand, you could still use a ride to the courthouse.
I’m happy to be of service, and if the judge in question needs any further proof that Phil is, indeed, a home-and-hearth pixie, then I’m happy to offer my testimony that he made an abysmal bouncer.
As far as I am concerned, he’s a pixie through and through.
” Mr. Moony grinned but kept his fangs carefully tucked behind his lips.
I never thought someone testifying that I was abysmal at something would be beneficial.
“Shall we?” Mr. Moony asked while motioning toward the door.
I realized they were waiting for me. My legs were still shaky, and I felt worse than woozy, but I stepped forward and didn’t head for the door.
I stumbled to the side of the house and laid my hand on the wooden timbers.
A pulse of pain immediately radiated through the wood into my flesh.
Breath whispered through my barely parted teeth, and tears pricked my eyes.
Peaches wasn’t wrong. The house and I’d bonded. And I’d abandoned that bond.
“Forgive me.” I leaned my forehead against that cool wood. “I didn’t realize. I won’t leave again, not for any length of time. I’ll come back. I promise.”
Another pulse shot through me, and then another, and another. They came rapid-fire, the sadness replaced by hesitant relief. To my left, the front door eased open of its own accord.
“Well,” Mr. Moony drawled, “I suppose that answers that. After you, Phil.”
I walked through a haze of Peaches’s golden dust, his wings a quick beat. Mr. Moony didn’t sneeze. Vampires didn’t need to breathe. It came in handy around an agitated pixie.