Chapter 30 #2
Maybe I should tell him to give me a sign, like a certain finger wave type of thing, whenever he needed my null magic. That might be better than having me guess. What if I touched him while he was in the middle of reading someone with purpose? I wouldn’t want to mess him up.
That made me frown at myself, but I pushed the thoughts away for later examination. I’d talk to him about it and see what he thought. Later.
“Oh, thank god you’re here. Thank you for coming,” Dexter Sharp said, then gestured to the chairs across the desk from him. “Have a seat.”
We sat down, and Sola remained on my shoulder, but we were close enough to Miles for her to keep pecking at him affectionately. She was clearly trying to cheer him up as well, the sweet girl.
I wasn’t surprised that Miles wasn’t being his normal polite self while trying to speak to the man. He was clearly pissed on Chaos’s behalf, and he didn’t want to say something to offend the man before we finished the job.
Before being the keyword there.
I was sure he’d have words with him after.
“I spoke to the board, and they’ve given the okay, but they want me to ship the dragon egg fossil to The Faerie Museum of Mistbay City. We’re making a trade.”
“Alright. But I have to remind you that if you take the egg inside the museum, the pixies will follow it back in again.”
He grimaced. “Right. So the plan is for you to remove it and take it out to my car where a shipping box will be waiting. I’ll drive away from the museum with it. I’m making a personal delivery. That’ll work, right?”
Miles wavered back and forth. “It… should. Although, some of them might follow you.”
Sharp looked shocked. “Surely they can’t keep up with a car.”
“You’d be surprised what they’re capable of when they’re protecting something.”
“Really?”
Miles nodded. “Yes, but if you keep driving for a while, I’m sure you’ll lose them.”
The man grimaced and rubbed a hand over his face.
“Right. Okay. I’ll… figure that out. Maybe I’ll drive it past the other museum until I lose all the pixies.
I’m sure I can get one of the ushers to lock up the museum tonight.
” He moved a few papers on his desk, muttering to himself about the different employees.
Miles and I looked at each other, then I cleared my throat. “Alright, Mr. Sharp. Do you want us to use the side gate entrance again?”
He blinked, snapping out of whatever plans he was making in his head. “Uh, right. Yes. That would work.”
“Would it be possible to have Mortimer open and shut the gate for us? I can give him gear to wear so he doesn’t get hurt, and it’ll be better if we have some extra hands.”
“That’s fine.”
“Could we also recruit Aeson? Having more people keeping the pixies away would be beneficial and allow us to get this done faster.”
He waved Miles away. “Sure. Take whoever you need. Just get this done.”
Miles gave him a nod and stood, holding his hand out. “I can take the gate keys and give them to Aeson or Mortimer.”
Sharp opened a drawer and produced a set of keys, handing them over. “Thank you. Notify me when you’re finished so I can drive the egg away.”
“Will do.”
We left the office, and I shoulder-bumped Miles as we walked back to Chaos. “You okay?”
“Kind of. I really wanted to smack that guy.”
I snorted. “Me too.”
“I can’t believe he’s so mean to Chaos.”
“People suck.”
He snorted. “Sure do.”
We explained everything to Chaos, and he texted Aeson to meet us at the Carry A Faerie truck so all four of us could gear up.
“I didn’t realize you had extra pixie gear,” I said to Miles as he opened up the truck bed.
“Since we’ve been dealing with so many pixies lately, I ordered a few new pairs since it’s such a pain to wash them. Figured it’d be easier to switch them out while the others are drying and whatever.”
“Ah, gotcha. Makes sense.”
He shot me a small smile before he pulled out the pixie gear bin and opened it.
Chaos surprised me by not complaining about the gear. Sola jumped from my shoulder to the top of the truck, overlooking us and sticking her nose up at Clucky, who was sitting on the tailgate, nipping at my clothes—in a friendly way, not an I-want-to-eat-you way.
I gave her a few pets, and Sola let out a very angry-sounding noise that was almost a growl. Who knew a firebird could growl?
Miles sighed. “Sola, he’s just petting her.”
She let out the sound again, and I held back a laugh as I lifted my hand to pet Sola. She turned her head away from me, like she was shunning me, and Miles sighed again.
“Sola.”
She let out a sad-sounding cheep, then moved back over to me so I could pet her.
I whispered, “You’ll always be my Sola-girl, okay? Promise.”
Her trill sounded a little happier, and I heard Miles snort and saw him shaking his head out of the corner of my eye.
After a few more pets to both familiars, I finished gearing up.
Aeson came out when we were all geared up, saying, “Sorry, I had to finish up a tour. Hey, guys. What’s up?”
Miles explained the situation, handing over new pixie gear, and the kid seemed happy to help us.
Once he was ready, Aeson said, “Too bad Lyric’s not here.”
Hmm. I wondered if Ace was comfortable around Lyric because they would know for sure what kind of magic he had… one more person that truly knew them.
I smiled at him. “I know, right? Then the gang would all be here.”
Chaos glanced at me. “Will they be coming to brunch tomorrow too?”
“Brunch?” Aeson glanced between us.
I offered a smile, and since my mask wasn’t down yet, he could actually see it. “Since all of us are off work tomorrow, I asked if we could take you out for breakfast.”
Chaos added, “I compromised and said brunch so we can sleep in.”
Aeson snorted at his brother, then grinned at me. “That sounds fun.”
“Awesome. I’ll ask Lyric. I’m not sure if they have work tomorrow or not.”
“What do they do again? I forget.”
“They’re an artist, and they do a bunch of different things.
They draw a comic that they publish as a fun project, but they also paint, including doing murals and things like that.
They do digital art as well, although I’m not sure what exactly they’re into at the moment.
They own their own company, so their schedule is all over the place.
They can usually work around doing brunch or lunch or whatever, unless they’re on site for a project. ”
“That’s so cool.” Aeson’s eyes were wide. “That sounds amazing. I need to look up their stuff. Can you send me a link to their comic?”
“Of course! I have them all in print at home if you want to borrow them. But they do post on those comic app things, so I think you can read at least most of it for free there.”
“Okay, awesome. I love graphic novels and stuff, so that sounds cool. I can’t wait to check it out.”
Miles and I shared a grin at the excitement in Aeson’s voice. He was so cute. Such a sweet kid.
Chaos added, “I’ll have to read it too.”
“Do you like comics?”
He looked at me with a shrug. “Sometimes. Not as much as Ace. But I’ll definitely read Lyric’s. That’s really cool that they do that. I wish I could draw.”
“I bet they could teach you. They love teaching people how to draw.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“Cool.”
I shot him a grin, but he was looking down at the gloves in his hands, trying to tug them on. I shared another smile with Miles. Both the kids were so adorable. Chaos tried to act like he wasn’t a sweet kid, but he had a good heart, just like Aeson. And Miles.
Hopefully, the others thought I did too. I tried.
Miles said, “I think Sola and Clucky should stay here, don’t you? I don’t want them eating the pixies and making them react even worse than usual. And I don’t want them getting hurt if a pixie swarm attacks.”
Chaos nodded in agreement, and the two of them had a talk with their familiars. They’d stay on top of the truck, waiting for us.