Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Miles
Once everyone was loaded up with pixie repellent and several nets each, we made it to the gate, and Aeson unlocked it before he pulled his gloves on too. “This is going to be interesting. Do you think the pixies will leave the gardens?”
Miles shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not sure. It depends how badly they want to keep that fossil. I’m thinking some of them will follow us out.”
“Are you going to use your magic to keep them calm?” Chaos asked, clearly it was more of a suggestion than a question, and I almost laughed at that.
“Yes, Chaos. I learned my lesson with that. But as much as I can influence emotions, if someone is angry enough, that’s going to bleed through no matter what I do. I’ll do my best, but don’t be surprised if we end up with attacking pixies.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I get that. Alright, let’s do this.”
We walked in, and Aeson shut and locked the gate behind us. Since we were all geared up, I didn’t hesitate to lead the group to the pixie nest where the egg fossil was.
It was a quiet and peaceful walk—which made me suspicious—until we were within thirty feet of it. The pixies sent a swarm after us. Little pixie bullets hit me a few times before I called on my magic and did my best to push out calmness.
I wasn’t very calm since I was being dusted and hit so much, so I stopped walking, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.
Calm.
Caaaaaaallllmmm.
Stay calm, Miles. Calm.
Calm.
I pushed that sensation out and toward the angry pixies.
The one coming for my face stopped mid-flight and just… floated there.
A couple of them hit my body, but one after the other stopped in the air and floated there, looking dazed. Honestly, that freaked me out a little bit. The fact that I had the power to do this to someone.
I mean… no wonder everyone was afraid of me.
What if I did this to people?
I’d heard horror stories from my parents about empaths taking over people’s minds and making them do things they didn’t want to do. They’d reminded me over and over again that I was a danger to them, to my teachers, to the other students, to everyone around me.
Constant horror stories.
No wonder I’d always been so hesitant to use my magic, to explore it, to embrace it.
Between the horror stories and all the negative emotions I’d always felt coming from other people about myself, I’d been all kinds of messed up about being an empath.
The police academy had at least helped with that… a little. They’d taught me how to use my magic in a positive way, which was a step in the right direction. But that hadn’t stopped me from getting reads on everyone around me. Even my teachers, who weren’t empaths themselves, had been afraid of me.
And this… taking over people, changing their emotions so thoroughly, this was exactly why they’d been scared of me.
I was a little bit afraid of myself right now.
I shuddered at the thought, then pushed everything away because I really needed to concentrate on keeping my calm on.
“Alright, I think I’ve got it. Let’s move closer,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure why I was whispering, but it felt like I needed to in this moment.
We moved closer and closer until we were ten feet away from the gazebo.
I stopped when a pixie rushed at my face, shaking his little fist at me.
Clearly, he was either angry enough or protective enough that my calming magic wouldn’t work on him.
I figured it was helping at least a little or he’d be full-on attacking me, but I couldn’t be sure.
Another pixie flew at my face. Then another stopped in front of Winter.
I glanced back and winced because there were several around Chaos and Aeson’s heads.
Shit.
This was not good at all.
I closed my eyes and tried to up the calming vibes, but when I opened them again, the little pixie was fluttering back and forth in front of me, waving his arms in irritation.
Winter said, “We should just push through. Whoever reaches the egg first, should grab it and run.”
“Sounds simple enough,” Aeson said.
Chaos added, “Which means it’ll go to shit in about two seconds.”
I couldn’t help it, I snorted at that. “Positive thinking is a thing.”
“Maybe for you.”
I glanced at him, and he smirked back, making me shake my head with a chuckle before I straightened my shoulders and took another step.
I wasn’t even surprised when the pixies immediately came for us. They started hitting us one after the other, like rocks being thrown at high velocity. It hurt, and after I heard Aeson hiss, I stopped and turned to the twins.
“You guys should go back to the truck. You can help us there.”
“We’re fine.” Aeson waved me off.
“No, you’re not. I don’t want you getting hurt. Win and I can handle it ourselves.”
Chaos rolled his green eyes. “We’re already here, so we’re helping you.”
“Chaos, you’re getting hurt.”
“It’s fine. I’d rather be out here getting hit by pixies than in that stupid ticket booth for even a minute longer.”
God, I hated that he hated his job that much. “I…”
“Unless you’re planning on carrying us out of here, we’re coming with you.” Aeson looked me up and down. “And no offense, but I don’t think you could.”
I snorted. “I couldn’t, but Win could.”
“Not if he doesn’t want to have two screaming and kicking guys in his arms.”
I sighed. “Fine. But if it starts hurting too much, please go back.”
This time, Aeson rolled his eyes, but he gave me a nod. “Fine.”
Winter caught my eye as I turned back around, and he gave me a wink. “They’ll be fine.”
I nodded and pushed on.
The closer we got, the more pixies joined the swarm, attacking us.
“I don’t think my magic’s working on them at all anymore,” I yelled over all the buzzing and tinkling bell sounds.
“Think of how bad they’d be without it!” Win shouted back.
We were about five feet away now, and I glanced at the egg and all of the pixies around it, guarding it from us as a last line of defense.
It made me feel terrible that we were taking it from them, but there was no way we could leave it here with the way they were acting. They were hurting people. I couldn’t have too much sympathy for them.
Ha. Who was I kidding?
Not only did I just generally feel sympathy and empathy for people, but it was also quite literally a part of my nature, being an empath.
It was impossible for me not to feel bad for them right now.
But I ignored that as best I could.
“I’m gonna dive for it!” I yelled, then rushed forward before the others could stop me.
The swarm of pixies all aimed right for me.
All. Of. Them.
There were so many, I couldn’t see anything at all. I yanked out my spray, but they ignored the repellent altogether. It wasn’t working at all.
Pixies hit me from all directions, blocking my path as they came at me as one. They were such a large force that they shoved me backward.
They pushed so hard, I skidded on my feet, and then my heel hit a branch or something, and the next thing I knew, I was falling backward.
Because the gear was so big and bulky, there was nothing I could do to catch myself.
I fell and crashed hard on my ass and back. The air was knocked from my lungs, and I couldn’t breathe. My feet ended up in the air from the force of my fall. I heard the others yelling, but I couldn’t catch my breath to respond. My lungs wouldn’t work.
Someone pulled on my foot, and I figured it was Win or one of the kids, but then I was yanked so fast, I hit my head on a rock.
“Ahhh!” I strangled out a yell. “S-s-st-stop!”
The plants and bushes above me flashed past at a dizzying rate.
What the hell were they doing?
“S-stop! Win!”
I finally managed to pull my head up, and my breath left me again.
It wasn’t Winter pulling me. It wasn’t one of the kids.
It was a big group of pixies.
“Wh-what the fuck?”
I didn’t even know pixies were capable of pulling the weight of a full-grown man.
I didn’t know they could work together well enough for that.
I glanced around.
Where the hell was I?
What part of the gardens was I in?
My eyes widened when I realized I couldn’t see the others.
Oh shit!
Where were they?
Win?
Chaos?
Aeson?
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuucccckkk.
“W-Win!” I choked out, then coughed. Apparently, my ribs were hurt from the fall, but I ignored the pain and took a deep breath. “Winter!” I coughed again. “Aeson! Chaos!”
I tried to listen, but the rustle of branches whipping by and hitting my gear was loud, and the tinkling bell chatter from my tiny kidnappers wasn’t helping. I couldn’t hear any of the others.
“Win! Ace! Chaos!”
The pixies only had hold of one leg, so I started kicking out at them with the other while I tried to sit up to brush them away. I was sure I looked completely mad with one leg straight out, my other leg and my arms flailing while I practically flew across the dirt, yelling for the others.
I kicked my own ankle and cried out, but I kept at it because it was making the little bastards slow down.
“Get off me, you tiny assholes!” I yelled, kicking and kicking and kicking.
I could feel Sola’s concern for me. She was seconds from coming after me, and as much as I appreciated that, as much as I actually really wanted her here, I didn’t want her to light the entire garden on fire with her wings… or eat all the pixies.
They were tiny dickheads, but they didn’t deserve to have me sic my firebird on them.
I’m okay, Sola. Stay where you are. I have it under control.
Finally, three of them let go, and it made me slow down enough I could sit up more. I started smacking at my leg, trying to get the little buttheads off me. I wouldn’t hurt them, but they didn’t know that, so I pretended I was trying to squish them like bugs.
It worked, and all of them let go.
I scrambled to get to my feet—not easy with bruised ribs and bulky gear on. I had to roll to my front, then push up with my arms, so my ass was in the air before I finally lifted my upper body. I stood up, taking a deep breath, and reached for my belt.
Pixie repellent.
I’d dropped one bottle sometime during my fall, but amazingly, the other was still attached to my belt.
I’d given most of it to the kids, but Win and I had plenty since I’d been buying it in bulk after all our pixie run-ins. I pulled one of my pixie nets off my back, amazed that it’d survived being dragged through the dirt. It was definitely worse for wear, but it’d work in a pinch—I hoped.
I glanced around the garden. There were tall trees and lots of bushes all around me. I couldn’t see more than five feet away, and I had absolutely zero idea where I was. I didn’t think I’d even been in this part of the garden before now.
I’d been dragged who knew how far from the others, and they might be in trouble.
This was a dire situation, and if the pixies tried to come after me again, I’d squirt them and wave my net around to keep them back.
“Winter! Aeson! Chaos!” I yelled, glancing around.
No one answered, and I started to freak out a bit. What if they were hurt?
The pixies had made me fall, and I easily could’ve hit my head. What if… what if the kids or Win had hit their heads? What if they were severely injured and I couldn’t find them in time?
Luckily, my body left a pretty big trail being dragged that way, so I followed, and when a swarm of pixies flew at me, I didn’t hesitate to spray and swat at them.
They yelled their tinkling bell yells, but backed off, although I could sense them following me. They kept their distance, but they weren’t leaving me alone entirely.
“Winter! Aeson! Chaos!” I yelled their names again and again, but I didn’t hear anything else.
“Fuck. Where are they?” I tried to pick up my pace, but it was difficult when my entire body felt like one giant bruise. “Win! Ace! Chaos!”
I heard what sounded like a muffled scream from my right, so I turned that way, running toward the sound and ignoring all the aches and pain.
“Win? Ace? Chaos?”
Where were they?
Why was I all alone?
The loneliness that I’d felt for so much of my life started to creep back in.
Winter had been spending so much time with me the past few months that I almost forgot what this felt like.
And I fucking hated it.
It wasn’t real.
I wasn’t alone.
Not anymore.
I had Winter.
I had Lyric.
I had Aeson and Chaos.
I even had Higgins… if I’d let him.
And I had Sola.
I wasn’t alone.
Not really.
Closing my eyes, I reached out for my familiar, and I heard her squawk in the distance.
Please find me, sweet girl. Please. I don’t… I can’t… I can’t be alone.