Pixified Read online

and he laughs openly. “I was rooting around in an old used bookstore a few weeks back and found a summoning book. The moment I saw that spell I knew it would be perfect.”

  “I want them out of here, now.” Tessa hisses at a pixie, a wooden spoon in her hand.

  I take it from her. “Tessa. Don’t hit the Pixies. They’ll just get angry and bite you.”

  “Don’t care.” She yanks on the spoon, but I refuse to let go. “You—you tell your friend that if he doesn’t get them out of here, I’m going to the council of witches and have them hex his entire life. If I have to bankrupt myself for my next seven lifetimes, I will do so.”

  The boom of thunder echoes overhead.

  “Its’ going to rain.” Wichara stares out the window toward the clouds overhead. “That new phone app I got said it was supposed to be sunny all week.” She’s rolling and unrolling the sleeves of her brown robe, and doesn’t seem the least bit worried about the stranger who simply appeared in the room. “Did, um, did you change the weather, Mr. Wizard?”

  “No.” He’s watching Tessa, perusing her jeans-clad figure and practically drooling. “You are a damned good looking mute.”

  “Carl!” I hiss.

  At the same time, Tessa replies, “You men are all the same, one horny toad after another. I’m so not interested in anyone who participates in destroying my shop.” She reaches down, picks up a plastic cup, and dumps it into the trash. No sooner is her back turned than a handful of pixies band together and push over the can. They cheer as it falls with a crash and a bang.

  “Carl, if I could have a word with you.” I grab his hand and pull him toward the corner of the room.

  “I’m only here for the earrings, love. You’ll have to learn to let me go.”

  “This is serious. I can’t for the life of me figure out what you were thinking coming here today. What possessed you to do this? What we had was years ago. I’m over it, you’re over it.”

  He pulls a soda out of his robe pocket and pops the top. Taking a long sip, his dark brown eyes meet my own. “Truth be told? Those earrings you swiped from my bed stand, love. I need them back. Got into a little bit of a pickle with the missus and I need something to smooth it over. I’d heard through the grapevine you’d gotten mated, so I figured you didn’t need them anymore. Hand over the earrings, kitten, and I’ll call off the pixies. We can all go home with the ones we’re supposed to.” His old endearment does nothing but make me queasy inside.

  “Carl. I shift into a Siberian Tiger. The largest cat breed in the world. I was never, ever, a wee little kitten. Besides, the earrings aren’t mine anymore.” Why are the earrings so important to him. It can’t be the money. Carl’s loaded. His Wizard fees are in the ten thousand plus range. So, what am I missing?

  “Ah, ah, ah. You know how much I hate liars. I tracked those earrings here myself just a few weeks ago. Hand them over, Fhina.” He holds out his hand as if expecting me to toss them over.

  Suddenly, Tessa’s comments from earlier start to make sense. The cash register exploding, the curdled milk, the door lock.

  That snake! “You cursed the earrings, didn’t you? I always thought it was me, you cursed, but it wasn’t.” I slump down near the wall.

  Wulfar and I just broke our curses no less than a couple of months ago. I gave Tessa the earrings a few weeks before Wulfar and I became mates. Carl wouldn’t dare curse me again? Would he?

  No, but he would curse the earrings, and when I gave them away my own curse began to break. Which means if Tessa has the earrings, she is now cursed. What have I done?

  “What does the curse do?” Tessa asks. Her face has drained of all color, but Carl doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, the dirty maggot is eying her again.

  “It’s meant to mess with every aspect of the victim’s life. Since Fhina spends so much time here, it’s clearly messing up the bakery, as well.” He shrugs. “I wonder how she’d be in bed.” Carl twists, craning his neck to get a better glimpse of Tessa.

  She’s got the long handled wooden spoon back in her hand and she’s pushing at pixies, guarding a light socket. She bunches up her long hair and ties it firmly in a knot. Her earrings glinting in the limited light of the room.

  “Seriously, Carl, get over yourself. Tessa is innocent. She’s done nothing to deserve this.”

  Did he just say mess with every aspect of her life? Surely he’ll take the curse off of her now. Won’t he?

  “Are you even listening to me? Fhina?” He sighs, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. “I didn’t curse Tessa. The curse is on you.”

  “Carl, you’re the one not listening. I never sold them. I traded them to Tessa. She’s innocent. You're angry. Fine! Take it out on me, but don’t take it out her.” A hint of a growl escapes my throat.

  Keep it together, Pretty Kitty. If you go furry, you’ll never get the curse off her.

  Fire flashes in the depths of Carl’s eyes, “You had better have traded them in for a tricked out sports car, because those babies are worth a fortune.”

  Coughing, I spit out, “It was um…a cake.”

  “A what? Do you know how much those earrings cost?” He shivers, but he won’t meet my eyes.

  What am I missing?

  Tessa stands on the table, kicking ineffectively at a pixie who’s pawing at the hem of her shirt. “Don’t touch me. I mean it, don’t you dare touch me.”

  The creature sticks it’s tongue out at her and flutters to the other side of the room.

  “Have you ever tasted one of her cakes?” Wichara exclaims, a dreamy look on her face. “They are legendary.”

  “It’s cake.” Carl rolls his eyes. “Sugar, vanilla, milk, maybe some chocolate, just an ordinary ice-cream cake.”

  “Just a cake?” Wichara sniffs. Pixies flutter around her head, playing with her pure white hair and braiding it into loops like a living crown.

  “Stop sidetracking me. I want those earrings, and I’m not going to wait around all day for them.”

  “Carl. How am I sidetracking you? You’re the one cursing my cousin.”

  “You don’t understand. My mating is on the brink. It’s crumbling into sand. I need those earrings.” He crumples up his soda can and tosses it at the downed trashcan.

  He’s a wizard. I’ve only got one chance to win here, and it’s with my words. “Carl. You cursed me, remember? I didn’t know who my mate was. That was a little hard to get over. But—I’m willing overlook it. To put it behind us, because we’re adults now.” Well, at least one of us is.

  “Fhina, that’s all old news. This isn’t about you running away from me at all. I’m a changed man now.” he coughs, “I have my own problems. It seems my wife has gotten upset over an…innocent flirtation. I merely need those earrings to smooth things over. You’ve sidetracked me long enough,” He slams his hand onto the counter. “I want those earrings and I want them now.”

  His magic builds in intensity and before I can spring at him, he pushes it forward. It sears through his soda can and surges through Tessa until it hits one of the tiny pixies. The little thing explodes in a shower of light.

  The sound of tinkling glass hitting the floor is deafening as the pixies mourn the loss of one of their own.

  Fur grows on my arms and legs. The time has come. My tiger form erupts as my clothes split off me, and I launch myself at Carl, slamming him to the floor.

  Magic whooshes over my head and it hits Carl in the forehead, knocking him out.

  Wichara pushes up her wire-rimmed glasses, her violet eyes nearing burgundy with rage. “He is a bad Wizard,” she snaps.

  “You killed him?” Tessa exclaims, horrified.

  “I did not,” Wichara replies. “I just immobilized him until I can figure out what to do with him.”

  “What do we do with him?” Tessa whispers.

  “First, let’s get him into this chair.” Wichara replies.

  I push with my head as they pull and prod him into a chair. With Carl se
ttled, I seat myself nearby, my tail tucked neatly around my back feet. I stay within distance, in case I’m needed again.

  “I think memory loss might be our best route.” Wichara mumbles. “It’s hardest to conquer, but then what do we do with him?”

  Memory.

  The sudden glimmer of an idea occurs to me. “Tessa, is there any chance you have an ice-cream cake left?”

  “I think so.”

  “You do. There were four boxes of butter pecan and one box of chocolate fudge raspberry.” Wichara slides her glasses further up her nose. She becomes uneasy under the onslaught of our long stares. “What?” she snaps with a shrug. “I did a quick inventory when I was stuck in the freezer.”

  Shaking her head, Tessa trots off toward the kitchen. She returns a few minutes later with several plates, a box of cake covered in white frost and a handful of spoons. “Chocolate fudge with raspberry filling.”

  “Perfect. Now, Wichara, let’s wake him up,” I say.

  Wichara places her hand over Carl’s head. Magic gathers around her in sparkling iridescent colors. It flickers around her head, lifting individual strands of hair.

  The pixies creep closer, grasping at her robes and feet, stroking them. She places her hands on Carl’s head and his eyes close. When he opens them, the vacant expression begins to fade. Memory loss has settled in.

  I breathe a sigh of relief. “Hey, Carl. Are you going to eat this, or can I have it?” I nudge Wichara and she obediently cuts out a slice of cake and places it onto his plate.

  Carl picks up his spoon and shakes his napkin