Pixified Page 3

onto his lap in a prissy fashion before taking a bite. “Hmm, yes, very good.”

  “I’m so glad you stopped by for this complimentary piece of cake. I've got an idea. Why don’t you take the rest home to your wife?” I hand him the box and he accepts it. “It’s loaded with goodness.”

  “Goodness?” He frowns, blinking slowly.

  “Yumminess,” Tessa replies dryly. “Were you going to buy this cake?”

  “I suppose so.” He replies mechanically, “How much does it cost? You know, I don’t remember coming here today. This is very strange.” He cocks his head in confusion.

  “You remember,” Wichara says. “Fhina called and reminded you to pick up your earrings today. Tessa was holding them for you. Remember?”

  “Oh yes,” he replies. “Those.”

  “Tessa?” May she forgive me for this. “Any chance you feel like giving up those earrings?” I turn, about to promise Tessa the moon to get her to give me back the earrings, only to see her pull them out of her ears. She hands them over.

  Carl places them into his wallet, pulls out all the money, and drops it onto the table. Without another word, he picks up the cake and shuffles out the door.

  Something about his complacency has me racing after him, shouting out his name. My padded feet making barely a sound on the pavement, "Carl, wait!”

  “Oh, hello, Fhina. I like your cat form. You always did make a fine looking tiger.” He drawls the words out. He’s standing in the middle of the street, the damned cake still in his hand. “Can I help you?”

  “When I stole those earrings from you, you placed a curse on me that took years to break. What is so important about them? And, don’t try to tell me it’s because they are expensive. I know better. I had them appraised. Why did you really come here? Why did you threaten Tessa?” Growling, I settle onto my rump. My tail swishing behind me in agitation. Perhaps, my blunt speech will get me the answers I need.

  A witch races past us. “Get out of the road, you maggots.” Her hands raise upward and a shiver rushes down my spine. Then she flips us off.

  Stunned, I pad back to the sidewalk and wait for a very bemused Carl. Only now, he’s staring at the Bakery.

  “Come on, Carl. After what your curse did to me? You owe me. What made you change your mind? Why did you give up so suddenly?”

  “She’s a good little witch, that Wichara. Probably even great at enchantments, first levels, of course. But, you’ll never catch a wizard with a stun spell. If you really want the truth,” he flushes bright red and mumbles, “they have part of my soul in them. I was fine at first. I knew they were safe with you and I could get them back anytime. But, your mated now, and…” He grows silent, staring out into the distance. “I’m getting older. It’s harder to perform spells, takes more soul essence, more firepower than I have.” He coughs, as if choking on his own words.

  “What did Tessa do? She’s harmless, a magical mute.”

  “I thought that at first.” He sighs. “But, she isn’t. All the signs are all there. Tell me, Fhina, what do you remember from your spell classes in high school?”

  “I’m a shifter, Carl. I only started paying attention to spells after you cursed me.”

  “Let me make it clear, then.” He grinds the words between his teeth. “My spells always work, and work properly. Even with half my soul gone, they have worked. I tossed Tessa a stunner. It was meant to knock you all out and it sailed right through her. That’s never happened to me before.”

  “I’m not understanding.”

  “Of course you are,” he snaps. “Your cousin is an Enchantress. Why else do you think I was attracted to her? She’s not the least bit magical and definitely not my type. Look at the facts. It was supposed to be sunny all week and instead it’s sprinkling. Thunder and lightning explode on a warm summer day. Spells louse up around her. That portal spell was designed to let four pixies loose for twenty-three minutes, then take them home. Instead, it poured out pixies like syrup over pancakes. That’s why I didn’t fight it. Wichara didn’t do a thing to me. I faked the entire memory loss incident because if I fought back, in any way, I’d be dead right now.”

  In a rush, my schooling comes back to me. How an upset Enchantress can cry a river, or burn down a town with just the right thought.

  Didn’t mother use to say Tessa was special, and it was our job to keep her happy? Have we been keeping Tessa’s secret unconsciously all these years?

  “Is she cursed, Carl?”

  Must I forever research curses?

  “Of course not,” he sniffs. “There’s no curse known to man that can stick to an Enchantress. The curse was only on the earrings. To keep my soul safe. It was designed to affect the items around anyone who stole them. I figured sooner or later you’d go bankrupt, and I’d swoop in and save the day. Wrongfully, I assumed you’d miss me more. But, you had to go get married didn’t you? I thought if I gave you some time you’d get over your little grump. I never counted on a real mating, or an Enchantress being thrown into the mix. Taxi,” he yells and waves a hand.

  A broom pops into view. It hovers a few feet above the ground.

  Carl mounts it. He places the cake carefully behind him before tapping the handle. “Goodbye, Fhina. I’ll miss you. You always were more special than the rest.”

  Shaking my head, I watch him zoom down Main Street. Part of me wants to feel sorry for him. Stuck in a loveless marriage, desperate for any attention, even that of a spurned lover, but I can’t. He cursed me without a second glance. His soul-enchanted earrings made Tessa’s life hell. Enchantress or not, she’s never done anything to harm anyone, and she didn’t deserve this.

  Somehow, I’ll have to find a way to make it up to her.

  When I re-enter Sweets n Treats, Wichara and Tessa are straightening things up. The portal has disappeared, and to my surprise, the pixies are cleaning, too. They hold tiny rags, and scrub the walls and the floors, spurred on by Wichara’s encouraging cheers.

  “I’ll have to call my Aunt Ginger. I really don’t know what to do with them next. I’ve never known a pixie to be out of their realm for so long,” Wichara says. “Pixie’s are the lowest tier level from any realm. They can only be away from their dimension for an hour or so. Anything over that and they’re stuck, unable to return.”

  “Too bad you couldn’t turn them into something useful. Like a giant sponge,” I growl.

  “That’s it!” Wichara perks up. She’s twisting her fingers inside her robe pockets. “I could enchant them. At least, I think I can.”

  Carl said her spell didn’t work on him, but did he mean they couldn’t work on anything? I’ve got my hand halfway extended to stop her when I realize Wichara is already pulling magic in.

  “This is a song for the spirit of water. This is a song for the wind in the forest, and the very sprites of the earth.” Her voice trills out the words, adding nuances to each and every syllable.

  Multicolored sparkles of magic crackle around her. Images grow, tiny sprites the size of a quarter, the wisp of an ethereal figure appears, her face shrouded in mystery. Nymphs dance around the room, spinning at the joy of being free, and the sound of water bubbles rings out around us, tinkling and alive. Light flashes around the room as magic showers the pixies in a rainbow of color.

  They change, growing smaller, denser, until they’ve coalesced into a vaguely common shape. Parakeets. The blue and green shapes flit around the room, tweeting. Their song is the sound of a warm summer day, their dance is full of wings and wind.

  “I did it!” Wichara crows in excitement. She’s jumping up and down, her face flushed with excitement, clapping her hands like a small child. “When my aunt read my fortune this morning, she said it would be my best magic day ever. I thought her fortune telling was off because she woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but oh, she was so right.” The little birds chirp and flutter around her head like a halo.

  Indeed, they seem happier in their new form as they ever did in
their old.

  Soon enough, the mess of them are perched high wooden curtain rod in the front windows while we clean.

  When the cowbells ring against the front door, Tessa gasps. “Oh no. I forgot to lock the door.”

  “Hey. Came to get my daily cupcake and whoa…what happened in here?” The deep male voice precedes his entry into the room. The dark haired vision turns around staring at the place in shock. He’s former military, you can tell by the multitude of tattoos on his arms, and his unnaturally short haircut. His emerald green eyes survey the mess around him. But, what draws my attention are his arms. They flex in response to the mess around him. “Smells like pixie’s in here.”

  His eyes narrow, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say this young man was in protective mode, seconds from changing into another form. The air around us holds a whiff of pixie, but there is also canary and cat.

  Another shifter, like myself. Panther if I’m guessing right. Very interesting.

  “You remember Braden, don’t you, Fhina? Braden is um, my—my brother, Michael’s friend from high school. Braden, you wouldn’t believe it. A gaggle of pixie’s ported in and, remember last week when you said you thought my place had a curse on it? You were right.”

  Tessa’s smiling and the warmth of it lights up the room.

  “Oh look, it’s sunny again,” Wichara’s stares out the window entranced.

  Carl was wrong. The curse was affecting her.