Warlock

Nobody Likes Pixies

Hola - sorry about the wait. I'm mid-AP testing, so there's not much time to write. ~Taborix

Skye's glare burnt his skin like scalding water. Rule number something out of too many to remember; when your boyfriend thinks you could be dead, your first move should be to let him know you are okay. He did not understand how Skye could expect him to remember that sort of thing when he was recovering from a gunshot and investigating the Hancocks, but there was no winning this argument. Loch almost regretted his ability to mentally communicate; it canceled out any excuse he could have made.

He decided to go for his next best option: change the subject. "So... you've mentioned that the war with the draconem is still a thing. I'm up for a battle."

Skye's eye twitched. He had finished his rant several minutes ago, but it was clear that pent up rage still remained. "We'll have to have a chat with Trinity, then. And yes, you have to come." A conversation with the pesky pixie in exchange for not telling Skye that he was safe. It was a fair trade, but Loch doubted it would end there.

It didn't. The only sound as he drove was the tap of raindrops hitting the windshield. Tap, tap, tap, each one louder and more judgmental than the last. Tap, you messed up, tap, you are meant to be alone, tap, you will have to talk to the pixie all the time now. Loch turned on the windshield wipers, but all they did was add their screech to the mix. Eeek, you cannot drown out the truth.

The café was packed, and a quick glance at Skye's face confirmed what Loch suspected. This was not normal. At least the curiosity would push away the anger. For now.

The crowd of voices hit his ears in a tidal wave when Skye opened the door. Everybody was talking at once, the same phrase repeated over and over. "There's a tear!" A tear in someone's clothing? If only. There was only one kind of tear they could be referring to; a world tear. And he had thought his life could not get more complicated.

The one benefit of the chaos was that nobody noticed him. Since Dixie had broken his forgetting spell, the Others had become wary of his presence. The fear brought the wonderful warm feeling of joy to his heart, but right now he could not afford to remind Skye of any more of his faults. Loch shoved his way through the frantic crowd until he spotted the manic pixie they had come to see.

"Where's the tear?"

She glanced up from her frantic texting and answered, "Can you fix it?"

At least in times of danger, she could get to the point. "Yes. No. Maybe. Most other cases have included multiple ancient warlocks, but we don't have that comfort. Where is it?"

"It's in a random little alleyway. I'll have to show you." She forced her way through the crowd, shouting over her shoulder as she moved. "There's a lot of demons pouring in. Big ones, small ones, humanoid and beast, you name it. The bad news is, we've had to divert a lot of our soldiers to combat them. The good news is, the draconem are fighting with us against them. This could end the war if we're lucky. But if you can't close it, that's not so lucky."

Once they made it outside, she began walking down the street at a ridiculously fast pace for someone of her stature. Loch jogged for a moment to catch up then pulled a crumpled paper out of his coat pocket. It smelled like coffee cup number ten. He reluctantly pushed the thought of blissful sleep away. "Just out of curiosity, is it near apartment building 72-650?" Skye plucked the paper out of his hand and squinted at it.

Trinity looked at her phone. "Yes, actually. Why?"

"That's where Vivian lives."

"Did you get this when you were captured?" Skye handed the paper back. His tone of voice had lost its edge, but Loch did not know how long the calm would last.