Page 40 of The Bound Zodiac

Scare what off? I crouched beside her, careful to keep my boots out of the mud, hoodie pulled low. She was vibrating with excitement, magic fizzing off her skin in little shivers. Her hair was a wild, tangled mess, and she smelled faintly of coffee and that pear shampoo that made my mouth water. I looked at the bag in her hand, then at her face.

She pointed. I followed her finger, but there was nothing. Just roots and moss and a patch of mushrooms growing at the base of the trunk.

She leaned in, voice a whisper. “I’m catching a pixie.”

I blinked. “You’re… what?”

She flashed me a wicked grin. “Catching a pixie. I’ve been baiting this bastard for two weeks, and tonight, it’s taking it. Apparently, it loves marshmallows.”

I tried, really tried, to keep a straight face. “Love, you realize that’s not how pixies work.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re a magical warrior from another planet, Lucas. You’re supposed to believe in the impossible.”

“I—” I couldn’t even argue.

We waited. The grove was silent except for the distant hum of insects and the drip of moisture off the leaves. She crouched there, perfect and ridiculous, pajamas wrinkled, the Edward Cullen face, which was also on the breast of the matching pajama top glaring at me. After a minute, she shifted, holding out a marshmallow on her palm, and whispered, “Come on, you little shit.”

Nothing happened.

I cleared my throat. “You realize, in most cultures, this is considered insanity.”

“Shut up, you freakin buzzkill.”

We waited. The cold fog drifted around our ankles, catching against the moss. I was starting to think she’d actually lost it, that maybe the pressure of holding a nine-man shield had finally snapped her last brain cell, when⁠—

A flicker. At the edge of my vision, barely visible, something darted between two roots with a sound like a snapped rubber band. I jerked back. Jupiter grinned wider.

“There,” she hissed. “You see it?”

Holy shit.

It poked its head up. A tiny goblin, maybe six inches tall, skin the color of old pennies, ears like bat-wings, and eyes so bright blue they glowed. It had wings, iridescent as dragonfly glass, and a mouth full of tiny sharp teeth. It hovered just above the moss, eyeing the marshmallow like it was about to pull a knife and mug us for the sugary treat.

It darted forward, snatched the marshmallow, and stuffed the whole thing in its face. My mouth dropped open. For a split second, I didn’t know what to say. Jupiter looked smug enough to power a small city.

“Unbelievable,” I muttered. “You actually did it.”

She held out another marshmallow, and the pixie reappeared, this time landing right on her palm. It perched there, fingers digging into her skin, wings buzzing furiously. It glared at me, hissed, then grabbed the second marshmallow and vanished behind the root.

“You should document this,” I mused, still staring after the pixie. “Do you understand how elusive they are?”

She waggled her fingers at her phone, which I hadn’t seen perched up on a nearby rock. “Oh, I’m getting everything.”

I shook my head, grinning. “Pixies don’t interact with us, let alone let you hand-feed them. You’re setting a dangerous precedent. Pretty soon they’ll be knocking on our doors and asking for handouts.”

She shrugged, looking more pleased than I’d ever seen her. “You think they’ll domesticate themselves?”

I did. I really did.

We crouched there in silence, watching her new goblin friend demolish a third marshmallow. The fog made everything hazy, the trees looming overhead made the moonlight flicker. A low chuckle rolled down from above. Both of us looked up at the same time.

“Thought it might work eventually,” Jamie’s voice called from up in the tree. “Didn’t think it’d happen tonight, though.”

He was perched on a branch, maybe ten feet up, black hair messy, combat boots dangling. Noodle was draped around his neck, tongue flicking in and out, and on a branch beside him, Gretchen blinked down at us, head cocking with intelligence.

Jupiter chuckled. “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, Jamie’s here too. He’s babysitting.”

Jamie choked on a laugh as Noodle hissed and said through the bond, “Not baby. Noodle.”