Page 22 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?! (Carry A Faerie #1)

I smirked, then refocused on Miles. After slipping my phone into one of my many pockets, I put my hands on his upper arms, ensuring I had his full attention. His eyes were wide again, and he looked absolutely adorable.

Kissable.

And good enough to eat. Mmm .

“Miles, I would like to go on a date with you… today… for lunch or dinner when we’re finished here.”

He blinked at me several times. “Are… are you sure?”

I grinned— hell yes . “Definitely. Absolutely sure.”

He gave a small nod. “I… I would like that.”

I felt like punching the air above me in excitement, but I was pretty sure no one would appreciate that. So I settled for giving him a bright smile, then pulling him into a hug.

I whispered in his ear, “Thank you, Sidekick.”

“I’m not your sidekick.”

“Mhm.”

He sighed in exasperation, which made me chuckle, but he hugged me back. He felt so good in my arms. Warm and strong and so damn sweet. I didn’t want to let him go. But we had to get this crap done so I could take him on a proper date.

And hopefully, many more dates after that.

When I finally pulled back, Miles wouldn’t look me in the eye, but he still smiled and shrugged at me. Gently, I tapped his chin, pressing it up, until he met my gaze.

“I only want this if you do.”

He nodded. “I do.”

“You sure? I’m not pressuring you, am I?”

He snorted. “Win, I’m not going out with you just because you asked. I would’ve said no if I didn’t want to.”

“Good.”

He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling now, which was the goal. He had a lovely smile.

I grinned and kissed his cheek again.

“You guys are really cute and all,” Lyric said, interrupting us.

“But I can definitely still feel that evil magic, and it’s making me stabby.

Like, really stabby. Like I-want-to-stab-you-for-being-too-cute kind of stabby.

Soooooooo… we should probably get out of here.

Or at least walk farther away from the house. ”

Miles turned away from me and grimaced at the house. “I don’t think we should leave the property until we know it’s safe for others. I don’t want someone else going in there or anything.”

“Okay, then what? Wanna leave a sign on the door or something?” Lyric lifted an unimpressed eyebrow, and I was instantly jealous they could do that.

I was pretty sure when I tried, I looked like a fool… which wasn’t hard for me to do since that was a pretty normal state for me.

Miles didn’t seem to notice their skeptical expression. “Actually, that’s a great idea. Let’s leave a note, and then we can go into the garden. We need to see if it extends to the gardens, anyway, and if there are other faeries out there that need saving.”

Miles walked around to the front of his truck, presumably to get paper, and Lyric came over to me, whispering, “He really loves saving those little fuckers, doesn’t he?”

The thought of how passionate Miles was about saving faeries made me smile. “Yeah, he really does. I love it.”

Lyric stared at me for a few seconds, then snorted. “Of course you do.”

I glanced at them and tried to lift one eyebrow, but I knew it didn’t work. They snorted at my attempt, but I still said, “Yeah, I do because I actually believe in what he’s trying to do.”

Their smile dropped, and they sighed. “I know… and I actually support him too. I know how hard the job is for you at Faerie Be Gone. I know you hate doing it.”

“I really, really do. I always feel so guilty.”

I tried not to think about it too much because it would send me into a depression if I did.

But I didn’t have a choice. I’d applied to every damn job in the city—even all the jobs cleaning toilets, and I absolutely hated the idea of cleaning other people’s poo because blech —before I’d finally given the pest control company a try. They’d been my literal last choice.

Since I’d been working there for a few years, I’d given applying to other jobs another go, but none of the other businesses could see past my conviction.

It wasn’t fair. I’d done my time and paid my price.

I shouldn’t have to keep paying for it for the rest of my life.

But at the same time, I couldn’t blame those companies for being overly cautious.

Who in their right mind would want to hire a convicted felon?

And a thief to boot. How could I ask anyone who didn’t know me to trust me?

Especially when my entire family had turned their backs on me years ago.

Everyone but Lyric.

Lyric gave my back a small rub, obviously sensing the direction of my thoughts, as we watched Miles tape a sign on the side door entrance—I assumed the front door was locked up tight already.

I didn’t like seeing Miles so close to the house, so I stood up straight, ready to act if any gnomes came out to get him, but luckily, nothing happened.

When Miles walked back over, he asked, “You guys want to walk the gardens? I think there’re a few benches over there. We can sit and look up more necromancers.” His nose wrinkled at the thought.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I said, offering a grin.

Lyric pushed off the truck and literally skipped over to Miles, who looked mildly alarmed at their approach. But all Lyric did was offer him a grin before continuing their little skip fest over to the garden entrance.

“Come on, lazy bones. Let’s go!” They skipped away.

I snorted as I followed, and Miles said, “Where do they get all that energy? I wish I had some of it.”

I laughed. “Yeah, me too.”

It didn’t take long to find the center of the large-ass garden—it was like a maze or a labyrinth or whatever—and I was relieved to see four benches there.

This part of the garden was more like a patio with flowering bushes all around us in a circle and a small water fountain in the center featuring a mermaid, which seemed like an odd choice to me, but to each their own.

There was an archway over another path, and the flowers and vines there were so overgrown, I wasn’t sure anyone could actually walk through without getting tangled.

Hopefully no one would want to go that way when we were done here.

“Did you see any faeries?” I asked Miles as we settled on a bench beside each other.

He nodded. “There’re some garden pixies over there.” He pointed to our left. “But they’re actually good for a garden, so I doubt Ms. Cohen will want me to remove them. That’s all I saw. What about you?”

He was right about the garden pixies. I wished I could coax some over to my house because they really were good for your garden as long as they didn't out-populate the flowers.

They helped spread magic—and pollen—which made plants grow bigger, stronger, and faster.

They also attracted bees and other bugs that helped keep things healthy.

I bet Miles had them in his yard.

I answered him, “I didn’t even notice the pixies, so you did better than I did.”

He snorted and waved me off. “Anyway, let’s find a necromancer.” He shivered. “I… don’t even know… I’ve never had to work with one before.”

“Me either.” I shrugged. “But I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“There really isn’t anyone else who can break that spell?”

I shrugged. “Not that I know of.”

He sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Boo.”

I snorted and gestured to his phone. “Well, let’s look and get it over with.”

“Actually, guys, I think I might’ve found one,” Lyric said, jumping off their bench and joining the two of us on ours. “What about Chaos the Necromancer?”