Page 104 of Pixie Problems

"Thought you'd see it like that." Then Hawke leaned towards me and fake-whispered, "I like this one. We should keep him."

All I could do was roll my eyes. "How about you both focus on teaching me how to not suck next time the Hunt shows up?"

"You," Keir said, "did not suck."

Hawke pointed at him, but was looking at me. "That. Now, I can make you feel good about it, or bad. You choose."

"I want to hear both," I said, pretty sure he was giving me shit.

"Well, I'm sure you did wellbecauseyou can use iron," Hawke drawled smugly. "I mean, never mind that you faced down the motherfucking Huntsman himself as if you had some brass balls." He looked at Keir. "That's the phrase forpiqu jiwa thu, right?"

"It is."

So Hawke continued as if there hadn't been a pause. "I was ready to piss myself when I saw him. That fucker has damned near dried up, and now he's the sort of thing that makes nightmares worse! There's nothing fae about him!"

"No kidding," Keir said. "I can't believe they used to look normal. Why the fuck would anyone want to become one of those?"

"Because they weren't always likethose," Hawke said. "On Faerie, the Wild Hunt were normal-looking. The horses were the finest the kingdoms could give. The hunters were those who'd proven themselves in battle. Heroes, not..." He blew out a hard breath. "Not whatever they are now."

"Is that because of Earth?" I asked.

"I dunno," Hawke admitted. "Maybe?"

"Bracken said they're not getting enough magic. They ride the storms because it has some - "

"Wait," I begged, interrupting Keir. "What makes magic? I thought it was sunlight."

"It's Earth," Keir explained. "Living things, acts of nature, and all those moments you want to pause to take in? The birth of a puppy, the rising sun, a gentle rain? All of it is magic, in a way."

"The bustle of traffic is not," Hawke added. "Fresh tar, drying concrete, or even the hole in the ozone layer are not magical. They're the opposite of it, which is why fae tend to be a little bit of environmentalists."

"And here I thought the issue was just iron, but isn't the center of the Earth made of iron?"

"And it's a very long way away," Keir assured me. "Can't even feel it. But it's more the song of nature, I suppose. That irregular rhythm of a world doing what worlds do. When people - ours or yours - try to interrupt that? It changes those magical moments to something else. I mean, early mornings with a deadline aren't so magical. Nor are sleepless nights because of worry."

Which brought me right back to Aspen. "So, what do I do if Aspen dumps me?"

Both guys turned quickly, my question seeming to come out of thin air, but it all made sense to me. Never mind how they'd skipped over that part! It made me think they'd been doing their best to avoid the subject. It was kinda how fae worked.

But Aspen had clearly been avoiding me. I also knew she could change her mind about us. That girl was too good for me, and it was always possible the whole Hunt thing had made her realize it.

I'd been too slow, hadn't known enough, and didn't really make a dent with my magic. I was supposed to be this big and impressive thing, but Keir and Hawke had actually done more than me. Without them, I would've gotten myself killed or something!

"Why would she do that?" Hawke asked.

"Yeah, I'm with him," Keir agreed.

I pressed my hair back and groaned. "I don't know, ok?"

"Lie," Keir said.

"Because there are a million stupid reasons," I said instead. "But I want to know what I'm supposed to do if it happens. I mean, you said you'd help me, Keir. So tell me how to deal with this aspect of dating a girl, ok?"

He sighed, but nodded. "Ok, if she dumps you, then you leave heralone. You accept it, apologize, and give her space. If she doesn't change her mind in a day or so - and the 'or so' part there means a few extra hours, not days - then you get to enjoy being single."

"Harsh, man," Hawke told him.

"Truth, though."