A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison

“Nick was here?” I stammered. “At the solstice? He never even called!” I looked at Ivy, shocked. The freaking human bastard! He had come, cleared out his apartment, and left; just like Jenks said he would. And I thought he cared for me. I had been hurt and half dead from hypothermia, and he just left? As I fumed, the betrayal and confusion I thought long gone swelled to make my head hurt.
    â€œWe got a call this morning,” Matalina was saying, oblivious to my state, though Kisten and Ivy exchanged knowing glances. “We think he’s in Michigan.”
    â€œMichigan!” I blurted. “What the Turn is he doing in Michigan?”
    Ivy nudged closer, almost coming between Matalina and me. “You said you think. You don’t know for certain?”
    The pixy turned her tear-streaked face to Ivy, looking as tragic and strong as a mourning angel. “Nick told Jax theywere in Michigan, but they moved him. Jax doesn’t know for sure.”
    They moved him?
    â€œWho moved him?” I said, bending close. “Are they in trouble?”
    The tiny woman’s eyes were frightened. “I’ve never seen Jenks so angry. Nick took Jax to help him with his work, but something went wrong. Now Nick is hurt and Jax can’t get home. It’s cold up there, and I’m so worried.”
    I glanced at Ivy, her eyes dark with widening pupils, her lips pressed into a thin angry line. Work? Nick cleaned museum artifacts and restored old books. What kind of work would he need a pixy for? In Michigan? In the springtime when most pixies were still shaking off hibernation at that latitude?
    My thoughts went to Nick’s confidant casualness, his aversion to anything with a badge, his wickedly quick mind, and his uncanny tendency to be able to get ahold of just about anything, given time. I’d met him in Cincy’s rat fights, where he had been turned into a rat after “borrowing” a tome from a vampire.
    He had come back to Cincinnati and left with Jax, without telling me he was here. Why would he take Jax with him?
    My face went hot and I felt my knees go quivery. Pixies had other skills than gardening. Shit. Nick was a thief .
    Leaning hard against the counter, I looked from Kisten to Ivy, her expression telling me that she had known, but realized I’d only get mad at her until I figured it out for myself. God, I was so stupid! It had been there all the time, and I hadn’t let myself see it.
    I opened my mouth, jumping when Kisten jabbed me in the ribs. His eyes went to Matalina. The poor woman didn’t know. I shut my mouth, feeling cold.
    â€œMatalina,” I said softly. “Is there any way to find out where they are? Maybe Jax could find a newspaper or something.”
    â€œJax can’t read,” she whispered, dropping her head into her hands, her wings drooping. “None of us can,” she said,crying, “except Jenks. He learned so he could work for the I.S.”
    I felt so helpless, unable to do anything. How do you give someone four inches high a hug? How do you tell her that her eldest son had been misled by a thief? A thief I had trusted?
    â€œI’m so scared,” the tiny pixy said, her voice muffled. “Jenks is going after him. He’s going all the way up north. He won’t come back. It’s too far. He won’t be able to find enough to eat, and it’s too cold unless he has somewhere safe to stay at night.” Her hands fell away, the misery and heartache on her tiny features striking fear in me.
    â€œWhere is he?” I asked, my growing anger pushing out the fear.
    â€œI don’t know.” Matalina sniffed as she looked at the torn tissue in her grip. “Jax said it was cold and everyone was making candy. There’s a big green bridge and lots of water.”
    I shook my head impatiently. “Not Jax. Jenks.”
    Matalina’s hopeful expression made her look more beautiful than