Broken Heart 05 Over My Dead Body by Michele Bardsley Page B

her cheek.
    “That smells so good.” If I had the ability to drool, I’d be doing it right now.
    “I just hate that you don’t get to eat no more,” said Gran.
    “Yeah. What’s immortality when you can’t suck down a slice of apple pie and homemade ice cream?”
    “I wish you could eat, honey. I really do.”
    I looked at my grandmother, who was cutting up tomatoes with impressive skill. I realized that Flet owed me a wish. And with it, I could give Gran back her sight.
    “If you could see again, would you want to?” I asked. God, that sounded stupid. Of course she’d want to see again.
    “If a miracle restored my vision,” said Gran in her patient, all-in-God’s-time way, “I would rejoice.”
    How about a fairy wish given by a grateful grand-daughter? Although Gran would probably say that was the instrument by which God’s will was done.
    “Flet,” I called.
    I heard his tiny sigh; then he slowly floated to me. “Yes, my liege?”
    “That never gets tired,” I snapped. “Cut it out, all right? I want to make my wish.”
    “You already did.” He turned and headed toward Glory. I reached out and snatched him by a tiny arm. He yelped.
    “I did not make a wish, you little f—” My gaze shot to Glory, who was staring at me with quirked eyebrows. “Fairy,” I finished through gritted teeth.
    Flet’s tiny expression looked ashamed. Oh, crap. Not good. “Spill it,” I demanded. “Now.”
    He pointed and made a circle with his forefinger. A mirror the size of a cantaloupe appeared. Its gold rim shone as if just polished. The glass rippled and then I saw me and Jessica. We stood outside the garage with Patrick and Brady. I recognized the setup from last night.
    “If only that Invisi-shield had magic powers, too,” said Jessica. “Any vampire who stepped within our borders could suddenly eat with no consequence.”
    “Oh, man! I wish that could happen,” I replied. “I wish we could all eat again. And that it would just disappear. We’d get to enjoy it, you know? Then it would magic away.”
    The mirror disappeared. I poked my face down into Flet’s. I don’t know why I could see him better today than I could yesterday. Maybe he was allowing it, or maybe I was just getting better at focusing on him. Either way, now I could see that he had short blond hair, eyes the color of earth, gossamer wings spun from gold, and he wasn’t wearing any clothes. Terrific.
    “Before we get into this, I want you to put on some clothes.”
    Flet looked as though I’d asked him to dip himself in acid.
    “Pants. Shorts. Something to cover up your ding-a-ling if you’re gonna hang out with my daughter. Capisce?”
    He wiggled his fingers and a pair of brown shorts appeared on his tiny self.
    “Better. Now . . . we’re talking loophole, right?” I asked. “I said ‘wish,’ and you took it upon yourself to grant it, knowing that it wasn’t official.”
    “ ’Tis true,” he admitted.
    “As much as I miss eating, I would’ve much preferred that you restored Gran’s vision. That wish could’ve been used to help someone with a real problem, Flet.”
    His mouth set into a mutinous line. He didn’t like being upbraided, but too damn bad. He was my pixie, I was stuck with him, and he wasn’t going to act like a petulant toddler.
    “Can I trade the wish?” I asked.
    He shook his head. “The rules of magic and of pixies cannot be broken. One wish. Once granted, ’tis done forever.”
    He glanced at Gran, who continued with her dinner preparations. She didn’t seem to mind that the little bastard had cost her the opportunity to regain her sight.
    “All vampires can eat human food so long as they are within the borders of Broken Heart, as defined by the Invisi-shield. As you wished, once swallowed, the food will be magicked away.”
    If he’d hoped to cool my ire by reaffirming the wish I hadn’t wished intentionally . . . He. Had. Not. He flinched, his eyes going wide when I shook his little leg.