Carrie Jones - Need

"Only because I came back with Devyn. Only because he saw what direction he took you in." "We had no choice. We had to get Jay." Betty holds up a fork. "Do you think there's iron in this?"

I blow her off and shout down Nick. "I found out where they were. Did you ever think of that? Now we can go after them, trap them there."

"How do you propose we do that, genius?" He leans against the counter, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Gram coughs. "No name calling."

"Yeah," I say. "No name calling, dog breath."

Gram tries not to laugh. She holds up her hands.

"I'm going to go wait in the living room while you two lovebirds kill each other."

"We can find the house again by retracing our scent trail, right?"

"It won't last long. Not with the snow," he mutters.

"That's why we're doing this now."

He eyes me and something in his shoulders relaxes. "How do I know? How do I know you aren't in on it? Aren't pixied?"

Gram calls in from the other room, "Because she couldn't wear the iron bracelet, dog."

"Hey. Now who's name calling?" I yell, smiling, before I look back at Nick. He's bending over at the waist like he has a stomach cramp. I reach out to almost touch him, but don't. My voice gentles out, "You okay?"

"I feel stupid," he says really slowly. "Of course you wouldn't be able to wear the bracelet if you were a pixie."

"It's okay," I say, but I'm not sure that it is.

A muscle in his cheek twitches as he storms across the hardwood floor and into the living room. But at the threshold he turns and says, "I don't want you to take chances, not for me, okay?"

I swallow and try to make a joke of it because I don't know if I can keep holding it together any other way. "Okay, Mr. Lovey Dovey."

They come on snowmobiles. Nick piggybacks Devyn in because he hasn't brought his wheelchair.

"I hope I start healing faster," Devyn says as Nick drops him into the white chair by the door.

"Yeah, I'm sick of carrying you," Nick says, but you can tell he's just bluffing.

"You're already freaking the doctors out," issie says, sitting on the braided carpet. She leans back against his legs. "You're supposed to be completely paralyzed."

"They'll just call it a miracle," Gram says as Mrs. Nix comes in. She opens her arms. The ladies hug. It's kind of cute. Mrs. Nix blushes when she sees us.

"So, I'm a bear," she explains, eyeing us all. "Wait? Is Issie something?"

"Nope," Issie pouts. "All human. All the time."

"The coolest human ever," Devyn says, reaching down and ruffling her hair.

I take charge. "Okay, Betty's explained what's going on, right?"

Everyone nods. Nick perches on the arm of the couch, and Mrs. Nix sits in the other green chair as I pace across the braided rug.

"So, my theory is that the pixies can't cross iron," I say. "My iron bracelet burned Ian. Plus, it says on the Web site that they hate iron, even stick to rural areas just to avoid it."

lssie asks, "Why iron?"

Devyn goes into full geek mode and answers before I can, "Iron is one of the last elements that is created by stellar nucleo-synthesis."

I have no idea what he just said.

Neither does anyone else.

"English, Devyn," Nick commands.

Devyn's exasperation shows in the way he pulls his hand through his hair. "It's really heavy. It's really dense. And its nuclei have these ridiculously high levels of binding energy. It's strong, really strong."

"But why don't pixies like it?" I ask.

Devyn shrugs. "Does it matter?"

Mrs. Nix clears her throat. "That's one part of the folklore that has stayed consistent about pixies. It always says that they can be killed with iron, that they avoid it."

"Well," I say. "Let's hope that's true."

"What's your plan?" Mick asks.

"To make them prisoners," I lock eyes with Nick, and then indicate that I'm thinking about the basement.

"We have these big metal railroad ties from train tracks. And some wire. Mrs. Nix, you brought some more with you, right?"

"Right," she says.

"We have duct tape and stainless steel forks," I check them off.

"This is a weird idea, Zara," Devyn says. "I mean… yeah. Wow. Forks?"

"It is the best I can come up with." I wipe my hands together, try not to think about my mother trapped in there, try not to think about Jay Dahlberg's wounds, and try not to think about the possible moral implications of what we're about to do. "Everybody set?"

Everybody is set.

"Good," I say. "Let's get going."

"You think this will work, Zara?" lssie asks.

We are hiding behind a tree trunk. We've got a massive stash of barbed wire and railroad ties behind us.

I grab her hand and squeeze it. "I hope so."

She squeezes back. "Me too."

"You don't have to help, you know," I whisper.

"Oh, shut up," she says, blowing warm air onto her hands. "Friends help friends fight pixies."

"Right," I say. "Right."

I glance over at the other trees. Betty is behind one. Devyn and Nick are behind another. Devyn's in eagle form, and Mrs. Nix is a bear. Everyone else seems human. The end of some barbed wire dangles from Devyn's beak.

Mrs. Nix lumbers toward the house. She sniffs the air. Her bear paws pad heavily against the earth. She wiggles her ears forward. That's our signal that no pixies are outside.

Nick gives me the thumbs-up. We haven't talked much about me being the daughter of a pixie. We haven't had time. My mom's more important now. But I'm still afraid of what it might mean for us, for me.

Not important now.

I give the second signal and we go. We sprint toward the house, carrying ties and stabbing them into the earth. One after another, we shove them down. Is and I work together because neither of us are super strong and my arm holds me back. Devyn's yellow beak glistens in the twilight. Wire hangs from it. He wheels the barbed wire around, connecting the ties. We have to hurry before the pixies notice that something is happening. lssie shoves a tie into the snow. "You're sure there's a house there."

"I swear," I say, laying out another tie. My muscles burn from the weight. "I can see it. I promise."

"Sometimes it sucks being human," lssie says. We both lean in, slamming down another tie.

"No, Is. No, it doesn't."

We hauled all of the iron stuff over here in carts hitched behind snowmobiles that belong to Issie's parents and Mrs. Nix. I didn't realize how heavy the ties were then, but they are. It's adrenalin that keeps us moving. Gram dumps some more. Devyn grabs more barbed wire. His giant wings flap through the air.

The circle is almost complete. We only need a few more.

Nick rushes past me, his arms full of ties. He cuts across the front lawn. The front door of the house opens. Mrs. Nix roars out a warning.

I throw down another tie.

"Nick!" I yell. He looks up. "They're coming out!"

A pixie rushes toward Nick. His teeth are fanged and deadly. He lunges for Nick. Nick lashes out with the barbed wire. It hits the pixie in the face. Steam rises from a burn mark on the pixie's skin. He stumbles to the ground, hand to his cheek. Nick stands there, waiting.

"Get back, Nick!" Gram yells.

Nick hesitates. His muscles seem to bunch up and shake. He wants to turn wolf. I know it.

"Now!" Gram orders.

He rushes back toward her, leaping over the wire and tires, outside our almost circle.

More pixies leave the house. They are all dressed up for some sort of party. The velvet and satin gowns flap in the wind. The tuxedos all seem perfectly tailored. They should be beautiful, but I know what they are. They are not beautiful, because beauty is about grace and love and hope. They are all about need.

Mrs. Nix takes the last bit of barbed wire out of Devyn's mouth and wraps it around. The circle is complete.