CHAPTER 65
Was my mind playing tricks on me? Or had Izzy just winked at me? My eyes narrowed on hers, but only my grim reflection appeared in their blackness. The pliers tightened, pushing into my already swollen bloody gums.
I yanked against the floss around my wrist, terrified not only of the thought of losing thirty-two of my best electric-white features but of what would happen to the Tooth Fairy standing over me if Penelopee had her way and strung me up like a blue-haired piñata.
When Izzy didn’t rip my front tooth free as fast as Penelopee liked, the princess stepped forward, her eyes locked on my bloody mouth.
“Do it. Now,” she yelled, moving to stand directly behind Izzy. She watched over Izzy’s shoulder, her hot breath on my cheeks. I closed my eyes against the onslaught of less-than-fresh princess breath and Izzy’s dead-eyed gaze.
This was it.
My luck had finally changed.
But not quite in the way I’d expected.
In the blink of an eye—my eye, to be more precise—Izzy spun around, knocking me in the jaw with her wings. I flew back, crashing against the wall, chair and all. The chair splintered under the assault, freeing my hands from their flossy bounds.
I leaped to my feet, ready to smite Penelopee.
But I was too late.
She lay on the floor at Izzy’s feet, a large and still growing pliers-shaped welt rising on her forehead. I glanced from Izzy to the downed princess. “Nice shot.”
The fairy shrugged. “I played a little fairyball as a kid.” She bent down, checking the princess for a pulse, and then shook her head.
“She’s dead?” I asked, not particularly caring either way. She had killed eight fairies and one Barry. Not to mention ripping out my back molar without hesitation.
Izzy sighed, wiping her hands on her jeans as she rose to her feet. “Nope.”
“Too bad.”
She grinned. “Lovers’ quarrel?”
“Funny,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You know she was the one who attacked you in your apartment?”
She glanced down at the still unconscious princess. “I had a feeling. Any idea why?”
My eyes narrowed. “You don’t know?”
“Would I have asked if I did?”
Smart-ass. “She wanted your teeth,” I said, as if that explained everything. And, in a way, it did. Just not to anyone with an ounce of logic. “Apparently, Penelopee couldn’t find the right fit.” I motioned to the denture container on the desk.
Izzy slowly stepped over the downed princess, making her way to the desk. She lifted the lid and grimaced. “Half of these are baby teeth.”
I shook my head. “Not baby. Fairy teeth.”
“She killed all those fairies for their teeth?” Her forehead wrinkled. “Why?”
“Besides being absolutely bonkers?” I asked with a grin. “Does her motive really matter?” Izzy would figure out the connection to her father soon enough. How she’d feel about it I had no idea, but one thing was clear: Izzy had avenged her father’s murder.
“I guess not.”
To take her mind off the topic, I knelt down, plucking the pea from Penelopee’s palm. The princess’s body bounced from the contact. “What’s with the pea?” I held it up, rolling it around my fingers. Had I somehow broken the damn thing when I’d swallowed it? “Why did it work on Jonas but not you?”
“Yet another perk of being the Tooth Fairy, I guess.”
“Perk, huh?” I frowned. “Was one of these perks trying to have me killed?”
“Are we back to that again?” She blew out a harsh breath. “Fine. I’m sorry I lied to you.”
I snorted. “That’s it?”
“What more do you want?”
“How about,” my voice rose to a girlish screech, “a ‘Gee, Blue, sorry for trying to have you killed’?”
Her mouth curved into a deep frown. “I do not sound like that.”
“But you admit to wanting me dead?”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Right.”
“Stop it,” Jonas shouted from his seat behind my desk. “Isabella saved your life. If not for her feelings for you, the Council would’ve had you killed once you did as they wanted and found where Arnold had hidden the pea.”