Jenks was a willing partner, zipping about the kitchen, throwing the red balls at the ceiling. My eyes widened as he threw one at me instead. “Hey!” I cried, sending the ball through the pixy hole in the screen. “Not at me!”

“What a good idea,” he said, then grinned wickedly as he made a sharp whistle. Three of his kids zipped in from the garden, all talking at once. They brought the smell of dandelions and asters with them. “Toss them at Ms. Morgan,” he said, handing his sphere to the girl in pink.

“Hold it,” I protested, ducking as the girl pixy threw it with as much skill and power as her father. I looked behind me to the dark splat against the yellow wall, then back to them. My mouth opened. In the instant I had looked away, they all had gotten splat balls.

“Get her!” Jenks cried.

“Jenks!” I said, laughing as I managed to divert one of the four balls. The three I missed rolled harmlessly to the floor. The smallest pixy skimmed over the linoleum, tossing them upward to where his sisters caught them. “Four against one isn’t fair!” I shouted as they took aim again.

My eyes darted to the hallway as the phone rang. “Time!” I called out, lurching to escape into the living room. “Time out!” Still smiling, I reached for the phone. Jenks hovered in the archway, waiting. “Hello. Vampiric Charms. Rachel speaking,” I said, ducking the ball he threw at me. I could hear pixy giggles from the kitchen and wondered what they were up to.

“Rachel?” came Nick’s voice. “What the blue blazes are you doing?”

“Hi, Nick.” I paused to mouth the incantation. I held the energy until Jenks lobbed a ball at me. I was getting better, almost hitting him with the diverted splat ball. “Jenks. Stop it,” I protested. “I’m on the phone.”

He grinned, then darted out. I flopped into one of Ivy’s cushy, matching suede chairs, knowing he wouldn’t risk getting water on it and have Ivy come after him.

“Hey, you’re up already? You want to do something?” I asked, draping my legs over one arm and lolling my neck on the other. I shifted the red ball I was using as a focusing object between two fingers, daring it to break with the pressure I had it under.

“Um, maybe,” he said. “Are you by chance pulling on a ley line?”

I waved Jenks to stop as he swooped in. “Yes!” I said, sitting up and putting my feet on the floor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you would feel it. I’m not drawing it through you, am I?”

Jenks landed on top of a picture frame. I was sure he could hear Nick, though the pixy was on the other side of the room.

“No,” Nick said, a hint of laughter in his voice, tiny through the receiver. “I’m sure I’d be able to tell. But it’s odd. I’m sitting here reading, and all of a sudden it feels like you’re here with me. The best way to describe it is when you’re over here and I’m making dinner, watching you watch TV. You’re doing your own thing, not looking for my attention, but being really noisy. It’s kind of distracting.”