The wiggling of the impromptu-croissant stills. “I’m here to test you.”
Aghast, Mandy throws a hand to her forehead. “Oh, it wasyou! You started throwing whiskey around when I was kissing Levi!”
I—nope. I can’t deal with that now. A chortle emanates from the pooka’s dark, dark heart.
“Yes! It was me!” brags the pooka. “I fed glamoured wine to the groomsmen, from the land of Fai-ry. Misdirected a caterer with bags of blood. Poked holes in those boats. Have you two enjoyed my sowing of oats? Oats ofchaos?”
I stick a finger right into the plush fur of its belly, causing it to yowl.
“Have you done anything else to mess up this wedding? Are there more disasters waiting for me?”
“How could you!” cries Mandy.
Before Mandy’s question can wreck my chances at stopping it, I interrupt: “That question doesn’t count!”
“Oh, fear not!” The creature squirms sassily. “I am pleased to answer. Miss Pixie, Miss Planner, I dare for it’s my nature, but be not too upset with me! I’ll bring no more trouble unto thee. I’ll bring thee no more tests! My work is done in threes! I am filled with woe and wan, for I could not make this room explode.”
I glance at Mandy, concerned.
“Do you think he’s telling the truth?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I don’t know, but let’s please not keep him afterward. I don’t think he’d make as nice a pet as Bulan.”
Mandy and I are in agreement.
“Last question, pooka, then I’ll free you,” I say, my attention returned to the spiteful being. “Did you do this for my grandmother, or her friends, or someone else?”
“I do not know of which woman you speak, so I cannot say if it was she!” The pooka kicks at me through the apron. I hold fast.
“That wasn’t an answer!” I growl. “Who sent you?”
“Alas, your questions are complete! Release me from this foul and floury sheet!”
What an asshole. Bravely, I reach forward and unpeel enough apron to stare into the white, wiggling creature’s beady eyes. It’s maybe a little terrifying.
“Fine,” I say. “I’ll let you go. But if you attack again, know that we’ll retaliate. Horribly. I have friends in high places.”
“That you do! That you do! Tee herr herr herr,” laughs the pooka in a disturbingly knowing way. “Now unhand me! UNHAND ME!”
I give Mandy a signal. Together, we take the pooka out through the back kitchen door and unwrap it. The tiny monster bursts from the apron like a Ping-Pong ball with jet-packs.
“Goodbye, chaos!” cries Mandy as we watch its hind legs scurry away. “And good riddance!”
Back in the kitchen, the gnomes cheer. Levi moans and smacks his icing-encrusted lips together uncertainly. “Delicious,” he manages.
And me? I feel a weight drop from my shoulders.
I’ve done it. I’ve caught my saboteur and kicked it to the curb. It can’t cause any more trouble. What’s more is, if that pooka hadn’t gotten involved, Sidney and Brett’s wedding reception would have proceeded up to this point without a single hitch.
Who’d have thought I might actually be good at wedding planning and coordination? And not just that, but that I’dfeelgood about being good at it?
I should probably leave that thought for later.
“Do you know how much that cost?!” I gesture at Sidney and Brett’s ruined six-tier once-masterpiece. “That cake sold at a higher price than my wedding planning package. It’s like, the same cost as a mortgage for a house.”
“Not in this economy,” drawls Levi from the floor.
“There, there.” Mandy pats his cheek.
