Circling the abandoned silo, Buford found the door and threw his shoulder against it to bust the latch. Inside, PJ his roommate the satyr ducked under the assault of a flurry of pixies. They dove at him, pinching and biting and snatching $20 bills from his pockets.

“Why didn’t you go straight to the bank?” Buford asked before diving in.

“I got a call from a girl needing rescuing. I didn’t know it was another setup?” PJ flinched as another bit.

“It always is, and it doesn’t always have to be you running to the rescue.” Buford caught a pixie in each hand and shook the cash free, but they flew in for more as soon as he let go.

A shadow landed outside the door and their roommate, May the half-fae called inside, “Pixies?”

Buford swatted them away from PJ and yelled, “Yep, and they’re stealing payroll.”

“Grab PJ and get out,” May shouted as she threw a hissing hellcat with flame in its eyes into the silo. The two tumbled out and she slammed the door as shrieks erupted. A couple of minutes later, a swarm of pixies flew out of the broken roof.

Inside, money rained down from the rafters where the hellcat sat with a pixie in its mouth.

“Alley, drop it, and PJ owes you a bell rub,” Buford yelled up. Dropping it, the cat turned amorous eyes on the satyr who groaned. Buford clapped him on the back. “You wanted to be the hero.”

Photo by Michael Gattorna