by Emma Dean
“How?” he asked. His skin started to peel from his body, flaking off like burning wood.
“I’m a fucking witch,” Kenzie snarled and then she pushed every drop of power she’d taken right back down his throat.
Autumn became nothing more than ash.
It took her a moment to adjust to the power still simmering in her bones.
And finally that half-realized thought became crystal clear.
Kenzie had never been able to take power from the universe and manipulate it. She’d never been able to make a simple charm or cast the easiest spell. She couldn’t even summon her clan’s trademark element – fire.
She was a void.
But she could take power from someone else and give it back.
Looking back at Selene it seemed her sister finally understood as well.
Balance.
The runes had never worked because Kenzie absorbed them.
A type of witch so rare the skill only manifested once or twice in a millennia.
Then she released the icy power in her body back into the universe.
The tigers held Spring captive until Eisheth could bind him. Summer took one look at them all and ran. But Eisheth was one of the oldest demons in existence. He simply chuckled and snapped his fingers. A cage of iron slammed around her and Spring at the same time. Then shackles of iron around clamped their ankles and wrists, effectively cutting off their power.
Kenzie turned back to Finnick cursorily running her gaze over him before turning to find Ash suddenly right there.
“What the fuck was that?” he demanded. Even naked he was fearsome.
Ash’s large hands gripped her biceps hard and Kenzie still felt so dazed and confused the pain didn’t register.
She shrugged. “I love him.”
Finnick whipped her around and crushed her to him, kissing her so hard he literally took her breath away. His tears splashed on her cheeks and her hands trembled as she reached for him, feeling his strength and vitality and trying not to think about how it was almost taken from her – given by him willingly.
“I accept this bond,” Finnick whispered against her mouth. And another stone dropped into the pool to settle gently against the other.
Ash’s hand held her neck and she felt him press against her before yanking her head back to expose her throat to Finnick. His lips against her ear made her shiver as he echoed Finnick’s words. “I accept this bond.”
They were still alive. They were both still hers and she wasn’t ever giving up the home she’d finally found. “I accept these bonds,” she murmured.
The threads twanged deep in her chest and suddenly she was aware of every breath they made, every fleeting emotion, and some of the stronger thoughts. Kenzie could taste their fading panic and her nails dug into their skin.
“Get dressed,” she told Ash. “We still have work to do.”
Neither of the foxes went far even as Ash obeyed her and Finnick guarded him.
Kenzie eyed the tigers and demon before turning to her sister. Selene had her arms crossed over her chest and there was a small smile on her face. Relief swam through Kenzie as she realized she wasn’t mad.
For a split second she’d been terrified her sister would hate her. That she would be jealous or angry that Kenzie had been gifted with something so rare.
But it wasn’t a normal gift.
“I’m very glad you’re not dead,” Selene said.
Kenzie shrugged, trying to play off the fear that still prickled at the back of her neck.
She could take fae power.
A void witch.
Covens either coveted them or cast them out. Too dangerous otherwise, because they could absorb any power made by the universe. Including a demon’s.
Or so the ancient texts said.
“I’m glad I could keep you safe. It would ruin my perfect record otherwise,” Kenzie tried to joke, but tears pricked her eyes. She’d kept them all safe until help had arrived. It was a fucking miracle.
Selene closed the distance between them in two quick strides and threw her arms around Kenzie. “I thought I was going to lose you,” she whispered, voice thick. “I’m so sorry I didn’t know. I knew there was power in your blood, but I should have figured it out sooner. It would have saved you so much pain.”
She held her sister, rubbing her back as she cried and Kenzie kissed her forehead before pulling back. “I don’t regret it,” she told her. “The chances it would have been better…were slim. You know how much covens hate voids. And this way I was there for you. I was able to raise you right.” She patted her sister’s cheek hard enough to sting, easing some of the emotions that swirled between them. “Don’t be sorry.”
“I told you that you’d burn the world down,” Eisheth said as he walked up to them, adjusting his cufflinks. “Such a delight you are Kenzie dear. By the way, I was very put out when you didn’t call me after your date.” He tapped her nose and Kenzie felt a strange tingle.
She looked down and her arms were perfect again. It was like nothing had ever happened, no cut and no burns. The pain she’d buried had disappeared and the relief nearly made her dizzy.
Kenzie grabbed the demon and hugged him tight. He resisted at first, shocked at the contact. Then he smiled and gave her a small hug back. “Thank you for saving Ash,” she whispered. “And thank you for answering my call.”
The demon took a step back looking pleased but flustered. “You didn’t need my help, darling girl. But I am always here for you. Don’t forget that.” Then he popped out of existence and Kenzie understood that mortal emotions could be overwhelming.
Kenzie ran her hand through her hair, her clothes damp but the warehouse had emptied when the tigers had forced the doors open. All that was left was a damp floor and her clothes until Selene snapped her fingers and she was dry and warm again.
She shot her sister a grateful look when Samuel came up, wearing nothing but his suit pants, his Enforcer close behind in tight jeans that left nothing to the imagination. Ash and Finnick flanked her, sticking close but for once they kept their mouths shut.
“This is Dean,” Samuel said, jerking his head back at the tiger covered in tattoos. The Enforcer gave her and Selene a nod, but his gaze never settled. He studied everything including the fae in their iron cages with an intensity that reminded her of Ash.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again,” Selene said politely. “Thank you for answering my call so quickly.”
“Of course,” Samuel said, eyeing the destruction. “I’m forever in your debt for handling them.” Then the white tiger studied Kenzie. “A void. The last one was registered three thousand years ago.”
As a member of the Council he’d have access to that kind of stuff. Kenzie gave him a rueful smile and shrugged. “I honestly had no idea.”
“Most don’t,” Samuel agreed. “It’s not something that’s easily detected until a life or death situation. I owe you a favor for this. Anything you need, name it and I’ll do everything in my power to grant it.”
“Even accepting the applications for three foxes into your pride?” Hunter asked, striding into the warehouse with his hands in his pockets.
The way Ash and Finnick shifted Kenzie knew they’d called him.
Hunter prowled closer and it put her on edge because she could sense he was furious. She could feel it. He stopped before her and just stared. Then she understood. There was fear roiling deep inside him – causing the fury he was just barely able to control.
Samuel never took his eyes off Hunter. “If that’s what she wants.”
For the first time since they met, Kenzie studied Hunter and tilted her head, reversing their roles. “Why?”
“Finnick and Ash have accepted the mate bonds. Unless you wish to move to Six Rivers we need to be able to stay in San Francisco with you. Now that you’re seen as a true witch.” Hunter paused to raise an eyebrow at the white tiger in question.
“Yes, she needs to be registered for the Council of Paranormals,”
Samuel admitted. “Though witches don’t need to be registered with a coven. She could move if she wished since she’s not registered with them now.”
“I assume you’d want to stay unless Selene and Gram-Gram came with us,” Hunter said with that little shrug of his. It didn’t lessen the intensity of his golden-brown eyes boring into hers and she fucking loved that he’d called Grandma Edith by the nickname Kenzie had given her. “So then we stay with you. If that’s what you want.”
“You’d move here permanently?” she asked, knowing the other two would for sure. But Hunter?
How committed was he that he’d move his entire chaos into Samuel’s territory and pride, just for her?
“Yes.” Hunter took a step closer and she could feel his warmth, his desperation.
Samuel chuckled. “I’ll take them, but I still owe you. Accepting your mates into my territory is a courtesy I am delighted to perform for the first void witch born in three thousand years.” The tiger swept a pretty bow but Kenzie couldn’t look away from Hunter. “Is the ward system still salvageable?”
Kenzie blinked and turned back to the Alpha. “It needs to be tested and repaired, but otherwise it works. Can we come back tomorrow?”
The Enforcer murmured something in Samuel’s ear before heading back to the iron cages. Samuel nodded and then looked up at their little group, eyeing Selene the longest. “We’re going to question the fae and get to the bottom of this, so tomorrow or the next day is fine with me. Matriarch, I’d be careful about this. You know the risks when the rest of the world finds out about a void.”
Selene smiled sweetly at him. “I appreciate your concern, Councilman. I’ll make sure to call you if needed.”
Then it was just Kenzie and her family. All of them. “Ready to go home?” she asked. “You can crash in the spare bedroom Selene.”
Her sister looked between the foxes and shook her head with a rueful smile. “Nah, but I will bring breakfast tomorrow morning. I’ll leave you to your mates. We’ll figure out everything else later.”
Kenzie hugged her sister tight. “We’ll drop you off.”
Finnick and Ash took Selene to the car, glancing back at her and she could see they were still shaken by what had happened. Kenzie couldn’t blame them. She wasn’t exactly back to normal either.
“Are you all right?” Hunter asked, eyeing her from head to toe.
She quirked a smile at him. “Come on, I’m hungry.” Kenzie linked her arm in his and pulled him along. Hunter was too surprised to resist. Then his arm slid around her waist and pulled her in closer.
Accepting the bonds with Ash and Finnick had been as easy as breathing. Now that Kenzie had two of them, she wanted the third desperately. It just didn’t feel right without him. She looked up at Hunter as they walked out into the blinding sunshine and knew he would be hers.
Whether it took six days or six months.
Hunter may be weird, but Kenzie liked weird. And he fit perfectly, filling in the cracks between the three of them, and she knew that empty space next to Finnick and Ash in her heart was meant for Hunter.
She’d finally figured it out – how he reflected her.
Void.
Hunter was a void of emotion and feelings – until he’d met her.
“What would you like to eat?” Hunter asked warily. Somehow he perceived the shift and Kenzie grinned. Now he was playing her game.
“You?” she asked, giving him a wink before hopping in the van. “Figure it out, Hunter.”
Then he smiled and she knew he’d caught on. Hunter loved to play games.
Sometime since she’d first met them to now, Kenzie realized she did too.
And she was in it to win.
Get the next book in Kenzie’s story
What the Fox
Other Books by Emma Dean
Blue Mountain Wolf Pack (M/F)
Alpha Wolf
Broken Wolf
Wolf Moon
Reverse Harem Shifter Romance*
Spotted Her First
Vaudeville Runaway
For Fox Sake
All Foxed Up
What the Fox
The Draga Court Series (Polyam/RH)
Princess of Draga
Crown of Draga
Jasmine of Draga
Heir of Draga
Queen of Draga
Fate of Draga
Prequel Novella – Royal Guard of Draga*
Christmas Epilogue Novella - Winter Solstice in Draga
*Can be read as a standalone before or after Princess of Draga, but in the timeline takes place before Princess.
*All paranormal stories are in the same world - the Council of Paranormals.
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About the Author
Emma Dean lives and works in California with her husband and son. She loves romance but needed something different so Draga Court was born. Council of Paranormals was soon to follow when her shifters came to life.
With too many stories to write the schedule has been filled through 2019.
When she’s not writing she’s reading, or spending time with her family.
At least now that she’s publishing she has an excuse for not folding the laundry ;-)
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www.emmadeanromance.com