Wicked Blood

by Emma Dean

  “Ma, please.” Lucien rolled his eyes. “When is dinner?”

  She gave Mika a look that made her choke with laughter. “It’s always about food with them. I told you, dinner is in the main square, so you have to wait!”

  Ethan smiled as he watched the madness, but for the most part stayed silent. Corbin was still in the doorway, looking up into the trees outside. Mika didn’t know what it was he saw, or what he was looking for, but she trusted him.

  The rest of their group was with Mr. Park, who insisted they call him John. Finnick and Ash were asking a million questions the last time she saw them, and Audrey and Selene had shooed her off.

  Mika was meeting Lucien’s family.

  It felt like such a big step, but one she couldn’t be happier with.

  This is what family was supposed to be like. This was crazy, but loving and supportive. Mika hadn’t known there were still families like this out there.

  “So, tell me everything,” his mother said, insisting Mika sit at the kitchen island while she bustled around gathering items for tea, checking on the food Mika assumed was for dinner later.

  Lucien had explained they did a potluck dinner every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Everyone in the pack ate in the square right in the center of the den. The whole thing was like a small town – self-contained with trips to the city every two weeks.

  But there was very little outside exposure other than the satellite internet they paid for.

  Still, it didn’t seem like they were missing out on anything. From what she could gather they acted a lot like the wolves, but even more reclusive and secretive.

  “What would you like to know?” Mika asked, accepting the tea.

  “Would you two come sit already?” Lucien’s mother practically demanded. “There’s no threat that can get this deep into the den without any warning. Yes, even you witch.”

  Ethan actually looked sheepish as he shrugged. “I apologize, Mrs. Park.”

  “So, did you kiss Lucien first?” Moon, Lucien’s little sister, asked. She smirked up at her older brother and Mika couldn’t help but laugh when their mom started scolding her in Korean.

  It was more polite to pretend she couldn’t understand what they were saying, but Mika still snorted into her tea when Lucien’s mom repeated the question to Lucien in Korean because ‘she just wanted to know.’

  “Uh, he kissed me,” Mika admitted, blushing hard. She needed to redirect this conversation and fast. “I found out he was a fox at the same time he found out I was a blood witch.”

  Soo Min’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “You speak Korean?”

  “No, but I understand it.” Mika tapped the language charm on her necklace. “And I can read it.”

  “Witches have the best magic,” Moon muttered, disappearing into the hall where Mika assumed the bedrooms were.

  The cottage was small compared to the Marshall or Kavanagh mansions, but it felt like a home – appreciated and cared for. It was full of life and love and this energy Mika didn’t know how to describe.

  “It doesn’t surprise me my eldest fell in love with the only blood witch,” his mother admitted. She looked to Ethan then, setting a cup of tea in front of him. “And is this one your mate?” she asked Lucien.

  Ethan and Mika shared a look. That had never occurred to them.

  Lucien gave them both a sly grin. “No, but it would have been hilarious if he was.”

  “You don’t smell like the average witch,” Soo Min said quietly. “You smell like…electricity.”

  “I’m a storm witch,” Ethan told her, sipping the tea. “This is wonderful, thank you.”

  “Ah, and you raven?”

  Lucien played with Mika’s hair as he watched his mother interrogate them, smiling fondly. He looked more relaxed than she’d ever seen him before. Mika studied him and decided he was even more beautiful like this, surrounded by his family and pack.

  Sure, he was terrifyingly gorgeous when he wielded that sword he was so fond of, and Mika loved his ferocity – the way he snarled and tore at those who threatened the ones he loved until they were nothing but shreds of bone and blood.

  Mika leaned into Lucien, wishing she could tell him what this all meant to her, but there were no words to really convey how grateful and thankful she was – how watching his family welcome hers had felt.

  The look on Ash, Audrey, and Finnick’s faces was something she would never forget.

  “What?” Lucien asked, sensing her attention.

  “I love you,” she whispered, kissing his cheek. It was the best she could do surrounded by everyone.

  The look in his eyes grew serious as he considered her. “What are you thinking about?”

  Mika glanced at Ethan who was politely talking with Lucien’s mother, part of him listening to her and Lucien. “Just…I’m grateful for you, for all this, but sometimes I still worry. What if I’m not your mate? What if one day they show up?”

  Lucien tugged her hair hard enough to sting. “We can ask the librarian. But you don’t have to worry about me, little witch. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Mika nodded, but she didn’t feel better.

  As she watched Corbin charm the socks off Mrs. Park, she knew that if Lucien decided to stay with her, he would have to leave all this. He would have to leave his home forever.

  Unless of course she was forced to yield and Claire cast her out from the Marshall clan, disowning her.

  But if she didn’t, if Mika somehow won and became matriarch, Lucien would have to join her family, take her name…

  Was that something he wanted? Did he even know their ways?

  Lucien leaned down so he could whisper in her ear. “Hey, what’s wrong? You smell off.”

  Shifters.

  But his mom saved her from having to answer. “I know there are many things you have to deal with out there, but in here they don’t exist,” Soo Min told her, taking both her hands.

  She knew what Mika was and still she didn’t hesitate to touch her at all. Mika’s heart squeezed painfully at the thought. This woman trusted her even though they’d only just met.

  “You are always welcome here.” Lucien’s mom smiled at Mika as if she knew.

  Somehow, she knew what Mika was thinking, whether it was the pain or the emotions, she wasn’t sure, but it didn’t really matter. Mika hugged Soo Min tight over the table.

  If anything happened, she knew she could come here, and they would take her in.

  Just like the raven flock, she supposed, glancing back at Corbin.

  The raven nodded, picking up on her thoughts too.

  “Ready to meet the rest of the pack?” Mr. Park asked, walking through the front door. “The rest of your family is already in the square helping with set up.”

  A break from all the blood magic and the challenge would be nice.

  Mika took Ethan’s hand and nodded. “That would be lovely.”

  The foxes were exactly like what she’d imagined and yet not. Mika had assumed they would be some strange mixture of a wolf pack and whatever strangeness Finnick, Ash, and Hunter had.

  There were about two hundred foxes in all, totaling about five main families with three and four generations each. They were of every race and ethnicity one could imagine, but they were all foxes.

  Ravens had visited recently, but they were back at the eyrie for the moment. There were no other witches, though after the initial awkward introductions the pack had adjusted pretty quickly.

  Mika sighed, so full from the potluck dinner. The buffet table was still groaning with food, but the foxes weren’t done eating. They kept going back for seconds, thirds, and fourths. Especially the kits.

  The square had four lengths of farm tables that somehow managed to fit everyone with twinkling lights hung above. There were a few fire pits and the flames burned high. All the trees around the den chattered pleasantly unlike the forest near the humans.

  Everyone talked and laughed while music played. It was truly a go
od time. Something Mika hadn’t experienced in a social setting in such a long time. And thanks to the other triads in the pack no one looked twice as she leaned back against Corbin with Ethan on one side and Lucien on the other.

  “This is nice,” Selene murmured, not looking the least bit upset that she was alone and unmated. “It’s incredibly freeing not to have to be the matriarch for more than five minutes.”

  Mika eyed her longtime friend, their relationship slowly repairing. She knew she could count on Selene for anything. The trust was there even if they weren’t as close as they’d once been.

  But that was changing.

  The last few years had created a strange gap, like when she’d become matriarch and Mika’s inability to do basic magic, but they were working through it.

  “What was it like?” Mika asked, watching as some of the foxes started dancing on the large stone square near the fires.

  “Which part?” Selene smiled as three tiny foxes ran by them, tumbling as they pounced on each other.

  “You were only eighteen.” Mika was twenty now and she still didn’t feel ready. “Does your clan actually listen to you? What about all the coven shit? And you didn’t go to Morgana for all five years.”

  “No, I didn’t. I tested for the classes I thought I could pass and doubled my course load to graduate in time for my eighteenth birthday. It was the only benefit to going so young. Sometimes I’m still sad I didn’t get to experience it the way you are.” Selene turned to face her while the boys pointedly carried on their own conversation. “My clan listens to me because they have to. Well, except Kenzie. But…it’s lonely. I’m not friends with the other matriarchs the way they are with each other.”

  Audrey was asked to dance by a lovely fox. It was cute to watch her blush and try to explain why she wasn’t interested.

  “Do you need to be attracted to me to dance with me?” the fox asked, tilting his head slightly.

  Mika watched Audrey shake her head and take the fox’s hand. It made her smile to see her friend just enjoying herself.

  “Your clan is smaller. It will be easier,” Selene tried to reassure her. “There won’t be as many people to manage.”

  Ethan glanced down, lacing his fingers through hers, sensing somehow that that is exactly what was so upsetting about her clan.

  There were only two of them, and this challenge was going to make it even smaller, one way or another.

  “I regret challenging her,” Mika admitted. “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t. That I’d tried harder to keep the peace.”

  Selene turned to watch Kenzie dancing with Hunter and Finnick while Ash danced with a little toddler who was starry-eyed as she looked up at him with something like awe. “‘Keeping the peace’ is usually what is done when you’re in an abusive relationship. I learned that the hard way with Bradley,” she said.

  Mika winced. She knew it was true even if it was hard to admit.

  “That’s why I didn’t fight becoming Matriarch so young.” Selene shrugged. “You can’t leave an abusive situation without power. So, for the record, I think you’re doing the right thing.”

  Lucien squeezed her hand, silently listening as he explained to Ethan how they had their own general store and post office.

  “You think?” Mika still wasn’t sure. “I feel like I kind of stole your thunder.”

  Selene smiled and shrugged. “I may not have to challenge Takahashi. Honestly, I really hope I don’t have to. She’s calmed down a lot since Kenzie told her to shove it. But yeah, I’ve been around Claire more than you have the last few years.” Selene made a face. “I’m not a fan of the way she treats shifters and witches who aren’t high society. She’s power hungry without the desire to do anything good or useful with that power. Claire just wants to flaunt it.”

  It was the most succinct and accurate description of her sister she’d ever heard. Mika knew Claire liked to show off her status and power, but she’d never really thought about what Claire would do with it once she became matriarch until she’d insulted Audrey to her face in front of guests.

  “Will you dance with me?” Lucien asked, standing and offering her his hand.

  Mika looked up in surprise, suspicious of the mischief in his eyes. “I don’t know this dance.”

  “It’s easy, I’ll teach you.”

  “Go,” Corbin said, pushing her toward Lucien. “Have some fun.”

  “Save a dance for me,” Ethan called after her as Lucien dragged her towards the dance floor.

  “Do you guys do this a lot?” Mika asked.

  His mom and dad were staring at each other with googly eyes as they danced, everyone already knowing the steps – something folksy and fun, but nothing she’d ever seen before.

  “Usually once a week, but they made a special exception for tonight,” Lucien explained, grinning as he led her through the relatively easy steps. “What do you think of my den?”

  Mika walked under his arm and followed around in a little circle like all the other dancers. “It’s really beautiful, but I like the people more.”

  He grinned at that. “I knew once we got past all the awkward shit you would. Sorry about my dad, he comes off as a hard ass a lot, but he’s really a big old softy.”

  Mika couldn’t help but smile. The food, the atmosphere, the people…it was the best she’d felt in ages.

  This place was happiness.

  “Even though I’ve only been here for a few hours, it feels like home,” Mika admitted, crossing one foot over the other as Lucien did.

  When he spun her around, she saw the music wasn’t coming from the speakers, but an actual group of musicians that smiled at her encouragingly.

  “I was hoping it would,” Lucien said softly, never taking his eyes off hers. “I was worried.”

  He placed a hand on her hip and led her through the next few steps with the ease of a professional dancer.

  “That I wouldn’t like it, or your family wouldn’t like me?”

  Lucien shrugged. “Both.”

  “Your mother is wonderful.” Mika felt her heart ache as she thought of her own mother – always so distant.

  They’d had the plants. That was the only time Mika really was able to connect with her mom. Maybe it was just her family, or it was a high society thing, but everyone was always so distant. Mika had never felt like she could throw herself into her mother’s arms and cry about boys or whatever it was she was upset about.

  She’d never really spent time with Claire that wasn’t a learning exercise either. Everything was always about the magic – about being the best.

  “Go dance with Ethan,” Lucien told her. “I’ll ask Selene.”

  Mika smiled up at Lucien. “I got so lucky, finding you.” She pulled his face down and kissed him, enjoying the moment before pushing him away.

  Lucien smirked and chucked her chin. “No, little witch. I’m the lucky one.”

  She watched him ask Selene to dance with a fancy bow, flourishing his hand like some pompous ass in an old movie, making Selene laugh like she did back in high school – nothing to worry about except classes.

  Then Mika grabbed Ethan and Corbin and pulled them on the dance floor with her, intending to enjoy this break to the fullest before real life came crashing back down.

  21

  Everyone was laughing as they made their way back to their cottages. It was well past midnight and Mika watched as her family split up with their host families.

  Kenzie and her triad went with one while Audrey and Selene went with another. Eisheth kissed her cheek and then disappeared, saying how he’d be back in the morning. Whether he’d gone back to hell or his penthouse in Los Angeles, Mika didn’t know, but she knew he’d keep his word.

  The demon was too curious not to.

  Corbin had declined the offer to sleep with Lucien’s family, mentioning how he wanted to talk with the local flock. He’d kissed her goodbye before flying off.

  It was just Mika, Lucien, and Ethan.

  Sl
eeping arrangements hadn’t really occurred to her. Not the exact details anyway.

  Lucien had one bed for three of them.

  Ethan was already sitting on it, taking off his shoes while Mika looked around.

  This was where Lucien had grown up. It was a look into his past that she hadn’t thought she’d ever get to see.

  There were swords on one wall, displayed with pride among a few other weapons, which made her smile. It seemed he’d wanted to be a hunter for a long time. It was kind of adorable.

  The one wall had a massive window without any curtains, so the forest was in clear view. He was also a little psycho apparently, waking up with the sun. Pictures on the other two walls were a variety of family and friends, and posters from various shows Mika didn’t recognize.

  “What’s Full Metal Alchemist?” she asked, ignoring the queen-sized bed as much as humanly possible.

  Ethan and Lucien shared a look. “Clearly we have some work to do,” Ethan muttered.

  Lucien stripped his shirt off and the two of them acted like this was normal.

  Should she ask the question she knew they were waiting for her to ask?

  Their offer was still burned into her memory and honestly, ever since they’d made it, she’d wondered what it would be like to have both of them at the same time.

  Would Ethan take over? Would he make Lucien play the same game he had with her?

  She was sweating after all the dancing. Mika would never admit it was because she was getting hot and bothered thinking about what questions Ethan might ask Lucien.

  “Is that what you’re going to wear to bed?” Lucien asked pointedly, changing out of his leather pants and into a pair of sweatpants.

  Mika ignored him and knelt down to open her suitcase. Maybe she should have packed something that covered more. The silk tank top and shorts were perfect for summer, but she hadn’t anticipated sharing a bed with anyone.

  “That red is one of my favorite colors on you,” Ethan said, and his voice sounded huskier than it normally did.