by Robin Roseau
"No, I did."
"What do you have to convince me to do? Eat worms or something?"
"Let Scarlett paint your lips and your nails the same color as mine. You have to keep the lips until our run tonight and the nails until I return to Wisconsin."
Angel stared at me for a moment, then looked over at Scarlett. I could only guess her expression.
"You're serious?"
"Yes."
"Why this wager?"
"To be honest, Angel. I am not sure."
"You don't know why you came up with this?"
"No."
"The wager between them is real?"
"Yes."
"Will Lara be angry if Scarlett wins?"
"No."
She took in a breath, looked at Scarlett, and blew out the air. "Fine. I'll do it."
"I also have to buy you shoes that let us see your toes, and you have to wear them."
"No heels, or I won't do it."
"No heels," I agreed.
"All right," she said. "Fine."
I grinned, grabbed her arm and dragged her to her mate. "She said yes."
"Is there really a wager between you and Lara?" Angel asked.
"Yes," Scarlett replied. "But it was Michaela's idea. Honey, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."
"But you want to win?" Angel asked.
"Yes," Scarlett said.
"I think the store is getting tired of us here," I said. "Maybe just do your lips then we can go grab a soda at the food court after buying some shoes."
Fifteen minutes later during the walk to the food court, Lara spoke quietly to me. "You know I'd have let Scarlett submit proposals anyway."
"Please don't tell them that," I said, "or at least not until tomorrow. Pink is not Angel's color."
Lara smile. "No, but you look really nice."
"You like the ultra feminine look on me?"
"Yes, a great deal." She squeezed my hand.
"I've never put on makeup myself," I said. "The first time I wore any at all, Bree and Virginia Callahan did it. I thought it made me look stark. Scarlett made me look softer. But I'm not used to being this tall. It's like you all shrunk, and I don't know how human women wear shoes like these."
"You look beautiful, honey."
"Are you saying I don't normally look beautiful?"
"Honey..."
"Teasing, Lara. Please go buy me a soda and send your sister to keep me company for a minute."
We claimed a couple of tables at the food court. The enforcers set up guard positions while Scarlett and Lara took drink orders. Elisabeth sat down across the table from me, and I looked at her. She smiled.
"Elisabeth, I am going to ask you some questions, and I really hope you'll be honest."
"Oh, oh, a serious conversation?"
"Not that serious, but I want you to be honest."
"All right."
"Do I look ridiculous?"
"No. Michaela, you look amazing."
"Did that ruin your fun?"
"No. And the other dresses I've made you buy will look just as good on you. Well, maybe not as good, but not ridiculous. You should dress off the shoulder all the time."
"Pink?"
"Lara can't stop thinking about kissing those pink lips, Michaela."
"Absolutely no one is going to take me seriously if I dress like this all the time."
"Which is why I haven't actually made you wear the dresses back home yet. There haven't been the right occasions."
I smiled. "Do you like looking at me like this?"
"Yes, Michaela. More importantly, Lara does."
"Thank you, Elisabeth," I said. "What's the story for what we're doing here?"
"June, Scarlett and Angel are sworn to secrecy. Carissa doesn't want anyone beyond the original five of us knowing any details, so they only know you are scouting for her. They don't know precisely where or why."
"Who is going on the flight this afternoon?"
"The original five."
"Does Lara know how to fly in the mountains?"
"It's a clear day, and we'll be well above them, but I believe June is going to talk to her about it anyway."
"Talk to who about what?" Lara asked, setting down a tray full of drinks.
"Flight briefing," I said. "Head enforcer, there is a wager that must be completed, if you will allow Angel off duty while we drink our sodas."
"I'll take her place," Elisabeth said, "but after that, she's on duty, Michaela. You're worse with her on duty than her mate is."
I cocked my head, wondering if Elisabeth was teasing. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Yes. I know she's your friend, but you don't distract Serena the way you distract Angel, and Serena is tough enough to stand up to you when you do it. Angel is submissive to you, so she lets you."
"I'm sorry, Elisabeth. If you let us complete this wager, then in the future, tell me when I'm doing it and I'll try to stop." I paused. "But you know, everyone is always on duty around me. God, I hate this. Even at home, everyone is always on duty."
"Can we agree that's a problem for another day?" Lara asked.
"Yes. I'm sorry."
Elisabeth got up and stepped to Angel, speaking briefly to her. A moment later, Angel sat down at the table across from me. Lara and I were holding hands, and she immediately grabbed Scarlett's.
"You know," I said, "We're not in Wisconsin. This might attract a little attention."
"I don't care," said Lara.
"I really have to let Scarlett paint my nails?" Angel asked.
"If you want her to win the wager," Lara replied. "Hands and feet."
She shook her head then asked Scarlett to get it over with. Scarlett grinned for a moment, dug through our bags, and found the polish. She eyed Angel's hands. "You know, if I were doing this properly, I'd do the full treatment."
"That's not part of the wager," Angel said. "And I don't think Elisabeth's patience will last for that."
Scarlett efficiently painted both of Angel's hands then told her, "Let those dry. Give me a foot." She did both feet, and Angel sat around while the polish dried before Scarlett would let her put the new shoes on.
"Pink," Angel said in disgust. "The things I do for you, Scarlett."
Scarlett smirked at her. "Thank you, honey. I'll make it up to you." She painted her own fingernails the same color then asked me to do her toes. I was as careful as I could be, but I'd never done it before. I thought she did a better job.
"Lara, if Scarlett gets someone else to strip those and do a better job, will she still win the wager?"
"Yes," Lara said, "as long as all ten fingers and toes still have bright, pink tips when we get home, and they both tell me they kept them that way."
Angel sighed. "So I don't get to strip them when we get home and repaint them when your plane lands?"
I laughed. "No."
* * * *
We did a little more shopping, mostly for the sake of form, and then went to lunch. After that, we split into two groups. June, Scarlett and Angel returned to the hotel for some much needed sleep. They had been up all night. The rest of us headed for the airport. On the way, Lara and Elisabeth eyed the maps.
Our airplane was in transient parking, tied down outside. Lara turned to me and said, "I want to finish marking out the route we're going to take. Will you preflight for us?"
"Weight and balance, too?"
"No, this is one of our pre-configured arrangements, but you need to take the rear seat."
"I know," I said.
"Karen, guard the alpha," said Elisabeth. "Serena, you and I have the fox." She turned to me. "You will follow orders."
I smiled. "Right now, I don't have any choice, Elisabeth."
"Oh. Right. I could get used to that."
"Don't get too used to it. If you push too much now, I'm sure I'll act up horribly when we get home to make up for it."
"Please, Elisabeth, don't push her buttons," said Serena. "I don't want to spe
nd too months wondering when I'm going to run into a patch of cayenne pepper while trying to chase her down."
"I haven't peppered you in over a year, Serena," I said, "and you deserved it that time."
"She did not," Lara said.
The enforcers climbed from the car, taking up protective positions. I turned to Lara. "I love you, Lara," I told her.
She smiled down at me and caressed my cheek. "I want to kiss you, but I'm pretty sure I'd go a little overboard, and I want to enjoy this look a little longer before I ruin it."
"Maybe I'll do it again sometime," I said. "But I better not go the entire day unkissed. That would be negative reinforcement." She kissed my hand, and a moment later, Serena rapped on the window before opening the door. She helped me out of the car and took my arm as we walked to the airplane, Elisabeth on my other side, both of them alert.
"You promised me my knives," I said.
"You have two in your purse," Elisabeth replied.
"They're hard to get to, and you stole my chopsticks from my hair."
"They clashed with the bow."
"You're trying to make me helpless."
"I told you it was okay if you wore the flat shoes," she countered. "Michaela, are you fussing to fuss, or are you serious?"
"Probably a bit of both. This is a predictable location, and it wouldn't be hard to set up an ambush."
"Too many witnesses," she replied. "If there were going to be trouble here, it would involve a sniper rifle. Please stop distracting me, Michaela."
Lara bought her Piper Seneca V brand new, and it was a beautiful aircraft. I thought it was frightfully expensive and had thought she would find something used, but she had told me, "I almost never splurge on myself. It's a beautiful airplane, and I want it."
The aircraft had two engines and seated six. There was a pilot and co-pilot seats, although the airplane was easily flown with a single pilot. Passenger seating was in "club" style, which meant the middle row of seats faced backwards and the rear seats faced forwards. I was pretty sure Elisabeth would ask to sit up front next to Lara. The seats were plush. I'd flown it a few times from the right seat with June or Lara in the left, but it was far too much airplane for me and would be for some time. Even Lara had to go through additional training before she could fly it, and she'd been flying most of her life.
But I knew how to do the preflight. Elisabeth and Serena stood guard while I spent fifteen minutes checking the airplane. I was exceedingly through. The plane had sat unguarded at a public airport since this morning, and I looked inside every nook and cranny to make sure nothing had been tampered with.
I'd once killed four wolves by tampering with their aircraft, and I wasn't going to let someone do the same with a plane I was about to ride in.
Finally, I finished, and I stepped up to Elisabeth's shoulder.
"I was as thorough as I know how," I said. "I even opened the inspection panels."
"I saw."
"We're ready to go whenever Lara is ready."
We stood quietly, then I heard Lara climb out of the car. I turned to face her as she strode confidently towards us. She saw me and smiled.
* * * *
It was a bumpy flight, but I've been through much worse. I sat across from Serena but primarily stayed quiet. I couldn't see a thing out the front of the airplane, but the mountains were beautiful out the side window. We flew along, two thousand feet over the tops of the tallest nearby peaks. For this plane, that was low, but perfectly safe. Usually we flew much higher, but I was used to these altitudes when I flew.
"Six miles," Lara announced. "It'll be out the right side two miles away."
I heard Elisabeth begin taking photos through her window. Suddenly she passed the camera backwards, and Serena handed it to me. Our target had disappeared behind the engine for Elisabeth to see but appeared underneath the wing for me. I began clicking pictures madly, not worrying about quality. I continued to take more photos long after we were past, although I didn't think they would be useful.
After that, we did a standard sight-seeing trip. The mountains were beautiful.
* * * *
"There wasn't much to see," Elisabeth complained. We were back in the SUV, heading for the hotel. She was paging through the photos on the camera. "We need to load these into the computer to see if there are more details."
"We're not here for an infiltration," I said. "I need to lure Deirdre outside to talk to me. We're not here to kidnap her. I am simply a messenger."
"If she decides to leave, there may be some resistance," Lara said.
"Little Fox," added Elisabeth, "if you had taken those helicopter flight lessons I asked you to take, we would have a ready solution."
"It's so expensive, Elisabeth," I replied. "Lara spends too much on me already."
No one replied to that. We sat quietly for another minute or two, then I said, "If there needs to be an extraction, all of you are better at planning it than I am. Just don't cut me out."
"If we have to move quickly, Michaela," Elisabeth said gently, "it would be easier without waiting for you. I'm sorry."
"I understand," I said. "There's little we can do until I convince Deirdre to talk to me."
Dialogue
I poked my furry, whiskered nose through the bushes, sniffing, my ears listening carefully. Satisfied, I prowled out into the clearing, a cautious fox looking for a simple meal. I nosed about, moving deeper and deeper into the field.
All the while, I thought, "Deirdre, come see your new friend. I am your friend."
I spent an hour in the field before I heard the door open. I knew immediately it was Deirdre. I paused only a moment then turned to face her. She was leaning against the railing of the deck, looking at me from seventy yards away.
We didn't talk. She simply watched me, but I felt no sense of communication. I wondered if I imagined it last night. But over and over I thought, "Please come talk to me. I am a small fox, but I am your friend."
I turned sideways and posed for her, thinking perhaps she might find me beautiful and wish to see me closer. I turned this way and that, and I heard her laugh, carrying easily across the field.
Then she spoke. "You are a beautiful fox, she who isn't a fox at all."
I stomped the ground with one paw. I was most definitely a fox.
"You heard me?"
I sat down facing her.
"Come closer," she said, "so I may better see you."
That wasn't happening. She could come to me. I stood up and posed again but pointedly didn't move any closer.
She turned around, looking behind her, then a moment later she was gone.
I huffed disappointment and began slowly moving towards the edge of the field, convinced she had been called away and I wouldn't see her again tonight. But a moment later, a screen door opened and closed, and when I turned to look, she was walking slowly across the field towards me.
"Friends," I thought as hard as I could. And again, I posed for her.
She approached at an angle, not walking straight towards me. Many animals would shy away if approached directly, as that would be deemed a threat. Instead, she approached the edge of the trees, aiming for a point twenty yards from me. I waited for her, watching carefully. As she came close, I posed once more, then moved away from her, hoping to draw her further from the house.
She stopped and watched me, then crouched down. "Pretty fox," she said, "I will not harm you."
I turned and ran away ten steps, then turned to look at her, hoping she would follow. She hadn't moved. I pranced back to where I had been, then ran away again.
She laughed. "You want me to follow you, do you?"
I did it again, and this time, she followed. She followed me most of the way to the far corner of the field, but then she stopped.
"No," she said. "I will go no further. Now stop and let me see you."
I turned back and lay down instead, hoping to draw her at least a little closer. She stubbornly remained where she was, c
rouching down perhaps fifteen yards from me.
"No," she said. "I came all the way here. It is your turn to trust me."
I stood up. I looked pointedly at her, then even more pointedly at the house before slowly turning back to face her.
"I only have a few minutes, Fox," she said. "Please let me see you."
I got up and walked to her, stopping just close enough to sniff at her outstretched hand, then turning sideways.
"So beautiful," she said.
I preened, then took three leaps into the woods.
"No!" she said. "Please come back."
Instead, I stepped behind a tree, and once I was hidden from view of the house, I shifted into my human form. When I looked, Deirdre was searching the woods with her eyes. She didn't see me at first.
"Deirdre," I said. "I only came to talk to you."
She gasped and took several steps away from the forest.
"Please, Deirdre," I said. "I am a friend, but I can't risk being seen like this."
She stopped. "Who are you?"
"Please come closer. You don't need to enter the woods if you are afraid, but please don't make us yell."
She moved slowly closer, stopping several paces from the edge of the woods. I moved away from the tree but kept it between the house and me. She finally saw me.
"Don't come any closer," she said.
"Speak more quietly," I said. "I will hear you. I came to talk. That is all."
"What are you?" she asked, more quietly.
"My name is Michaela."
She straightened further. "The werefox from Wisconsin. Are you here to kill me?"
"No. I do not kill my friends, and I wish us to be friends, Deirdre."
"Do not call me that. I am known here as Aspen."
"Aspen, unless you were to threaten my pack, I would never, ever hurt you."
"I have never seen a werefox before," she said.
"I think-" My voice broke. "I think I am the last of my kind."
"Oh, Michaela," she said, and there was warmth in her voice. "No, there are others. Is that why you're here?"
I took a breath. "No. You are in danger here."
Even in the dim light, I saw her brow furrow, the smile disappear. "She sent you! Are the Madison weres now her thralls?"
"She begs your forgiveness, Aspen."