by Emma Dean
More hands roamed over her ass and Kenzie would know those greedy paws anywhere. She turned around to dance with Finnick, Ash pressed up against her back. The music told her body what to do and sandwiched between the two of them was a hot reminder how many times they’d made love like this.
But what she really wanted was just outside her grasp. Kenzie burned to have them all at once.
It was a secret desire she’d kept to herself. But the more time that passed, the more she explored with Finnick and Ash – the more she wanted it.
The song shifted and Kenzie pushed them away like they were just two random dudes that had danced with her only the once.
Then she walked up the stairs to the VIP lounge and smiled at the bouncer.
He eyed her up and down, gaze lingering on her curves. The latex hid nothing. Even her nipples showed. Hunter had known it would – the way he’d removed the underwear still had her burning.
“Mind letting me through?” she asked, running one finger down the bouncer’s arm.
He grinned at her. “Gotta pay the toll, sweetheart.”
“Oh, Benjamin, you play a dangerous game,” she whispered. “Let me through and I won’t tell your wife you’re sleeping with that hot little waitress over there.” Kenzie pointed at the blonde walking through the crowd with neon-colored shots and the bouncer instantly paled.
The black velvet rope was removed and he looked through her like she didn’t exist. Kenzie let her nails trail over his collarbone as she passed, swinging her hips in the dress that went all the way down to her knees.
What she loved the most though was the baby pink heels that matched her hair perfectly and set off the dark pink lipstick she wore. Kenzie was a walking wet dream and every male eye turned to her as she leisurely made her way to the private VIP bar.
“Never mind,” Hunter chuckled over the comms. “Seems like you’ve got things under control. Just remember, we’re right here even if you can’t see us.”
Kenzie didn’t bother trying to look for them. They were sneaky foxes who could blend until they were nearly invisible.
The bartender didn’t even ask her what she wanted. He just started making something Kenzie had no doubt would be fruity and delicious. No one ever asked her what she wanted to drink in the VIP lounge. Drinks were always just handed to her.
And she almost never drank them.
Kenzie waited one whole minute and then there was a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and smiled up at Brad. She’d known it was him. He was the only one who wore that vile cologne.
“What are you drinking?” he asked, leaning against the bar.
“Whatever the bartender is making me,” she told him, pitching her voice a bit lower, a bit softer. Brad smiled and asked for two.
At least he hadn’t recognized her. A disguise worked on witches only if those witches were less powerful than the one who created the spell. No one except maybe Takahashi or Edith could even sense one of Selene’s spells.
But Kenzie wouldn’t put it past Brad to have something up his sleeve.
The male witch was attractive. She’d give her sister and all those poor victims that. He had an honest face and eyes that made you feel like you could see right into his soul. But Brad had always been good at pretending.
Even Kenzie had bought it for a few years. Then she’d spent more time around him because of Selene as they grew up and…it had never been anything he’d done specifically. Not at first. He’d just always rubbed her the wrong way.
That’s when Kenzie had started digging.
But on the outside Brad was the picture perfect surfer boy who happened to make it through law school. The white smile he flashed at her always won him friends and let him get away with anything. He could even make those baby blues twinkle on command.
It was disgusting.
The drinks came and Kenzie reached for them before Brad could, releasing the truth serum in her ring over one of the glasses. No doubt he’d planned to roofie her if she didn’t take his advances well. A bit of his own medicine would do him some good.
“I haven’t seen you here before,” Brad said with that winning smile of his.
Kenzie smiled back and sipped her drink, angling her body so her cleavage was the most apparent thing about her. “It’s been a while. I just got out of a five year relationship. So I’m not looking for anything serious.”
The rat bastard smiled even wider at that and Kenzie felt oily as he reached for her hand. Thank the Fates Selene had done this spell otherwise he would have seen the runes carved into her skin. Most spells couldn’t hide them. A simple makeup charm was useless.
He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles and Kenzie let him, sipping at her drink again, hoping he would drink his in reflex.
Suddenly she heard growling through the comms, not too loud, but distinctive. Kenzie cleared her throat to remind the foxes to calm the fuck down. “Do you like it?” she asked, holding up her own drink and sipping again. “It’s very good.”
Finally he drank. Edith had taught Selene how to make her truth serums extra tasty too. They didn’t have their own flavor, but they enhanced the taste of whatever it was put into. Which made whoever was ingesting it crave more.
So Brad looked down at the drink in surprise and delight and drained the whole thing. “Bartender, could we have two more?”
At least the VIP lounge was a bit more muted than the main club. Kenzie didn’t have to yell.
“So, I was wondering if you were over here because you want to bang me, or because you just really like my hair,” Kenzie said sweetly.
She took his hand in hers and started tracing his knuckles with her thumb, much like he’d done to her – and waited for his answer.
“I definitely want to fuck you,” Brad said into her ear.
He pulled back and looked shocked at what he’d said. Kenzie gave him a predatory grin. “I like when guys are honest.”
Brad still seemed confused but he nodded like he’d meant to say that. “I try.” Then he gave her a derpy shrug that made Kenzie want to claw his face off. “Are you here alone?” he asked.
“I’m supposed to meet some friends here, but I’m the first one.” Kenzie smiled and leaned closer so he could get an eyeful. “Was Peter Hale working for you?”
“Of course he was,” Brad said. Then his eyes narrowed and he tried to rip his hand out of hers. “What the fuck?”
But she was stronger than him after years of studying martial arts. Kenzie was pretty sure she was the only witch who liked to work out. Her hand held his tightly and she smiled.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Bradley.” Pulling on his power she took just a taste.
His face went completely white. “Kenzie,” he gritted out.
“I don’t like when weasels get away with things,” she hissed. “Was Peter working for you?”
“Yes.” Oh man he looked furious. Good. “Truth serum, huh? How desperate.”
She ignored the taunt. “Anyone else in the coven working for you?”
At first he tried to resist it, but the serum was strong as shit. Brad started listing off names and suddenly she was glad she was recording because, fuck. If she wasn’t already sitting down she would need to.
Keep the questions to the coven and he shouldn’t suspect what else she was involved in. Kenzie had a million things she wanted to ask him as the list kept growing. Damn near half the coven was in his pocket.
“Okay, we’ll get back to that later. Did you poison Selene with a potion that strips a witch of their powers?” Kenzie’s grip on his hand tightened as he struggled again.
“Yes, I had her poisoned, but I didn’t make the potion myself or put it in her drink.” Brad glared and he was ugly in that moment. Truly disgusting. Not even his good looks could cover up this kind of shit. “It’s what she deserved after ending a ten year engagement.”
Kenzie refused to rise to the bait. She only had so long until the serum wore off. Grinding her teeth tog
ether she asked him the next question. “Did you know it could kill her?”
“Yes.” Then he smirked.
Her grip didn’t tighten but Kenzie pulled more of Brad’s power, just enough to make it sting. “And what do you plan to do with the coven now that you’ve got all these people working for you?”
“The coven will be mine,” he told her, getting in her face. Brad didn't move but Kenzie still felt like he was touching her with the way his breath fell across her lips. “Women ruling the coven for all eternity seems a little biased don't you think? Aren't we all striving for equality?”
Kenzie practically snarled in his face. “Let's say you did have the opportunity – you would never rule, Brad. You aren't strong enough to lead your clan let alone the coven.”
“Oh, but you can?” he gripped her hand then and it actually hurt. Kenzie folded it away like she'd been taught and slowly started draining Brad of his power. It felt volatile and tasted like anger.
“Can you take enough power to rule the coven?” he asked. “Finally make them notice you? Poor little Kenzie, the powerless witch no one wants.”
She took more and smiled when he gasped. “I could,” she told him. “I could take everyone's power including Selene's and still have room for more. But why would I want that? I know how to live in this world without magic. At least now I can protect myself from shitheads like you.”
They glared at each other and Kenzie wondered if Brad would try to sound the alarm like the little fuckboy he was – or if he would take this loss. They were fighting a war after all. There would be more battles to come.
“Anything else I can do for you Mackenzie Kavanagh, or are we through here?”
Tilting her head, Kenzie wished she had the time to ask him more specific questions relating to the coven, but she had enough to work with – enough to damn him. “If you could hide anywhere in the world, where would you go?”
Brad blinked in surprise but the serum was still holding strong. “Nowhere on this earth, Kenzie. Why would I hide where the Council could find me?”
Son of a bitch. This would complicate things.
“And how do you plan on getting there?” she asked, siphoning off a little more and folding it just like she did the pain, tucking it away for later.
“There are many ways to open doors to other planes. I'm sure you know that since you're working on one,” he murmured, reaching out to touch a piece of her pink hair. “Too bad you had to be such a powerless, whiny bitch. You've always been absolutely gorgeous.”
Kenzie shoved all his magic back into his body at once in disgust. Instantly Brad passed out, slumping to the floor in a heap. Then her alarm went off indicating the serum had worn off.
“Could you call a doctor or something?” Kenzie asked the bartender, putting a hand to her chest in feigned shock. “I think he's sick.”
Then she turned and left when the bartender's back was to her.
Well, fuck.
Looked like things were going to be a lot more complicated than she'd thought. And first things first – she needed to call Selene.
“Everything okay?” Hunter asked, appearing out of nowhere to walk in step beside her.
Kenzie glanced at him, realizing they were the same height in her heels. “Are your raccoon buddies still in town?”
Hunter frowned. “Yes, they are. Why?”
Ash and Finnick found their way to them through the crowd and Kenzie glanced back at the flock of people surrounding Brad. “We'll need to take the back way.”
“Why do we need backup?” Ash asked. “We got the hard parts already taken care of.”
Betty didn't look twice as Kenzie led her foxes through the back out into the alley.
“Because,” she said, pushing through the door into the cold night. Fall had definitely arrived. Kenzie shivered and glared at all the fog. “Brad has a few get out of jail free cards and I think I have one of them. I wouldn’t put it past him to try and steal it from me.”
She stopped just before the sidewalk and the main street. The fog did weird things to time and space. It made it all bendy and strange. The alley was quiet and secluded, but Kenzie knew if she took one more step out onto the main street it would suddenly get loud and the lights would be brighter. Time would speed up ever so slightly and things would go back to normal.
But here in the alley, it was one of those strange places where the planes between worlds weren't quite so thick.
“What is he going to steal, Kenzie?” Hunter asked.
Turning back to face the three of them, Kenzie didn’t know what to say. She was never supposed to talk about what she and Selene worked on in secret – especially when it was probably illegal. No laws expressly forbade this particular kind of magic, but they also didn't know it existed either.
But then how did Brad know about it?
“It would be better if I showed you,” she finally said. “Take me back home.”
All three of them stepped forward and once more Kenzie realized they'd instinctually formed a triangle around her.
“Home,” Finnick agreed.
Chapter Six
Ash
The last month had gone by in a blur.
Despite dealing with his past and getting his memory back, none of them had really delved into their day to day lives before…everything.
Before Kenzie had come into their lives.
Every day since accepting the bond had been the best day of his life. Ash had indulged in their new mate bond, and he didn’t regret it. When they hadn’t been finishing up all the setup for Brad’s downfall, he’d been hanging out with Kenzie and Finnick – making love to her.
Sometimes Finnick was there, sometimes not. It didn’t really matter to him because there was plenty of time and attention to go around. None of them really wanted to be together 24/7. No, they all had their own shit to deal with. But just having her nearby settled him in ways he’d never experienced before.
Turns out that allowing himself to feel something—anything at all—hadn’t been the worst decision ever. Ash was still trying to wrap his head around that.
But otherwise they’d taken it all one day at a time.
They stood in her private office – the one connected to the boys’. Kenzie had a lot of things squirreled away in here now that it was properly warded by Selene. No witch other than Morgan and maybe Edith could break them, or at least that’s what Kenzie had told Ash.
No one could get in without either Kenzie or Selene.
Ash studied the closet that was ten times more difficult to get into than the office. Only a combination of DNA, the right set of words, and the key could unlock those wards.
Kenzie put her hand on the door panel and muttered the password in some language he didn’t recognize – Finnish maybe? The runes started glowing a bright pink and purple. That was when she put the key in the hole and turned it in a specific pattern. The door clicked when all the runes started glowing and then it swung open.
It was hard not to look too curious. He’d been waiting to find out what she’d stashed in there, but the time had never really been right. There had been so many other things they’d needed to get done and it wasn’t a priority.
But now, here they were.
The closet was lined with shelves and Kenzie reached for a strange looking piece of tech. It looked like something from the 1940s crossed with a boom box. No one said anything as she carefully placed it on the empty worktable.
It looked normal enough other than some of the wiring. “What is it?” Ash asked. He didn’t dare try to touch it.
There was a pulse coming off it that he didn’t like either.
“When Selene and I were experimenting with vibration tech we, uh, accidentally opened a portal onto another plane,” Kenzie said, running her hands down her sides and over her hips nervously. “Thank the Fates Selene had the power to shut it down before the rip in the universe was noted by someone on the Council monitoring that kind of thing.”
“And you think Brad is going to try and steal this?” Hunter asked, leaning forward to get a better look. He didn’t try to touch it either.
Kenzie shrugged. “He implied he knew we had one. Which means someone somewhere found out about it and that worries me even more. No one knows about this.”
“Does it even work?” Finnick asked, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning at the device.
“Yeah, we stabilized it.” Kenzie reached out and Ash narrowed his eyes as the feeling of magic seemed to spike when she tapped in something and then twisted a knob. Suddenly a small door appeared on the wall and Kenzie went to open it.
All three of them were frozen as that door revealed one of the hell planes.
“Hell is easiest and requires the least amount of power,” Kenzie explained. “Since it’s one of the planes closest to ours. As this portal is fused with tech magic and technically not something that exists yet, the Council can’t track it now that it’s stable.” She slammed the door shut and locked it.
Hunter tilted his head and narrowed his eyes as he studied the device. “You use vibration? Sound waves to tap into the frequency of other planes and worlds?”
Kenzie nodded and flopped into one of the chairs. “The magic locates the frequency of the plane we’re looking for. The tech then matches that frequency, and with a splash of magic to hold the door open, you’ve got yourself a way onto any plane, any world, and any reality without the Council knowing about it.”
Ash had to sit down. This was a lot to take in.
He felt pride and fear that his mate could make something so incredibly amazing and simultaneously terrifying. How did anyone even know about this? How had they found out when she kept it all locked up and warded? Kenzie hadn’t even told them it existed. Which meant someone had been spying on her and Selene.
Ash growled his displeasure. “We need to find the leak. I’ll call the raccoons and see if they’re up for some bodyguard duty.”
“You aren’t the only one with a door,” Hunter said, sitting down across from Kenzie. “There are natural doors.”