by Emma Dean
Checking the weather on her phone, Kenzie reached for her black jeans and motorcycle boots. It would be cold for most of the day with a few hours of heat right around lunch like she’d thought. So she grabbed a T-shirt and layered one of her favorite sweaters over it.
Voices from downstairs told her the raccoons had arrived and Kenzie grinned. Those weirdos always had some wild story to tell her about when Ash had run with them or some crazy new thing they’d done.
Kenzie ran down the stairs and walked in on four very attractive dudes chatting and laughing with Ash and Finnick in the kitchen. The one she would call ‘alpha’ in the glasses turned and smiled when he saw her.
“Kenzie! I hear we’re going to be your new bodyguards now that you’ve leveled up.”
“Good to see you too, Jace. Managed to stay out of trouble since I saw you last?” She gave him a quick hug and then turned to Aiden, the shortest one out of the four and hugged him tight too. “I’ll never get over the fact that you two wear glasses.”
Aiden chuckled and handed her coffee in a to-go cup. “Raccoons are nearsighted,” he said with a little shrug. “We brought you coffee from your favorite café down the street.”
“It’s from all of us,” Chance said, giving her that goofy playboy grin of his as he bent down to kiss her cheek. “I sure am looking forward to playing bodyguard for you.”
“If you try to seduce my mate Chance, I’m going to have to remove your favorite toy,” Finnick said as if he were joking. But the ire flashing in his eyes and the irritation she could feel through the bond told her otherwise.
“I’d like to see you try,” Chance said with a chuckle, kissing Finnick on the cheek as well. “You know I’m just playing. Kenzie would no doubt give me a new orifice if I tried anything too sassy.” The gorgeous man with blue eyes like the sky and close-cut blond hair gave her a wink before throwing his arm around Ben.
Ben – the tallest, the quietest, the serious one. With his black waves that nearly touched his shoulders and the golden brown eyes that looked like honey in the light. Kenzie knew he was strange, but also somehow she felt like he would be the heartbreaker out of the lot.
The psycho Jace, the bad boy Chance, the romantic Aiden, and then this one. She would never understand them, but she could see why Ash had gotten along with them so well.
Even Chance had the same asshole qualities that Finnick had. They were warped reflections of each other whereas she could see Ash in Ben. She wondered if the tallest raccoon had any weird hobbies like Ash did.
“Is there food?” she asked, giving Ben a big hug. That he even let her was a testament to his respect for the foxes. “And where’s Hunter?”
“He’s still sleeping,” Ash said, setting out plates while Finnick went back to the oven. “Remember? He said not to wake him up. But if you’re feeling brave Kenzie I can think of a few ways you can wake him up that wouldn’t make him want to kill you.” Ash winked at her before turning back to the fridge.
She sipped on her coffee and narrowed her eyes.
Chance grinned. “I can’t wait to see Hunter act like a mated male. Shit’s got to be weird.”
“He hasn’t officially accepted the mate bond,” Kenzie said when Ash and Finnick grew quiet. “But he will.”
Finnick winked at her and then pulled out something from the oven that smelled delicious. “You get him girl. If anyone can, it’s you.”
“So, aside from the court date, you need us around because Kenzie’s some kind of weird witch?” Aiden asked, helping Ash to set out plates. His curls were adorable and he always seemed to be smiling.
“Void witch,” she corrected. “My power is that I don’t have power. I can take it.”
Jace leaned against the kitchen counter and considered her with that creepy little smile that reminded her of Hunter. “From all magical beings or just witches?”
She grinned, baring her teeth at him in recognition of the challenge. “Witches, fae, demons, maybe even gods. But not shifters. Don’t worry; even if I could I wouldn’t want your weirdo powers.”
“Our weirdo powers are going to help save your ass,” Chance said, smacking her butt hard enough to sting.
Ash growled but Kenzie whipped around so fast Chance could barely blink before she slapped him hard enough his teeth were covered in blood when he smiled. Chance held up his hands and grinned. “I’m sorry, it’s just a habit. I’ll keep my hands to myself.”
“Or I’ll take them,” she said sweetly. “Because I don’t like people touching me and that was disgusting and sexist.”
Jace’s eyes twinkled at that.
“Nah,” Chance drawled. “I’m an equal opportunist prick.” Then he grabbed Ben’s ass hard enough the tall dark and handsome one glared, but didn’t say anything. “But I am disgusting, I’ll give you that.”
“Look,” Ash snapped. “Let’s get one thing straight. Don’t be fucking dicks to my mate. I don’t give a shit about anyone else.”
“Chance,” Jace warned. “They’re the closest thing we have to family other than each other. Behave.”
The blond hottie took the food from Finnick with a little bow. “On my best behavior.” Then he set it on the table with the plates and coffee.
It looked like Ash and Finnick had gotten to work right after they’d woken up. And the raccoons must have brought all the coffee. Kenzie sat down and drank more of her delicious, girly drink. A ‘white tiger white mocha’ made with white espresso. The irony of the name wasn’t lost on her. Didn’t make it any less tasty.
Aiden sat down next to her and set the giant plate of bacon in the center of the table. “How are things as an official witch?”
She shrugged and took a piece. It was the best bacon she’d ever had. Before the foxes’ den she’d never had bacon straight from the butcher. It was seasoned and had hints of maple. Kenzie closed her eyes in bliss as she chewed.
“I’m technically still not an official witch. Being void means I don’t have power, but at least they’re all scared of me now.” Kenzie opened her eyes and looked up at Jace. “By the way, I wanted to thank you guys for helping us get as many survivors as we did. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
Jace shrugged and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “We owed Ash a favor.”
She smiled. These scavenger shifters had a strange code. But they looked out for each other more than most of the larger predators did. And the culture…Kenzie was fascinated by it all. A part of the paranormal that wasn’t seen very much.
“And what are you getting out of it this time?” Kenzie asked.
Ash and Finnick brought out the rest of the food including cinnamon rolls dripping in icing, eggs, toast, and a bowl of fresh fruit. Everyone sat down and Kenzie kept her gaze locked on Jace. She refused to look down or away. He may be some kind of alpha, but she wasn’t the submissive type.
Jace smiled slightly then. “Hunter promised us a future favor – to be determined. Worth quite a lot if you ask me.”
It was. Kenzie didn’t like owing the raccoons carte blanche. “We couldn’t have just paid you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in question. Finnick passed her the eggs and she took some before handing the dish to Aiden.
Chance laughed. “We don’t need money. A favor is much more valuable. Haven’t these foxes taught you anything?”
Kenzie let Finnick fill her plate with whatever he felt like as she stared down the alpha raccoon. Then she turned her gaze to Ben and shrugged. She’d barely spent time with them, but her foxes trusted them. “My foxes have taught me the value of backup,” she said. “They’ve helped me see the risks of working alone. So, for that reason I accept the terms. But remember, if you fuck us over I’ll skin you alive with magic I steal from my demon godfather.”
“Demon godfather?” Ben asked, frowning slightly as he cut into his cinnamon roll. “Didn’t know such a thing existed.”
Grinning she bit into her own cinnamon roll. “Apparently. So are you guys ready for this shit
storm? Anyone want to volunteer to keep an eye on my sister and grandmother?”
“It would make everyone’s lives easier if you were all in the same place,” Aiden said quietly. “Could they stay here until everything’s settled?”
Finnick shrugged and poured some coffee. “Gram-Gram could have Ash’s room. Selene can have mine. We’ll buy a bigger bed.” He grinned at Kenzie. “I heard someone bitching about that today.”
Rolling her eyes Kenzie smiled into her coffee. Buying a new bed with Ash and Finnick sounded so…mundane. And adorable. “Can we just order one?”
“Whatever you want, babe,” Finnick said, ugly chewing his bacon. “You need to call your fam. Get them to agree to stay here until this shit is over. Selene will have to ward the place and make sure no one knows they’re here or our cover is blown and Brad will figure it all out.”
“We’re posting the video today right?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Ash agreed, sighing. “After we drain all his offshore accounts which is something you and Hunter have to do. Once that’s done I’ll post. I’m nearly done with the editing.”
“Need any help?” Aiden asked, taking a small bite of his eggs. “I’m pretty good at the digital stuff.”
“He can make shit you wouldn’t believe,” Chance told them, waving his fork around. “One time he made this girl believe her ex was actually cheating on her with a little bit of video editing. It was amazing.”
“Sounds like a weird thing, but okay,” Kenzie said with a laugh. “Why did you want her to think that?”
“So she would go to his house, duh,” Chance said, rolling his eyes. “Then we robbed her blind. Bitch embezzled money from charities and kept it in her personal safe in cash so it couldn’t be tracked.”
“We gave it back,” Ben told her. “To the people who needed it.”
Kenzie looked at each of the weirdos who had been Ash’s only family for years until Hunter had shown up. Somehow it didn’t surprise her they secretly had hearts of gold. Ash did after all. They were all just so…chaotic.
“Of course you did,” she murmured. “For a price.”
“Everyone’s got to eat,” Aiden said quietly. “Even thieves.”
“And mercenaries,” Finnick agreed. “I’m going to need the four of you to help protect the witnesses when we go to court tomorrow. Can you do that?”
Kenzie tuned them out as they started chatting about logistics and pulled out her phone to text Selene.
Foxes and raccoons. How they’d managed not to kill each other long enough to get to the point where they’d kill for each other was beyond her. But she liked them. A lot. Way less boring than a bunch of stuffy witches.
“How did you sleep?” Hunter asked from directly behind her.
Kenzie jumped and dropped her phone. “How do you fucking do that?”
The alpha fox grinned and picked up her phone for her as he kissed her cheek. “It’s a secret, but maybe I’ll teach it to you some day.” Then he slipped her phone into her hand.
“Oh shit, the big bad fox is pussy whipped!” Chance yelled loud enough Kenzie actually blushed.
“Say that again and I’ll rip out your tongue,” Hunter said. It was so calm and unbothered. Like he’d just told Chance the weather instead of threatening him.
“That’s the old fox I remember,” Jace said, getting up to give Hunter a hug.
“Thank you for coming.”
“Of course, Hunter. It’s not like we had other shit going on at the moment,” Jace said, sitting back down. “Are you guys taking money from Brad too, or is it all going to the victims?”
“We’re taking some,” Kenzie said with a shrug. “It’s a lot of money and since we’ve been slowly draining his main accounts into his offshore accounts and there is no legal recourse to us taking from those…” Her smile spread across her face as she finally felt like Brad was going to get exactly what he deserved.
“I like her,” Ben said, taking a large bite of his cinnamon roll.
“Me too,” Hunter agreed, looking at her like she was the only one in the room. “Ready to go do some hacking?”
Was she ever. “Always.”
Hunter offered her his hand and she laughed. Kenzie knew her relationship with him would never be like it was with Ash or Finnick, but as time went by she thought more and more that she preferred it that way.
Chapter Eight
Kenzie
Ash sighed and leaned back in his chair. “It’s officially gone viral.”
“Damn, I had no idea you had millions of followers,” Aiden said, peering to see the new count on the video. “What are they saying?”
“I don’t know,” Ash said, pushing back from the desk. “I don’t want to know. There’s a reason I never post anything as controversial as politics. I don’t like being in the middle of all the human shit.”
“Paranormals are just as bad,” Kenzie told him as she tracked the video’s progress. Her other screen showed all the various accounts she’d set up under fake names. The IDs were being printed. The guy she knew who did passports would be dropping those off soon. Another guy did birth certificates.
The dark web had given her a lot of really sketchy contacts, but with a bit of money through her alias they did exactly what she asked. So many of them thought she was a dude, which would help keep her identity a secret – but it irked the fuck out of her when she let herself think about it for more than five seconds.
“They are,” Hunter agreed. “Where is the delivery being made? I’ll go meet them.”
“It would be better if one of the raccoons did it,” Kenzie said, tapping out more code as she started building fake lives for these people. “They don’t live here and no one has seen them before.”
“I can just wear a disguise,” Hunter said. “And I don’t want to put them in more danger than they’re already in for helping us.”
Kenzie stopped what she was doing and inspected Hunter. She didn’t like the risk he was taking, but he did make a point. “Fine. I’ll get you a disguise, but don’t go alone.” Her desk had drawers full of backup charms.
Rummaging around she found one and tossed it to Hunter. “You’ll look like a surfer boy with that. Not quite the same as last night.”
He held it up and studied the blue charm. “How long will it last?”
Ash came up and held out his hand. “I’ll go with him.”
Both of them risking their necks made her sick to her stomach, but this had to be done. They had to finish the contract. So Kenzie grabbed another charm and handed it to him. “You have five hours or until you’re submerged in saltwater this time, so try not to cry or fall in the ocean.”
Aiden gave a bark of surprised laughter at that and watched as Hunter and Ash popped the charms in their mouths.
“I really enjoy the flavors your sister uses for the edible ones,” Hunter said as he chewed. And then suddenly he looked like a stoner surf boy in Hunter’s clothes.
“I’m just glad it doesn’t taste like blueberries,” Ash muttered. “Ever since that memory charm I haven’t been able to stomach the taste.”
Kenzie watched Ash turn into a different tall dark and handsome. “Understandable,” she said grabbing her phone so she could text them the info for the exchange. “Memory charms are fucked.”
“You guys just have access to all this different magic?” Aiden asked, staring wide-eyed at Hunter and then Ash, and then back to Hunter again. “We’ve been scouring the black markets for years and don’t find much.”
“Depending on what it is and how much you’re willing to pay I’m sure we could accommodate certain things,” Kenzie told him, smiling slightly. “Untraceable magic is expensive.”
“But worth it,” Jace said as he entered the office. “I might take you up on that offer, Kenzie. What’s the plan now?”
She shrugged and watched Ash and Hunter mutter over the details. “We get the packets and wait to go to court tomorrow. My grandmother and sister will be here for
dinner. I’ll convince them to stay then. Also, it’s Sunday.”
Jace frowned. “So?”
Then Eisheth appeared with that ‘pop.’ “Means I’m here to train our little forest fire.”
She rolled her eyes as Eisheth gave both Hunter and Ash kisses on each cheek in greeting. “I swear you listen in for the most dramatic entrance,” she muttered.
“Of course I do,” Eisheth said with a little smile. “The universe is all about timing. Are you ready to go?”
“We can’t train here?” she asked with a frown, glancing at the computer and the lives she’d created. Kenzie started logging out, but made sure the important ones like the offshore accounts kept going while she locked everything down.
“We can train wherever you want, but a quiet space is ideal,” Eisheth said, eyeing Jace and Aiden with a curious eye. “What exactly are raccoons doing here, dear?”
“Bodyguards,” Jace said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You got a problem with lesser shifters?”
Eisheth actually laughed in his face like the alpha had just told the world’s funniest joke. “My dear boy, I love all of you. But raccoons don’t usually get along with, well…anyone. They’re much like coyotes and ravens that way,” Eisheth said, turning back to Kenzie. “Well, bodyguards aren’t a terrible idea. Let’s go outside, shall we? We only have a few hours of that glorious heat here today – not nearly as humid as hell.”
Without giving her any warning, Eisheth grabbed her hand and popped her from the office to the porch. Kenzie stumbled when they landed and she pushed him away with a gasp.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to do that,” she snapped.
Eisheth inspected his fingernails. “You can’t trust those raccoons.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared. “What do you mean?”
Kenzie never felt one hundred percent comfortable around Jace or Chance, but Ash trusted them, so Kenzie did too. It made her feel defensive of them for some reason.