by Emma Dean
Shouts from inside caught her attention and she saw Finnick with Chance playing some kind of video game while Ben just sat with them on the couch, quietly drinking his coffee and watching.
The demon sighed and turned so his back was facing the house. “Not like ‘don’t trust them ever’ but more…they are attracted to the shiny and interesting. Don’t let them see what you have in that closet. They might just ‘borrow’ it and forget to return it.”
Kenzie stiffened in indignation. “No shit, they’re thieves. Hunter will gut them if they take something and don’t return it, or if they do something unforgiveable with my tech.”
Then the demon smiled lazily at her. “Yes, I suppose that one keeps them all in check. He’s such a good little psycho. No doubt he would do anything for you Kenzie, and I do mean anything. Remember that. Now, take my power.”
She stared at the perfectly manicured and moisturized hand he offered her. The skin was golden like he always tanned just the perfect amount. It really brought out the gold in his brown curls and for a second she thought she saw his eyes glow red.
Then Kenzie blinked and took his hand. “How much power?”
Eisheth shrugged, but didn’t look away from her. “As much as you can hold without exploding.”
Instantly she released his hand. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Who knew how much power she could hold, or what it would do to her? Or how long she could hold it?
“That’s something I think I should work up to,” Kenzie said quietly, shaking out her hands to ease some of the nerves.
The demon grinned as he slowly took off his suit jacket to reveal a matching vest underneath. He was always so fancy and handsome. No doubt he’d broken many hearts over the centuries. “Well, at least I don’t have to teach you to respect the power you hold. Seems you already understand the consequences of this gift to some degree.”
Kenzie cracked her neck and sighed. “Kind of. Though isn’t it like having powers in general? Selene has more magic than most of the coven combined.”
Looking up at the trees that provided shade and a bit of privacy to the backyard Eisheth stayed silent for a moment. When he looked down at her, Kenzie’s heart flip-flopped.
“No darling, it’s not like that at all.” Eisheth sighed. “This part is always the hardest I think. Every time I train a new void, it’s difficult. Because you all think you’re just like everyone else. Although there was that one who knew he was different right from the get-go.” The demon shrugged at the memory. “I don’t regret training him despite the chaos and strife he caused in his day.”
She began to pace so she could use up some of her nervous energy. Working out would be a necessity before dinner if she was going to manage to keep Edith from murdering all the raccoons, or fucking them. It was always hard to tell what Gram-Gram would do.
“Voids are not the same as normal witches at all,” Eisheth continued, watching her pace with narrowed eyes. “You can take anyone’s power and that terrifies the rest of them. Because there has never been a threat like that to witches or demons – not often enough for them to remember your kind exists. They didn’t even know what you were.”
“So because they’re no longer the top of the food chain they’re going to lash out?”
“Yes,” Eisheth said, slipping his hands into his pockets and leaning against the patio table. “That’s exactly what they’re going to do.”
“Fucking fantastic.” Like she needed more problems. “So every damn thing on the planet with power is going to come hunting me?”
He nodded. “While you’re new and untrained, yes. So we need to get you trained and ready. Because when they come you will simply…take their power and give it back to the universe, or use it against them. Once it’s known you can handle yourself, they’ll leave you alone and start trying to bribe you.”
Eisheth watched her pace. “There are…wards only you can do by the way. There’s a whole subset of magic based on your powers.”
Instantly she stopped pacing and stared at Eisheth, feeling rather breathless. “Like what?”
He grinned at her. “Like wards that will suck the power from the trespasser. You can have it sent anywhere you like – you, someone else, a battery, a second set of wards, nowhere at all…the universe will always take what you can give it.”
Holy shit.
That was a lot to take in. “Why aren’t there books on it?”
A snap of his fingers and more books fell into a stack on the table behind him. “I did you the favor of collecting them from the Council of Paranormals’ vault as well as from my own collection. Do with them what you will. And utilize that one question a day favor I gave you. There’s shit in there that will blow you to pieces if you’re not careful.”
Kenzie had to sit down. She slumped into the nearest chair and stared at the books and then Eisheth. “What do you need me for?”
His eyes instantly shuttered, but Kenzie could see his look of resignation underneath. The demon had no plans to lie to her. “Voids usually are born during a time of great upheaval. I don’t actually know what your purpose is yet. Maybe just a reminder to keep those with power in check? I mean, they did just grant demigod powers to a human so who the hell knows.”
Eisheth ran his fingers through his curls in exasperation.
This little insight into how the larger powers in the universe worked wasn’t reassuring. Eisheth may be a demon who was as old as dirt, but he didn’t have the same power as gods or Samael, or Lucifer. It was all…confusing and a little bit terrifying.
A fucking demigod.
Kenzie didn’t want to know why that had been done. When was the last time the gods had granted someone those powers? Hercules, Achilles?
And then everyone loved to talk about the weird hunter – Jessica. A demon witch. Who was a hunter. The universe had a sick sense of humor.
“So you don’t want my skills for anything?” Kenzie asked, drumming her fingers on the arm of the chair.
A wave of his fingers and the demon had a cigarette in his hand that smelled floral of all things. A snap of his finger and it was lit. He took a long drag and then blew out the smoke as he studied her.
“Having a void witch for a friend and charge is never easy. And yes it can be useful, but I tend to lose the voids quicker than my other charges. I don’t want that to be the case with you, Kenzie. You’re my favorite void.” The demon grinned, but it wasn’t full of his usual sass and ‘devil-may-care’ attitude.
Her stomach dropped as she took in what all that meant. “We die early because of the power or everyone trying to use or abuse us?”
“A bit of both. Learning a void’s limits isn’t easy or safe. Which is why I’m glad you didn’t try to take everything I had right off the bat.” Eisheth tapped his forehead and took another drag. “Means you’re smarter than most. So thank Satan for that.”
“Right.” Kenzie didn’t ask about his choice of devils and instead considered how to learn her limits without exploding.
There wasn’t much she could do about everything in the universe hunting her down until she proved to them not to fuck with her. All she could do was train.
“Can we up the amount of time you come to this plane?” she asked. “Maybe like two or three times a week instead of one?”
Eisheth grinned. “Your time traveling the world was well spent. You learned skills most have to have beat or tortured into them. Yes, I can spend more time training you. But at least one has to be in hell. Time moves differently there – it’s safer. And I can’t spend too much time on earth or they say I’m ‘meddling.’ Judgy bitches.”
It was hard not to laugh. Kenzie leaned back and looked up at the blue sky. The fog had finally burned off and it was going to be a nice day for at least a few hours. It was such a contrast to everything that was going on.
“Just to be clear, you do meddle,” Kenzie muttered. “I’m going to need one of Selene’s speed reading enchantments
to get through all this shit.”
“Want to learn how to take power without touching someone?” Eisheth asked. He blew out some smoke rings and twisted his fingers. The rings turned into a dragon that breathed smoke. Then it flew over to Kenzie and wrapped around her arm like a cat.
“I can do that?”
“With enough practice.” Eisheth twisted his fingers and the dragon disappeared.
Kenzie looked back into the house where Aiden had joined Finnick, Ben, and Jace. Something like this could change their lives. She wouldn’t be relying on them for their strength anymore. Kenzie could protect her foxes like they protected her.
It was what had saved Finnick.
But it could also put them in more danger. If someone came after her they would be collateral. And Kenzie would never be able to live with herself if they died because of her.
“I can’t leave, can I?” she asked.
After accepting two bonds, Kenzie didn’t think she could just disappear into another realm after this. She had a sneaking suspicion they would find her no matter where she was. Even if it was on another world.
“No darling,” Eisheth told her, dropping his voice to nearly a whisper. “The future is murky for the first time in a century. But I do know that you and your foxes need to be together. If you’re separated, bad things will happen. Every variation where you leave, or they do, or never even meet, this plane collapses into the hell plane just below it.”
She whipped her head to Eisheth and glared. “There is no way I’m that important.”
He held his hands up in surrender. “Look, it may not have anything to do with you directly. There are too many tiny things – you would call it the Butterfly Effect.”
Fucking universe and its bullshit. Kenzie crossed her arms over her chest and sighed in irritation. “Fine, whatever. Give me your hand. We can slowly, slowly, start testing my cap.”
“Of course,” Eisheth said with a sad smile, incinerating the rest of the floral cigarette with a flick of his finger. Then he held out his hand for her. “Take what you can.”
Kenzie grabbed it and concentrated. Because if Eisheth was right, her life and her foxes counted on her figuring this shit out.
Chapter Nine
Hunter
Someone knocked on the door. He could hear it which meant so could everyone else. Lifting his nose he scented the air, filtering out everything familiar. A perfume he recognized told him exactly who it was.
Only for her would he interrupt what he was doing.
Hunter stood from his desk and leisurely made his way to the front door. Ash and Finnick were cooking with Aiden while everyone else set up the dining room. For raccoon thieves they sure knew how to throw a dinner party.
He turned left and went down the stairs. Another knock, more impatient and demanding this time. It made him grin. Hunter opened the door to see Edith standing before him. “Good evening,” he said politely.
Edith was important to Kenzie which meant she was important to him. And he had to be honest with himself; he really liked Edith regardless of Kenzie. The old woman had sass and grace and a mean streak that mirrored his own.
“Good evening, Hunter,” Edith said rather stiffly. “I apologize for being late, but traffic was dreadful.”
Stepping aside to give her room to pass, Hunter smiled as Edith came into his den. He took her coat and waved his hands up the stairs. “Kenzie is still getting ready, but there’s plenty to entertain you until she’s done. Her nap after training with the demon ran a bit longer than anticipated.”
Edith eyed him and then nodded. “Thank you, Hunter. Selene has the host gift.”
Then he turned to see Kenzie’s sister standing on the front porch. She blushed under his attention. Kenzie had said something about the level of his intensity once – called it ‘alpha bullshit.’
“How are you doing?” Hunter asked, and he found it interesting that he actually cared. It made sense though. Selene had protected his chaos against the fae. That wasn’t something he was going to forget.
“Oh you know, dealing with a lot of coven bullshit right now, but we can finally finish re-building our house so that’s been nice. We brought wine.” Selene smiled slightly and handed him three bottles of very expensive wine.
Edith never skimped and he loved that about her.
“We have other guests,” Hunter warned her. “But the food should be good.”
Selene smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re always so thoughtful Hunter. Thank you.”
He stood there blinking as Selene took off her coat and handed it to him. Had anyone ever said that to him before?
“Well, um, I’ll take care of this for you,” he said, still feeling a bit unbalanced. “Thank you for coming.”
She smiled and those vibrant blue eyes twinkled at him. They reminded him so much of Kenzie. “You’re family now Hunter. It’s still weird, but we’re working on it.”
The matriarch disappeared up the stairs, and he supposed she was working on it. This was already much improved since the last time she’d been in his den. And Edith had come.
Hunter grinned. This dinner was going to be fun.
Suddenly there was a ‘pop’ and Eisheth stood before him. Hunter growled before he registered who it was, and then stopped himself when the demon took the wine from him.
“Kenzie invited me,” he told Hunter, giving him one of those obnoxious and flamboyant winks. “Plus I absolutely adore Edith. Cerberus couldn’t keep me away.”
Hunter didn’t even bother responding. The demon popped out again and he started putting the coats away. With Eisheth and the raccoons and Kenzie’s family…this may not be ‘fun’ but it would definitely be interesting.
The demon always set his teeth on edge and he honestly couldn’t say why.
Perhaps it was the chaos he leaked from every pore.
Pounding footsteps came from the third floor and Kenzie appeared on the landing looking harried. Hunter climbed up the entrance steps and raised an eyebrow at her in question.
“You should have woken me up,” she hissed, shoving him when he reached the main floor. He didn’t budge.
Hunter grinned down at her. “I did.”
That didn’t calm her down at all. Red spots appeared on her cheeks and Kenzie practically fumed. “Don’t ever tickle my feet again or I’ll stab you.” She poked his chest hard enough he actually felt it and then whirled around to join the chaos gathering in the main level of his den.
Kenzie always had an interesting way of showing her love and affection. But Hunter couldn't say he didn't like it.
Eisheth was chatting with Edith as he uncorked all three of the wine bottles. Selene and Kenzie had their heads together as they talked in hushed voices and Hunter watched as the raccoons made sure the dining room table was set and the food brought out. He supposed he should do introductions.
"Edith, have you met our friends and colleagues?" Hunter asked. His voice cut through the chatter and instantly everyone went quiet.
"Can't say that I have," she sniffed, eyeing Jace.
She would eat him alive.
"This is Jace. He's the unofficial leader of their little group," Hunter told her. "Then there's Ben, Chance, and Aiden. They're going to be helping us with our current contract. This is Edith, Kenzie's grandmother, and her sister Selene."
Jace cut him a look and so did Edith. Hunter shrugged and he smiled. They would both be wondering, but neither could know for sure. He hadn't told Jace who had hired them or why, but watching Edith try to figure out what he knew would be entertaining.
“What kind of shifters are you?” Edith asked, shaking their hands. At least she was being polite if a bit forward.
“Raccoons,” Chance told her with that cocky, troublemaking grin. He held out a plate of appetizers. “Care for some Camembert?”
"Fascinating," Edith muttered, taking a piece.
Selene covered her smile and then Hunter turned to the demon.
“And this is Kenzie's demon godfather, Eisheth. You may have seen him earlier but weren't officially introduced.”
“A demon,” Ben said, speaking for the first time in hours. “It's not common to see one on this plane.”
Eisheth reached out and cupped Ben's cheek. “No my dear boy, but this is a special case. You've got that classic beauty. How wonderful.”
Ben blushed and stepped back, glancing at Chance who was still too busy flirting with Edith.
Chaos.
This whole night was going to be nothing but chaos. And Hunter couldn't wait to see what would happen.
Kenzie grabbed his arm and pulled him closer. “I’m still worried about the device,” she whispered, standing up on her tiptoes to reach his ear.
The last month had been nothing but constant moves and countermoves with her. And Hunter could see the endgame was near. He eyed her, considering her scent and words before he responded.
“You’ve got it locked up?” he asked.
“And Selene is going to redo the wards tonight, maybe add a few more. Eisheth said there’s some I could do, but I’m not ready yet.” She chewed her bottom lip and he reached out without thinking to pull it from between her teeth.
“No one will take it while we’re here,” he promised. “This house is warded thanks to your sister and we have a top notch security system thanks to you. There is no safer place.”
Those blue eyes pierced right into him and Hunter knew his patience was fraying. He wanted to take her, hold her down, and mark her with his scent. Resisting was getting harder and harder. But the taste of victory would be worth it.
His favorite part of this game was how hard she tried to get him to give in first. Hunter had to say she’d almost succeeded a few times. Kenzie had the soul of a fox.
“Do you like what I’m wearing?” she asked, running her hands down the blouse she had on.
It was deceivingly simple. A white button down, but that button down showed the black lace bra she wore underneath. It was loose and only part of it was tucked into the leather pants that hugged every curve she possessed. The flats were practical and cute and the only pop of color she had on. Deep red to match her lipstick.