What the Fox

by Emma Dean

  Eisheth’s smile nearly broke his face in half.

  Kenzie then looked at Selene sitting next to Edith with her foxes on either side of them. Now that they were all bonded they could attend this meeting as her partners and/or spouses. But the raccoons had to stay outside.

  Jace hadn’t been too happy with that. No doubt he wanted to steal something one could only find in a coven building.

  But now, it was time to ruin this motherfucker.

  Kenzie didn’t wait for Takahashi to begin the hearing with some nonsense. She just tapped the face of her watch and gave Brad a sweet smile when the sound of his voice started playing loud enough for everyone to hear.

  The entire conversation she’d had with him at the club had been recorded and sent to Takahashi the day before. When it got to the part where he’d started listing off those in the coven working for him, more hunters poured into the meeting room, yanking people out of their chairs and dragging them before the High Priestess.

  This was why the emergency meeting had been mandatory. Everyone registered to the coven had been required to show or lose their status in the Bay Coven. As one of the oldest covens in America, that was a hefty loss.

  So they had all showed. Every last one of those rat bastards who’d thought Brad would be a better leader than Takahashi or Selene.

  When the recording finished naming his co-conspirators, Kenzie tapped her watch to pause it. “Anyone else you feel like naming while we’re here?” she asked, walking around the line of assholes now kneeling before Takahashi.

  Kenzie couldn’t help but smile down at Brad. She’d been waiting for this moment for a very long time.

  What she didn’t expect was for Brad to smile right back.

  “Oh, there’s a few more,” he drawled, studying his nails. Somehow he still looked like he’d planned to be kneeling here on the floor, hands bound before him with a rope that cut him off from his magic. “Would you like for me to name them, High Priestess?”

  Brad didn’t even look at Kenzie, ignoring her like he always had. It had been his subtle way of snubbing her, telling her she didn’t belong, and he’d been doing it all her life. Kenzie ground her teeth together but waited for Takahashi to respond.

  This had to be done right or Brad wouldn’t pay for all his crimes.

  “By all means, Mr. Davis. But I want this confession done under truth serum. Matriarch Kavanagh?” Takahashi was furious if the muscle tick right above her left eye was any indication, but she looked rather composed as she waved her hand for Selene to take the floor.

  More aides came out of random doors and placed the ingredients on Takahashi’s table. A natural precaution so that everyone could see Selene hadn’t tampered with anything considering her and Brad’s history.

  Kenzie stepped aside so she could see her parents with her aunt and uncle, and Martha – all sitting behind Edith. Ugh, she did not miss living with her cousin at all. None of them looked nervous. They wouldn’t meet her gaze but that wasn’t really surprising. None of them knew how to deal with her new status so they all watched Selene like they always did.

  “I usually add licorice root to enhance the flavor of what they’re ingesting,” Selene said softly. “I carve a rune onto it and then grind it up. Should I leave that out this time?”

  Takahashi narrowed her eyes at Selene. Without a word Kenzie stepped closer, not liking the way the High Priestess was looking at her sister.

  Finally the High Priestess was seeing Selene as a viable heir. And as long as things between them were fine, Selene would wait for Takahashi to retire. If not…

  Selene had promised Kenzie a witch challenge after all.

  “Just do a basic truth serum, nothing fancy,” Takahashi said. “And do it quickly.”

  Selene nodded and managed to get it done in only a minute. Murmurs rose as Takahashi inspected the potion.

  “Well done, Matriarch. Now, Kenzie, if you don’t mind. Please give this to Brad.”

  Kenzie smiled and snatched the vial from the High Priestess. Takahashi had finally come to the same conclusion other covens in the past had. Why they’d coveted void witches.

  Kenzie was the only one who could safely handle a criminal witch.

  If anyone stepped out of line or managed to get out of their bonds…well, all she had to do was take their power.

  She stepped up to Brad and he playfully opened his mouth.

  It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn she heard Hunter growl from across the huge room. The stone floor did strange things to sound.

  Pouring the serum into his mouth was one thing, but he had to swallow it for it to work. So just to be sure she slapped her hand over his mouth, grabbed his hair with the other hand and yanked back just enough he couldn’t spit it out. Then she massaged his throat until the sound of him swallowing practically echoed in the space.

  Kenzie released him then, but not without taking more than a few of his hairs with her. Brad hissed.

  “Whoops, sorry,” she told him, giving a shrug. Eisheth’s snort of laughter could be heard from every corner of the coven’s meeting room.

  “Let’s get this over with already,” Takahashi said with a sigh. No doubt the High Priestess wasn’t pleased with the zoo Kenzie always seemed to bring with her.

  “Why were these people working for you?” Takahashi asked Brad.

  The hunters tightened their grip on their prisoners; rope slung around each one’s shoulders for now.

  Brad smiled and it was honestly the creepiest thing Kenzie had ever seen. “Because I don’t think it’s right that only a female is allowed to rule a clan. That only a female is allowed to rule a coven. So we were going to overthrow you, and then I was going to take over as the first High Priest of the Bay Coven.”

  How boring. Someone like Brad would try to do something so unimaginative. It sounded even stupider the second time too.

  “You are not powerful enough to lead the coven,” the High Priestess said simply, as if the blatant misogyny and sexism didn’t bother her. “Were you going to murder everyone who was stronger than you?”

  That lazy smile on his stupid face widened. “Obviously,” Brad said, giving Selene a wink.

  “And this is why males are not allowed to rule,” Takahashi said with a wave of her hand, dismissing his so-called plan like it was nothing more than a child’s game. “It was done once and the number of murders of powerful female witches spiked. It wasn’t until the Council stepped in that we could regather our power and our senses. Men will always try to take it from us. Selene knows she’s more powerful than everyone here so she doesn’t bother. She will wait until the trials.”

  Takahashi studied Brad like he was something disgusting she’d found at the bottom of her purse. “If you actually had the power I’d consider it,” she told him. “But the most powerful male here is only as strong as a mediocre witch. Perhaps the Fates keep it that way on purpose – to protect their daughters.”

  Kenzie had often wondered the same.

  In one of Selene’s books there was a theory that Artemis had granted human females part of her power. So they could protect themselves from all the terrible men in the world.

  That was probably her favorite theory, but no one really knew and somehow the Fates had become something like gods to witches over the centuries. But Kenzie still left tokens to Artemis whenever she passed Selene’s shrine.

  Takahashi opened her mouth to ask another question but Brad interrupted her. “There is one last person I forgot to name as co-conspirator,” Brad practically cooed. Then he finally looked at Kenzie and her stomach twisted into a knot. “Martha Kavanagh.”

  Of course. That bitch must have been the leak too. Somehow she’d gotten into their projects and figured out some of what they were up to.

  Fuck. How had she not seen that one coming?

  Kenzie took another step closer to Selene who had turned as white as a sheet. Her sister must have realized the same thing Kenzie had. Martha was
how he’d found out about their portal.

  Two hunters ripped their cousin from her seat while Kenzie’s aunt and uncle begged and pleaded.

  “This is going to turn into an investigation into our clan,” Selene whispered.

  “What are they going to investigate?” Kenzie hissed. “They have no rights to my den and the Kavanagh mansion is nothing but dust. Let them investigate.”

  Selene’s face was grim, but her sister knew she was right. They had nothing to hide and even if some of their projects and work weren’t exactly legal, Kenzie had done her job well. There was nothing to trace computer-wise. All their work was hidden and mislabeled. At least for the witch world.

  Because what they were doing wasn’t against any human laws. And paranormal law didn’t cover most of what they were doing. But they were supposed to register something like a portal. And if Martha knew about it…

  Kenzie knew no one but a god could break into the den right now after Edith and Selene helped her add her own wards the night before. The coven could get a warrant, but all evidence would be gone by then. There was another option though. Kenzie smiled and nudged her sister.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got it under control. I promised a long time ago I would protect you.”

  And Kenzie would do exactly that for the rest of her life in varying degrees and in whatever ways her sister needed. They were two sides of a coin, nearly two halves of a whole and she’d always known that.

  There was no way she would ever let anything happen to her sister.

  Or her foxes.

  Takahashi waited for Martha to be placed in the line before continuing the interrogation. “Is that all of your accomplices from this coven?”

  “Yes.”

  Brad’s smile made her want to kick his teeth in and Kenzie didn’t like how oddly specific that question had sounded. Did Takahashi know about other accomplices and didn’t want to bring them into question? And if so, why?

  Kenzie looked over at her foxes and all three of them were frowning. Ash leaned over and whispered into the demon’s ear. Eisheth frowned and then nodded before he disappeared into nothing.

  And he didn’t ‘pop’ which meant he either made that noise on purpose because he was an attention whore or he didn’t bother to silence it for the same reason.

  What a drama queen.

  “Anything else to confess?” Takahashi asked. “Any lies to come clean about?”

  Brad’s smile finally wavered and he gritted his teeth against the strength of the truth serum. “Yes.”

  Then the High Priestess smiled, but it wasn’t pleasant. It was the smile of the cat who ate the canary and got away with it. “Tell me.”

  Brad resisted again and it made him turn a really impressive shade of purple. He was choking on the words. “I cursed the Kavanagh mansion with Martha and Peter’s help. I poisoned Selene to strip her of her powers knowing it would kill her. I also killed all those humans that were listed in court yesterday. The rest were raped or abused by me. Only my father knew.”

  Kenzie actually felt bad for his mother, but she had always been weak and shy – very submissive. She felt bad that the Davis clan would pair such a sensitive witch with someone like Brad’s father. It was disgusting.

  But the way Mr. Davis’s knees slammed into the stone floor was extremely satisfying.

  Takahashi had certainly prepared for this. All these hunters must have cost a fortune.

  “Well then,” Takahashi said, tapping her nails on the table. “I’m not sad to do this. You are stripped of your magic for the rest of your life. You are cast out of this coven and excommunicated from witch society. All of this will be made official and logged with the Council in a few hours, but I’ll strip you of your powers right here.”

  Whatever Brad had been expecting it hadn’t been that. “For life?” he demanded. “You need Council approval to strip me of magic for life.”

  Kenzie grinned when Samuel, Alpha of the West Coast Pride and Councilman, stepped into the coven meeting room, hands in the pockets of his very expensive Armani suit. “I signed off on it before this meeting even occurred,” Samuel stated. Then he gave Kenzie a nod.

  Samuel had come through for her when she’d needed it. It had cost her the favor he owed her, but there was nothing else Kenzie wanted anyway except for his silence, and support for her work with Selene.

  But Samuel was far too invested in them and anything they could produce to ever mess with that. All it had taken was the promise that she would sell at least one third of whatever they made, but never listed, to him.

  They could decide what to keep a secret.

  The Alpha was a cool dude when all was said and done.

  Brad started screaming obscenities as all the matriarchs not listed as Brad’s co-conspirators came together and started the extremely complicated spell that would strip him of the power he’d been born with, tie off the connection to the universe so he wouldn’t slowly gain it back or die from the lack of magic, and then give that power back to the universe.

  She walked towards her family. They didn’t need her for this part. Sentences would be doled out, matriarchs stripped of titles, and there would be a whole new generation of witches leading them into a better future.

  Hopefully.

  Kenzie didn’t want to think too hard about why women would take Brad’s side. The psychology behind that was too messed up, even for her.

  “Job done, Gram-Gram,” Kenzie whispered, just loud enough for her parents to hear. The gasp of shock from her mother was worth the glower on Edith’s face. “Justice has been served.”

  “The rest of the money will be in the account we used before,” Edith sniffed. “Eisheth is checking into Brad’s contacts. He says he still plans to see you on Wednesday for training. Now, run off and make sure those beautiful raccoons are taken care of. It’s a shame they couldn’t attend the meeting. Jace would have loved this.”

  Finnick snickered and stood with Ash. Hunter gave Edith a kiss on the cheek and Kenzie ignored all the stares. No one in the coven except her grandmother and sister mattered to her anyway.

  “You didn’t sleep with any of them, did you?” Kenzie asked, trying to keep her voice down.

  “No, of course not dear. They’re like foster sons to me though. Or grandsons? Either way, they’re family. Now get out of here before that priestess figures out you could have stripped him in seconds.”

  He probably would have died if she took everything. Kenzie smiled and shrugged. “The outcome of that would have been messy. I’d rather he live a long life.”

  Brad would now have to live like she had – as a human among paranormals.

  At least she’d never been a criminal. Well, not that anyone knew she was a criminal.

  Hunter placed his hand on the small of her back and she let him lead her out of the large meeting room.

  Kenzie grinned at Finnick and Ash.

  Or a merc.

  “I’m tired. Let’s get some ice cream, go home, and snuggle,” she teased, bumping Hunter with her elbow.

  “Only for you, Kenzie,” he muttered. But Kenzie had always recognized that twinkle in his eyes and now that she could feel him through the bond – Hunter was secretly pleased.

  “And me!” Finnick said, shoving between them.

  Kenzie laughed as they stepped outside into the crisp fall air.

  Revenge made the world taste sweeter.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ash

  Something was wrong.

  Whatever it was woke Ash from a dead sleep. He sat straight up and looked around Hunter’s room. It was pitch black. Then he realized someone’s phone was vibrating. But that wasn’t what worried him.

  “Where’s Kenzie?” he asked, slapping Finnick’s ass hard enough the sound cracked through the room like a whip. Finnick’s answering growl woke up Hunter who then reached for his buzzing phone.

  “What the hell is wrong with you dude?” Finnick asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
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  “Where is Kenzie?” Ash asked again.

  Then he felt it – what had woken him from a dead sleep.

  Terror. And it wasn’t his.

  “Who is this?” Hunter growled into the phone.

  “She’s gone,” Finnick whispered. And then Ash knew he felt it too.

  They both looked to Hunter who was glaring at the wall, phone pressed to his ear. It was easy as pie to listen in.

  “If you ever want Kenzie back alive you’ll give me the portal,” an unfamiliar voice said through the phone. “If you don’t bring it to me, I’ll throw her from the top of the tallest building in San Francisco.”

  Instantly Ash was ready to tear anyone and anything apart. He ripped the covers off and went to the pile of stuff he’d brought into Hunter’s room. Based on the look Hunter currently had on his face they were going to be busy.

  Torturing hopefully.

  “We don’t have access to the closet,” Hunter told whoever it was. “How did you get Kenzie out of this house? It’s been warded by a demon witch and a demon, as well as a void.”

  Ash stilled and glanced over his shoulder at Hunter. He wasn’t surprised to see Finnick in his fox form. Stress and real fear always made Finnick escape into the form he was most familiar with – most comfortable in.

  Black pants, black boots, and a long-sleeve black shirt. Then he went back to the bed and knelt down, pulling out the cases hidden under there with the body armor and weapons. Ash pulled out enough for everyone, keeping an eye on Finnick as they all waited for the dead man on the other end of the line to respond.

  “It was easy to get a certain spell from the Autumn Court after she murdered one of their fae,” the man said in his oily voice. It wasn’t Brad. So who the fuck was it? And how did they know someone in the Autumn Court who would sell them a fae spell? It had to be someone with power.

  “They sold you a lure?” Hunter asked. “They never sell lures.”