by Emma Dean
Kenzie didn’t have the same intuition and ability he did, but she recognized when someone else was just as damaged as she was. “What did they do to you?” she pressed – feeling like this moment, this opportunity would never arise again if she let him change the subject.
Finnick was the first to look away this time. In the silence she could hear his heart pounding and the calluses on his hands chafe as he clenched one fist. For a minute she didn’t think he would tell her.
“Fox society is strange,” he finally said.
Kenzie got to her feet and then turned back to the water cooler. Maybe if she wasn’t watching him it would be easier for him to talk. She shakily poured two cups of water and then waited.
“We act mostly human, but we have strange skills that make living among them difficult. There is so much pain in the world, Kenzie.”
At the sound of her name on his lips she looked over her shoulder to see him staring at her again. The look on his face wasn’t cocky or playful. Finnick wasn’t smiling or trying to hide his thoughts from her. The absolute agony she saw there in his eyes – it gutted her.
Slowly she brought him the water and then sipped her own when he took the cup from her.
“We can feed on pain, but it takes its toll. We can take away another’s suffering, but that can wear you down if you’re not careful,” Finnick told her. “I couldn’t stop. It was addicting and heady. But the relief when they no longer hurt…that’s why I kept doing it. Until it almost killed me. When I collapsed in the hospital my leash – my chaos had to get me out before they did any tests.”
Kenzie had paused with the cup of water halfway to her lips. Of all the things she thought he might say…this was the farthest thing from it.
“I was punished for my lack of control and the pain I’d accumulated was stripped from me. Then I was cast out.” Finnick drained the rest of his cup. “If you think taking pain hurts, imagine having it all suddenly ripped from you. Remember…we can feed off of it.”
Kenzie had no idea what that could possibly feel like, but she imagined it wasn’t pleasant.
“Without my group I was vulnerable and I couldn’t find anywhere to settle. No wolf pack wanted a fox. When I was almost executed for stealing, Hunter found me. He traded a job for my life. And I’ll never forget it.”
Kenzie didn’t know what to say. She sipped her water. Her mind was still stuck on something though. “Why were you in the hospital?”
Finnick threw the cup across the room and it landed perfectly in the recycling. He shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but he wouldn’t look at her as he answered. “We can’t heal someone else, but we can ease someone’s suffering. Children suffer the most. I used to volunteer in various children’s cancer wards on the night shift, and take their pain while they slept. It didn’t slow down their trip to death’s door, but it made it bearable.”
There was a lump in her throat as she imagined Finnick’s strong, vibrant form hunched over a small, sickly child as he took their suffering in the night, like a gentle, dark god. No one would know what he’d done. No one could thank him, and for some reason that made her want to cry.
Kenzie reached out and took his hand. She couldn’t say anything without him hearing the tears in her voice, but she couldn’t ignore the need to touch him, to comfort him, to ease his pain.
They stood like that for a long time. When she finally got herself under control, Kenzie gave him a little half smile. “I guess you’re not just a pretty face.”
His bark of laughter eased some of the tension between them and the air felt clearer, like lancing an infection. It hurt, but the toxic pressure was gone.
“Tell me something,” she said, tossing the cup behind her. It gave a ‘tink’ when it landed in the recycling.
Finnick’s delighted smile set her heart racing and Kenzie stepped forward. Then that smile dropped and his eyes widened when she closed the distance between them. Her clothes brushed against his but there was no contact except where they held hands.
The space between them was electrified.
“Do you actually like me, or am I just a means to an end with this job?” Kenzie asked.
It bothered her how much she cared, but even she couldn’t say what answer it was she wanted to hear. But she needed to know, because things were moving in ways she just couldn’t predict and that freaked her out more than anything.
Finnick narrowed his eyes and then sniffed the air. Kenzie wished she could know what he learned from her scent, but she was just a powerless witch with an above average nose, not a shifter.
“I don’t know,” he finally admitted.
This time Kenzie was the one to reach out. Her free hand came up hesitantly, giving him every opportunity to stop her. He held perfectly still as she placed it on his cheek. She had wanted to touch him when he’d confessed to her – hug him maybe. But she didn’t really do much affectionate touching…ever. So it was all new and strange to her.
This time she didn’t ignore the urge to touch him.
When her thumb stroked his cheek his sharp inhale made a warmth flare in her belly and Kenzie pulled away as though he’d burned her.
But Finnick snatched her wrist and she froze.
They stared at each other, the moment suspended in time.
What exactly was he planning to do?
Finnick bent down and for a heartbreaking minute she thought he might kiss her. Part of her desperately wanted him to, and the other part was too busy freaking out. But he placed her wrist on his shoulder, and then wrapped his arms around her waist.
He was hugging her.
Kenzie was too shocked at first to do anything. Then all at once she relaxed and the breath she’d been holding released in a whoosh. She flung her other arm around his neck and held him tight, squeezing hard enough to keep her tears from falling as that strange feeling filled her again.
Finnick buried his face in her neck and hair and squeezed her right back, lifting her up to her tip-toes. It settled the last part of her that was still nervous around him and Kenzie pressed her face into his chest so he wouldn’t see the stain of tears on her cheeks.
But it didn’t matter. He could smell the salt.
To her surprise Finnick didn’t mention it.
He gently released her. Then he turned and went up the stairs so fast he was a blur.
Kenzie didn’t bother to say anything to the others. She grabbed her pack and left. She stood on the porch outside, her bright pink VW Bug practically glowing under the streetlight – she felt a dampness on her shirt.
Her hand went to the spot where Finnick had buried his face and her fingers came away wet. The summer breeze amplified the realness of the evidence. Kenzie tasted it and the salt on her tongue made that lump in her throat come back.
If he didn’t say anything about the wet spot on his shirt, she wouldn’t say anything about the one on hers.
Chapter Eleven
Hunter
Hunter adjusted his tie and gritted his teeth. Business-wear was obnoxious at best, but in the heat it was downright intolerable. He sighed and got out of the car. At least the parking garage was cool.
Ash had scouted everything the night before and found out Brad’s law firm was looking for computer engineers in the IT department. It was a lucky bit of chance and they’d had to pounce. This kind of access wouldn’t come along very often.
“Everything okay?” Ash asked over the comms. The communication devices had been expensive but worth every penny for these kinds of jobs.
Ironically Hunter had purchased them online from Kenzie and Selene before he really knew who they were. The dark web had plenty of strange people, but the paranormal world had its own corner where you could buy or sell pretty much anything.
Including borderline illegal tech magic.
“I don’t like wearing suits,” Hunter snapped. The summer heat was making him irritable.
“At least you’re not baking on the roof,” Kenzie said. Her husky voic
e instantly soothed him and he went up the stairs to the lobby rather than take the elevator. Reading into every tiny reaction he had to her was becoming his favorite pastime.
“Have you gotten in yet?” Hunter asked. A few more steps and he’d have to go radio silent. It wouldn’t do to allow his potential employer to think he was insane.
“We’ve been up here for literally ten minutes,” Kenzie snapped. “Hold your fucking horses.”
Hunter grinned.
From what he and Ash had discovered about Davis Attorneys at Law it made the most sense to get everything done in one go. During the lunch hour the building was practically deserted. So they’d called Kenzie. She could gain access to the firm’s servers and everything on there while he interviewed for a position.
The more Hunter learned about Kenzie, the more obsessed he became.
She was a force to be reckoned with, as he’d noted when they first came across each other. But what she’d done for Finnick the night before…it was the first time since he’d met the other fox that his pain was tolerable.
She had done that for him. Somehow Kenzie had eased some of Finnick’s suffering – and the stubborn fox had let her.
Hunter would never forget the state Finnick had been in when he found him. The Blue Mountain Wolf Pack hadn’t taken kindly to a fox stealing in their territory. What probably bothered them the most was Finnick had been doing it for over a year.
He and Ash had been passing through when they heard rumors of a fox being tried by the local wolf pack – vicious at the time. The new Alpha was far more forgiving. Kai might have even taken Finnick into his pack.
But this Alpha had not been like that at all. He’d relished the pain he caused and coveted the power of Alpha.
Hunter didn’t like other people much, but he’d gone to see this other fox. It was always best to at least look into the situation. Another fox owing him a favor was worth more than the peace and quiet he’d have otherwise.
Finnick had been starving out in the world and on his own. He’d gone dark for a while, feeding on pain. And even then when he had, he’d done it to help others. Hunter hadn’t known what to think of that. Very few could feed on pain and still resist the urge to cause it.
One little job and the Alpha had turned Finnick over to him. It was the Fates or the universe’s design, he knew that. Because once Finnick was a part of their ‘chaos’ as he liked to say, everything just fell into place.
But now, ten years later, they had a mate.
The universe wasn’t quite done with them yet it seemed.
Ash and Kenzie muttered over the channel and he could hear Finnick breathing on his end. Finnick had been unusually quiet since he’d come up from their gym alone. He hadn’t asked where Kenzie had gone since he could hear her car’s engine start up, but Hunter had been curious about what had happened between them.
Finnick had asked him to leave it alone, and sensing the edge his friend was on, he had. Hunter was still unsure about this witch who was not a witch. She could easily rip them all to shreds mentally and emotionally. He could feel it happening already.
It had nothing to do with the three of them being jealous of each other either. She was just…made for them, he supposed. Did that mean they had to be ripped apart first so they could be put back together – remade into something new?
Hunter clenched his jaw. That made a kind of poetic sense, but he wanted nothing to do with it. He’d cobbled this family together. He’d kept them all alive for the last decade, and he’d managed to keep all three of them from giving in to the sweet pull of someone else’s pain.
Kenzie had so much of it. She was a walking temptation.
Not only that, she didn’t need them to take it from her. She wanted it. Hunter knew she did. It was the way she held herself, the way she bore the scars proudly.
“Ash, stop. You’re doing it wrong,” Kenzie said. Her soft voice soothed his general irritation over the comms. “Here, just let me do it.”
His eyes narrowed as he concentrated on the two of them and the sounds around them. They should have been doing this at night, but it would be a risk either way. Getting a backdoor into the company’s servers was essential.
There was no sound of footsteps, or doors opening where Kenzie and Ash were. They were safe for now.
“Finnick, how’s everything looking from where you are?” Ash asked.
“Boring.”
The short answer concerned Hunter. If things didn’t go back to normal soon he’d have to stick his nose where it wasn’t wanted and he’d rather just give Finnick and Kenzie their privacy on the matter.
“That’s better than not-boring,” Kenzie muttered. “Okay, I’ve set up the backdoor into the firm’s servers. Ash and I are going to pull out and meet up with you Finnick.”
She talked like she did things like this all the time.
Hunter wanted to know everything about her.
But he also didn’t want to get too close, not yet. The closer he got the more the mate bond would solidify and that was something he hadn’t decided on yet.
Despite this, it didn’t bother him that Kenzie was getting closer to Finnick. And probably Ash as well. She actually let Ash touch her. Hunter figured whatever they all ended up choosing, it would be for the best.
Hunter wouldn’t mind sharing with his two best friends. He wasn’t really built to give a woman one hundred percent of his attention all the time. Connecting like that was the main reason he’d avoided anything serious. His body had needs and he met them, but that was it.
So it would be a relief to share the relationship with others. He could still have love, and still be himself, without hurting his partner.
“Kenzie, you don’t need to pull out of the back door. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?” Finnick muttered over the comms.
Her strangled response was barely comprehensible.
Hunter smiled at that and showed his false identification to the security staff and they checked him in. If the fox could still make demented jokes he was fine.
Then he went through a metal detector. Thanks to the enchanted tech his comm didn’t set off any alarms. It was enough to make Hunter wonder if he should just give the potion to Kenzie now.
What else could she and Selene make for them?
Remembering what Kenzie had told them about the Kavanagh matriarch and her engagement to the slime known as Bradley Davis…Hunter had to hold in his snarl. The man deserved to be ripped to pieces by scavengers for what he’d done.
As a start anyway.
Hunter didn’t really care about other people as a rule, but if he found out something like this he usually made a point to make it his business. Then he took care of the problem.
It wasn’t always solved by their death. There were other ways to keep people from doing bad things that he preferred more. Like dismemberment. Effective and permanent. Hard to rape someone when your favorite piece of equipment was missing.
Then he gave them one more chance to curb their violence.
Once was usually enough.
“This way Mr. Smith. Go up to the fourteenth floor. The secretary there will direct you to the lobby for your interview.”
Hunter nodded and put his I.D. back and then put away his wallet. The security guard went back to the monitors so he didn’t see when Hunter stuck a device under the security desk. Then he smiled and slipped his hands into his pockets.
The elevator trip seemed to take forever. He finally reached the right floor and the elevator dinged, doors opening onto an extremely posh office space.
It was all glass walls and glittering gold without being too gaudy. There was marble furniture and shiny, cutting-edge computers. Even the secretary looked like she’d walked off the pages of the latest Vogue magazine.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Smith. Lorraine will be ready for your interview in a minute. Please come with me.” She didn’t try to touch him and Hunter was grateful for that.
He could sense the ache
in her stomach from the hunger. He could feel the pain in her shoulders from sitting at a desk all day, the pain in her feet from the sky-high heels. There were whispers in her aura of old pain…a broken arm, a brawl at a club…
Hunter looked up and gave her a pleasant smile, ignoring everything else – pushing it back until it was nothing more than a distant irritation.
She was about an inch or so taller than him, but he didn’t mind. The woman was beautiful…but not as beautiful as Kenzie, he realized. Kenzie had a viciousness to her that made her natural beauty into something completely breathtaking.
“Can I get you something to drink?” the secretary asked, preening at his attention.
Hunter nearly rolled his eyes. She had no idea what he was really thinking or she’d have a completely different look on her face. “No, thank you.”
Another flirty smile and she whirled around to sashay back to her desk.
The sooner he could get this over with the better. But then he’d have to fucking work here until they completed the job. It should have been Finnick. He was so much better with people. But the firm needed an engineer. Not a lawyer.
Hunter needed this job so he could get on Brad’s extremely secure computer and laptop. Those they couldn’t access remotely as they didn’t share the same network. He kept them separate purposefully.
It would be easy enough to infect his computer once he got the job, but it’s not something they could do remotely.
Hunter smiled as Lorraine came to greet him.
“Are you ready for your interview?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” he said congenially.
This would be a piece of cake. They’d even have time for ice cream after. Hunter wondered if Kenzie would like ice cream.
“Good luck, Hunter,” his mate whispered into his ear.
He didn’t need luck with those three on his side.
Chapter Twelve
Kenzie
Ash helped her down from the fire escape and grabbed her hand as the two of them walked across the street. It made her skin prickle and her hand clammy in the heat, but they would look like a couple out on a walk during lunch on a Wednesday just like everyone else.