"Ziff cannot have Captain Crunch," I said as Chris dangled one of the sugary bits in front of my fox's face. "It's basically solid sugar. You'll give him a heart attack."
"Remember that time you found him gulping up some leftover brandy from the night before?" Fae-Bitch asked, folding his turquoise wings together behind him and withdrawing the cereal from Ziff's reach. He popped it into his mouth and smiled at me while he chewed. "Or maybe you forgot that like way you forgot to tell me you banged the alpha wolf?"
"Can you just not this morning?" I asked as I set out a small bowl of fruit and seeds for Ziff to pick at. He looked at them and then up at me, his round black eyes like marbles in his tawny face. But those ears ... how could I resist those fucking ears?
Reaching out, I gave one of them a squeeze and he chirped at me. That was worth at least one piece of cereal, right? I snatched one from Chris' bowl and fed it to Ziff.
"Thanks for letting me spend the night," Shelbi said, appearing at the bottom of the stairs with her blonde hair wet and hanging around her shoulders. For whatever reason, the sight reminded me of Revel.
Fuck.
She hadn't called me since leaving that note. I was now so worried that I'd actually called her back. Me. Making a move. Felt a little ridiculous to keep checking on a stranger I barely knew, but ... She was sick, and I felt like it was my responsibility to be sure that nothing happened to her because of it. And maybe it was because I'd shot a teenager in the face or maybe it was because our species was seriously close to extinction. But maybe it was also because I fucking liked her straight off.
"Heading home when I'm that drunk is never a good idea." Shelbi sighed and slid onto a bar tool at my counter, looking like she was as far away from this kitchen as I was.
"You're the omega then?" Bex asked from Chris' other side. She was already dressed in gym clothes and ready to hit The Shack. I'd noticed she hadn't invited me to join her which meant that it wasn't simply Mik who was aware of the possibility of, er, my impending termination.
And I meant that quite literally.
The best I could hope for was for the kitsune council to step in and ask for me to be returned back to the Earth. They probably would use their power and influence to keep me from getting a hit put on my ass. Then, of course, I'd lose my house, my car, my life.
I'd already lost Riot.
Closing my eyes, I put my palms on the counter and leaned over my coffee. Hopefully only Chris would realize I was having a moment.
"Yup," Shelbi said with a sigh. "Basically a pack punching bag."
"So if you're with Vail Valley, then ... Thea is your new alpha female?" Bex continued as I stifled a groan and tried not to imagine Bennett's give-no-shit attitude. The next full moon, huh? Great. Really, the last thing I needed was to be alpha of a pack I couldn't control. A fox stood no chance against a wolf, remember? Shelbi must've nodded because Rebecca continued talking. "Have you ever been raped by Bennett Beowulf?"
"Wow," Chris whistled, and I finally lifted my face to look at the three people occupying my counter. "Just come right out and say it, why don't you?"
"Well, I've heard rumors that it's not uncommon for a pack alpha to take advantage—male or female."
I just stared at her and then turned my attention over to Shelbi. If I found out that the man I'd just fucked was a rapist, I'd puke all over this counter. And then, alpha or no, I'd take my weapons into the woods and end him.
"He's never raped me," Shelbi said, her eyes wide. I had no idea if she was telling the truth though. For all I knew, she was just scared shitless of me or Bennett, or unsure if she could trust me. "Thea, no," my new friend continued, shaking her head. "Bennett is ... well, he's fucking insane, but he's never forced himself on me."
"But you have slept with him?" Chris asked, folding his arms over his pink Republicans Suck Ass and Blow Dick t-shirt. On the back it said, Democrats Suck Ass and Blow Dick, Too (just less often). It was one of my favorite tees he owned.
"No!" Shelbi said, lifting her hands up and out. "No, no, no. Bennett is a crazy son of a bitch, but he likes a challenge ..." She trailed off and all three of them turned their attention to me.
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," I said with an eye roll. "But I'm not a 'challenge' for him; it was a one-night stand. It's never happening again."
"What's never happening again?" Revel said as she strode through my front door like she owned the damn place.
My heart leapt into my throat, and for a moment there, I forgot to be totally and completely pissed off that she'd just waltzed into my house.
Her ruby red hair was up in a high ponytail, her orange ears and tails on full display. She had on little denim shorts, similar to the hot pants I'd worn last night, as well as some badass motorcycle boots, a too-tight tee, and a leather jacket.
She also had a suitcase with her.
"You've to decided to go ahead with it, huh?" Chris asked, lifting up his phone and pointing it in Revel's direction. She dropped her bag, struck a pose, and let him take a photo. Within about five seconds, I had a notification that he'd tagged, Tweeted, Facebook posted, and Snapchatted it to me. And also to everyone else he knew (which was a lot of people) with the hashtag TheaGettinHerGayOn.
How sweet.
"I didn't exactly say that," I said, but what I had texted her was you shouldn't be alone if you're sick. So, in a sense, I had basically admitted that I was going to let her stay here until we found a cure.
Or until I had to put a bullet in her brain, whichever came first.
"Where should I stash my shit?" she asked, glancing down the line of my friends. "A wolf, a faerie, and a vampire walk into a bar ..."
"Oh, you better work, bitch," Chris said, rising from his stool to give Revel a hug, like they'd known each other forever. That was just Fae-Bitch's way though; he loved everybody. "I have to go; I have a gig tonight at the Silver Stallion." Chris made some lewd motions with his hips and Revel chuckled, slapping him on the ass.
Apparently, they were going to be instant friends.
"Revel Jones, this is Shelbi Grange and Rebecca Michaels."
"Lovely to meet you, ladies," Revel said, giving them both these exaggerated winks, like she was a pin-up model or something, as she shook their hands. She certainly had the body for it. The false lashes, heavy makeup, and cherry red lipstick didn't hurt much either. "I'm Thea's predatory roommate."
"New friend," Shelbi said, giving me a very respectful sort of look. Uh-oh. I did not want to be treated like an alpha. No fucking way.
"Co-worker," Rebecca added, glancing out the front door as Chris opened it and let in far too much sunshine. I'd left the automatic shades down on the rest of the windows to keep the vampire's pale skin protected. "It's great to meet you, but I'm also going to head out before the sun gets any more obnoxious."
Rebecca stood up and folded herself into a coat and gloves, putting up an umbrella as she waved and stepped out into the gold morning rays. Still cold as fuck out there, but it wasn't actively snowing. That was good, right?
"I have to work at the restaurant today. Hope it doesn't feel like I'm running out?" Shelbi stood up and tilted her head toward me with respectful deference. "Do I have permission to leave, Alpha?"
"Alpha?" Revel asked as I nodded and groaned at the same time, staring at up at the ceiling while Ziff made a mess on the counter with his food. As soon as the door closed behind Shelbi, I dropped my head back down to look at Revel.
"To save me the other night, the alpha male of the Vail Valley Pack had to make me his mate in order to keep me alive. Doesn't mean anything. He's a psychopath, and for me, he was just a one-night stand."
"I see," Revel said, tickling her red nails on the top of Ziff's head. She wasn't showing any signs of the madness, but then, according to her it'd only been three days since she'd stopped being able to shift. "Is he going to show up here and try to kick my ass? I'll beat him up for you."
"I don't think he gives two shits about
me," I said, not at all bothered by that, just trying to be honest.
"Do I have a lot of time left?" Revel asked after a moment, and I could feel this heaviness settling over the room like a cloud. "Before I go rogue and start murdering people? Or is it gonna be quick?"
She wasn't looking at me, her confidence draining out of her in an instant. She continued to stroke Ziff's ears, but she wasn't really looking at him.
"I know someone who's working on a cure," I said, but what I didn't mention was that he was also the piece of coyote trash who'd started spreading this disease in the first place.
Revel looked up at me.
"You said that before," she told me softly, pulling Ziff close to her chest so she could hug him.
"What I didn't say was that I'm actively working with him on it." I swished my tails as I tried to figure out how to phrase this. "I'm letting him study me—and my fucking tails—to see if he can find a cure."
"Research takes months, if not years," Revel said softly, and I knew right then and there that this was all my fault. If I hadn't invited her over here from Japan, she wouldn't be infected. Un-mated kitsune were so rare, lesbian and gay ones rarer still. I'd baited her over here and now she was going to die.
"This isn't science, it's magic," I said which could be better or worse. Magic was quicker to succeed ... but also quicker to fail, and failure could be catastrophic.
"If I tell HASR that I'm infected, they'll send one of their people to take me out; they won't wait for RADOPA to do it."
"What?" I asked, coming around the counter to sit on the stool beside her.
"That's my job here, to keep this infection contained and quiet. Humans, vamps, the fae, they all hate shifters. Imagine what would happen if it was widespread knowledge that we had our own form of rabies?" Revel sighed and raked her fingers through her hair, lifting her green gaze to mine. "How much time do I have?"
"A week before you start to lose control," I said, my heart pounding my chest. This wasn't happening; this couldn't be happening. My own selfish idiocy was going to cost a kitsune her life. And all because Fin and I couldn't just talk like grown ups. I tapped my fingers on the counter for a moment and then picked up the phone to call Nix.
Clearly, he needed test subjects and here, I had one in my kitchen. She was a fox; I was a fox. Perfect for experimentation, right?
As I started to call him though, he ended up calling me.
"Miss Hunt," he said, his voice like ice, even through our digital connection. "How are we this morning?"
"Like fucking shit," I said, because I was pissed off. Revel raised a brow, but didn't say anything. I knew she could hear both sides of our conversation, but I didn't mind since this involved her as much as it did me. "I have a kitsune friend sitting here that's infected with this bullshit virus. Infected dust, can you imagine that?"
Nix said nothing for a moment, and I could just imagine him pushing his glasses up and into his pale blonde hair.
"My employer's agreed to meet with you." A rush of both excitement and nerves went through me at the idea. In my head, I was imagining some massive corporation like HASR or Monsanto or Kaiser or some shit. After all, most corporations were headed by literal living trash with zero morals or compassion. I was of the opinion that RADOPA should offer free services to take out assholes like the CEO in charge of epipens, the one who raised the price from three hundred bucks to six hundred, despite the damn things costing twenty-five cents to make? Yeah, sorry, but people like that deserve to be killed. Greed doesn't look good on anyone.
"Have they now?" I asked, my nostrils flaring as I imagined how this meeting might go.
"Today," Nix continued, paused. "Well, tonight if you want to be technical about it."
"Tonight? Fuck off. They can wait until tomorrow," I said. I was not about to be bullied around by some corporate prick.
"I'm afraid you don't understand," Nix said, and I hated the way my skin broke out in goose bumps at the sound of his voice. I liked it, and by rights, I shouldn't, especially not with Revel Jones sitting in front of me. She was fucking afflicted by this man's mistakes. No, even if there was some animalistic attraction between me and Nix Locklear, I was never going to act on it. Never. He wasn't even worth a one-night stand. "When my employer says tonight, you damn well listen."
"And maybe you don't get it," I snapped back at him. "I agreed to work with you, but I'm not your fucking slave."
"No, but to my employer, you are," he said, as casual and cool as could be. I opened my mouth to tell him off again, but his next words stunned the shit out of me. "Ask your new friend where she was born, have her tell you about the shrine."
"The shrine?" I asked as the blood drained from Revel's face. Based on her expression, I could already tell she'd heard the question.
"How the fuck does this asshole know about that?" she asked, standing up from the stool. Ziff hissed and screamed his rage at the sudden surge of emotion, leaping onto Revel's shoulder and perching there protectively. He really did have a weak spot for kitsune. "Give me the phone," she demanded as Nix clucked his tongue.
"Bring her with you tonight." He paused, as if he were talking to someone. "Actually, I'll meet you at your place. We have a little ritual to attend to."
"You're not coming over to my goddamn house," I said as I hit speakerphone and set my cell on the counter. "Nix, are you listening to me?"
"We'll leave together from there; it'll be easier than trying to give you directions. Our destination isn't exactly on the beaten path. Make sure the miko knows that she's coming with us."
He hung up on me—one of my biggest goddamn pet peeves—and left me to stare at Revel for answers.
"How does he know that about me?" she asked as I blinked and tried to put together everything that'd been said. A miko, or shrine maiden, was a kitsune born in the direct view of our goddess, Inari Okami. They were generally blessed with special powers and held a massive amount of power and sway over our people. All three members of the Vail Valley Earth Council had been born as mikos when they were young. Not all shrine maidens chose to live at Inari's temples or shrines, but to leave, they had to have explicit permission from the goddess herself.
"I don't know," I said, puzzling through our little conundrum. "Is it true?"
"I ..." Revel started, and then she just slumped back down on the stool like she was a deflated balloon. "I was born at Inari's temple, just outside of the city of Nara in Japan. So yes, my mother was a miko, but the goddess gave both of us proper leave when I was three. Nobody should know about that except my mother herself, and she's been dead for a decade."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said, exhaling slowly. "My mom's dead, too."
Revel reached out and threaded her fingers through mine. I couldn't tell if we were having a moment, or if it was a sign of camaraderie.
"You gonna tell me a little more about your friend? Because if he knows shit about me he shouldn't know, I'm sicking my HASR buddies on his ass." I smiled, but it wasn't a real expression of happiness. How could it be when I had no idea what the hell the night was going to have in store for us? Or the week for that matter, because at the end of it, it could be Revel that I was shooting between the eyes with my Ruger.
"Guess you'll find out about him soon enough." I held up the text from Nix that'd just come in. "He's on his way."
"How the fuck did you find my address in the first place?" I wondered as I stepped back and let all six foot fucking five of Nix Locklear stroll into my foyer. He was wearing that dirty fur around his shoulders still, but his hair was immaculate, his suit tailored to perfection. The black lines of his jacket enhanced the width of his chest, the narrowness of his waist. And those slacks, well they were sharp enough to cut.
"I have my sources," he said as he paused just inside the door and let his ice-blue eyes trail over Revel's curvy body. "My, my, aren't we beautiful?"
"I don't do dick, so you can fuck off," she said with a little sneer. "Now tell me how the fuck
you know about my mother?"
"Like I said, sources," Nix said with a long sigh. "You'll understand more when you meet my employer."
"Do you work for HASR?" Revel asked, narrowing her eyes. "Because if you do, I'll let you know I've got a level two security clearance."
"Fuck HASR," Nix said with a little smile. "The CEO has his head so far up his ass, he wouldn't see me coming if I drove a dump truck to take him out. Now, are we going to stand here and talk or are we going to make things happen? With your bloodline, you should be able to resist the disease longer than most. If you play along, maybe I can have you right as rain before Thea severs that pretty little head from your shoulders? It'd be a shame, considering what a beautiful body you have to go along with it."
"If you think sexualizing me will get me to play into your game, I'd be glad to show you what a buttload of tit and ass can do when she's pissed off." Revel sneered at Nix as Ziff let out a screaming little shriek. He seemed to dislike the skinwalker as much as Revel did. She turned to look at me and cocked an eyebrow. "If this is the man I'm counting on for my salvation, maybe I should commit a little hari-kari now and be done with it?"
That made me smile a little. Hari-kari was ritualistic Japanese suicide.
"You're not my type anyway," Nix said with a cold smirk of his own. "I like my women svelte and athletic." He turned away from her dismissively and looked me over the way he'd done in the bar that night. Wish I could say I wasn't affected by it, but I was. Good thing my brains were stronger than my ovaries or else I might've jumped him. "Shall we?"
"What the hell do you want me to do?" I asked him as he moved back over to the door and opened it again. That's when I noticed all the luggage sitting outside. "What's all that for?"
"This is for our little agreement," he said, grabbing a small leather briefcase off the top of the stack. "And the rest, well, those are just my personal belongings. Like I said, I'll need constant access to you, little fox." He bit this last word off with a cold, easy smile.
"Oh hell no," I said as Revel's mouth dropped open.
"You're going to let this asshole get away with pushing his way into your house?" she asked, which was actually pretty goddamn funny considering she'd just done the very same thing. "Babe, I don't think I can stay here if he's going to be camping out, too."
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