by Fran Tullo
Braydon nodded, having regained his composure while she investigated. “Aimee and Rev were both foxes. Char was a leopard like me. We were friends. They liked to run together so Char could practice hunting… ya know, stalking, pouncing, that sort of thing. Rev was older… he could keep her under control even though he was a fox.”
Jace spoke up as Braydon’s voice trailed away. “Char was just a kid… we think about 12 or so. Aimee was about the same age, Rev’s… uh, Jonas’ daughter. We all call him Rev ‘cause he’s the closest we have to a religious leader up here.” He snarled, pale blue eyes going flat and cold as he struggled with his emotions. “Why would anyone wanna attack a couple kids? What the hell is going on here, Lexi?” His fury didn’t surprise her, given the circumstance, but it did make her reassess his personality.
She stood and brushed snow from her pants before resting a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know yet, Jace… but I swear to you, I’m going to find out. This isn’t just about attacking a couple of kids, or taking out campers for kicks. This,” she held up the wrapped twig again, “is a powerful sleep charm. Something that was put in their gear, probably while they were running, in such a way that an experienced fox shifter with enough training to be able to handle a leopard at least three times his weight didn’t smell anything amiss. Something… some one is doing this on purpose and I’m going to find out who, and why.” Her eyes flashed as she stared out at the trees. “And then I’m going to kill them.”
Chapter 5
Jace
There was a lot Jace didn’t know. He was ok with admitting that. He was always looking to learn something new, so he never considered it a failing to ask questions. And he found himself wanting to know a lot about this Red. For one thing, he’d never met one before. He’d heard the stories, of course. Creatures of legend that were neither human nor shifter, Reds were warriors with the skills to fight shifters and magic, and they all seemed to have strong sense of justice. He wasn’t sure if that was natural or trained, but it was rare for a Red to go rogue… they were almost universally champions of the innocent. That didn’t stop them from being a cautionary tale that some parents tried to use on young shifters. “Go to bed right now or the Red will get you!” He was thankful his parents weren’t like that, because he somehow knew that Lexi wasn’t something to be feared. Unless, of course, you were on the wrong side of a large group of shifters disappearing.
That look in her eyes was terrifying, even if it wasn’t directed at him.
When she held up the little stick the first time, Jace had dismissed it as being something one of the girls had picked up and brought back to camp. When he was running on all fours, all sorts of things caught his attention, and more than a few got brought back home with him. After she explained what it was, though, he looked closer, and realized that it had come from Rev’s pack, not Aimee or Charlotte’s. The rest of her explanation chilled him completely. A fox’s nose was incredibly delicate and powerful. Until that moment, he would have sworn on his mother’s tail that there was nothing a fox shifter couldn’t sniff out if they had to. Knowing that something out there either had no scent at all, or could hide themselves?
With a low growl, he dropped to the packs and sniffed at them, huffing softly to himself. Looking up at Braydon, the growl was still evident in his voice as he bared his teeth. “Nothing… there’s nothing here… just the girls and Rev. And us. How can there be nothing else here?”
Lexi pulled him up gently by the shoulder, and he couldn’t help shivering a little. As angry and upset as he was, her touch settled something in him. It felt like steel in his spine, a determination instead of mindless agitation. “We will find them, Jace. And I will kill them. I swear. For now, pack their stuff up. It deserves to be returned to the community. I’m gonna check something quick, then we’re going to move on to the next spot. I wanna hit as many as we can before sunset.”
As she moved off towards the trees, Braydon gripped his shoulder and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead before motioning to the packs. “C’mon, Yin, the sooner we get packed up, the sooner we can get back to finding clues.” His lips twisted in an ironic smile as he watched Lexi walk off. “Or, ya know, letting her find clues. Did the trackers miss so much? Or is she just that good?”
“I dunno, honestly. It’s not really something we’d think to notice, I guess. Especially the trackers; they’re so used to having such strong senses, they probably didn’t notice a lack of scent, if that makes sense.” Jace smiled gently at the term of endearment, reaching down to carefully repack Aimee’s gear. “She’s definitely something else though, huh?”
Braydon nodded as he did the same with Charlotte’s. “She is. I’m just not completely sure yet if that’s a good thing… I’ve heard some bad stories, ya know?” He kept his voice low, hoping the Red was too engrossed in what she was doing to listen.
The fox shifter shrugged, moving to Rev’s pack. He kept his voice down too, tucking up against Braydon’s side as they worked. “Most of those were from people on the wrong side, Yang. She seems all right. And once she’s done here, she’ll be gone, so don’t worry about it.” It took a little effort to keep the frown from his lips as he spoke, but he managed for the leopard’s sake. Something inside him was very against her leaving, but he decided to chalk it up to worry that she’d leave before the job was done.
Once they finished with the packs, he walked up to Lexi while Braydon stayed by the snowmobiles, securing the gear for their trip. “Hey, Lexi, we’re good to go here. You ready?” As he got abreast of her, he stopped, head tilting. Her hand was straight up, pressing against an unseen force, and she seemed to be muttering to herself. He wasn’t sure exactly what she was doing, but curiosity had him reaching out as well.
He only jumped a little when her other hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. “Don’t do that.” She released him and he took a step back. “I’m ready to go. How far is the next site?”
“Uh… oh, yeah, it’s about 2 hours from here. We’ll probably only be able to hit three today before we have to make our way back. But the last one is a straight line back to the compound.” Lexi opened her mouth and he held up a hand to stop her. “The bikes are being transported back. We made arrangements for a truck to pick them up before we left this morning.”
Lexi nodded and offered him a smile. “That works, then. Your people better take care of my baby. If it’s two hours from here, we can check it out and then eat before we go to the last one.” She turned and they headed back to the snowmobiles shoulder to shoulder.
Chapter 6
Lexi
When Lexi walked onto the second site, the haze again enveloped her and she knew. Witches. Most of the time, witches were benevolent humans with some bit of fae or demon in them that allowed them to warp reality. Command of the elements was the most common, and many witches simply settled on one or two, though there was some more powerful ones that could control all four. There were some who had abilities with the dead, and a trace handful that could play with time. The human government tried to register them at one point shortly after The Decision… that was a mistake they weren’t likely to repeat, even after they rebuilt the community centers they had tried to herd them into. Not even the Reds were willing to punish the witches for that, especially since the humans had been warned over and over not to try.
And that was the benevolent ones. Just as humans, shifters, and fae could go bad, so could witches. They called themselves ‘true witches’, but the rest of the world usually just called them psychopaths. Reds called them dangerous, or simply Black Hats. With their magical abilities and a disregard for the moral and legal ramifications for their actions, Black Hats weren’t creatures to be trifled with, and it took extensive training before a Red was able to face one. Lexi only had a bit of formal training against witches. Millie had died before they had gotten into more than the basics. She had done a lot of on-the-job training since, though it was mostly a lot of luck and having magic-using friends tha
t kept her from getting in over her head. She could use a few simple spells, and she knew how to kill them, which was really about all she’d needed so far.
The haze she saw, the skittering across her skin, all pointed to very powerful magics being used. While it would fade with time, the signature traces of spell work would last for quite a while. Lexi’s Grandmother likened it to nuclear half life. Over time, the traces would break down until they vanished entirely, but it took far longer than the spell that was actually cast. The longer or more ritualistic the spell, the longer the traces would be around. The more malevolent the magic, the more the traces would feel like an oppressive, poisonous miasma. The combination, plus the obvious tell of the disappearances, led Lexi to believe that whoever was doing this was incredibly powerful, and completely evil.
She was startled by Braydon walking up next to her, and couldn’t hide the slight jump. He snickered softly, which could only be responded to by a slap on the shoulder. “Wear a god damned bell, ya pussy,” she grumped playfully, turning a bit to face him.
“Oh, damn, never heard that one before.” He rolled his eyes, then looked back at her. “There’s something here, isn’t there? You’re… well, at the risk of getting slapped again, you kinda look like one of those hunting dogs.”
Lexi snorted and turned back to the woods surrounding the cleared encampment. All that was left of it was a burnt out fire pit, no clues to be found there. “So you’re either calling me a bitch, or you’re saying I’m zeroing in on something.”
“Why does it have to be or?” Jace stepped up to her other side, daring to drape an arm over her shoulders. When she didn’t immediately pull away or smack him, he grinned.
“It definitely isn’t an or.” She motioned towards the trees. “I do feel something, but I wanna check the third site before I make any wild claims. So let’s grab some food quick and then get moving again.”
Jace opened his mouth, but snapped it shut when Braydon gave him a look. Lexi didn’t miss the exchange and patted Jace’s arm before moving away. “It doesn’t feel right to eat by the same fire they disappeared from.” Pride wouldn’t let her outright say the place gave her the heebie-jeebies, but they both seemed to catch on because they flanked her as they walked back to the snowmobiles. After a silent ride about a mile away, they pulled into another clearing, where Braydon opened his pack to pull out their lunch.
Lexi stomped down a seating area while Jace set up a portable heater nearby. The immediate warmth as the heater whirred to life made her sigh and she was quick to throw down the tarp Braydon tossed her so she could sit as close as possible. The boys both chuckled at her, settling a little closer than they normally would on the blanket to share their shifter warmth with her.
“Sometimes, I’m really jealous of you guys,” she admitted, taking the simple sandwich and bottle of water that was passed to her. “I’m a Pennsylvania girl, so I don’t mind a little cold, but damn, I could use some fur… or just a higher body temperature right now.”
Jace smirked, shifting a little closer. “Don’t worry, little Red. We’re more than happy to help keep you warm. No matter what it takes.” He winked at Braydon as the leopard moved closer too.
“Ya know, they say the best way to share heat is without clothes…” The words were purred into her ear and it was all Lexi could do to not melt right there. It definitely helped her resolve when Jace started choking on his sandwich.
“Fucking hell, Bray! You’re stealing my lines!”
Lexi couldn’t actually tell if Jace was more shocked, turned on, or amused. The combination on his face made her laugh, though, which made Braydon laugh. Neither of the boys moved away from her, but she found she was okay with that, settling into a companionable silence as they ate. Lexi was firmly aware of the way their bodies moved as they ate and drank, and her traitorous mind kept offering scenes of how their muscles bunched and how much nicer they’d look without the thick protective gear they wore. She tried to cool her libido with the icy water, but it was a losing battle.
Despite her dirty leanings, they finished their lunch without incident. Lexi was about to get up, to get back to work, but then Jace got up first and came back grinning like a school kid. Lexi chuckled at the irony when he handed her a pack of lunch box cupcakes, then passed another pack to Braydon before opening his own.
“Can’t have lunch without something sweet. Other than you, of course.” He winked at her and dropped a kiss on Braydon’s head as he sat back down, already stuffing a whole cake into his mouth.
Braydon grinned as he opened his treat. “Me or Lexi?” Jace’s enthusiastic nod with his stuffed mouth made him laugh.
“Ok… seriously, what the hell?” Lexi looked between them, head tilted. “You two are obviously together, right?”
Braydon nodded, politely finishing the bite in his mouth before responding. She appreciated the lack of flying crumbs she knew was going to come from Jace. “We are. We’ve been mated for a couple years now.”
“All right. Cool… so what the hell is up with all the flirting? Not that I mind or anything, but… doesn’t it bother you? Either of you?” Lexi had seen more than one couple, both human and shifter, that had gotten very upset with her existence because one partner was obviously interested. The way the two shifters were acting, though… it was incomprehensible in the world she’d grown up in.
To be fair, though, she hadn’t exactly had the best run with relationships in general, so what did she know?
“Well, snow leopards aren’t overly picky… there’s not a lot of us, and the chance to pass down the gene is pretty much equal no matter who bears the kits. Not that that’s really a factor with Jace and I.”
“And foxes aren’t generally monogamous. Especially arctic foxes, where the chances of survival are a little lower than in warmer areas, it’s pretty common for actual vixens to take a couple mates. Shifters aren’t quite as polyamorous, but it’s definitely not unheard of to take more than one mate.” Jace grinned. “Besides, flirting is just fun. And no, we’re not proposing or anything, because I can see that look in your eyes.”
Lexi blinked quickly and shook her head. “No, it’s not… uh… I mean, I don’t care what…” She stopped and took a breath as Jace laughed and even Braydon hid a smile behind his hand. “What you do is your own business. I’m just not really relationship material, so hearing flirting and mate in the same sentence is, well, disconcerting, to say the least.” She glared at Jace, but there was no real heat behind it. “Stop laughing, asshole.”
Between fits of giggles, Jace waved a hand at her. “I’m… not laughing at… ok, I’m definitely laughing at you, but… oh, shit. Ok…” He took a deep breath to get himself under control. “Like I said, not proposing. And obviously, this is a really bad time to even consider it. But, if you wanna stick around after you’re done for a little bit, let’s just say Braydon and I wouldn’t be opposed to keeping you warm, ok?”
She wouldn’t blush… she wasn’t going to blush… dammit. She could feel the heat spread across her cheeks, so she just stood up and nodded, stuffing her last cupcake in her mouth. Without responding any further, which would only lead to more innuendos or laughter, she stalked back to her snowmobile, leaving the boys to clean up.
When had she turned into such a fragile flower? If she was interested, Lexi had no problem letting people know. She hadn’t exactly lacked in the bedroom department, though she never spent the night and only rarely bothered with trifles like names. Human, supe, male, female… she wasn’t picky and didn’t really care who knew it, as long as everyone had a good time. So why in the name of all the Old Gods was she so embarrassed by what Jace was suggesting? Hell, it wasn’t like she’d never gone in with a group, either.
Huffing to herself, she checked over her vehicle as the shifters made their way back and packed everything away again. It didn’t matter. At least not until after her job was done. Then she could worry about it, or more likely, have a really good night with them to g
et this weirdness out of her system before disappearing again.
At least she was good at that. Her good mood faded as she frowned at the depressing thought, and it took her a second to shake it off. Once she had her face, and most of her brain, under control, she turned back to them as they walked over.
“All right, last site for today. I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on, so with any luck, we won’t need to worry about the other ones tomorrow and can focus on finding your people instead.”
They both nodded and Jace led the way to the first disappearance in a trail of flying snow.
Chapter 7
Lexi
As soon as they drove into the small valley where the first group of shifters disappeared, Lexi knew there was something wrong. She was off the snowmobile almost before it stopped, hands going to her back to pull her double axes out. In her periphery, she saw Jace and Braydon get off and motioned them to silence. It was already bad enough that the snowmobiles were loud, but hopefully whatever she was feeling would get scared off by the noise and not come investigating. She could still feel the faint traces of the magic that had been used, but there was definitely something else that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.