All Foxed Up

by Emma Dean

  “I think I can figure out how it works.”

  “Are you sure?” Finnick reached out with his other hand and Ash gripped his wrist, but there was an amused smile on his friend’s face which had been the whole point.

  “Stop being weird for five seconds,” Kenzie hissed, eyeing how Finnick kept reaching for Ash’s cock. That glare on her face melted and she burst out laughing right when Samuel came down from his office.

  Finnick tucked his hands in his pockets and smiled up innocently at the Alpha of the West Coast Pride.

  The large predator shifters were always so goddamn big, even as humans. Samuel was six foot four – two inches taller than Finnick. It was annoying how much taller they could be, and instantly he clenched his jaw to keep from saying something snarky.

  Samuel had the power to make their lives miserable.

  And still they did stupid shit like steal from him.

  By the way the white tiger was sizing him and Ash up, the guy may have granted them amnesty thanks to Kenzie, but he certainly hadn’t forgotten what they’d done.

  “What are they doing here?” Samuel asked politely. There wasn’t a hint of animosity in his voice, but the tiger was clearly not pleased.

  It made Finnick smile wider.

  “They offered to help in case there’s something we might miss, I hope you don’t mind Alpha,” Selene said in that strong, matriarch voice that rippled the air around her with its power. Her words may sound sweet, but she wasn’t one to mess with.

  “We’ve already had shifters look through my warehouse,” Samuel said, but he turned to face Selene with a polite smile. “I’m not sure what these two will pick up that we can’t.”

  It always surprised Finnick how little the large shifters knew about their smaller brethren.

  “Oh don’t worry,” Finnick told him. “We’re just looking for the chaos and pain. Unless you’ve got a fox in the West Coast Pride…well, let’s just say it’s not something everyone can do.” He grinned at the white tiger, practically pulling his tail and begging him to react.

  Samuel’s eyes narrowed. “Yes…I’ve forgotten about that neat little trick. Let me show you around. Hopefully this will help you with the new system,” he said, turning back to Selene. “I know they work better when targeted to specific species.”

  “Yes, Alpha, but we plan to make the system sensitive to all paranormals. It seems for the best,” the Kavanagh Matriarch stated. “This is merely a formality. If we can help discover the perpetrators then you would owe us a favor.” She smiled sweetly up at the tiger. “I like the idea of that.”

  Finnick snickered. Kenzie wasn’t the only one with claws. This one had them too, but they were made of ice so cold they burned.

  “I would be forever grateful,” Samuel told her, placing a gentle, barely-there hand on Selene’s lower back.

  Finnick watched the way Kenzie frowned, but didn’t say anything. Then it was safe to assume she knew the tiger wasn’t Selene’s mate, so there was no risk, she just didn’t like him touching her sister.

  Interestingly Samuel had meant what he’d said. The tiger would be grateful which meant he was desperate to find out who was sabotaging him. Finnick wondered idly how much money he’d lost during the attacks. Or was he worried about something more precious, like technology?

  These corporate games were so fucking boring.

  Finnick loved a good game, but these business guys disgusted him. They never followed the rules. Rules were there for a reason. The real game was playing within those rules, bending them almost to the breaking point, but not quite.

  If you weren’t smart enough to do that…well, rules started getting broken and that’s when shit always went sideways.

  Samuel started talking about his warehouses, explaining all the tech and lab equipment as they walked through the halls.

  For a nasty looking place on the outside, everything was white and pristine on the inside. Technicians were suited up in gloves and goggles and white coats. Computer screens were everywhere, but of course they were some kind of high-tech shit made from pure glass.

  The tiger hadn’t been lying when he’d said the tech was cutting edge.

  Finnick stopped when he saw another ripple. It wasn’t from Selene and it was too large to be a shifter. “I need to go over there,” he said, pointing to the far window.

  Demons made large ripples. Maybe it was a demon? They liked chaos as much as foxes did. There didn’t have to be a motive for them.

  What else could possibly want to destroy clean energy?

  A competing company which could be anything from another shifter, fae, and even a witch if they did tech magic like Kenzie and Selene. What else? Demons…vampires usually kept to themselves as did the wolves and the bears. Hunters didn’t get into shit like power plays. They made good money working for the Council or freelance and didn’t really like people.

  Samuel led the way as Selene took out something small. It looked like a compact mirror but smelled like magic. Ash had his nose up and eyes narrowed as well. There was definitely more to the warehouse than just workers and tech. Something had very clearly been disturbed.

  The previous magical shield had been broken, and that always left some severe residue on the world.

  That had been the one benefit to living as a fox. There were very few ripples in the wilderness. Fae didn’t use the same kind of magic witches did. So when they left their mounds it never really disturbed him as a fox. But witches and demons, they caused the largest ripples.

  The only time Finnick had ever seen a rip in reality quite like this one was when a portal or a door had been created where it shouldn’t be. They all knew there were doors between the planes, but the locations weren’t always clear.

  This was definitely a door. Or it had been.

  He walked in a trance towards the rip. Finnick had only ever seen two others. One in the forest where he’d lived for so many years. And the second he didn’t like to think about. Hell wasn’t a place he’d like to visit again.

  “Dragon?” Ash asked under his breath as they stopped in front of the rip.

  “Hm, hadn’t considered that,” Finnick said, crossing his arms over his chest as he studied the thing. “I don’t think dragons can cross planes.”

  “True. I’ve seen something like this once, in a vampire’s nest,” Ash told him, leaning a bit closer so the chances of the tiger overhearing them were smaller. “Thousands of lives had been sucked dry there and it left a mark kind of like this.”

  “What do you guys see?” Kenzie asked, shoving between them.

  His arm went around her waist automatically and Finnick ignored the settling in his soul as he concentrated. “Do vamps have magic?” he asked Ash. “I can’t remember. Otherwise they’d have to kill a thousand people right here to create this. I’m calling demon.”

  “Oh, I know one. I could ask him,” Kenzie offered. “He’s pretty cool.”

  Finnick eyed his mate. She was a weirdo. And he loved it. “Sure, summon a demon like it’s no big deal. Trying to show off?”

  “Maybe,” she teased, elbowing him in the ribs hard enough he winced. Finnick didn’t miss the way she glanced at Ash either. “What do you guys see?”

  “A portal was made here,” Selene stated loud enough for everyone to hear as she looked up from her compact. “It’s closed now, but there are only a few things that could manage something like this. It severely narrows down your list of suspects, Samuel.”

  “Can you build something to keep doors from being opened?” the tiger asked, staring in the wrong place.

  Finnick had to turn back around so the other shifter didn’t see the amusement on his face. For all his strength and good looks and money, the tiger was looking in the wrong spot like he could see what the rest of them did.

  The universe sure had a fucked up sense of humor.

  “It’s right there,” Finnick said, pointing. The smile on his face made his canines show. It wasn’t quite a challenge, bu
t it was close.

  “Of course,” Samuel snapped. “Is there anything that would keep something like that out?”

  Selene studied her compact. “Perhaps. I’ll start working on the spell for everything else. If I can find a way to ward your buildings from someone creating doors, I’ll weave that in on top of the main spell. Then Kenzie will take it from there.”

  Finnick couldn’t help looking down at his mate, impressed with their work. Handling that kind of magic was no joke, even if she didn’t make it herself. Combining tech with something as arcane and unpredictable as power right from the universe? That took skill.

  “You gonna call your little demon?” he teased, pulling her in for a kiss before pushing her away.

  Kenzie stumbled right into Ash who caught her on reflex. When she straightened, Finnick was pleased to see the other fox didn’t remove his hand from her hip. “You gonna go look and see what did this like a big boy?” she asked.

  He chuckled. “Call your demon, babe. Daddy’s gotta work.”

  Chapter Six

  Kenzie

  There was a good chance the demon wouldn’t answer.

  Fuck, why had she thought this was a good idea?

  Kenzie pulled out her phone and set it up so she could see the picture she’d saved while grabbing a black pen from her purse. The ballpoint was perfect and the lines were dark without any break between them as she copied the pentagram from her phone onto her palm.

  This was probably the stupidest thing she’d ever done. But she’d been very careful. She wasn’t summoning a demon, but rather…inviting one to come visit her if they felt like it.

  It could go bad either way though. If she got any of the symbols wrong she’d be inviting a different demon and who knew what they’d want with her if they took her offer.

  Selene hovered but didn’t say anything. Kenzie was pretty sure they were long past the point of her baby sister trying to tell her not to do stupid shit. After the last few weeks, well…doing stupid crap was part of her life right now.

  It paid off most of the time, but at some point her luck would run out. The universe was cruel like that.

  “Careful,” Selene whispered. “That’s a tricky rune.”

  Kenzie gritted her teeth and took a moment to shake out her hand. Then she drew the final rune. “Okay, hand me your ceremonial blade.”

  All witches received them at their birth, but Kenzie’s had been melted down after she’d been declared an abomination. It still stung to remember too. But she’d kept the ruby, tucked under her shirt with her other charms.

  Selene was the only one who knew. After all, she’d been the one to pull it from the ashes.

  Her sister’s sharp blade was the length of her pinky and Selene placed it carefully into Kenzie’s waiting hand. One quick jab in the right place and blood slowly started to fill her palm, covering the pentagram. She whispered the words she’d found in one of the grimoire’s and prayed to the Fates the right demon answered her request.

  A loud pop and suddenly there he was, inspecting the nails of one hand with the other in his pocket. “I was curious what the infamous Kenzie could possibly want to talk about, but I don’t have all day darling. Make it quick.”

  She cleared her throat and took the handkerchief from her sister who stared wide-eyed at the demon in the tailored suit. His curly brown hair was perfection as always. He really was insanely handsome.

  “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Eisheth,” Kenzie said carefully. “I would have understood if you hadn’t.”

  Eisheth scoffed and flapped his hand at her. “Get to the point already. You’re so boring when you’re polite.”

  Finnick laughed loud enough she jumped and threw a glare over her shoulder at him. She was not boring. “Someone made a door into this warehouse and then closed it up. I was wondering if you’d be interested in looking at it. And having good manners is considered a virtue,” she huffed, wiping the last of the blood from her hand before cleaning the pentagram off.

  “Well, it’s certainly not one of your virtues,” Eisheth said, turning to look where Finnick and Ash were currently poking around. To her it looked like nothing but air unless she used one of her enchanted objects.

  “And what are my virtues then?” Kenzie snapped, tossing her sister the bloody fabric who muttered some spell as she waved her hand over it. Instantly it was clean and pristine once more, her blood completely erased from existence.

  “Oh, you know, tearing down the rules that have existed for centuries to prove everyone wrong. This is fascinating. Samael and I have been going through a rough patch. This distraction couldn’t have had better timing.” Eisheth patted her cheek before walking around her toward her foxes.

  Kenzie wanted to ask about Samael but decided now wasn’t really the time. “Well, someone keeps destroying Samuel’s warehouses. We came to look and found this.”

  “Did you find anything interesting?” Eisheth asked Finnick, feeling the fox’s upper arms as he inspected the red-head.

  “Where did you meet this demon?” Selene asked, watching Eisheth move on to Ash next, sizing both foxes up like Kenzie had seen dads do on sitcoms.

  “At Samuel’s barbecue. He was there with someone else. The Alpha Female of the Klamath Mountain Pride.” Kenzie was too fascinated to step in when Eisheth asked Ash if he’d considered the mate bond at all. “Can we look at the damn door already?” she snapped when the topic turned to if he’d slept with her yet or not.

  “I was planning to ask her if she wanted to go do something tomorrow,” Ash said a bit defensively when Eisheth kept pressing for more information. “Want me to have her call you after?”

  “Yes, what a marvelous idea! Kenzie darling, come here so I can give you my phone number.”

  She didn’t bother to deny him. After all, she’d been the one to invite him here. “How do you get service in Hell?” she asked.

  “Magic, duh.” Eisheth rolled his eyes and chuckled as he snatched her phone and tapped into it. “Here you go; I expect to hear from you on Wednesday darling. Don’t forget or I’ll pop up right at the most inopportune moment. Now, as for this door.”

  “You didn’t tell me Eisheth was your demon godfather,” Samuel said a bit wryly as he came to stand beside her, watching them all as she did. Neither of them could see what the foxes, demon, or Selene could.

  For the first time, Kenzie didn’t immediately want to throat-punch the tiger. “I didn’t realize I had a demon godfather,” she admitted.

  Samuel shrugged. “I’ve dealt with him a bit since Piper became one of mine. If he’s adopted you as one of his then there is something he sees in you that the rest of the world can’t. He…helps females. Piper isn’t the only one. Eisheth collects the lost and abandoned and damaged. He’s like some kind of guardian angel, looking out for those who need it. Jessica, Malia, Morgan…all very powerful paranormals.” The tiger looked down at her. “Like I said before, you don’t need magic to be powerful. Eisheth knows that better than anyone.”

  She considered those words for a moment. “Are there notes on him from the Council?” she asked, testing the shaky ground between them.

  “This particular demon has always stuck his nose in mortal affairs. Sure, we live longer than humans, but he was created at the dawn of time. We’re all babies to him. I think you might know some of his charges: Morgan Le Fey, Van Helsing who was actually Vanessa Helsing, Cleopatra, and some say even as far back as Medusa.”

  Kenzie filed that away to consider later. “So what, he’s like Peter Pan and the lost boys?”

  “Well, he favors women. So the lost girls I guess.”

  It sounded exactly like something a weird demon would do. Eisheth and the lost girls. Kenzie almost rolled her eyes, but she had to admit, she’d never really belonged anywhere.

  The demon gave her a wink and then went back to work.

  “Have you ever really talked to him?” she asked Samuel, trying to get a feel for the tiger now that they wer
e on the same team.

  “At dinner parties. He’s always been nothing but polite. I’ve never met a less chaotic demon. But his charge, Jessica? Fuck, that woman can stir shit up. If I didn’t know better he delivers his chaos through his charges rather than doing it himself.”

  “Jessica is a hunter. You’ve hired her as a Council member. Why would she cause you problems?” Kenzie asked as she watched Ash stick his hand in the air. Jeez, they looked like a bunch of idiots when she couldn’t see what they were doing.

  “Yes, but she’s also a demon witch who deals directly with Lucifer based on some weird shit with her ancestor Jesse James.”

  “No fucking way. Not that Jesse James.” Kenzie laughed and looked up at Samuel, finally seeing the real man behind the Council member and CEO. He was a lot less of an ass when he was just being himself.

  “Well, according to the archives the Council did hire a hunter named Jesse James back in the day before he lost his soul to Lucifer.” Samuel grinned down at her. “The dates match up. I checked.”

  Of course he’d checked. Kenzie snickered. What a nerd.

  Ash stepped back to make room for Eisheth and then he looked over at her and Samuel, his face expressionless as always. Maybe he was wondering if she actually did want to do something tomorrow, or maybe he was just pissed she was standing with the tiger shifter.

  It was hard to tell.

  But she was curious what Ash had planned. She really did want to go out with him, see if this thing between them was more than just attraction.

  Could she handle more than one guy in her life? It didn’t seem like she’d have issues with Finnick sharing. He kept pushing her and Ash together, but balancing them, that was what she wasn’t sure about.

  Kenzie supposed she had the next six months to figure it out.

  “Well, when they’re done I’ll help Selene gather the rest of the info we’ll need. We should have a prototype for you to look at relatively soon.”

  “I appreciate that,” Samuel told her. “If there’s anything you need help with, just ask. I heard about what happened to your clan’s house. My condolences. Do you need me to look into anything?”