by Emma Dean
Selene opened the French doors and Mika let Audrey go ahead of her.
The backyard was a lot nicer than the Marshall’s at the moment, but Hunter took care of it all which had shocked everyone, Finnick and Ash most of all. But Mika felt there was something that made sense about the quiet fox and plants, and she knew Kenzie agreed with her.
“I can smell your nerves,” Ash said quietly.
Damn shifters and their lack of noise when they moved.
“Yeah, it’s stinking up the house,” Finnick said as he pushed past to get to his mate.
“Ignore him.” Ash rolled his eyes and watched as the fiery fox wrapped his arms around Kenzie’s waist from behind, making the void witch laugh and swat at him.
The demon watched the pair with this twinkle in his eyes like he just thought they were the cutest thing ever – and they kind of were. But Mika would have to say the look on Ash’s face as he watched them was a close second. That was what true love looked like.
“Why are you nervous?”
The foxes could taste a lie better than anyone Mika knew, even the wolves or cats, so she didn’t even bother. “I don’t want to be matriarch.”
If she took over ruling her clan could she go back to Morgana or would she have to stay behind?
“Good rulers usually don’t want to rule,” Ash said quietly.
Mika gritted her teeth. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
The dark fox shrugged and nudged her with his shoulder – shifters had no sense of personal space. “For what it’s worth, I think it’s the right move.”
“As do I,” Hunter said, coming up behind them with a tray of iced tea. “Have you spoken to your fox about it?”
She smiled as the doorbell rang and both foxes tilted their head slightly, listening to something Mika could only slightly hear with her hearing charm.
Ash growled, but Hunter handed him the tray of iced tea. “It’s her fox and the storm witch, Ash. Relax.”
“Wish you would have warned us,” Ash grumbled, taking the tray.
Mika shrugged. “I didn’t know we were going to be talking in your den instead of the Kavanagh mansion.”
“Might as well fetch Edith,” Ash called out as he headed outside.
Fuck. “Might as well invite Lucifer too,” Mika grumbled.
Ash arched an eyebrow at her. “Better not say that any louder, Eisheth might make it happen.”
“Mika!”
She turned to see Ethan and Lucien and her heart swelled.
That achy, lonely feeling she hadn’t been able to shake since returning to San Francisco disappeared in their presence and she wrapped her arms around both of them, wishing this was the only thing she had to worry about.
“Thank you for coming so last minute,” she murmured, breathing them in. One smelled like the night air on fur under a sky full of twinkling stars and the other smelled like rain on a cold day, leaves still green and the soil soaking up the water to quench the thirst of all the plants.
After making her decision, she’d texted them and crossed her fingers that they would come. With the portal it had been a cinch.
“Did Chuck find you guys at the station okay?” she asked, kissing Ethan’s cheek and then Lucien’s.
A real kiss would have to wait for a little more privacy.
“Yeah, he’s a cool dude.” Lucien leaned in and sniffed. He wrinkled his nose. “Why are you so anxious?”
“This is a big deal, okay?” Mika snapped. “This hasn’t been done in hundreds of years.”
Lucien laughed, holding his hands up in surrender as he went around her. “It’ll be fine, babe. You’ll see.”
The fox joined the others and on any other day Mika would love to watch how the four foxes interacted together, but she was a bit distracted.
“He is right though,” Ethan said gently, holding her close. “You’ve got all of us.”
She nodded and took a deep breath before stepping out into the hot sun. Edith came out of the house and didn’t say anything, but she gave Mika a nod as she sat in one of the padded chairs.
“So,” Kenzie said, turning to face Mika with a hand on her hip. “What is it you need from all of us?”
Mika pushed back her shoulders and breathed. “I want to challenge Claire for the title of matriarch.”
At first no one said anything, but Selene smiled and then Eisheth started clapping. “Yas, that’s it baby girl.”
Mika glared at the demon, before turning back to Kenzie and Selene – the only two she really needed to convince. “I assume my petition will go before the High Priestess and I would like your support, if you’re willing to give it.”
The sisters shared a look and Ethan squeezed her hand in reassurance.
“Will you support Selene’s claim if she ever makes it?” Kenzie asked, opening her palm and letting a tiny fox made of magical fire roll around in her palm.
Mika nodded. “Of course. If they ever find out what I am…I would rather have an ally as High Priestess.”
Lucien nodded in agreement. “And one who isn’t as pompous.”
“Agreed,” Finnick said immediately. “Shifters mate to witches more than people like to admit.”
Clan alliances were made all the time, but Mika didn’t think the Marshall clan had ever really had one until her engagement to Matthew. Claire’s fiancé had ended up shunned when Bradley’s cohorts had been exposed.
They were both free now.
It was time to take the witch world back to their roots and shed all these ridiculous trappings.
“I’ll support you,” Selene agreed. “No question in my mind. But I’d like to make a blood oath tying our families together. It will strengthen us both.”
Mika nodded. Then she turned to Kenzie, and she didn’t like the way the demon shared a grin with Edith. “What about you?”
“Me?” Kenzie asked, looking around with wide eyes like Mika had to be talking to someone else.
“Yeah, you.”
Finnick smirked and Ash chuckled at their mate’s reaction.
“Why me?” Kenzie asked with a frown.
“Because you’re one of the most powerful witches of our time in your own way, and unaligned,” Mika explained, crossing her arms over her chest. “Duh.”
Kenzie cracked a smile at that echo of their first encounter at Morgana. “I guess I am. Yeah, you’ve got my vote too, for whatever it’s worth.”
“I’ll make sure they know you’ve got Jess’s vote,” Eisheth told her with a wink. “Mine isn’t worth anything on this plane.”
“Liar,” Hunter muttered.
Lucien eyed the other fox and Mika mentally shook her head. How had these weirdos all become her family?
“Well, maybe a little, but only with the Council,” Eisheth admitted, tugging his cuff down. Even in this heat he wore a fancy three-piece suit.
Mika felt some of her nerves finally ease. “So what exactly is a witch challenge?” she asked.
Selene smiled wide, her teeth looking sharper somehow. This was the part of Selene most people would never see until it was too late. “Once the challenge has been made and accepted, a time and place is set. Then the two battle each other until one yields or dies.”
Mika licked her lips nervously. “Dies?”
Hunter gave her a feral grin. “Only the strongest can lead. If someone will not yield the fight is taken to the death. There can be no question.”
A battle…
Audrey sighed. “Why am I not surprised that we actually need those battle magic books?”
“My pack might have different ones than Hunter has access to,” Lucien said slowly. “I can ask our librarian.”
All the foxes perked up at that. “A road trip?” Finnick asked.
“If the books are there,” Lucien hedged, suddenly looking like he wished he’d kept quiet.
Mika smiled and leaned into Ethan.
A road trip actually sounded like it might be fun.
“When are
we leaving?”
3
Everyone was silent as they waited for the food. The housekeeper, Ms. Jenkinson, was bustling around in the kitchen. Claire sipped her wine and openly stared at Lucien and Ethan.
“I didn’t realize we would be having company,” Claire said carefully. “Otherwise I would have warned Ms. Jenkinson.”
Lucien grinned viciously at Claire. “It was a last minute invite. No need to make any trouble for us.”
Her sister flicked her gaze between Lucien and Ethan, eyes narrowing. Audrey smirked into her wine glass and Mika sighed internally. This wasn’t going to go down without some drama. She didn’t know why she’d thought it might be smooth. Everything in her life was just a little bit extra – and this would be no different.
“Are you two together?” Claire asked, flicking her finger at Ethan and Lucien.
Uh oh.
“I guess in a way,” Ethan said with a chuckle, looking at Mika. He took her hand and Mika’s cheeks heated. She wasn’t going to deny their relationship, but she wished to hell that it could be done at literally any other time. “Lucien and I are both Mika’s boyfriends.”
Audrey laughed and then choked on her wine – that’s what she got.
This time Mika did sigh as Claire’s skin turned an ugly shade of white that made her look like the living dead. “Excuse me?” Claire practically screeched.
Wait until she found out Lucien was a shifter.
The thought made Mika smile slightly. She swirled the wine in her glass and shrugged a shoulder.
“Our ancestors did the same,” Mika said quietly. “I figured why not since they’re both cool with it.”
Lucien’s vulpine smile widened and Mika would have sworn she could see glints of his sharp canines.
“Well.” Claire stared into her wine glass like it might have an answer to the situation.
They were all saved by dinner and it was clear by the way Lucien and Ethan stared this was not something they were used to outside of a restaurant. Audrey still looked uncomfortable from time to time, but now she reached for one of the covered dishes like a pro, serving Claire on her left.
Witch hierarchy.
“Thank you Ms. Jenkinson,” Mika murmured, watching as the food was served. Thanks wasn’t required, but it had always felt strange not to.
Her turn would be next on a normal night, but there were other rules. “Would you mind passing that to me? We should serve our guests first.”
A very old rule, but breaking bread together incited an old ritual and protection spell that dated back to the days before the written word.
Claire’s cheeks flushed and Mika tried not to roll her eyes. She hadn’t been trying to slight her sister, but it was getting easier and easier to do these days.
Audrey handed over the platter with the beef tenderloin au poivre. Mika smiled as she served the two males she cared about most in the world. They may be her guests now, but maybe they wouldn’t be one day.
Ethan and Lucien eyed her like she’d grown two heads.
Blushing slightly, she broke protocol and served Audrey next before serving herself while Claire took her green beans and roasted potatoes from the other platters before passing them on.
There was a glint in her eye and Mika braced herself for the next question.
“So, have we decided when the best time for the ritual is?” Claire asked, holding up her wine glass for Ms. Jenkinson to refill.
Chuck was no doubt in the kitchen so he could help the housekeeper. They ate what Mika and Claire ate; she’d made sure of it when she first came home after discovering how deep Claire had gotten in with some of the other high society heiresses.
“I have actually,” Mika said, sensing the listening ears from the kitchen, feeling the way Ms. Jenkinson tensed slightly as she moved to refill Mika and Audrey’s glasses. “I don’t think we should schedule it until we know who will actually be matriarch.”
The sound of glass shattering on the hardwood floor reached her ears before the screeched, “What?”
Mika pressed her lips together. Silence would be the better choice here.
“I am heir,” Claire stated as she stood from her seat. The unbridled rage in her voice made Audrey flinch.
Mika gritted her teeth as that protective instinct swept through her, kindling her blood magic.
“There is no question of who will be matriarch,” Claire gritted out, only the idea of polite society kept her sister from screaming again.
“Actually.” Mika took a moment to sip at her wine, making sure her sister knew exactly how unbothered she was by this little tantrum. “That’s not true.”
“What?”
Audrey flinched again and this time Mika drained her glass before standing. Claire blinked, clearly forgetting Mika was just as tall as she was now. “I, Mika Marshall, challenge you to the position of clan matriarch.”
Lucien and Ethan didn’t move. Ms. Jenkinson’s jaw dropped. Even Audrey kept still. With her charm Mika could hear the choking cough from the kitchen. She’d surprised the squirrel shifter, which somehow felt like an accomplishment.
“You can’t challenge me for the title,” Claire sputtered. “It just isn’t done anymore.”
Mika studied her sister and knew that this was going to fracture them even further – that they may never recover from this, no matter who won. But she needed to know she was safe, that the ones she cared about were safe.
Only the sound of the grandfather clock filled the space as they stared each other down like a pair of vicious wolves waiting to see who was weaker.
“We can bring my challenge before the High Priestess,” Mika stated as neutrally as she could.
Claire threw her napkin down on the table and Mika placed her hand carefully on Audrey’s shoulder, ready to connect and share power if it came to that. The air in the room changed and she could feel the static electricity that told her Ethan was ready to throw down too.
“Fine,” Claire snapped. “But you are not stronger than me, and you never have been. I will destroy you and then what? What will your little attention-seeking tantrum accomplish?”
Gritting her teeth, Mika refused to answer. Nothing she said mattered at this point. And if they were going to step into that ring together…her sister couldn’t know just how powerful she was.
“I will send a message to Takahashi,” Claire said, as if she were close with the High Priestess. “Expect to be summoned, sister.” She spat the last word and stalked out of the dining room.
The sound of her stomping up the stairs could be heard throughout the entire house, and then a door slammed. Audrey winced again and then sighed.
Interestingly, Claire hadn’t taken their grandmother’s room.
“Witches are so dramatic,” Lucien said as he took a massive bite out of his dinner like nothing had happened. “But if she thinks this was a tantrum she should see the way kits fight over scraps.”
Ms. Jenkinson choked on what sounded like a laugh before disappearing into the kitchen.
Mika sighed and slumped down into her chair. “Was this the right choice?”
At times it felt like exactly what Claire had called it – an attention-seeking tantrum. Mika didn’t want to rule her clan. She didn’t want to be in charge. And she sure as hell didn’t want to be responsible for Claire after a lifetime of assuming it would be the other way around.
Ethan took her hand and squeezed gently, ever aware of her power and how she’d nearly killed him with it – and never once did he ever hesitate to comfort her even when her emotions were volatile.
“I think it is,” Audrey said. Her friend, and real sister, shrugged one shoulder before taking a bite of potatoes. “And if you truly want me to join the clan, my opinion holds weight, doesn’t it?”
She supposed it did. Mika smiled slightly. “Looks like we get to go to the coven building soon.”
Lucien snorted. “And here I was hoping we could go see the Golden Gate Bridge.”
“We already did that,” Audrey told him. “Where have you been?”
“Learning from a samurai,” the fox retorted, reaching for another bread roll. “Thank you for the amazing food, Ms. Jenkinson!”
A pleased mutter came from the kitchen and Ethan smiled as he looked at her. “We knew this would happen. Don’t worry; you’ve got a lot of support. And you know I’d tell you if this was a dumb move.”
Mika pecked his cheek. “Yeah, you would you heartless monster.”
“Don’t forget that’s your favorite part about me,” Ethan teased.
For all his gentle behavior, the part of himself he hid from the rest of the world was definitely her favorite.
Mika finished her dinner and watched as her favorite people enjoyed themselves in her house. This could be her future one day and she would never tell anyone just how badly she wanted it. Something about saying it out loud made it feel like it would all be ripped away from her for having the audacity to dream.
This moment was perfect, despite everything.
4
Mika didn’t know why she was setting up the guest bedrooms when the air was as electric as it was. She could feel the weight of both Lucien and Ethan’s gazes as she fluffed the pillows.
“You guys have to go back to Morgana tomorrow?”
“I do,” Lucien admitted, begrudgingly. “But Ethan has independent study. I’m waiting to hear back from my pack leader about bringing everyone to visit. I’ll let you know as soon as I get a response.”
Mika nodded, trying not to let her disappointment show on her face.
“I can stay for a few days if you like,” Ethan said softly, somehow knowing how nervous she was even though he didn’t have the same shifter senses Lucien did.
“Have either of you heard from Malachi?”
They both shook their heads. The other witch was being elusive, but she didn’t blame Malachi. She’d been much the same after finding out her father and brother had betrayed her.
“Anything else going on at Morgana?”
“Everything’s quiet so far,” Lucien admitted.
