by Zoe Chant
Lon had to test this hypothesis, with his thoughtful air.
Pink said, “Yes!” and crammed a sandwich triangle into her mouth.
Joey looked with satisfaction down the table, then back to Doris, who was watching the dynamics between the three teenagers with a slightly troubled frown.
Vanessa was teasing Vic over his favorite video games. Joey could tell she was being outrageous to make him laugh. But Marrit and Vic were taking sides in a way that sounded a hair’s breadth from argument.
“You okay?” Joey asked Doris in an undertone, after making sure that everyone was paying attention to someone else.
“Marrit,” Doris whispered. “Is she mad at Vic, or flirting?”
“Both, I expect,” Joey said.
He had seen many teens like Marrit—used to being the smartest person in the room, she tended to use her brains as a weapon. Vic was not having any of it, and it seemed that Marrit was unused to his type of banter. The attraction between them seemed to spike with every comment. But Vic hadn’t asked for either advice or help, so Joey was content to observe from a distance.
Marrit suddenly got up, announced, “I’m done,” and marched out.
She glanced back once—to see Vic helping Lon to the baked applies.
Marrit banged out of the kitchen, unnoticed by the rest of the table, and Doris let out her breath.
Joey said, “Shall I grab the apples before they vanish?”
Doris’s smile flickered. “Thanks. They’re even better with ice cream. Next time, I’ll know to bring a couple of gallons.” She flicked a smile at the children.
The rest of the meal passed in the same atmosphere of merriment. And when all the food had been eaten, Doris’s mother rose and in quick succession issued orders for the last set of chores before they could depart.
Joey had just finished helping move chairs when he caught sight of Doris peeking around the corner on the other side of the phone alcove. He got up and crossed to her.
She drew him into the hallway. “Joey, I don’t really know Vanessa and Vic that well, but Vic and Marrit … I think there might be . . . an issue.”
“Where?” he asked, instantly concerned. “Show me.”
“It’s Marrit. She won’t leave Vic alone,” Doris whispered, drawing him back down the length of the house to the stairwell next to the laundry room. “I heard them when I was starting another load of sheets. I think they might have gone outside.” She peered into the empty mud room.
“Let’s see what we can do,” he offered.
Her face cleared. “Thank you.”
Doris’s hand slipped into his. Together they walked down the hall behind the kitchen, and exited out the mud room. The sound of two low, intense voices drew them around the corner of the house. Beyond was the blank wall—no windows, intended for no witnesses.
Joey looked back at Doris as Marrit’s angry voice rose. “So that’s it?” the teenager exclaimed. “That’s all you’re going to say? Well, fuck you.”
“Stay here,” Joey whispered to Doris, touched her hand and then shifted all the way into the mythic realm so that he would remain invisible to humans, and rounded the corner.
Vic and Marrit stood facing each other. Joey knew that Marrit couldn’t see him, and Vic was completely focused on the angry girl before him, dressed in black, her head flung up, chin out.
“Why do you keep trying to draw me into an argument?” Vic drawled. “You keep telling us you know everything there is to know in the world.” In a sharp movement he unzipped his hoodie, then yanked it off.
Under it he was shirtless.
Despite the situation Joey couldn’t help a spurt of amusement at the way Marrit’s flat-eyed expression vanished as she took in his smooth skin over muscles that were losing their teen gangliness and taking on the shape of manhood.
“Speaking of being a know-it-all,” he said, as he unzipped his jeans.
Marrit’s jaw dropped as he shucked the jeans.
Then, right before her eyes, he shifted to his wolf, and gazed steadily at her through his yellow eyes. As she made a high, breathless noise, he shifted back, and stepped into his jeans again, calm on the surface, but Joey saw the revealing tightness in Vic’s fingers as he said, “And how’s that working out for ya? Later. It’s been a blast.”
He grabbed up his hoodie and walked away barefoot in the snow, leaving her staring wide-eyed after him.
Joey backed up, and drew Doris back to the mudroom.
“Did he turn into a wolf? That’s what it sounded like,” Doris whispered.
“He shifted, right before her eyes.”
Joey led Doris to the laundry room, and shut the door. If he knew anything about young people, he suspected Marrit would hate anyone seeing her shock—or her tears.
“Isn’t that kind of dangerous?” Doris said.
“He knows that. But he’s reckless. And young.”
“Is it the right thing to do?” she asked, her anxious gaze searching his face. “Should we get involved?”
In all honesty, he wasn’t sure. He briefly consulted his fox, which gave him the foxy equivalent of a shrug. “I think it’ll work itself out, one way or another. They’re young. Maybe they aren’t meant for each other. Or maybe Marrit needed the kick that Vic just gave her. My guess is, given their ages, it’ll burn out as suddenly as it flamed, but I trust they will both come out of it having learned something.”
Doris’s cheeks glowed with color. Before he could speak, or move, she leaned into him, and they just stood like that for a while, holding each other.
Then Doris murmured, “This is what you get, if you’re part of my life. Not all the time—I’d go bonkers. But holidays are going to be … well . . .”
“I like your family. They’re interesting, and lively, and even when storms brew up, it’s clear they love each other.” Joey held her tighter, and felt the tension drain out of her.
She wasn’t quite ready to open up all the way and trust him fully. Not quite. But she was getting there.
And one thing few people knew about foxes was how patient they could be. She was worth waiting for.
He felt a little shiver go through her. “Still not summer out here,” he murmured, and she laughed softly into his shoulder.
“No. Not yet.”
She slipped her hand into his, and hand in hand they went back inside, into the merry chaos.
TWENTY
DORIS
“ . . . no, Isidor has his own car,” Nicola was saying over her shoulder to Doris’s mother. “We came up in two cars.”
The in case we had to flee the disaster was implied, but things had gone well enough that it wasn’t said. Nicola then hugged Doris, and whispered against her ear, “Thank you, thank you. I knew you’d back me up. This morning Gran asked when the kids’ birthdays are. That’s it—we’re in.”
Doris laughed a little. “I suspect it wasn’t me at all. I think the kids charmed her all on their own.”
Nicola let Doris go and looked searchingly into her eyes. “I don’t want to sound pushy, but . . . I really hope you and the professor . . .”
Doris ‘s emotions were still a fast-tumbling stream, but she answered the unspoken question. “Yes, even at my age people might find happiness.” She glanced past Nicola’s shoulder to Sylvia’s fixed smile, and her feelings swooped again. “I’m glad you like him,” she added, to firmly draw attention away from Nicola’s unhappy mother.
“We do. Even the kids like him.”
“You were right,” Doris said. “They are adorable.” And as Nicola turned to her uncle, Doris’s gaze was drawn to Pink, who had gone over to Xi Yong.
Pink patted Xi Yong’s knee as she smiled up at him. “Horsie.”
Xi Yong smiled down at her, then put his finger to his lips.
Pink’s eyes widened, then she grinned. Doris realized the little kid now had a secret of her own, and was hugging that fact to herself. She had to smile, considering how new that secret was to her
.
The kids were buckled into their car seats, and Brad and Nicola got in, now that all the goodbyes had been said. The car backed up and started bumping slowly down the half-swept driveway—where it came to an abrupt stop at the spot where the driveway met the road.
Another car was coming straight at it. Both were moving too slowly for there to be any danger. After a few seconds, Brad pulled his car around, and drove down the hill as the other car turned into the driveway.
“Who can that be?” Doris’s mother asked, arms akimbo.
“One of the neighbors, maybe?” Jacob asked.
Everyone seemed to have a question or comment to offer as the car approached slowly . . . everyone, except for Sylvia.
“Oh,” Doris breathed at Joey’s side. “Oh, let this be . . .”
Sylvia had gone stock still, her profile still as marble, as a well-kept luxury car drew near, and stopped.
Then the entire family fell silent as an elegant, dark-skinned man climbed out. His big brown eyes arrowed straight to Sylvia, who ran toward him, then slid on a patch of mushy snow that had ice under it.
The man caught her by the shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Sylvia,” he said, holding her at arm’s length. “I couldn’t get past the roadblocks down below. And I tried calling—”
“We’re out of reach of cell towers up there. I told you that,” Sylvia said, but she was smiling.
“I know. But I tried anyway. I even tried a singing apology at about two a.m. night before last.”
“Singing?”
“I may have been trying to drown my sorrows in Laphroaig whiskey.”
“Ugh,” Sylvia exclaimed, teary and laughing at once.
“So delete that message, please, once your phone is online again. There are, ah, a lot of other calls, too, most of them apologies. Syl, I was a total dick. I know I said I wouldn’t get serious anymore, after I got burned. . .”
Sylvia wiped her eyes. “You don’t have to say anything, Gary. I know I was dancing to the same tune about my ex.”
“But that first night away from you, I realized what you meant to me. And so I canceled all my clients, threw some socks and a shirt into a bag, and started up here. But I couldn’t get past the roadblock. So I’ve been cooped up in a godawful motel for the past hundred years—I’ve been frantic that I’d never be able to see you. To explain. To tell you how much I love you.”
Sylvia gave a cry and flung herself into Gary’s arms.
Joey leaned close to Doris and murmured, “So, there’s something I haven’t told you about nine-tail foxes.” She raised her eyebrows at him. “We have an affinity for troubled lovers. Our natural magic helps them. Romance just tends to … work out, around us.”
“Well, that explains a lot about this weekend.” She couldn’t help laughing aloud, full with happiness to the brim. Her and Joey, Nicola and Brad, Xi Yong and Isidor, now even Sylvia and Gary. Perhaps even Marrit and Vic someday, who knew? All around her, her family’s happiness was falling into place, one person and one couple at a time.
Turning to Joey, she met his tender smile, and her heart was so full she teetered on the edge of tears.
They would be alone soon—and she discovered she could hardly wait.
TWENTY-ONE
JOEY
They stood watching the three cars rolling down the hill: the Lebowitzes were on their way home.
With a couple of exceptions. Doris stood hand in hand with Joey … and Isidor remained with Xi Yong.
Are you sure? Joey had asked Xi Yong, speaking on the mythic plane to avoid being overheard by the humans in the whirl of departure plans going on around them. More importantly, is he sure? Have you explained the situation to him?
He knows, Xi Yong replied. What about your mate? Is the risk acceptable to her?
My mate tricked an armed gunman today. I don’t think I could keep her away if I tried.
“What now, Uncle Boss Sir?” Vanessa asked Joey. “Do we head up the hill to beard the dragon in his den?”
“Not yet,” Joey told her. “We need to wait for—” He stopped and turned his head, aware of a slight prickling on the back of his neck. It might not mean anything … but he had a feeling they were being watched.
“What is it?” Xi Yong asked quietly.
“The humans should go into the house.” Joey kissed Doris. “That means you, love.”
Her cheeks pinked, and she nodded.
Joey turned to Xi Yong. “Protect them. Out of all of us, your qilin is the strongest. No matter what, the humans must be safe.”
He turned to face the forest, as a dragon walked out of it.
Cang had shifted into his human form. As a human, he was a tall, powerfully built man with a bony face and long, wind-tossed hair. His age could have been anything from forty to seventy.
“Guardian Cang,” Joey said calmly. He made sure that he was between the others and Cang. He should never have let Doris stay … but he hadn’t expected Cang to come to the house.
“Friendly warning, Hu,” the fire dragon said. “For old time’s sake. Stay out of my affairs, or you will get burnt.”
“I was not aware that I was in your affairs,” Joey said mildly.
“Oh? You have nothing to do with the human police crawling all over the mountain?”
Joey shrugged. “I am not human police. I am here to enjoy the snow and the lake. This house belongs to humans who have nothing to do with you.”
Cang’s eyes narrowed.
“In case you decide to ‘enjoy’ another place in my proximity again,” he said calmly, “let me give you a demonstration of what you’ll find.”
He shifted, rising into the air.
Joey sensed the sudden panic and distress of the humans behind him. Isidor and Doris had never seen, probably never imagined, anything like the vast red dragon now undulating in the air above them. Asian dragons did not have wings, and Cang flew as sea snakes swim. His massive blood-red body eeled in the air as he hissed in a breath. Scales gleamed like oil slicks down his body, which must have been at least two hundred feet long.
Heat ripped in the air around the dragon’s open mouth. Long teeth gleamed.
“Xi Yong!” Joey said.
And Xi Yong shifted, just as the dragon unleashed a blast of fire at the house.
The qilin took shape in a shower of red light. Instead of burning everything in its path, the dragonflame was drawn into Xi Yong’s shifted body, vanishing without heat.
The huge dragon roared in fury and let out another blast of flame. Xi Yong absorbed that too. Joey knew what the qilin were capable of, but he’d never seen one in action before, and he couldn’t help smiling. The Celestial Empress had indeed known what she was doing, to send him such a powerful helper!
With no sign of effort, Xi Yong absorbed all that Cang could send, until it shimmered in ruby light all around him. Then he sent it out again in warm, harmless light.
In a wink of angry, blood-red, the big red dragon vanished, and Cang stood facing them, in a rage.
Joey took a step toward him, his head slightly cocked. “All right! I admit it!”
Cang seemed taken aback, then suspicious. “Admit what?”
“That I called the police on your minions.” Joey smiled. “That I told the police where they’d come from. That I informed them that I’d overheard them talking about an international drug-smuggling ring operating out of your lair.”
“What?!” Cang’s voice rose into a roar. “You dare to send human police into my lair?! My lair, which is full of shifters? The one rule all shifters must obey, to keep humans out of our affairs—you would break it solely to drive me from my home?”
Joey’s smile broadened. “Well, you know foxes are tricksy things. We never have cared much about rules and regulations.”
“How DARE you?!” Cang looked ready to explode with fury.
Joey didn’t flinch. “Your hideout’s no good to you anymore, your shifters have all run away or gotten arrested, and—”
But Joey stood his ground. For he saw, as Cang did not, that a streak of silver was arcing down from the sky, a great silver dragon dropping down in a spectacular hunting dive.
But though Cang didn’t seem to see the silver dragon, something must have warned him. In the blink of an eye, he vanished.
The silver dragon hovered for a moment, then landed. He shifted in a flash of light, and before them stood tall, austere Mikhail, Knight of the Imperial Court.
“Took you long enough,” Joey said archly. “Couldn’t have showed up one second sooner, could you?”
Mikhail did not quite smile, but humor glinted in his eyes. “It takes how long it takes. Do you know where he went?”
“No idea. Someone must have warned him.” Joey gave Mikhail a thoughtful look. “Glad you got my SOS. You could’ve let me know you were coming.”
“I didn’t want to tip him off.”
“Well, someone did anyway.”
“I know,” Mikhail said. “But we’ve learned something valuable. It’s not just Cang; there’s another mythic shifter involved.”
Joey sighed. “I’m just sorry we didn’t nail him. Well, we were about to investigate the lair up the hill behind this house, but I expect now there’s no need. He won’t come back now that he thinks the cops are all over it.”
“And why does he believe that?” the dragon knight said.
Joey smiled. “Foxes are tricksy things.”
“He will find out the truth eventually. But one of the rangers up there now, on guard, is a phoenix shifter. I was just talking to him before I sensed Cang targeting you. This ranger is going to station one of us up there to watch, ostensibly as a fire marshal. I expect this area is now safe from Cang.”
“Well, that’s good,” Doris said as she moved to stand with Joey, holding tightly to his hand.
