by AJ Merlin
That seemed like the best answer I was going to get. Still, I hesitated a moment longer, wavering between putting it on and returning the gift. Especially since I didn’t know what she wanted from me in return.
But the possibility of my summoning hurting someone I cared about terrified me.
Steeling myself, I lifted the chain over my head and let the jawbone rest against my chest.
A warm tingle went through me, but nothing more.
I let out the air I was holding in relief.
“There are voodoo practitioners dying in New Orleans,” Maman Brigitte said when I visibly relaxed. She sat back down on the sofa and folded one knee over the other.
“Why?” I asked, still examining the jaw.
“We do not know. That’s what I’m asking of you. Find out who is killing our followers, and stop them.”
Startled, I looked up at her with wide eyes. “Stop them? You mean kill them?”
“I mean stop them. Or let us have them. I care very little which.” She looked to Baron Samedi, who shrugged. Was there something going on between them that I couldn’t see? “We could help you stop them if it came to that,” she said at last. “Do we have a deal?”
That didn’t sound so terrible. Find bad people, stop bad people, let the Loa take care of said bad people. Surely all I had to do was watch my back and be discreet.
I opened my mouth to speak but didn’t get the chance.
“That had better not be a ‘yes ma’am’ about to come out of your mouth, George,” a dry voice drawled from somewhere at my back.
I turned, not needing to see the person’s face to know who it was.
Merric stood on the lip of the fountain, all nine tails at his back like a very glorious bustle and his eyes shining yellow.
A sneer played at his lips. “Because I’m sure I’ve taught you better than that.”
Chapter 4
“Merric,” I breathed, unable to believe he was here of all places. “What are you doing here?”
He rolled his eyes in my direction and hopped off of the fountain. “You’re making everyone upset again,” he informed me. “Your cousin says she came home to find you were gone, your car was unlocked, and there were signs of very poignant magic in the yard. So she called everyone, and now it’s just a mess.” His eyes went unflinchingly to Baron Samedi’s face. “Your magic reeks just as badly as it always has.”
His tone of voice never changed. Merric’s words and attitude were as scathing as when he spoke to me. Wasn’t he afraid of the Loa?
More frighteningly, a thought occurred to me. Who was Merric, that he didn’t fear them?
Baron Samedi sighed and got to his feet. “Seems like no matter what I do, I just can’t keep you out of here, can I?” He asked almost kindly. “Don’t you know where you aren’t wanted?”
That made it sound like the Loa knew Merric. And what reason did a kitsune have to know them?
Turning back to me, Merric ran a hand through his dark hair, tousling it further. “Ask her to clarify,” he ordered.
“What?” I didn’t understand.
He rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide one bit of his true appearance. “Ask her-“ he jabbed a finger towards Maman Brigitte, who graced him with a small frown. “To clarify the bit about helping you stop their murderer.”
“O…kay…” I looked to Maman Brigitte. “Clarify it? I guess?” I didn’t understand what the big deal was.
“There’s very little to clarify. It’s nothing for you to have appeared here over,” the Loa shrugged.
“Mortals might think differently,” Merric shot back. “If you won’t tell her, I will.”
The list of things I didn’t understand was growing, and it did not make me happy.
“Were one of us to help you enact our vengeance on a murderer, we would do it from you,” Maman Brigitte explained slowly. “That’s all.”
I didn’t get it.
Merric sighed heavily. “She’s going to possess you, George. You know. Wear your body like an emo ensemble and do what she wants with it. You open yourself to possession once, you get possessed all the time.”
“You were going to possess me?” I asked in alarm.
“It was just an extreme measure, as you don’t seem to enjoy finishing things,” she explained. “Your fox is being dramatic.”
“Her fox is here to bring her home,” Merric interrupted.
Maman Brigitte turned on him, and the air went cold. “Watch yourself,” she said softly. “You are not so powerful here as you might think.”
“And you are not so powerful any longer as you might think,” he replied just as softly.
Then, like he’d flipped a switch, the threatening air around the kitsune was gone. Nine tails became two that waved at his back, and his eyes faded to brown. “I didn’t come to fight, Brigitte,” he said, a happy-go-lucky grin on his face.
“I wish you hadn’t come at all,” Baron Kriminel said, pushing off of his spot on the rail.
Maman Brigitte lifted a hand, and he paused. “We were done here, anyway,” she shrugged. “Tell me that you will look for whoever is killing voodoo practitioners, and you can keep the necklace. We would prefer that you take care of them, as well.” She looked at Merric. “Is that sufficient, little fox?”
“You don’t have to rush,” Merric assured her. “I thought maybe we could talk a little before I go? That Spring Equinox, huh?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“I’m killing him,” Marinette announced, stepping forward. “Or I’ll burn down this entire island. Whichever works.” She lifted her hands at her sides to waist height, and fire licked at her palms.
“Holy shit,” I leaped sideways into Merric. “Yes, yes, I give you my word I’ll look!” I told Maman Brigitte while trying to get away from Marinette’s flames. “How do I call you?”
“Call any of our names,” Baron Samedi explained. “With a little bit of your magic in the words.” He didn’t look at all bothered at Marinette’s growing flames.
“And how do we leave?” I demanded, now putting Merric between myself and the danger.
“Oh, you’re actually ready? Are you sure?” Merric turned to face me, his smile much too wide. “After all, why not waste my night further, George? I’ve only gone to the ends of the earth for you now, and saved you from Loa possession. You sure you’re ready to go?”
“Yes! I’m–“
“Sure I shouldn’t have this fire fight with a god first, George?”
“I’m ready to go!” I yelled, eyes on the flaming figure.
“Well, if you’re sure…” He grabbed my hand and tugged.
It wasn’t at all similar to traveling with Baron Samedi. One moment we were at the home of the Loa, and the next, we were standing on the riverbank.
Sounds lit the air around us. A band played, and crowds had gathered for street magic acts and freshly fried foods that made the air smell sickly sweet.
We were back in New Orleans. My hands shook at my sides as I turned in a circle to look around me. How had he gotten us here?
And why was it night?
“How did you do that?” I asked, marveling. “No spells like that exist. And Baron Samedi said–“
“I don’t operate by witch magic rules.” He dropped my hand, speaking as if I should’ve known his own magical proficiency far exceeded my own.
“Where are we?” I didn’t recognize the exact street, and we could be anywhere along the riverbank with it at our backs.
“That’s a weird way to say thank you.”
“Thank you,” I amended. “For coming to get me and keeping me from agreeing to her terms blindly.”
“Hmmm.” He reached out, and I nearly stepped back in surprise. He wasn’t exactly the most predictable of people. But Merric only lifted the jawbone at my throat. “Too bad I didn’t stop you from putting this on, too.”
“Is it dangerous? Should I take it off?” Already my hands were halfway to the chain.
&
nbsp; “No….maybe.” He dropped his hand. “If she said it’ll help, then keep it on. She doesn’t lie, exactly. But don’t be surprised if it starts acting in ways apart from what’s intended. Their magic does things like that.” He started to turn, but I reached out and gripped his wrist.
Merric stopped, his eyes going very pointedly from my hand, to my arm, and finally my face. The brown had been replaced with yellow, and he was no longer smiling.
“Thank you,” I said again. “I really appreciate what you did. Do I…” I swallowed around my impending words. “I feel like maybe I owe you something.” I felt a bit guilty at my thoughts from this morning, when I’d worried about him showing up in my house. He’d saved me, and he didn’t have to.
Now his lips twitched at the beginning of a smile. “Oh, George,” he sighed. “You’re so set on getting yourself in trouble tonight, aren’t you?”
“I’m set on paying you back for your help,” I agreed. “Because I know you didn’t have to, and I feel like you put yourself in danger by being…wherever we were.”
“It’s an island,” he explained. “But it’s not quite in our world, so very few people can find it.”
“You found it.”
“How observant of you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you going to take me up on this, or what? My gratitude is fading fast.”
“Well, you already owe me two earth-shattering, life-ending favors,” Merric pointed out, dramatically pondering my question with a finger tapping his lips. “I just don’t know what else I could possibly want.”
“You could want dinner?” I offered. “Because I’m actually a lot hungrier than I thought I was five minutes ago when you were about to get turned into a scorch mark.”
While it hadn’t seemed like I’d been gone that long, my body disagreed as my stomach tried to turn itself into knots to prove how much I needed to eat.
“Why, George, are you asking me on a date?”
“No.”
“What will Cian think?”
“It’s not a date.” Merric and I were not dating, under any circumstance. If not for my own unwillingness to do so, then definitely because he wasn’t exactly subtle in his dislike of me.
“Are you buying?” The fox inquired.
“Sure.”
“Then I shall keep my choices cheap.” It was amazing how he could turn anything into an insult. “Hmmm.” The fox turned to look at the street behind us. “Come on.”
Without further preamble, he led me off the riverwalk and to the street proper. Cafés lined this side of the road, and he marched us straight to the emptiest looking one.
Even it was packed. But Merric didn’t mind. He breezed past the waitress with a hapless grin and made his way to the cases on the far side where meals were displayed in cold cases wrapped in plastic or in closed containers.
“Am I buying you food to take home?” I asked, not really surprised.
His ears twitched in my direction. “No, George. We’ll eat somewhere else.” He grabbed two plastic containers and a bottle of water, then gestured for me to look as well.
I needed more time than him. Looking at the different meals, I finally chose an egg salad sandwich for myself, along with a plastic bowl of mixed fruit and a cookie. Snagging a water, I followed Merric to the counter, where the man there was ringing up his food.
“You together?” he asked, and Merric nodded.
“I’m so happy you’re making the ham and brie again!” The kitsune gushed enthusiastically.
The man smiled. “I try to put a few out when I think you’ll be here.”
Merric beamed.
It was unnerving.
“Just put it all on my tab, okay?” The kitsune asked, making me pause.
“What? I told you I’d pay,” I protested, but the man was already bagging up our food and handing it over to the fox.
“Oh, I was just joking,” Merric laughed sweetly. He threw an arm over my shoulders and looked at the man again. “Have a good night!”
“You too, Merric. Both of you come back soon.” He turned to help with another order, and Merric’s arm slid off my shoulders and to my wrist. He tugged me out of the shop, his smile melted away by the time we’d found the doorway.
“Why do you do that?” I asked, more curious than anything, as I followed him back to the riverwalk and down the sidewalk. As we walked along the banks of the black river, the sounds of the crowd quieted and mixed with the band.
Merric kept walking and didn’t answer.
Finally, he stopped and turned to look at me under the paltry light of the nearest streetlamp. “You should check your phone,” he said before sinking to the ground. “I’m sure all those lovers of yours are blowing it up.”
He sank to the grass, legs crossed under him.
Sighing, I pulled my phone from my back pocket. I wouldn’t say so, but I was glad he’d reminded me. I’d honestly not thought to look at my phone.
To me, I’d only been gone an hour at best. My mind was still catching up.
Yet my phone said it was nearly ten pm. Ten hours past the time I’d gotten home from lunch with Yuna.
I had forty-seven messages and twenty-two calls. In the group chat, I scrolled to the bottom and typed in simply, I’m fine and home. Sorry for worrying you. Tired, we’ll talk tomorrow? Then sent a similar message to Aveline. She was working tonight, and I wouldn’t see her until she came home.
I waited to make sure that everyone was agreeable to that, then shoved my phone back into my pocket.
Looking up, I saw there were more lights than I remembered.
Small, flickering balls of white fire danced in the air around Merric. One hovered over the food he’d laid in the grass, while the other two spun lazily over his head.
“Oh, wow,” I breathed, sitting in front of him and reaching out towards the closest fire.
“It might be hot,” Merric warned, mouth full of ham sandwich.
I paused, but met his gaze anyway. “Will you burn me?”
“I burn everyone. Didn’t Cian tell you that?”
“I didn’t ask.” My heart fluttered, but I reached out again. Maybe he really would burn me with the flames, but I needed to know.
The fire didn’t burn at all. It was warm, and the pearly flames made my fingers tingle with the feel of magic, but they didn’t burn.
“I tried texting you after…Colette,” I told him, cupping my hand under the flame for the effect of looking like I was holding it.
Merric watched, and suddenly the flame grew larger until it filled my palm. I couldn’t help but grin at the picture it made.
Still, it didn’t burn. It was merely warm against my skin, no matter that it had become larger.
“Don’t know why,” he said. “You had what you wanted.”
My hand fell, and I looked at him, confused. “Had what I wanted?”
“My help. I would think you were glad not to hear from me.”
His white tails moved to curl around us, the fur soft against my bare arms when it touched me. “Then you’re wrong,” I said slowly. “I’d thought you’d stick around.”
Merric took a huge bite of his sandwich. “Why?” The kitsune mumbled around his mouthful.
Instead of answering, I opened the container of fruit and popped a grape into my mouth. It gave me time to think, since I wasn’t willing to talk with my mouth full like him.
“Because, I don’t know…” I shrugged my shoulders. “Aren’t we…” I didn’t want to say the word. He’d laugh.
A smile still spread over his lips. “Inari’s ass, you are not about to use the ‘f’ word, are you?”
I took a bite of my sandwich.
“You were. You think we’re friends.” He cackled, making my shoulders fall at his words. “You don’t want to be friends with a kitsune.”
“Why? Because the kitsune doesn’t want to be friends with me?”
“You’re working too hard at this. It isn’t going to win you a badge t
o not say ‘fuck off, fox.’ No one will be impressed by your diligence here.”
“Clearly,” I mumbled, shifting my legs under me as one of his little fires zipped around my face.
“So stop trying to be Mother Teresa and breathe the obvious sigh of relief you’re feeling that I haven’t come knocking.”
“No.” I looked up at him to meet his gaze challengingly.
“No?”
“Did I stutter?” When he didn’t answer, I continued. “I’m not relieved you haven’t come to my door. I’m not dreading the favors I owe you. I consider you my friend, whether you like it or not. You’ve helped me more than I could ever possibly repay, for one, and I would never forget that.”
“We are not going to trauma bond.”
“If we were going to trauma bond, we would’ve done it already,” I pointed out, tearing off a bite of my sandwich and wishing I’d gotten beef. I ran my tongue over my teeth again at the prickling sensation that crawled down my spine.
Still completely flat-and-fine.
“So…” He stuffed the rest of his sandwich in his mouth. I looked up, mildly impressed at the monumental effort he exhibited in chewing and swallowing nearly half of the whole thing.
“So what?” I said at last. “If this was you trying to get me to admit I don’t like you, then you get an F for execution.” I hesitated, then went on. “Though…I do worry sometimes that when you show up, you do it just to be a bull in a china shop. And I don’t want to be the china one day.”
“How hurtful.”
“If you do not want to be my friend because of your own reasons, that is on you.” I pointed a strawberry at him.
He took it and promptly ate it.
“But you don’t get to cop out of the responsibility by saying it’s me who won’t commit.” When he looked down at my cup of fruit, I drew it towards myself protectively.
“Who says I’m copping out?” Merric laughed. “I’m trying to do you a favor.”
“Copping out,” I repeated.
“Is that so?”
“If you don’t like my company, please feel free to say so.” My stomach did a little flip in preparation for him to do just that. It was pretty obvious he didn’t like me. He wasn’t subtle, but it’d still hurt to hear.
