But it was not acceptable.
My brain went back to my fox memories; the closest I could come to envisioning a real kitsune. One had scratched at our door when I sat in the living room with a sprained wrist, tears rolling down my pudgy cheeks as my mother made us both hot chocolate.
“You’re fine, Georgette,” she’d told me, bringing the mugs back into the room and starting to sit.
A noise at the door had signaled the appearance of a fox, comfortable as you please, and had looked around with an arrogant air about him, all the while his mouth drawn into a grin.
He’d come to me and sat in my lap, cheering me immensely, though he had nipped my fingers when my attention became too heavy or my hands lingered without scratching.
The crystal tugged downward slightly, as if being pulled by an invisible hand. I let my hand fall with it, feeling a small surge of excitement. This kitsune, it seemed, didn’t mind that I wanted to find him. Or didn’t know.
I held my breath. Just a bit more. It hovered over a northern part of the city not too far away. I could maybe go find them-
Without warning, the crystal jerked. It looked to me as if someone had grabbed it, and my lips parted in a gasp.
A moment later it landed hard with a thunk on the map, and when I went to lift it, the tip stayed, as if magnetized, and would not move. My heart pounded in my chest and I bit my lip.
I could take a hint.
Adjusting my glasses, I peered closely at the spot on the map. It wasn’t nearly as good as Google maps, but I managed to note down the street and intersection.
Immediately after, I scrambled to my feet, heart rate still rapid and my limbs tingling with adrenaline as I bolted for the door.
I still sucked at finding my way around New Orleans, but thanks to my GPS and the first good luck I’d had in days, it only took me twenty minutes or so to find a parking place on the street near my destination and slam my car into park harshly.
I jumped out, running shoes hitting the pavement hard. Unfortunately for me, there was no half-shifted person walking around with tails floating behind them or a ball of foxfire orbiting their person.
Not to say that there weren’t plenty of preternaturals. A few feline shifters stood near a shop, laughing and looking at something on their phones. A vampire stood in the shade, black sunglasses perched on her nose and a lacy umbrella over her head.
I ducked under an awning, knowing the rain was close, and looked around.
Maybe this hadn’t been such a great plan, since I now had no way to find the kitsune.
“Are you going in?” One of the feline shifters spoke, her slitted eyes on mine.
“What?” I blinked, drawn from my thoughts. “Going in where?”
She gestured behind me, and I saw I was half blocking the door to a small coffee shop.
“Oh.” I didn’t want to go in. I didn’t like coffee, and I needed to find the kitsune. But the rain was beginning to fall in earnest and maybe I could cast another spell inside to give myself an idea of where to go.
I pushed the door open, holding it until the three girls could enter, and looked around the open building. It smelled bitter, the heavy scents of coffee sitting in my nose unpleasantly. The shop was mostly empty, save for a woman reading in an overstuffed armchair and a man in a corner wearing headphones, fixated on the laptop in front of him.
I did a double take.
He had fox ears. Not only that, but two tails dragged the floor behind him, occasionally shifting against the cool tile.
I really did have unnatural luck today.
Instead of approaching him immediately, I hesitated. If I walked over to him suddenly, there was a good chance he’d think I was some kind of creep. With that thought I turned and went to the counter, scouring their menu for anything that looked drinkable. A few minutes later I held a steaming plastic cup of green tea in my hand, fingers curled around the warm surface as the heat suffused into my skin. Now I had no more excuses. Now I had to talk to him, and my heart jumped at the thought.
Drink in hand, I approached the kitsune.
As I did, I looked him over. The man looked to be in his early twenties like me, and his dark hair shone with auburn highlights in the orange lighting. He was pale, with only a touch of a tan, and his build was lithe. Skinny, instead of wiry like Indra. Large orange ears matching the tails at the base of his spine stuck upward through his hair, flicking at any loud noise.
When I was close enough to reach out and touch his table, his head jerked upward, eyes widening when he took in my looming presence.
“Can I help you?” he asked carefully, looking around me as if to see if I was alone.
“Could I talk to you?” I asked rather sharply, trying to think of how to begin.
He lifted his headphones from his human ears and laid them on the table in front of him before speaking. “About…?” The kitsune’s voice was hesitant.
It occurred to me that he was nothing like Cian and the others. Not quietly confident, arrogant, or powerful like them.
He was normal. My stomach clenched as I looked at him. Was I okay with dragging this man into my problems? He wasn’t what I’d been expecting. He wasn’t awe-inspiring and power didn’t tinge the air round him like I had expected. The most outstanding thing about him was the set of headphones that glowed with purple LED light.
“Nothing bad,” I promised. “I kind of need
