Finally, the fretting fox nodded to the chair across from him and pushed it back with his foot. “Sure. Yeah. That’s fine.” His light voice was unsure, just like the rest of him.
I sat, smiling, and adjusted my bag on my lap. “I’m George.” It was probably better to tell him my name, in an attempt at calming his nerves.
“Merric,” he replied, closing his laptop. “Have we met before? Do you work with my dad?”
Shaking my head, I answered. “No, nothing like that. I umm. I scried for you. Well, a kitsune, not you specifically. Because I need help.”
His brows rose. “Really? You scried for me?” Surprise tinged his tone and I sat back in my chair, unconvinced.
If he was so inexperienced that he couldn’t tell there was magic hunting for him, could he dispel a vampire’s illusions? And what if we needed him to fight?
“Yeah,” I said at last. “My friends and I are having some trouble that seems right up a kitsune’s alley.” I flashed him an amicable smile, which he returned after a moment.
“You mean tricks?” he reasoned. “Illusions? Things like that?”
I nodded. “Yeah, things exactly like that. Can you break someone else’s illusions?”
He considered it, drumming his fingers over the silver of his laptop as he thought. “Yes,” he said finally. “Yeah, I can kind of do that. Not against most other foxes; I only have two tails.” He smiled cheekily as his tails waved in the air behind him, long and white-tipped and unlike any real fox’s tail.
“She’s not a fox,” I answered. “She’s a vampire.”
He sobered, curious. “And she can cast illusions? That seems weird.”
“I don’t know too much about her,” I admitted. “But she’s trying to hurt my friends and me.” I gripped my coffee cup and met his eyes again.
“That sounds shitty.” He visibly considered his options, tails still waving. “You just need a kitsune to break a certain illusion or…?”
We’d discussed this. We’d discussed just needing a kitsune on call to come help us when we tracked down the hideout of the revenge-seekers.
I explained this to him, while leaving out the reason for the conflict, and he nodded along.
“I don’t have to fight anyone, right?” he asked quickly when I was done.
Immediately I shook my head. While I was sure it would’ve been nice to have a combat ready kitsune at our backs, Merric didn’t seem to fit that bill. “Promise. Just some illusion breaking, then you’d be out of there. And we’ll pay you.” That had been Cian’s idea, as he doubted any kitsune would help us out of the kindness of their vulpine hearts.
“No that’s okay.” He held his hand up slightly. “I’d feel bad. You don’t need to pay me to help you out.” He was cautiously smiling once more. “Oh, you want my number?” He reached into his pocket, fumbling for his phone as I watched.
“Sure.” I really needed to find a different kitsune. Nothing against Merric, but he did not inspire confidence. He gave me his number and I shot him a text with my name on it. “Thanks so much, Merric.” I forced myself to smile like he really was helping me.
The two-tailed fox was nodding. “This’ll be cool,” he said as I got to my feet. “I’ve never done anything like this before.” He reached out suddenly, long fingers curling around my wrist. “You will call me, right?” he asked.
“Absolutely.” It wasn’t quite a lie. If I couldn’t find another fox, I’d definitely call him. “See you around, Merric.”
Chapter 16
I did not find another fox.
After meeting with Merric, I tried to scry for any kitsune in the area again. When that didn’t work, I got a bigger map. The crystal never pulled, no matter how much power or will I channeled into it.
At the end of the second day of looking, I wanted to break the crystal and tear the map. My hair was tangled with how much I’d been pulling at it, and a few hours after dawn Aveline had taken pity on me and tried to scry for him as well. She’d come back in from the yard, hair plastered to her skull, and informed me that she couldn’t find a damn thing.
Finally, two days after meeting with Merric and getting more and more anxious, I decided to ask Marin. I couldn’t sit and scry forever, and I didn’t want to wait around for someone to gift me another fancy silver dagger. Marin had been in the city for a long time. If anyone could help me, it would be her. I’d even settle for advice on how to get around the fox-magic that prevented me to find any of Merric’s kin.
Aveline and I were lucky that no one had come knocking; Indra had texted me that Akiva was attacked once by Lucia’s brother, then again by another vampire. Both times however, they had been unable to retaliate because of his invisibility and her far-reaching illusions.
He’d also told me that Cian had started looking for other solutions, since I hadn’t been able to find a helpful kitsune that we could count on.
That last part irritated me. It had only been days since I’d started looking, and what was I supposed to do if they didn’t want to be found? Was I supposed to get a globe, throw my crystal at it, and travel to that spot immediately in hopes of bagging myself a kitsune?
I was worried that if I asked that question, I might not like the answer. Not to mention, Cian’s faith in me was not inspiring, to say the least.
Slamming my SUV into park, I jumped out onto the sidewalk, eyes fixed on Marin’s storefront. It was late in the evening, so I figured she’d be there and open.
I was right. The door to Le Renard Qui Rit was open, and Marin was rearranging a display of crystals on the far shelf. I didn’t knock, but
