We were dead.
A woman stood in the middle of the room, fiercely beautiful in a cropped leather jacket, red top, and leather pants tucked into boots. Her skin was a rich mahogany that managed to look lovely in the unforgiving white lights, and her eyes shone like rubies.
“Do you think they will mourn you?” she asked as Jameson tackled me to the ground, fangs snapping for my neck as I shoved at the bone of his face. It was a real shame Yuna hadn’t killed him.
“No!” I yelled. “I barely know them!”
“I think you underestimate your relationship. Cian appealed to me on your behalf; tried to convince me it was only coincidence you were there and that, after all, you had not killed any of us.”
I shoved hard, snarling in the face of the wendigo and heaving him off of me so I could roll to my feet.
“But that means he cares for you; and while you’ve proven you’re no threat to me, it will serve me to kill you, just to see his face when I toss your heart at his doorstep.” She laughed, like it was the most novel idea in the world.
Yuna stepped closer to me, her sword bloody. “We can’t fight them,” she hissed.
“I know. I’m so sorry–“
“Shut up.” I glanced at her, but didn’t find fear there in her expression; only resolute anger.
Merric, on the other hand, looked like he was ready to crawl out of his skin to escape the vampires.
“Fox,” Yuna snapped, grabbing him and jerking her chin upward. He looked at her face, then the ceiling. He stared at her, eyes wide, then recognition hit Merric.
“What? Yeah-I can-“
“Then do it.”
In the next instant, the lights had gone out, like someone had flipped a switch.
Even vampires couldn’t see in complete darkness.
“Run!” Yuna yelled, pushing me hard.
Merric grabbed my arm, jerking me around.
The wendigo screamed as we managed to duck into the nearest hallway as that light blinked once-hopefully Merric’s doing-and without a thought I ran left at the intersection.
Yuna paused behind us, and over my harsh pants I could hear her say something under her breath. The building shook, the doorway we’d come in from crumbling to become impassible.
Merric yelped again, losing his grip on my hand, but when I whirled to find out where he’d gone, I instead saw the gleam of bone and snapping fangs. Jameson had made it through the door before Yuna had sealed it. The woman herself was nowhere in sight. Neither was Merric. Fear curled my stomach and I skipped backward, mind blanking on anything except getting out of there.
The lights strobed on, presenting me with a path before going out again.
My body throbbed from the wendigo throwing me to the ground, and I could feel the trickle of blood on my elbows. I didn’t stop to look. I was sure Jameson would do worse than scuff my elbows if he caught me again.
Finally, the lights came on and stayed on, leading me to see that the door in front of me was ajar to the outside. Finally. We just needed to get to the car, somehow, and get out of here. Vampires were fast, but hopefully we’d had enough of a head start–
Jameson was there suddenly, swiping his arm outward and sending me flying through the air. I landed with a thud, the air knocked from my lungs, and could only lay there and look up at the wendigo.
“Stupid witch,” his words were garbled and spittle dripped to the floor from his bony fangs. “Should’ve just died the first time. I’ll make it hurt, so Lucia gets to hear you scream.”
My eyes narrowed, fixing on a shape over his shoulder. Merric had walked out of one of the rooms in the hallway, casual as could be.
But he was different. Very different. Dark circles were prominent under his eyes, his skin paler like he’d suddenly lost the tan I’d seen him with. Golden-yellow eyes glowed and his lips were parted in a foxy, sharp toothed grin.
His ears stuck out from his head in his half-shifted form still, but now they were white.
But that wasn’t the most shocking thing about him.
What had me utterly bewildered were the nine tails at his waist.
What the fuck?
Before Jameson could turn, his hand was on the wendigo’s shoulder, making the creature whirl around with a very audible snarl.
But Merric caught his hand, his smile spreading. “Don’t ruin my fun,” he said simply, hand gripping the wendigo’s bony face.
The wendigo started to scream. His shifting faded, and Merric adjusted his grip so he could hold Jameson’s jaws between his fingers.
His eyes never left Jameson’s face, even as the man yelled and clawed weakly at his grip, having completely lost his grip on his shift.
But Merric only smiled.
As I stood, Jameson’s knees buckled. He hit the floor hard, but didn’t seem to notice. I walked around them, stopping at Merric’s shoulder to look into the wendigo’s human face. Holy shit. My body felt cold as I looked down at the wendigo and a tremor went through my hands.
Blood poured from his nose, mouth, ears, and eye sockets, choking his screams.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, but Merric didn’t answer.
Seconds later he released the wendigo, letting him drop to the floor unmoving.
He was dead.
I reached out, hand close to one of the bright-white tails at Merric’s spine. “Merric…you’re–“
He whirled suddenly, pinned me against the wall effortlessly with one arm, and brought one finger to his lips in a ‘hushing’ motion. “Don’t ruin my fun,” he whispered, his eyes fading to black. “Do you know what I am?”
“You’re a void kitsune,” I breathed.
He grinned, tails rippling.
Tires screeched and the horn of my car blared.
Merric didn’t move. “The vampires,” I looked towards the hall we came from, but he laughed lightly.
“They’ll be chasing their own tails
