His smirk turned arrogant. “No you won’t. And you need me for Lucia. She’s strong; she learned her illusions from a kitsune, after all.” His tails had caused my shirt to ride up and now the fur slid like silk against my skin.
“So what do you want?” I asked again, trying to choose my words carefully.
“I don’t know yet,” the fox admitted. “I like to collect debts; yours will be the centerpiece on my trophy shelf. The debt of a Levasseur summoner. Such a lucky coincidence, don’t you think?”
Just as his tails tightened around my body, they pulled away, fur sliding against my skin. It felt intimate, but I kept that thought to myself. Magic tingled in the absence of his fur, as if he’d left some of his own power on my skin.
“See you tomorrow,” he said, shoulders ducked almost shyly, though his eyes hadn’t yet gone back to their normal muddy brown. “Really excited to come over to your house and go see that movie with you. Maybe we’ll make it a thing.”
I couldn’t help but think how that sounded vaguely like a threat.
Chapter 18
“Wait, wait.“ Aveline pointed her pretzel at me accusingly. “You’re going on a date with someone else? Not Cian or Akiva or Indra?”
I glanced at her, glowering, as I continued to put on my makeup. “It’s not like that,” I said. “It’s not a real date or anything.”
My cousin scoffed and gestured to me again. “It’s not? Then why are you spending so damn long on your eyeliner?”
Pausing, I examined my face in the mirror. My light blue eyes were framed in heavy, winged liner, my lips dark burgundy, and I had just finished applying dark eyeshadow. My hair was down around my shoulders and curled loosely.
“I could change my shirt,” I offered finally, gesturing to the tightly fitting black shirt with moons over a howling wolf. True to form, the scrolling text of today read: Wolves don’t lose sleep over the opinions of sheep. I wore the shirt untucked over black denim shorts, and classic Converse.
Aveline leveled her gaze at me, unamused. “What’re they like?” she asked, finishing off the soft pretzel and leaning her hip on the doorframe to prevent my likely escape. “I would think they’d really have to be something to distract you from the three lovers laid at your feet already.”
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed my phone and shoved it into my pocket.
“It’s not a date,” I told her firmly. “They’re just acquaintances. Hell, all of them are acquaintances. I haven’t even known anyone here for more than ten days.”
Nodding sagely, Aveline still didn’t move. “Acquaintances you want to fuck. I get it, girl.”
Exasperated, I pushed her out of the door. It was after five thirty; I needed to mentally prepare myself. I still hadn’t told Aveline the details of the night before; I doubted she’d be thrilled.
“I’m staying in tonight,” my cousin said as we went towards the kitchen. “So, you know.”
I threw her a puzzled look.
“I don’t want to hear you getting frisky in the living room or something. Your room only–“
“I’m not getting frisky with them–“
The doorbell rang. Who was here when it was still too early?
But then again, from the way Yuna liked to show up and surprise me, I could easily assume it was her.
My cousin went to the door, throwing it open with a grin. “You are not what I expected,” she informed Merric, who stood sheepishly on the doorstep in snug fitting jeans and a v neck.
He looked sheepish, bushy red ears twitching. “Sorry? Is it because I’m not that tall?”
Aveline glanced at me over her shoulder and I only smiled beatifically. “Hi Merric,” I greeted politely, feeling more than a little on edge.
He smiled sweetly at me and waved.
“Sorry I’m early. I thought it’d take me longer to get here,” the kitsune explained. “The uber guy was really fast.” He stepped in the door when Aveline moved aside, and my cousin closed the door after him with another confused glance at my face.
I couldn’t really tell her the reality of the situation, now could I?
“Your house is so cool.” He made quick work of exploring the living room, kitchen, and stuck his head curiously out the side door. Then he looked to us with another grin wide on his lips.
“Thanks. Two tails, huh?” She looked dismissively towards his waving red tails, and it occurred to me that he seemed to always be in his half-shifted form.
Well, fake-half-shifted form.
“Yeah,” Merric laughed good-naturedly. “I’m only twenty-three, so I’m only one tail behind the curve.”
My intuition screamed at me that he hadn’t been twenty-three in a very long time.
“Did George tell you about our adventure last night?” Merric went on, unbidden. He smiled at Aveline, who nodded.
“A little bit, yeah. She said she and some new friends got into some vampire related trouble, but it wasn’t a big deal.”
I begged him silently, eyes wide, to keep his mouth shut. It was easier to keep Aveline in the dark when she wasn’t interested in the real story.
Thankfully, Merric nodded along with her. “Pretty much,” he agreed. “It was so much fun. I never do stuff like that. I thought we might die.” As if that was a selling point for our adventures.
Not to mention, he had never been in any danger at all.
Aveline gave him a confused look, then turned back to me with raised brows.
“Can we go outside?” Merric asked, phrasing the question towards me. “Not for anything particular. I just want to see what the yard looks like, since you have one but from the front it doesn’t look like you have one.”
“Sure,” I said quickly, heading to the side door and opening it. “Be right back, Av.”
“Whatever.” She leaned against the kitchen table, still bemused.
The kitsune followed me outside, then brushed past me to the bottom of the stairs and out into the narrow yard. The moon was over half full-something I always kept an eye
