Two fluffy ears swiveled on his head and his twin orange tails waved behind him, hitting Yuna repeatedly. The fox wore a white v neck and jeans over running shoes.
The kitsune definitely stood out from the rest of us; Aveline in her black, belted dress and leggings included.
“Oh,“ I realized I hadn’t told her about him, as of yet.
The back doors of her car opened and both shifters got in.
“He’s got nine tails,” I gestured to Merric.
Aveline turned to me. “No he doesn’t. What the hell are you smoking?”
“Yeah, this whole act of his is, well, an act.”
Merric beamed. “That’s so rude, and at least forty-percent untrue. I am so friendly.”
“Why do you have to carry on when it’s just us?” Yuna asked, pressing her fingers to her temples. Aveline sped off once more. “We all know what you are, Merric.”
“He clearly has two tails,” My cousin argued.
“He clearly enjoys you thinking that,” I shot back.
Merric simply smiled, his tails still taking up too much of the seat for Yuna’s preference.
“Where are we going?” Aveline and the cecaelia asked almost in unison.
“The first night I came here, I went with Cian and-“
“-The Troublesome Trio,“ Merric interjected. “It’s faster.”
“….The Troublesome Trio to the bayou. It was where Gavin was. Only, I’m not sure where it is.” My nerves were at an all time peak now and I worried at my shirt between my fingers.
“Oh wow, George. That is just so helpful.” Predictably, it was Merric’s saccharine sweet reply that came first.
“What do you remember about it?” Aveline asked, ignoring the kitsune.
“After we left the cemetery, we walked to Cian’s car, which only took a few minutes. But then it was a half-hour drive out of the city.” I sighed, leaning my head against the window and trying hard to remember.
“There are multiple swamps outside of the city within that distance,” Yuna informed me. “And the sun is going down; we won’t have time to check more than one or two. Not to mention, they’re huge.”
“Can’t any of you find them?” I asked. I hadn’t tried scrying for them, as I’d had no time, nor anything that belonged to them.
“It’d take me an hour to really look,” Aveline said slowly.
“I could, if they were in the water. But unless they’re dead and someone’s dumped their bodies, I very much doubt they’re swimming in the river,” Yuna went on.
I turned to glare at Merric, who sat behind Aveline.
The fox was smiling expectantly.
“Well…I might be able to,” he said innocently. “But I’d have to do it in a rush. Do you know how much magic that would take?” His muddy eyes widened as if he was trying to convince me.
“Stop.” Yuna looked at me, not him. “Don’t you dare.“
“What do you want?” I asked, eyes locked with his.
“George do not give him free rein again–“
“Same thing as before,” he said quietly. His eyes paled slowly to bright yellow as we spoke.
“What’s going on? What is he asking for?” Aveline asked nervously.
“Find them,” I murmured.
“Agree first. You have to say it.”
“I’ll owe you a debt. Same conditions as before.”
“That seems like a very bad idea,” Aveline said at the same time as Yuna’s snarled protest.
Merric snickered over both of them. “You’re going to Bayou Lafourche, Aveline,” he told my cousin.
My eyes narrowed. “You already knew where they were,” I accused. “You’re such a-“
“Good friend,” Merric agreed. “I came prepared. Isn’t that what you wanted from me, George?”
I had nothing to say to that.
“You shouldn’t have agreed to that,” Yuna snapped, sitting back against the grey interior as Aveline swerved onto the interstate. “You’ll regret it sooner rather than later, I’ll wager.”
Merric giggled, sitting back in his seat as well. “I’ll give you more specific directions when we get there,” he said. “Depending on how far they go.”
“Do you know who else is there?” I asked the kitsune carefully, a bit worried about the answer.
His eyes found mine and one brow rose as if to ask the quiet question I was already struggling with.
Finally he answered, putting me out of my misery. “I don’t know.” At my slight exhale of disappointment and relief both, he went on. “There are others in the bayou with them, I’m sure of it. But I will not be expending the magic it would take to identify each and every one, if you’re wanting me to help you when we get there. That would be irritating.”
“Can we stop asking the fox for things?” Yuna requested. “Because I’m going to be honest-I’m pretty sure that if I don’t pull you back here and keep my hand over your mouth for the rest of this trip, you’ll have promised him your soul before too much longer.”
“Why would he want my soul?” I asked, puzzled.
Yuna’s gaze was incredulous.
Merric seemed to be debating her statement. “On one hand, I want to see how much more I can get out of her,” he admitted. “On the other, that seems pretty hot, Yuna. I’d love to have a front row seat to watch you two wrestle.” He beamed at the cecaelia. She did not return the look with anything pleasant.
One day, I wanted to ask her why she wasn’t afraid of Merric like I was. Unless she was an ancient, deadly sea witch that could drown him on land, anyway. If that was the case, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“I am helpful though,” Merric pointed out. “You didn’t even know about the witches before I told you.”
“And I’d love to know just what we’re going to do about that.” Yuna folded her arms. “Ignore them? With two witches and a fox, can we ignore them?”
“No,” Aveline said flatly. “If they’re being helped by the coven, even just Colette’s family, we can’t just walk through their magic. Her
