Her teeth were sharp and pricked at my lip, but she pulled away after only a few moments. “See you later,” she told me, pushing off the fence and walking into the darkness of the river walk.
I watched her go, pondering her words carefully. She couldn’t be right, I was sure. I liked all of my new companions for who they were, but I was not like them. I could never be.
Something brushed my calf and I huffed, not needing to turn. “How long have you been listening?”
Merric’s voice was full of amusement. “Long enough to hear the cecaelia give you that little moral dilemma.”
Now I did turn, unsurprised to see him without his fake orange fur.
I was surprised, however, to see that he wasn’t just showing off his white tails and ears like badges of pride. He’d gone the whole nine yards. Dark circles made his yellow eyes seem too bright in his pale face and his tousled hair, too, was darker.
“Aren’t you worried someone will see?” I asked. “Goddess forbid someone catch on…“
“No one can see,” Merric dismissed. “And you only see because I let you.” His tails flicked arrogantly.
Should I ask him just why he was letting me see? Maybe not.
“What do you want?” I asked finally. “I thought you’d just disappear when you wanted to leave.” Curiously I looked back towards the diner, peering through the glass window to see that Cian was leaning close to the register and the cashier was speaking rapidly to him and quite possibly crying. Had Merric done something to her?
“It’s easy to distract them,” Merric chuckled. “What with Cian so set on making you all believe what a good person he is.” Was that him admitting to pushing the waitress to tears?
“A lot better person than you,” I snorted.
His smile turned curious. “Is he?”
“Well he hasn’t pressed me for any life debts so far, so yeah. I’m going with he is.”
“Right. He hasn’t pressed you for any life debts. But he’s tasted your blood, and somehow convinced a Levasseur summoner with three Arcana to almost die for him, even though you’ve only known him a short while. But I’m the bad guy here.”
I turned to look at him fully, arms crossed. I didn’t know what to say, and his full attention on me was making me nervous.
“What do you want?” I repeated.
“A lot of things,” the kitsune said, dodging the question. “Don’t we all?”
My eyes narrowed and his grin turned dark.
“Oh I see. You meant what do I want from you. I’m so sorry for misunderstanding.” He studied me. “I don’t want anything from you right now. Nor tomorrow. Nor the day after that, and not next week either.”
That surprised me. I’d thought he’d make my life miserable as soon as he could.
“You’re an idiot, George,” he went on conversationally, as if he couldn’t believe my actions. I blinked, taken aback, but he continued. “To give me whatever I want? What if I demanded your cards? What if I demanded you?” His eyes blazed mockingly.
“Will you?” I asked quietly, my mind scrambling for solutions to all of these possible dire situations.
“No. But I’m very tempted to ask you for something you’ll hate, if only to teach you a lesson in preternatural dealings.” He shook his head almost ruefully.
Stupidly, I pressed forward. “Then why don’t you?”
“Because I’m an idiot,” he sneered. “And because of what you said before.”
I thought back to anything I’d said when he was around, but nothing stood out.
My confusion must’ve been obvious, because he snorted and explained. “When you were with Marin, you told her she was prejudiced, that not all foxes are bad. Even though she told you that she’d rather keep her own hypocrisy than face the possibility of being fooled by a fox.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “And by Inari’s tails you were so stupid, even then. You were already being tricked by a fox and yet you told her that. She knew about me. Can you imagine how dumb she thinks you are?”
I had a feeling that, while Marin probably found me to be the stupidest witch alive by now, it wasn’t solely because of my dealings with Merric. But I didn’t say that. I didn’t question the fact that he knew what had been said. He seemed to always be lurking around me in mirrors or dreams.
“And because of your stupid scrying.” He was shaking his head like it was the dumbest thing he could imagine.
“Well sorry that it’s not my specialty.“
“Not that,” Merric interrupted, glaring at a person who stared a bit too long at us and sending the man almost running in the opposite direction. “You were projecting these ridiculous fox memories into your magic.”
“You saw that?” I asked uncertainly. “But I wasn’t…“
“Trying to let me see? I know.” He blinked up at me. “If I was nicer like some of the others–or maybe younger and still soft–I’d forgive these debts of yours.”
My heart jumped in my chest. That would be one less thing to worry about.
His grin turned mocking again and his pointed canines flashed. “But don’t get excited. I’m not going to do that.”
Familiar voices made both of us look towards the diner. Cian’s eyes were fixed on us and the three men were waiting for the light to change so they could cross the street to join us.
“Guess my time’s up,” Merric laughed curtly. “See you soon, Georgette.”
“Don’t call me that,” I snapped. “Only my mom–“
But he was gone.
With a sigh, I turned towards the street, watching the three men stride over the crosswalk. I knew what they’d say. I knew they’d make some comment or twenty on how Merric was dangerous. On how I’d fucked up.
In my brain I compiled at least four arguments, varying from almost-hostile to naive. All of them included insulting Akiva. Most of them included winning Indra over to my side with my winning personality.
Akiva was quickest across, and continued to stride
