Witching Fire: A Wild Hunt Novel, Book 16 Read online

  “Tea, and a tray of those mint cookies—the chocolate mint wafers.” They motioned for Camilla to leave, and the housekeeper ducked into a brief curtsey and left the room. “So, how are you doing today? And don’t BS me.” They brought out what at first looked like an old-fashioned cigarette holder—one of those long affairs that the glamour girls used to use, but when I looked closer, it was actually a vape pen. Vixen still liked to smoke, but now they didn’t bother most people with the smoke.

  I let out a sigh. “I don’t know, to be honest. I’m still processing. This whole mess came out of the blue—it struck like lightning. I’m heartbroken my father actually listened to Dougal, and I feel blindsided. If my mother hadn’t warned me earlier yesterday that something was going down, I would have been totally caught off guard.”

  “You sound bitter,” Vixen said.

  “Of course I’m bitter. I got thrown under the bus in a game that isn’t even my fight.” I frowned. “You have to admit, it’s a stretch to ding me for being Ember’s friend. It’s a stretch to try to force me to give up being friends with someone who killed one of the Ante-Fae in self-defense. What the hell was she supposed to do? Let him kill her…or worse. And believe me, I know what worse can be, thanks to Pandora.”

  I jumped up, waving my arms. “I love being one of the Ante-Fae, but let’s face it, Vixen—our kind can be terrifying and ruthless. Blackthorn had it in for Ember ever since the first time they met. She told me about him. I wish Herne could have gotten to him first. The Banra-Sheagh wouldn’t dare chastise a god.”

  “Sit down, love, you’re going to give yourself a stroke.” Vixen motioned me back to my seat. “You’re absolutely correct, of course. Which is why I’m going to put up a notice that I won’t be keeping you out of my club, and that anybody who chooses to enter may be subject to retaliation from the Queen—”

  “You can’t do that,” I said, straightening up. “You can’t jeopardize your club for me.”

  “It’s more than that,” Vixen said, frowning. “If I keep you out, I’ll be tacitly endorsing what the Banra-Sheagh did. It sends a message and I don’t want to send that message. And…” They paused, letting out a long sigh. “I realized that I’m doing the same thing to Trinity. I’ve never fully taken the time to know him. I went on appearance only. So I’ve invited him to the club to have a talk and to apologize.”

  Too shocked to respond, I suddenly remembered why I had come to visit. In the surprise of Vixen taking a stand against the Queen’s ruling, I had lost the thought right out of my head. “Okay, then, you said you had a friend you think is possessed?”

  “Yes, that’s right. So, here’s the problem. My friend Lenny—he’s human—runs the club’s website. He’s one of those people you can set your clock by. He’s reliable to a T. Never once have I had a problem with him in the past ten years.”

  I could feel something coming. “But?”

  “Yes. But…the past couple of weeks he’s been acting oddly. He’s gone from sunny and annoyingly cheerful to surly and downright obnoxious. He’s late on updates and that never happens, and in the space of less than a week, I’m thinking of changing computer techs. And I never expected to be saying that.” The pain on Vixen’s face was tangible.

  “Lenny’s been a good friend, hasn’t he?”

  Vixen gave me a reluctant shrug. “Yeah. I helped him through the death of his wife. I helped him avoid foreclosure after the medical bills for her cancer wiped him out. He’s a contractor, so he didn’t have catastrophic insurance. I put him on my payroll so that if—the gods forbid—he gets ill, that won’t happen again. You don’t know how many late-night calls we worked our way through during that time, and because of all that, we bonded in a way I never thought I could with a human.”

  “You love him,” I said, holding their gaze. “Like a brother, maybe, but—”

  “Maybe like a child, girl. Even among my kind, I’m unique. Usually, snake shifters bear live young, but I’m gender-fluid in the strongest of ways. My gender shifts with my moods, which is actually quite delightful. But I was born unable to breed. I can’t bear young, nor can I impregnate anyone. I’m unique. One of a kind. My heritage will die with me.” A look in their eyes told me that Vixen was lonely—in a way most people could never understand.

  “We’re all unique,” I murmured. I had known about Vixen’s gender-bending, but I hadn’t realized they were sterile.

  “Most, yes, but most of the Ante-Fae can engender young. I cannot. So I adopt. I gather my family in other ways. Apollo is part of my family—my lover and my mentee. You’re part of my family, a delicious young witch. Before you ever worry, I would never overstep my boundaries with you because you seem so very young to me. And Lenny is part of my family as well. Unexpected, but not unwelcome.” Vixen sat back, crossing their arms. “I’m unsure of what to do about this. I tried to ask him what was wrong, but he snapped at me.”

  “Is there anything else that makes you think he might be possessed? He could just be having a bad month. Or maybe he’s on a new medication—”

  “I know the signs of possession, child.”

  “Well, I’ll have to meet him to tell whether he’s being possessed. I might be able to uncover something with my cards, but for a definitive answer, you have to bring us together.” I held up my bag. “You want me to pull a few cards?”

  Vixen perked up. “Yes, please. Meanwhile, I’m going to try to figure out a logical reason for you two to meet.”

  While they thought, I pulled out my cards and began to shuffle, keeping the nebulous Lenny in mind. I usually didn’t need a picture to go off of, given I was so attuned to the cards. But it would have been much easier if Lenny was here.

  I shuffled the cards, keeping the situation in mind, then laid them out. I turned over the first card, then the others. The eight of Chalices, then the Death card. The third was the two of Discs. The fourth and fifth were the High Priestess and the Tower cards. And the sixth card—the outcome card—was the Sun.

  Vixen waited, watching my face anxiously.

  I glanced up at them. “Well, first, the eight of Chalices points to codependency—to a psychic leech or an enabler. Given you think we’re dealing with possession, I believe the card indicates that someone is definitely feeding off of his energy. The Death card in the second position is the core of the problem, so I’m thinking you may be right and we’re probably looking at a spirit. Usually the card signifies that transformation is on the way, but something is whispering ‘spirit activity’ to me, and I’m going to trust my instinct. The third card is the two of Discs, which could mean several things—it could mean that things are on a downturn now, but will rise again when we get into the thick of things. It’s yin/yang. Life/death. Good/evil.”

  I gasped as a feeling of dread swept over me. I could feel it from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. Whatever was attached to Lenny’s energy was clammy and malignant and filled with hunger.

  Vixen looked at me. “What’s wrong?”

  “Whatever’s going on, it’s not good. Lenny’s in trouble, Vixen. That much I can tell you.”

  “Read the rest, please,” Vixen said, contemplating the cards on the table.

  “The fourth and fifth cards are the advice cards. The High Priestess indicates that I’m the one to deal with this, given I’m a priestess. The Tower card indicates that destruction and tearing down of old structures is the only way to change the outcome. But even with my intervention, I’m not feeling optimistic.”

  Sitting back, I stared at the spread. The last card—the potential outcome—was problematic.

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  I looked over at Vixen and sighed. “Okay, the Sun is usually a good card, but this spread…there’s something more than the cards speaking to me. At times—rare times—the sun can indicate sudden death.”

  “Oh.” They sat back in their seat, looking lost. “Is there any wiggle room?”

  “There’s always wiggle room,”
I said, nodding. “Right up till the end. Nothing in life is sure and we always have a chance to change the outcome, at least until a certain point. If somebody decides to jaywalk and doesn’t see a car barreling down on them, there’s still the chance they’ll suddenly notice their shoe is untied and stop, or look around when someone calls their name and prevent the accident. But once the car is seconds away from them, and there’s nowhere to run, well…the accident is going to happen. As far as Lenny’s concerned, I feel we still have time to go back to the curb. But I’m not sure how much time or what’s involved.”

  “So there’s a chance to help him. Then we have to start as soon as possible. Can you stick around? I’ll call and ask him to come over.” Vixen pulled out their phone.

  “Sure, I can stay for a while. But I can’t stay too long.” I stood and walked over to look at the series of paintings Vixen had lined one of the walls with. The art was tropical. Beautiful, but so warm and lush that it almost made me cringe. I wasn’t sure what I didn’t like about it, because the artist was incredibly talented, but try as I might, I couldn’t work up enthusiasm.

  While Vixen talked to Lenny, I crossed to the bay window and stared out into the courtyard. The snow drifted down lightly, and a sudden explosion of color blinded me as all of Vixen’s outdoor decorations blazed to life. There were stars and moons and a shimmering field of blue twinkling lights spread over the yard. I clapped softly, the light show was so ethereal.

  Vixen was arguing with Lenny. “I’ll do what I can…I will…I promise…” After a moment, Vixen hung up and turned back to me. “Lenny will be here in a little while.”

  “All right, but I don’t want to stay too late.” Accumulating snow wasn’t fun to drive in.

  “It was a hard sell, but Lenny finally agreed. I told him I needed to talk to him about a website emergency, but I’m worried that whatever’s commandeering him will put up a fight when he meets you. He sounds so angry. I think he agreed because he knew I’d fire him if he said no.” Vixen paused, eyeing me up and down. “Maybe you can get him to loosen up. You’re definitely in the wheelhouse of what he likes.”

  “What?” I almost dropped the figurine of a cat that I had picked up, and that would have cost me at least a thousand dollars, according to the price tag that was still on the bottom. “I’m not offering myself as bait, whether in the soul department or the honeypot aisle.” I paused, lowering my voice. “Ever since Pandora, I’ve been very leery of volunteering myself up to anybody who might decide to exact pain for fun.”

  Vixen took a deep breath, then ducked their head. “I forget you went through that. I’m sorry. I wouldn’t for the moment suggest that you pimp yourself out. I was joking—well, maybe not all the way, but I didn’t mean it.” They focused their gaze on me for a moment. “It was bad, wasn’t it? What she did to you?”

  I hadn’t told Vixen or Apollo how bad it had been. They knew that I had seen an Elven therapist for the trauma and they had seen a few of the scars, but I never fully expanded on how helpless I had been, and how Pandora had tortured me.

  “It was bad,” I said, holding Vixen’s gaze. “It was so bad that I’ll never be the same. There’s a part of me who will forever be wary, who will forever question motives or agendas. I don’t think that I can ever go back to trusting anybody the way I did. I’ve never been a sucker—you know, PT Barnum said there’s one born every minute. But now…” I paused, stiffening.

  Vixen waited patiently, but I could see the anger welling up. “If Pandora was here now…”

  I let out a long breath. “Even though the therapist took away the triggers, the memories remain. And on occasion, the memories—even detached from the feelings—overwhelm me. I’ve never been that helpless or hopeless before. The pain she inflicted on me was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. It changed me, Vixen. It changed me for good.”

  “If I ever get my hands on that bitch, no matter that she’s a goddess, she will pay. The gods may be immortal, but they aren’t immune to pain. And trust me, my dear, I can make someone wish they were dead.” Their eyes turned jet black, with a tiny ruby light where the pupil was, and for a moment, scales rippled on their skin, and their teeth lengthened into curved fangs that gleamed with a wicked sheen.

  I must have jumped or moved without realizing it, because the next moment, Vixen looked like Vixen again. They held out their arms.

  “Come, dear girl, come here.”

  I hesitated a second, then reminded myself that Vixen was my friend. Vixen was willing to risk losing their place in the Ante-Fae community because of me. I stepped into their arms and let them hug me for a moment.

  After Vixen let go, I stepped away. “Thank you.”

  “No, thank you. You remind me of what it means to be young in the world—young and at risk. I’m far older than you, and far more jaded. But I’ve never been hurt like you were, and it does me good to remember how vulnerable we can be. Knowing you makes me a better person.” Vixen motioned for me to follow them to the massive tri-panel bay window, where we sat down on the banquette that fit into the nook. They took my hand and held it as we watched the snow fall and waited for Lenny to arrive.

  Chapter Eight

  Lenny arrived around two. By then, Vixen and I had demolished the entire package of mint cookies and they kept fretting, glancing at the clock.

  “I can’t stand being made to wait,” they said.

  “You’d go nuts with Kipa, then. He’s always running late. I swear, I have to tell him we need to be somewhere a half hour earlier than we do so we manage to get there on time,” I said, laughing. “He’s trying, though.”

  “You bedded yourself a wild one. I always knew you were a fireball,” Vixen teased.

  I had long suspected that if I hadn’t been so much younger, Vixen might have made a play for me, but though my age didn’t bother Kipa, for some reason it bothered Vixen. I wouldn’t have taken the chance, though. As much as I liked Vixen, they could be ruthless when they were angry and I had seen them browbeating Apollo now and then. Part of me wanted to intervene, but Apollo had a mind of his own, and he belonged to Vixen—he was their boytoy and the pair of them had some sort of agreement about what was and wasn’t acceptable.

  “Kipa’s wild, in some ways, yes. But there’s a side to him that not many people are allowed to see. And that side…is the side that makes me want to hold him when he’s upset, and that makes me trust him with my heart.” I paused as the doorbell rang. “Don’t tell Lenny who I am. You can tell him my name if he doesn’t know I’m a bone witch. But if you have talked about me, introduce me as just a friend.”

  “No, he doesn’t know your name,” Vixen said. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, but I’ll need some time alone with him because your energy can interfere with my reading. So make up some excuse to leave us alone for about ten minutes.” I returned to the seating area and sat down in an armchair that had a good view of both sofa and loveseat.

  Vixen joined me, sitting in the rocking chair. A moment later, Camilla escorted in a man who looked to be around mid-forties, with short hair that was bleached blond. He was medium height, his eyes were pale gray, and he looked fit, but not overly athletic. But his looks were the least of my concern. I shuddered as he entered the room, a malevolent aura following him. His shadow loomed larger than it should, and as I watched, it moved in directions that it shouldn’t. Crap, I’d never seen that before.

  “Lenny, this is my friend Raven. Raven, this is Lenny. Raven dropped by to return something she borrowed from me,” Vixen lied smoothly. Vixen was good at lying, at underplaying a situation, and like all snakes, they could be charming all the while they were sizing you up.

  Lenny stared at me warily. He didn’t extend his hand, so I stood up and thrust mine out at him. He couldn’t ignore it without being rude.

  “How do you do?” I said. “Any friend of Vixen’s is a friend of mine.”

  Lenny stared at my hand for a moment, then took it. His skin felt
icy, but I could feel his pulse racing through his fingers, so I knew he wasn’t a vampire. He squeezed a little too hard, his eyes lingering on me a little too long. It took everything I had not to pull my hand away too fast. I could already tell he had an attachment.

  Something was siphoning energy off of him, but it was more than a simple psychic leech. Whatever was back there was watching me, sizing me up, and so I raised my shields, blocking its view. That would put it on alert, but better it be leery of me than see through to how much power—and what kind of power—I actually had.

  “Where do you live?” Lenny asked.

  As he spoke, I could tell that something was using him as a puppet, making his mouth move. I wondered if Lenny was still in there. In some cases, a Walk-In would obliterate the original soul. In other cases, the original soul wasn’t strong enough to wrest back the body from the intruder.

  “I live around,” I said, returning to my chair. “Vixen, I need my hair dryer back that you borrowed?” That was one thing I absolutely knew Vixen had. With the elaborate hair styles that they wore, they had to have every gadget and product in the world.

  “Of course. I really like it, but I think I’ll stick with the one I have.” Vixen stood, giving me a wry look. “I’ll go find it.” They exited the room with one last look back at Lenny and me.

  I waited for a beat. Then, clearing my throat, I said, “So, how do you know Vixen?”

  “I’m their web designer,” he said, abruptly turning to stare out the window. “But I’m getting bored with the job. I’m thinking I might pick up stakes and take off.” His voice was gruff and he shifted in his seat.

  “How long have you worked for Vixen?” I tried to pursue the conversation. If I could keep him talking, I could observe him. That was my best bet of deciphering what was going on.

  “No more questions,” he said, turning around. For a human, his eyeshine was intense.

  I stiffened, narrowing my eyes. “Sorry—I didn’t mean to intrude.”