Page 36 of Fight (Kitsune #2)

D evon and I slept late Sunday morning, at least late for us. We'd been out way past our usual bed time at the wedding, and it was close to two before we'd made it back to the hotel. We picked Alexis and Caden up at the airport Sunday afternoon, and took them back to the hotel to settle in.

"Bill said you already had our room?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah. He made all the arrangements and we didn't discover until we got to the room that it was a huge suite. We'll stop at the front desk and get you keys, but we're not even using half the room." Devon said, easing his way through traffic, on the way back to the hotel.

"There's only one bed in the bedroom but the sofa in the common area's huge, or we can have them bring up a roll-away bed," I tried to give them all the options. "or we can split up, girls in one room, guys in the other."

"We won't be doing that." Caden shook his head.

"Why not?" I asked. “It’ll keep anyone from having to sleep on the couch or the floor."

"It's not safe. What if someone were to come in the window after the two of you?" He asked.

"But we're on the nineteenth floor; no one's going to come in the window." I argued.

"Hopefully no one will, but we'll be safe rather than sorry." He insisted. "We'll figure out sleeping arrangements once we get there, and I have a chance to look things over."

"I agree with Caden." Devon said. "I don't think it's a good idea to put either of you in a room by yourself." I saw Caden nod in the mirror. Devon continued. "I think there's a recliner in that bedroom, there is in ours. You might like that better than a roll-away."

"We'll see." Caden said before changing the subject. "You've met the Anikitos, right?"

"We did," I said. "we met with him briefly."

"Give me your impressions of him." Alexis asked.

I was quiet for several minutes trying to find the right words.

"I'm not looking for proper and politics, Nickie. I just need to know what I'm dealing with. I don't want to walk in there blind tomorrow." She clarified.

I nodded, understanding. "He struck me as polite, all business, not unfriendly, but not like Bill either.

In all honesty, we spent less than five minutes with him, but he struck me as fair.

He had a sense of humor and he and Bill are good enough friends that Bill had me relay a message, one that pissed off his enforcer. "

"What was the message?" Caden wanted to know.

I repeated the message for them, and Caden looked shocked as I continued. "The enforcer started for me but Ridges stopped him. He said I was only relaying the message, not disrespecting him."

Alexis looked thoughtful. She turned to Devon. "Do you have anything to add, Dev?"

"No, Nickie about covered it." He said. "I am curious though, who's going to this meeting tomorrow?"

Alexis glanced around the car, meeting everyone's eyes though Devon's were in the mirror, before answering, "Obviously, I have to go. I think Nickie needs to go as well. The simple answer would be, that if both of us are going then both of you go too but I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" I asked, confused.

She looked at me. "Because I don't think it's a good idea to have a meeting with the local Anikitos, who will have a single enforcer with two of our own.

It could be taken as a challenge to his authority.

" She took a breath and explained further.

"Even though we're not here to challenge him, if we show up with two enforcers, it may be seen as one, putting him on the defensive and making things more difficult than they need to be. "

I nodded, understanding what she was trying to say. "So which one goes?" I asked.

"That's going to be up to them." She said, referring to Devon and Caden. "I can make recommendations and argue logical and political answers but ultimately, they're the ones in charge of security and the decision is up to them."

I nodded, thinking about it. "So basically, what you're saying, is that we need to go into this meeting as non-threateningly as possible in order to convince the local Anikitos to let us do something that, as far as he currently knows, is impossible.

And we need to consider politics while we do it? "

"That's right."

"Why do I get the feeling you're trying to teach me something here?"

"Because I am." She said. I waited, knowing she would explain.

"You're probably going to be traveling quite a bit, meeting with different non-shifters, seeing if you can shift them, and if they're willing to be shifted.

You need to learn to do as much of this as possible, so that if things happen and someone decides not to shift, I don't need to make the trip.

Another possibility is that I could teach another healer to do what I do and not have to travel at all. "

"Okay, I get it." I said.

"So, think about it a minute," She said. "and tell me which of these two should meet the Anikitos with us, and why."

I was quite for a moment, considering several possible scenarios and situations before I spoke.

"Devon." I said finally. "Devon should be the one to go in with us."

"Why?" She asked.

"For several reasons. Number one: He's already met the Anikitos and is somewhat familiar to him.

It's not that we're hiding Caden, in fact I would suggest he go to the office with us and just stay in the waiting area but why rub his face in the fact that we have two of our enforcers here if we don't have to.

"Number two: size. Devon is smaller, less intimidating in appearance. I'm not saying he's less capable, that's not what matters, appearances are. Caden's huge, and that alone can be intimidating, which is great sometimes, just not in this situation. We want to be as non-threatening as possible.

"Number three: Living proof. Who better to prove that what we want to do, can be done than someone it's been done to?" I watched Alexis for any reaction. "How did I do?"

"Good." She nodded, smiling broadly. "I think with just a little prompting and direction you'll have little difficulty managing the sometimes prickly personalities of the various pack leaders you'll encounter."

Devon pulled up in front of the hotel and let the rest of us out. Since Caden was with us, I could take Alexis up to the room and start getting settled while he parked the car and stopped for additional room keys.

Upstairs in our suite, I showed Alexis and Caden around.

"The two bedrooms are pretty much the same," I said. "with the exception of color, but if you'd rather have the other one, we can move." I offered.

"No. Don't move," Alexis insisted. "this is fine." She set her bags down in the corner of the empty bedroom, while Caden set his down along another wall. Alexis looked around the room. "Dev was right, there is a recliner in here." She said to Caden before stepping into the large bathroom attached.

"I'm gonna go wait for Devon." I excused myself and went out into the common room of the suite, and sat down.

I didn't pick up a magazine or turn on the screen; I just sat looking out the large wall of glass that offered a stunning view of the city in front of me.

My mind was blank, I didn't think about anything but the beauty in front of me as I watched the sun set.

The next morning we climbed back into the car and made the trip across town to the office's where Devon and I had been just a few days earlier.

We were quiet as we made our way to the right floor and waited for our meeting.

When Veronica called us in, Caden held back, staying in the waiting room as we'd discussed.

Alexis led our little group as we followed Veronica down the hallway to the Anikitos office. She announced us simply.

"The Harmonia from Arizona, Alexis Jefferies." Veronica was already in the process of backing out of the room and pulling the door closed behind her. The Anikitos was again sitting behind his desk, with the same enforcer standing silently near the wall behind him, looking intimidating.

"Ms. Jeffries," The Anikitos stood and offered her his hand. "I saw the appointment on the calendar but I'm at a loss as to the reason behind your visit." He said politely.

"Well," Alexis said matter-of-factly. "I'm here to explain that to you. It's going to take a few minutes of your time, and I ask that you be open minded and let us finish before you make any judgments."

The Anikitos looked intrigued. "All right." He motioned us to a seating area on one side of the room. "Why don't we have a seat while we talk about this."

Alexis and I sat on the sofa, while Devon remained standing nearby, his feet slightly apart, one hand holding the wrist of his other arm, he looked at ease but I knew he was ready to move, should something threaten Alexis or me.

The Anikitos took a seat in one of the chairs that had been arranged so they weren't quite facing the couch but were still close enough for comfortable conversation. His enforcer took a position similar to Devon's, not far away.

"What's this all about?" He folded one leg until the ankle rested on the opposite knee.

"Are you aware, sir, that you have a non-shifter living in Seattle?"

He shook his head. "No, there's really no reason I should be." He looked confused.

"Well, until now, there hasn't been, I'll agree. But we have the ability to possibly shift him, assuming he chooses to try it." Alexis said.

The Anikitos brows lifted in surprise but he remained silent.

"While Nickie and Devon," She gestured to the two of us.

"were here in town, our Anikitos arranged for them to meet the non-shifter.

He's a tour boat operator, so it was fairly simple, he just scheduled them to take a tour.

During the tour, Nickie determined that he may be able to be shifted.

What we'd like now is your permission to make the offer to him.

He's been in the area for a while and has an established business, if he chooses to shift, he'll likely stay in your territory. "