Page 46 of Fight (Kitsune #2)

W e arrived back at our room with about twenty minutes to spare. Collapsing onto the sofa in the common area I decided it was a good thing we'd needed to return to the hotel, I was far more tired than I wanted to admit.

Alexis caught the brief flash of exhaustion as it crossed my face and lifted one brow, letting me know she knew how tired I was. I stuck my tongue out at her. I knew it was childish, but I was too tired to care. Alexis laughed.

"What?" Caden asked, returning from checking for intruders in the bedroom where he and Alexis slept.

"What, what?" Devon came back from doing the same in our room.

"Alexis laughed." Caden said to Devon, then turned back to Alexis. "What is it?"

Alexis looked at me without a word.

"She's laughing at me." I admitted.

"Why?" Devon wanted to know.

"Because I stuck my tongue out at her."

Caden scowled. "Why would you do that? It's not very respectful."

"I wasn't sticking my tongue out to our Harmonia," I explained. "I was doing it to my friend."

"Oh," He seemed somewhat mollified. "still."

"It's no big deal." Alexis dismissed the issue. "Do you want to change before Ridges gets here?" She asked me, changing the subject.

I looked down at myself. "I'd like to put on something more comfortable." I admitted. "I dressed this morning so nothing would show. But now I'm a bit warm, and it would be good to put on something cooler." With effort, I pushed myself off the couch and went to change.

I put on a casual, light-weight dress, the bright colors made me feel better and the soft cloth wasn't too tight against the bruises on my ribs.

The short sleeves exposed the bruises on my forearms that were starting to yellow around the edges, but I didn't care.

I left my feet bare because I was more comfortable that way.

I went back to the main room and glanced around. Alexis came back a few minutes later, dressed in the same jeans she'd worn this morning but she had on a loose tee shirt instead of the button-up blouse she'd had on earlier.

"Is he here yet?" She asked.

"Not yet." I fell back onto the couch where I'd been earlier. Alexis came over and sat down beside me.

"How are you feeling? Really." She asked.

I glanced at Devon and Caden where they sat at the dining table talking quietly. "Tired." I admitted. "More tired than I really want to admit."

She nodded. "I thought you'd tire more quickly than you'd like. After Ridges leaves, you can take a nap, then we'll see about feeding you again."

"I feel like all I do is eat and sleep."

"I know you do but it's helping you heal.

" She ran her finger softly over the bruise on one of my forearms, so softly it tickled but didn’t hurt.

"See, it's deep purple and blue but the edges are turning yellow and green.

" She ran her finger over the edges, showing me what she was talking about.

"You know if you were human that wouldn't happen for a week or more. "

I nodded. "I know, but I'm bored."

"Where's your PCD?" She asked. "Maybe you've got something to read that can distract you."

"It's in my purse. I'll dig it out after Ridges leaves and see if I can find something that interests me." I nodded, agreeing that reading was a good idea.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, my head tilted back, resting on the back of the sofa and my eyes closed.

I was starting to doze when a knock sounded on the suite door.

I jerked my head up, startled and started to stand to answer the door, but Alexis stopped me with a hand on my arm.

She nodded silently at Caden, who'd already gotten up and was headed to open the door.

He stopped before touching the door and inhaled, using scent to see who was on the other side of the door. Apparently satisfied, he opened the door and let in three men.

Bennett lead the group with Ridges right behind him.

A new man brought up the rear, he was dressed in an inexpensive suit and tie.

Bennett checked the room like he had on their first visit, scenting the air to be sure that only the four of us were in the suite.

Satisfied of his boss's safety, he stepped aside and let Ridges came farther into the room, the newcomer right behind him.

I started to get up and greet Ridges but he held out one hand. "No, save your energy. " He said. "I wouldn't have come, but I needed to ask you some questions, Nickie."

"What do you need to know?"

"This is William Bolser, he's part of my pack and a detective on SPD. He has some things to show you, and a few questions to ask."

"All right." I turned to the new man. I thought he probably wasn't much taller than me, maybe 5'10".

He was in his late thirties and starting to thicken around the middle but still fit.

He had a bushy mustache that seemed out of place on his face.

"What do you want to know?" I asked, totally at ease with the idea of a police officer questioning me.

"Do you recognize this man?" He held out a PCD with a photo on the screen.

I looked at the picture for a moment, the face seemed vaguely familiar but it wasn't someone I knew. "He seems familiar somehow, but I don't know who he is."

Devon sat down beside me and wrapped one arm around me, silently offering both comfort and his energy.

The detective reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a small press to seal bag with some kind of cloth inside. He pulled it open and held it out to me.

"Do you recognize this scent?"

I took the bag and sniffed the contents carefully, made a face and held it back out to him. "That's the guy from the back of the van, the one who kept kicking me." Devon's arm tightened around me.

He took the bag back, sealing it before stuffing it back into his pocket. "The one you hit before you got free?" He asked, watching me carefully.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"How many times did you hit him?"

"Just once, but with both hands. I'd broken the chain holding the cuffs to the floor, but the cuffs were still on."

"Did you see anyone else in the van?"

I shook my head. "No, I heard a couple of them talking, but I don't know if I would recognize their voices. I know there were at least four of them but I couldn't focus enough to pick out individual voices when I opened my shields to see what they were going to do with me."

He nodded, seeming to consider what course to take next. He looked at Ridges, I followed his gaze in time to see Ridges nod at him.

"We found the van. It had the man in the rear, dead, his skull had been caved in." He watched carefully as I cringed slightly at the news.

"I didn't try to kill him but I didn't check my blow either. I was desperate to get out of there."

He nodded, continuing. "It looks like a single blunt force trauma to the head.

There's nothing in the van to trace back to you but I scented a Kitsune and asked if there had been any trouble.

" He motioned towards the Anikitos sitting at the other end of the table in front of him.

"He brought me to see you. From what I could tell, you're right, there were four in the van, the one you killed and three more, all human.

The dead man had several small darts in his pocket, testing revealed that they contained ketamine, a strong drug often used as an anesthetic on both humans and animals, it sometimes goes by the street name animal tranqs.

" He seemed to be watching our reactions as he gave us the information.

"That's one of the few things that acts quickly on us. It knocks us out pretty easily but it takes a lot of it to keep us out, we burn through it fast." Alexis spoke up.

"From what I can tell," William continued. "these guys had no idea they were after anything but a human. The chain was a standard bike chain and the tranquilizers are nothing out of the ordinary, they could be stolen or bought off the street. I assume the cuffs were standard?" He looked at Ridges.

"Standard police issue cuffs." Devon said. "They're issued all over the country to police officers, corrections officers and MP's, not to mention available on the net to anyone who cares to order them."

William nodded. "That's what I suspected.

" He glanced around the room, looking at all of us in turn.

"This is both good and bad. If they didn't know she wasn't just like any other human we can assume that's not why they targeted her.

But it leaves us with few leads as to who they were and why she was taken.

We have an identity on this guy," he waived his PCD indicating the man in the photo.

"and a few names of known associates but if you never saw them we have no way for you to confirm if it was them. " He was looking at me again.

"It will also make it harder to track down why they were after her." Caden said from where he stood near the door.

"Yes." William agreed, looking back at him for a moment. "We're looking into financial records for this guy and his known associates, but so far, nothing."

"I guess it's better to know something, even if it's that we don't have anything yet." I glanced around the room as I took Devon's hand.

"What can we do to help?" Devon asked.

"Right now? Nothing." Ridges said. "Let her heal and keep her safe. I've contacted Bill about this kid you told me about, this Brandon. He's looking into his whereabouts and he'll get back to me. I'll take care of things on this end, at least until you're in top shape and more able to participate."

"I don't like not being able to go hunt them down." Devon growled. "But at the same time I know she's not up to hunting them down yet and I'm not willing to leave her, not with anyone. So I appreciate the help you're giving us here."

"It's the least I can do. After all, you were attacked in my territory, I should have seen to it that you stayed safe."