Page 57 of WitchCurse

“Little fox,” I greeted, keeping out of his territory.

“What was that?” He asked, still frozen in place. “It was like you petted the inside of me.” He shivered.

“Did I arouse you, little fox? Have we not danced before? You chose the wolf.”

He let out a long breath, squared his shoulders and traversed the distance to me, pausing only a second before crossing the barrier. He stood beyond it only by inches, waiting, expression tense. Was his kitsune warring with him, or even demanding he devour me, especially now that I had some power?

“Do you wish to eat me, little fox?” I asked after a moment waiting for his reaction.

“No.” Sebastian stared, breathing carefully calculated breaths. “I wonder…” I raised a brow, waiting for him to continue. He crossed over, and reached out to touch the back of my hand, careful, expression thoughtful, gaze searching. “If my kitsune suspected you were weak before? It thought we might end your pain…”

“Don’t all predators prey on the weak? The rational is the human side of you.”

Sebastian sighed, and slid a bag off his back. “I sensed you close, and brought more food, though I thought you’d still be with Nick and Toby.” He couldn’t hide his emotions as well as his mate, and he was not happy about my bonds to his people.

“Fate is rarely kind,” I said. “Time will remind you of that again and again until it’s burned into your skin.” Not unlike the curses. “I did not take from you to spite you.”

“I know. I do, I promise. And I’m thankful that Nick is still alive…and Toby. I just worry.”

“I merely gave them time.”

He nodded absently, handing over the bag, which I put on my back like he had. I caught the scent of death again, and Sebastian stiffened, as he must have smelled it too.

“I was following that,” I said pointing in the direction from which the scent came.

Sebastian stalked forward. I caught up, both of us intent on finding the source. Was it theHunt? I couldn’t recall a distinct odor coming from them while they still lived, other than that crisp bite of ice.

Near the base where the land began to slope toward the mountains the kill laid. Not something of this world with its multiple legs and bulbous head with many eyes. The ground around it stained black and crystalized with ice. AHuntbeast of some kind, had it been one Toby had leashed? I couldn’t recall. The center of it was ripped wide open, as if torn by claws? It normally took more than that to kill one of these beasts, since the creatures were already dead, the only way to stop them was to cut the strings that animated them by pulling the magic out. But this thing pulsed with magic of the wild sort. They didn’t normally remain after death in this world, turning instead to ash as soon as the magic was ripped out of them. But that was part of the problem, it pulsed with power.

“It’s a trap,” Sebastian said, his gaze scanning the trees around us. “A lure.”

And since it was wild magic, it was a trap set for me and mine. I nudged it with my foot. “I think they underestimated the feast you provided,” I told him. The air turned icy, snow beginning to fall. I sighed, really hating the cold. In my youngest days I had generated warmth without fail. I missed those days. “Ready for battle, little fox?” I inquired, stepping away to funnel the heat into a change.

He grumbled and began hurriedly stripping out of his clothes. “I need to learn how to do the change with clothes. Why can everyone do that except me?” He dropped his jacket to the ground as I completed my shift.

The first beast lunged, and I caught it midleap, ripping into it, spilling out ice, darkness, and wild magic, which I devoured. Another swiped at me but Sebastian landed on it hard, tearing into it with kitsune ferocity, his form more foxlike than my cats sleek form, but the kitsune had many incarnations.

A dozen glowing eyes appeared around us, as if they hoped caging us in would work, but these wereHuntbeasts, lifeless, brainless puppets. Neither Sebastian nor I hesitated as we dove into the lines of their barrier, tearing into the monsters, and leeching out the magic. I shoved the magic into Nick and Toby, thinking if they were in the middle of sex, it would interrupt them, as they’d have to separate the magic. Petty, but it soothed the lingering bitterness over Nick’s attempt to break the barrier, and Toby’s demand for domination.

I didn’t bother to try to leash these as Toby had, instead drinking down the fae wildness, as these beasts should never have been brought to this world. Nick would be scrambling to build our realm, funneling off the extra energy, and I was feeling angry enough that I kept little of it for myself.

In moments the entire attack was over, the creatures all in the throes of final death, dissolving into little more than gray ash around us. I took the pulsing magic from the lure as well, swallowing down the cooling magic like it was congealed blood. Unpleasant, but it began to dissolve too. Whomever had planned this attack had underestimated us, or perhaps not planned for both kitsunes to find the lure. Had it been a normal wolf, the outlook might not have been positive. Liam could have taken them, even the pack second or third would have held their own. Sebastian, by himself? Maybe. It wasn’t that he lacked strength, more that his drive to save was stronger than his will to kill.

I shifted back to my human form; jacket tight around me as my body seemed to fill from the continued feeding. Were they gorging me for some reason? Feeding me theHuntto make me more useful for whatever court they hoped to bind me to? I didn’t for a moment think they’d forgotten how strong a kitsune could be.

Sebastian’s curse echoed across the space as he half hid behind a tree to pull his clothes back on, his nude backside peeking out from behind a trunk. “Stop staring,” he growled. “I can’t do the change with clothes thing. I’m working on it.” He shivered as he tugged his shoes and coat back on, his hair a mess of wild red and a stripe of white, it reminded me of a fox’s tail, bushy and bright. He tried to smooth the mess, but couldn’t seem to find his hair tie.

“You are not unpleasant to gaze upon,” I assured him. “Lithe and delicate was rare in the courts, and your coloring unusual enough that many would find themselves drawn to examine the depths and hues of your flesh beneath their touch.”

He stiffened.

Had I said something wrong? “You are everything the fae is not, life, warmth, and magic. Is your mate nearby?” I inquired. Did he need the assurance of his mate rather than a half-blood fae monster like myself?

“Other side of the territory.” His tone was tight. Irritated? Upset? Another approach then, as the teasing wasn’t working. Sebastian threw back snark every time I sent it his way.

“He lets you stray so far from his sight? What if you were attacked by theHuntand I wasn’t here to help?” I waved my hand at the area now absent of unusual snow and the ashen dust of dead fae. “Would you have fed them until they burst, sweet omega? Offered them tea and cakes?”

Sebastian scowled, but his tension eased.