A Black Dog Novella : Stone-Cold Fox

An eerie calm settled over me. I wish I could say this was the first time a kitsune had come at me to get to my father, but it wasn’t. I knew the drill, and I wasn’t going gently into any good night.

That left me with two options, and both sucked. Option one: exit quietly then whip out the teeth and claws away from mortal eyes and their well-meaning interference. Option two: scream for help, drag humans into a fae matter, get brought up on charges by the conclave for risking exposure to said humans, and then bend over to kiss my foxy ass goodbye.

One of these things sucks less than the other…

“Do as he says, Tee.” I made the call when she hesitated. Her mom was human, and she had a soft spot for mortals. The guilt would gnaw at her if she got one injured while trying to protect me. “We don’t want any innocents hurt.”

Thierry’s fierce grin bolstered me, and she flared her light for an instant before snuffing it. “I don’t mind relocating the party.” Teeth bared, she smiled at Dean like the predator she usually hid so well. “The smaller the audience, the fewer the casualties.”

Katsuo took my arm, and Dean placed a hand at Thierry’s waist to hide the pressure of his blade against her side. Our quartet exited the building, and Thierry and I allowed ourselves to be herded toward a bricked-in Dumpster enclosure that sat empty, its container pushed against the rear of the convention center. A tiny voice in my head warned of the high probability these two had scoped the area and done their prep work first, like removing the Dumpster and securing this scenic spot for our chat.

I caught a whiff of the pungent refuse sliming the concrete pad and balked, but Katsuo hauled me in after him. Waiting until the brick wall concealed us, Dean snapped, “Do it.”

Katsuo reached into the folds of material at his side and produced a gun he aimed at Thierry. Such a mundane solution to their problem. I didn’t expect it. Shifters preferred teeth and claws to weapons. Thierry was good, but she was far from bulletproof. Twisting Katsuo’s arm in a vicious arc, I broke free of him and threw off his aim. He misfired once, and I leapt for Thierry. Lucky number two hit home. Stinging pain radiated from my shoulder blade down my spine, and I landed in a heap on the sticky cement. The world spun beneath my cheek, my consciousness unwinding thread by thread. In slow motion, I shoved onto all fours then rose to my knees. A third distinct pop of displaced air rang out. Direct hit. Thierry crumpled in a heap with a dart protruding from her neck. A dart. Not a bullet. I almost laughed with manic joy. Thank the gods. We might survive this after all. Now that I comprehended my loopiness was drug-induced and not the product of blood loss, my inebriated optimism skyrocketed.

“Tee.” I stroked her cheek. The sedative hit her faster. The dart I intercepted must not have fully compressed. She was out cold when I shook her shoulder. “It’s all right. I’ll get you out of this.”

“You shot Mai.” Dean’s snarl echoed in the confined space.

“She jumped in front of the gun,” Katsuo snapped. “I couldn’t stop time and pluck the dart from the air.”

Turning his back on Katsuo, Dean squatted in front of me, dismissing Thierry as a threat that had been neutralized. The curve of his jaw flexed, and he flicked the thick rope of hair that had been hanging over his shoulder behind him. Those eyes, bottomless and hard, fixated on me. Frightening. Yet they seemed so familiar. Dean. I was being abducted by a Dean Winchester wannabe, which would have been five-alarm hot minus the whole abduction thing.

I tilted my throbbing head back to make eye contact. Bad idea. Bad. Idea. He reached for me, and I snapped at his fingers. Even sedated, I was faster than he expected, and I ended up sinking my teeth deep in his wrist instead. A coppery tang filled my mouth, and smug satisfaction warmed my gut.

“Color me surprised,” he mocked. “A Hayashi with a spine.” He gave me a nudge, and I fell against Katsuo. “Secure her.”

Hands clamped around my rib cage, almost under my armpits, and Katsuo promised, “I won’t hurt you.”

“Thierry,” I wheezed as he lifted me and tossed me over his shoulder. “You can’t leave her out here. I’ll behave.” For now, I mentally tacked on. “I promise. Just take her inside. Please.”