Fox Fate (15 page)

I think I surprised the vampire, but she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a quick hug. "This is not wise," she whispered so quietly only I could hear. And so when she unwrapped me, I stepped backwards and let Lara draw me away from the vampire, pressing my back against her front and wrapping her arms around me.

At least she hadn't growled.

"It's a lovely party," Lara said. "We've had an intriguing time."

"Carefully said," Carissa observed.

My mind was working, which surprised me. I studied Carissa for a moment, then turned my gaze to Deirdre.

She was dressed as some sort of earth spirit, wearing all brown and green, with twigs and leaves in her hair and decorating her clothing. I didn't ask what it represented.

Her anticipation was clear, and I thought perhaps she was nearly as excited as I was. Her excitement fed mine, and I was sure there was good news.

Then I studied Carissa's two guests. They looked like two humans in Halloween costumes. The woman appeared young, perhaps in her twenties, and was dressed in peasant clothes with a wane, pale appearance. The man with her was older. His peasant clothes were tattered, his hair was slicked back, and he was wearing makeup that made him look wet.

I had no idea what they represented.

We exchanged pleasantries with Deirdre. Lara didn't bristle when she hugged me, and I held her tightly for a minute. "You have good news for me," I said into her ear.

"And you will wait to hear it," she replied before releasing me.

Then Carissa introduced us to the woman. "This is Ekaterina Kirillovna Vedenin, the Queen of St. Petersburg."

I didn't know the protocol when meeting a vampire queen. Carissa hadn't stood on ceremony, and in a way, I was a queen as well. But then Ekaterina answered that by stepping forward and shaking first Lara's hand, and then mine.

"I am pleased to meet you, Ekaterina Kir..." I trailed off. Her name had been a mouthful.

"Ah. You may call me Ekaterina." She shook her head. "Most Americans would have called me Kate. But a proper, Russian name does not spill off an American tongue so easily." Then she took both my hands and spread my arms wide, studying me.

"Lovely," she said. "I can understand why it tortures you to have parted with her, Carissa."

The woman spoke English with a thick, Russian accent. It was so thick I thought perhaps she intentionally fostered it that way.

"She belongs in her northern forests," Carissa said. "She would have wilted, an uprooted flower in our southern bayous."

"Ah, if it is forests she desires, you could have given her to me. We have forests in excess."

I expected Lara to growl. Instead, she said nothing, and I ignored her, focusing on the vampire queen. I cocked my head. "I am trying to understand your costume tonight, Ekaterina."

"Ah. If you do not know Russian mythology, you would not guess. I am a rusalka, a young woman who died violently and now haunts the woods. Gregoria plays the role of one of my victims, summoned to die an untimely death. And your costume?"

I smiled. "If you are unfamiliar with New Orleans stories, you would also not guess. I am a voodoo queen tonight."

The vampire laughed. "And your head enforcer is your voodoo doll. Most excellent. If we poke pins in her, who suffers for it?"

"Undoubtedly the one foolish enough to poke her with pins," I said with a laugh.

Lara and Elisabeth weren't amused by the conversation, but everyone else laughed lightly.

The vampire released me, and then I asked, "Carissa, does Ekaterina have an answer to the question I asked you?"

"I do," Ekaterina answered for herself. "But before I answer, we must get to know one another somewhat better." She took my hand and let me to a loveseat, pulling me down next to her. There was nowhere for Lara to sit next to me.

And as I was mad at her, I was perfectly content accepting the look of consternation she gave me.

Everyone else took seats. I ignored the wolves and focused on the vampire.

"Please, Ekaterina. Can you at least tell me? Am I the last fox?"

She studied me for a moment before she answered. "You are not the last, but I will say no more until I know you better. Carissa vouches for your integrity, and from the way she talks about you, I can feel the depth of her respect for you. But we have met only moments ago, and I will come to my own conclusions."

"But, please," I begged. "Do you..." I paused and licked my lips. "Do you have a fox?"

She frowned, then her features cleared. "I see this is important to you, but I will not answer you yet." And then she changed the topic

We talked for perhaps a half hour. Twice more I tried to steer the conversation back to other foxes, and the second time she told me bluntly, "I will discuss that when I am ready, and not a moment before. We will do this my way, or we will not do it at all." Her eyes bore into mine.

I returned her gaze. Inside, I felt frantic. She had information I desperately wanted, and I was ready to admit my impatience. I also knew she understood how desperate I was for her information.

But I am Fox. In spite of Carissa's proximity, my mind was working; it was working overtime. I understood what she wanted, and I knew I had to pay her price to get what I wanted. I knew I couldn't browbeat her into giving me what I wanted, and thus I was forced to buy the information.

And so, I offered my next payment. I submissively lowered my eyes from hers, bowing my head slightly, and said, "I am sorry, Ekaterina."

I bet Lara wished she could get me to back down the way Ekaterina had, but neither she nor Elisabeth had made a sound since we had all sat down.

All were silent for several heartbeats, and then Ekaterina said, "Of course. It is forgotten." She reached out and lifted my chin. I let her.

I heard Lara's heart rate rise; she didn't like the way Ekaterina was treating me. But she remained quiet.

I answered her questions for another forty minutes. At times, it felt like an inquisition. At other times, it was more akin to a conversation. In her way, Ekaterina was quite charming. She was darkly beautiful and, even without her vampiric charms, deeply compelling. She was intelligent and well spoken.

There was a time I would have been deeply attracted to her. But of course, I only had eyes for Lara.

Finally she said, "There are a few other things I wish to discuss. I have heard certain rumors about you. I wish you to confirm or deny them." I nodded acquiescence. "I have heard you have survived several death challenges against very large, very competent wolves. Is this true?"

I glanced at Lara, asking for permission. She shrugged, making it my decision. I performed some of my past exploits with significant audiences, wolves with no loyalty to me or my secrets. And some of them I had wanted advertised; I wanted to be the fox boogey monster, after all.

"That is correct," I said. "My reactions are nothing compared to those of an ancient vampire, but compared to werewolves -- or younger vampires -- I am very fast."

She pressed for details and asked me to take my time. I told her about my more public actions; I didn't tell her about anything from New England. She asked enough questions to keep me speaking, pulling most of the details from me. She expressed appreciation for what I had done.

"I'm sure it's nothing compared to your abilities," I finally stated.

"Perhaps not, but it is not just ownership of abilities, it is also how you use them. You are so small and, I detect, amazingly fragile. And yet you persevere. I also detect there are other encounters you aren't sharing, but I won't press."

"Thank you," I said, lowering my eyes again.

We sat there for a minute, and then she came to a decision. "Well. I have made you wait." I looked up. "I am not quite ready to answer your questions with as much candor as you have answered mine, but I will start with this. You are not the last living werefox."

I already knew that; Carissa wouldn't have put me through all of this only to tell me this woman didn't have information for me.

I waited, hoping she would share more.

She began to smile, and somehow I knew it was predatory. She eyed me up and down for a moment. "And I could introduce you."

Tears immediately began to well into my eyes. It had been so long since I had seen another of my kind. I hadn't fully realized how important this was to me, but now I was filled with a deep longing.

And then Ekaterina crushed my hopes. "You need only come to St. Petersburg."

"No," Lara said, her first word in ninety minutes. She said it firmly, almost staccato.

Ekaterina ignored her. Instead she added, "And join my household."

Lara was immediately on her feet. "No!" she yelled. "Michaela is mine!"

Elisabeth was right next to her, and she interposed herself in front of Lara, holding her back. My mate would have launched herself at the vampire, getting herself killed in the process. Her sister held her back.

Ekaterina turned to her, seemingly casually. "It is not your decision, Wolf. Carissa would not allow me to take her against her will, but if the lovely fox were to offer herself to me, Carissa would enforce her decision."

"Lara," I said. "Calm down."

Then I turned away and brushed the tears away. Then I stood up. "Head enforcer, with my mate's consent, we are returning to Wisconsin as quickly as we can prepare the aircraft." I didn't wait. I turned for the door and was away from any of them before they reacted.

But then there was a whoosh of air, and Ekaterina stood in front of me. I stared up into her face. She didn't touch me, but behind me, Lara was going nearly insane.

"Lara, calm down," I said again without even turning to look at her. I raised an eyebrow to Ekaterina.

"Your mate clearly treats you poorly," she said. "You clearly do not wish to be with her. I would treat you very well. You would want for nothing. And you have felt the thrall before; you know you would be happy, deliriously happy."

"I am sorry, Ekaterina," I said as calmly as I could muster. "Thank you for assuring me I am not alone." I sighed. "That is the wrong way to put it. I am not alone. I have my pack. And I would want greatly if I were to come with you."

"What would you want?"

"My mate, my children, my pack, my friends," I replied. "We're having a spat, but that is the nature of relationships. That is all you detect. Other than her overprotective nature, my mate treats me exactly the way I wish to be treated. It is her nature to protect me; it is my nature to be free. She will not change; I will not change. And so we seek a middle ground, and sometimes there are disputes. That is all."

The vampire studied me then reached out a hand and attempted to steer me back to the sofa. "Come. Let us discuss this further."

"I've taken enough of your time," I said.

From behind me, speaking too quietly for the wolves to hear, Carissa said, "Michaela, trust me. Come back and sit."

I cocked my head, not to hear her better, but to let her know I had heard her. In my fox form, I would have twitched an ear towards her instead. I didn't take my eyes off the vampire in front of me, but then, subtly, I nodded. Ekaterina put her arm around my shoulders and drew me back towards my place.

Lara was going insane, so I pulled away from the vampire and moved to her. "Lara, I love you. When we leave, we are leaving together." I reached up and caressed her cheek. "You know that." I rapped my knuckles against the top of her head, hard enough to hurt. "Get the rocks out of your head."

At that she smiled, briefly, rubbing her head. She let Elisabeth pull her back to her own seat, and then I took mine next to Ekaterina again.

I looked at the vampire. "Well?"

"I wish to discuss your place in my household."

"I have no place in your household, and so it is a very brief conversation," I replied. "If that is all you wished to discuss, we will be going."

And then I waited. She still had more information I wanted.

Then she stood, and I was sure she wasn't going to tell me anything else. She reached down and pulled me to my feet, then put her arm around me again and began leading me towards one of the other doors from the room. I immediately balked, but she stilled me with a question.

"Would you like to know more about my fox?"

She didn't try to draw me from the room; she only drew me in the direction of the door. Then she brought us to a stop and, with her free hand, gestured to the door. On command, it opened.

I didn't realize vampires could do that.

But then I discovered she hadn't; she had simply demonstrated a flair for the dramatic, as a form appeared in the doorway then stepped forward into the light.

It was a woman. She stopped, and we stared at each other.

Before me stood a werefox, the first I had seen in twenty years.

She had my build, although she was even more delicate than I was and, I thought, perhaps a little shorter. But where my wild hair was deep red, hers was white -- nearly silver -- with a pale complexion to match.

She spoke first, one word in Russian. Ekaterina replied to her in the same language, holding a hand out, and the other fox stepped forward, taking the vampire's hands.

Neither of us took our eyes from the other.

Ekaterina spoke to her in Russian. I heard my name. And then she switched to English. "Michaela, this is Alexandra, but she prefers to be called Sonya." Well, it sounded like Sonya, but not how an America would say the name. I ran it through in my head.

"Sonya," I tried.

The girl shook her head and then said her name again. She pronounced it like I had and shook her head, then she said it differently, and I emulated it as best I could. She nodded.

And then we continued to stare at each other. Ekaterina withdrew her arm from my shoulder and released Sonya, stepping back away from us.

The fox stepped closer to me. I stepped closer to her. And then we flew into each other's arms, both of us crying and babbling, me in English, her in Russian. I didn't understand a word she said, and I didn't think she understood any more from me.

But we understood.