3. Vix

Chapter 3

Vix

Y our family is gone. I came here for you .

Vix blinked and realized she must have dozed off. The uneasy feeling of a half-remembered dream faded away as she looked down at the wolf pelts she'd finished skinning. Starting the process of preserving it to wear was always time-consuming but soothing.

Without her own fur, she had to steal it to ward against the brutal winter weather. Vix found something ironic about that, but she wasn't sure why.

Vanya brushed against her side as she attached the pelts to the frames. Removing the old ones for the mountain lion to turn into beautiful coats, pants, and blankets was mindless, calming work. It washed away the last bit of uncomfortable feelings that fading dream had left her with.

"Have you eaten?" she asked the mountain lion, tossing the finished pelts in the box for Vanya to deal with when she decided to shift back to human.

The wolf meat was delicious as always , the other shifter told her as they walked out of the large dirt room together where Vix processed all her furs.

It was so hard to get the stench of angel blood out of them sometimes.

A den for a shifter who couldn't shift hadn't been easy to make, but Vix had her magic to help dig the tunnel underground. Making it tall enough had been a complicated task she'd needed science and magic for, but now she had a human-sized den with multiple rooms that was safe from the winter wind, predators, and prying eyes.

There was a book she'd read once that had always stuck with her – one about a family of foxes who stole from the humans, and they'd had this elaborate underground den…

She'd always wanted that for herself, and now she finally had it.

Vanya followed her into the dirt workroom she used to practice magic. It's trading day .

"It is." She grinned and scooped up the necklaces teeming with charms, eyeing the way they sparkled even in the dim light. "Are you staying for a while?"

A few weeks . Vanya brushed against Vix's hip affectionately before turning to head toward the main living space. If that's fine with you.

"My den is your den," she murmured, slipping the magic into a small pack before following the mountain lion. "It might be a while before I'm back."

Vix grabbed the white leggings that wicked moisture and retained heat, slipping them on as she pushed back memories of a different den…one that was made of rock instead of dirt.

This was her life now. Until she found her missing pieces, all her work had to be simple. Kenji knew that – he knew better than anyone how easily she could get distracted.

Her white, long-sleeved shirt was next, and it was skintight to keep her stupid human flesh warm enough not to get damaged. Shoving her hunter's boots on next, she eyed Vanya as she slumped onto the bed piled high with furs in the corner.

"Do you need anything while I'm out?" Vix asked, reaching for the fur pants Vanya had made for her.

Donuts .

Rolling her eyes, she yanked on her fur coat. "I don't think that's a need , but I'll consider it."

If she could trade for it, but Vix wasn't going to step foot into a human town if she could help it. Occasionally, she'd take on a job, but only if she didn't have to go into the city. Once a year was quite enough.

I don't need you fussing over me , Vanya snarled softly, golden eyes glowing as she watched Vix slip the pack onto her back.

She tipped her head back and smirked at the moody mountain lion. "Then go hang out in someone else's den."

It was a miracle they hadn't killed each other yet, but Vanya was pack. They took care of each other.

Try not to ruin that set of furs, Vanya muttered. What good is all your magic if you can't even get blood out?

Vix sighed and tugged on her matted hair. "If you see Kenji…"

Just go . Vanya stretched on top of the furs, looking like she was going to do nothing but nap all day. I'll tell the raven you miss him.

Flashing the sleepy lion a grin, she didn't waste time, running out of the main room and through the long tunnel leading up to the hole under the tree. She'd carved into the earth for a long time before she'd been satisfied with all the rooms.

Her magic couldn't repair, but she could use runes and summoning circles to bring what she needed below ground…including blood and secrets.

Vix sniffed the air from just under the camouflaged hole leading into her den, not catching any strange scents, and the magic told her nothing was out of place. The wind carried secrets though, and she thought she heard something that made her entire body recoil, but then it was gone – carrying that horror farther north to the end of the world.

Grabbing the root dangling from the tree above, she pulled herself up the steps she'd carved into the dirt and lifted the trap door. Just like a spider, she jumped out, letting the door close behind her as she settled into a crouch.

Listening to the whispered words from the trees telling her all the local gossip, she studied the branches above her. Ravens were patrolling like always and the coyotes were on the way to their usual location for the trade.

She pressed her hand to one of the tree's roots in silent thanks.

Peering through the branches of her tree, she saw the sky was dark despite it being early in the day.

A caw caught her attention and Vix eyed the winter raven watching her. With those white feathers, she knew it was one of the twins without even having to scent them. Vix stood, sifting through the old memories that always washed over her every time she saw one of her ravens.

Tilting her head to the side, she pointed her finger at him like a gun. The raven's eyes started to glow red, and it cawed a warning they both knew was nothing but a bluff. Tilting her head in the other direction, Vix grinned when the raven followed her movements.

Before she'd become this, she'd been just like him, but now she was nothing—everything.

Wild .

"Bang," she whispered.

A tiny spark of magic erupted from the tip of her finger, flying at the raven like a bullet. He took off with an indignant squawk and she laughed, running through the forest too quickly for him to follow.

Kenji worried too much.

Out here she was free. Vix could be anything she needed to be – she could do whatever needed to be done. All her broken pieces didn't matter out here, and she'd find the answers she needed, or a way to make them whole.

Broken glass could still be used to make a pretty picture, but Vix had to find where all those pieces fit first.

She couldn't do that when there were so many expectations of what or who she should be from outsiders. Though the ravens had never been too demanding. She was good at being a raven.

Killing had always come naturally.

But today was trading day.

Trade, trade, trade, trade … trade what she made for a little piece of aid . She hummed the catchy song and allowed herself to run as fast as she wanted, keeping her steps light. Her feet didn't make a single sound as she ran through the forest.

If she stopped, she would sink into the knee-deep snow, but she was too fast for winter to catch her today.

Clouds peeked down at her like monsters, covering the sun as well as the sky just to taunt her. She was the cold of a winter storm, howling and endless in its search for blood and glory.

Soon, she would have enough, and then what, Gabriel?

Then she would come to him instead of waiting for him to deal with the creature of chaos and pain he'd molded her into. She would take back what he'd stolen from her, and then maybe she'd finally be whole…

Or she wouldn't.

Leaping from the snow to a tree, her claws dug into the bark just long enough for her to plant her feet and spring off it. Arms reached up on instinct to grab a branch and Vix swung herself up to the next one.

She dangled from it as she scouted their usual meeting place, the pack on her back light but worth the weight of a thousand bars of aurum. Her enchanted boots gripped the bark of the heartbroken tree, just as good as paws, and Vix found herself listening to its pitiful murmurs as she waited.

The pathways are cracking , it told her in that brittle winter voice, and she heard the distinct sound of ice shifting.

Looking up, she eyed the sharp icicles moaning along with the tree as if the water was screaming to be freed so it could sink into the earth and become life once more.

Maybe it would be different if you weren't here , the tree cried – so, so sad. Maybe if you were different, we wouldn't be so…

Vix slid down the trunk of the tree, her hand stealing away some of the pain it carried for her.

Maybe we wouldn't be so cold , it whispered.

"Maybe," she soothed, letting the breath containing that wild language skitter over the bark and it almost felt like the tree was trying to get away from her. "Tell me what I want to know, and I'll take it all away."

Icicles shattered as they fell around her, dislodged from the violent way the tree started to shake.

Strangers , it warned. The brittleness eased as she took more of its pain. South of here .

"Heading in what direction?"

North .

That made her pause and the tree whined like the pathetic thing it was.

" Shh ." Running her hand down the bark, her claws tore the dead layer away to reveal soft strength beneath. Vix pressed her hand to it and took a sip more, feeling the wildness skittering through her body like a drug. "Anything else?"

They're coming .