Nine

Marie

"I can't believe you got to kiss her first."

Marie shook her head and decided to ignore Joe's comment as she let the both of them into her apartment. She removed her shoes and placed them on the shoe rack inside the hallway closet, pulled off her face mask to hang on the hook by the door, and hung up her jacket in the closet as well. She hesitated, figuring shoes inside her living space was a fairly low priority consideration given the current circumstance. But Joe gently nudged her to the side with his shoulder as he toed off his shoes and kicked them under her shoe rack. Kuro wasn't wearing shoes in this form, so that wasn't a problem at the moment.

"Come in," she said to Joe and Kuro. "My wards go up as soon as I shut the door. There are additional safety measures around the outside of the building to give me an early warning if something or someone is approaching."

Joe was still carrying Kuro cradled in his arms. "Can I put him on your couch?"

"Yes, absolutely." She paused, glancing down at her shirt. "I didn't see any blood anywhere. Do you think he's hurt? I could go get a towel for him to lie on in case we have to give him any kind of first aid."

As Joe gently placed Kuro on her chaise longue, Kuro struggled up into a sitting position with obvious difficulty. But he looked straight at her and shook his head in a clear negative.

"I think that's a no." There was amusement in Joe's voice despite the worry on his face as he gazed down as his partner.

"Can I get you something to drink?" she asked. "I'm definitely making tea for myself."

"That would be great," Joe responded. "Can I trouble you for a really tall glass of water, too? It's been a long night for me and I'm in serious need of hydration."

Marie nodded, glad to have something simple and constructive to focus on for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. She decided to make a whole pot rather than separate mugs, measuring out her own blend of tea including kudzu, ginseng, and citrus peel in the steeping chamber of her glass teapot.

"Ginseng to reduce inflammation. Orange peel for flavor and improved digestion," she muttered, reinforcing the intent with which she was using the ingredients for a magical boost. "And a little bit of kudzu, to prevent hangovers and any aftereffects."

Joe was definitely dressed for clubbing, and she thought she smelled a touch of alcohol and smoke around him. The herbal tea would help his metabolism deal with whatever toxins he'd been exposed to at the clubs, and it was especially effective infused with her magic.

She filled the teapot from the hot water dispenser she kept on her countertop. She had it set to keep the water at a constant 195 degrees Fahrenheit so she could have up to four liters of hot water ready to dispense whenever she needed it. No waiting for a kettle to boil. Three minutes later she was placing a tall glass of tepid water on the side table next to Joe as well as a bowl of water for Kuro. Ice water would've been too upsetting for the stomach considering how overheated both of them seemed to be. Then she poured out two cups of steaming herbal tea.

"My water glasses are a little too slender for you to drink comfortably from," she said to Kuro. "So I figured a bowl would work out better. Let me know if you want a glass instead."

Kuro lapped neatly at the water, then lifted his head to gaze at her. She wasn't sure what she expected. She'd never really spent any time with a real fox, much less a nine-tailed fox spirit. But there were two of them in her apartment right now, and one of them was the size of a true fox, currently waving nine tails around himself. The memory of his fur under her palm tickled at her mind and she quashed the desire to ask to pet him again. She was suddenly intensely curious as to whether the fur around his ears was silky soft.

Joe was looking around her apartment, and his gaze took in her large windows. As he peered out into the night, he asked, "You've got a great view of the roof of that building. Did you see what happened?"

"No." Marie took a sip of her tea, letting the spicy warmth of the ginger soothe her. "Whatever happened, a powerful enough spell was cast to brush against the wards of this building. I was alerted that something big was happening, but by the time I looked out, all I saw were magic-generated shadows. It took a few minutes for the magic to dissipate enough for me to make out Kuro lying down there."

Joe turned to look at her. "And you recognized Kuro right away?"

"I thought so," she admitted. "I remembered the coloration of his tails. Besides, it was a fox in the middle of downtown Seattle, and I could see there were more tails than any normal fox would have. I've only met two of you in my entire life. I figured chances were high it was him."

"So you came running." Joe's words were tinged with wonder. "You could have stayed hidden. You barely know us."

"A witch was involved," Marie insisted. "And the spell that brushed my wards was definitely powered by pain magic."

A low growl filled the room, and Marie looked at Kuro to find the fur all around his neck and shoulders raised.

"All the more reason for you to have steered clear," Joe said, as if he was in agreement with Kuro's wordless sentiment. "You don't have the scent of pain magic around you. You draw your power from a different source."

That last statement was left dangling, like a question. Or maybe it was an invitation to share. Maybe she would clarify the type of witchcraft she practiced, eventually. Right now, she had questions.

"Let's focus on Kuro for the moment, okay? What happened to him is more urgent." She shifted her gaze from one to the other until they nodded in agreement.

"He's not going to be able to tell us anything in this form." Joe tilted his head to the side as he regarded his partner. "We had a call going, but our earbuds don't really pick up other people speaking near us. It's part of the background noise filtering technology. I could hear someone talking to him, but not what they said."

"And nothing happened to you?" Marie felt something out of place about the both of them, different from when she'd met them earlier in the day. It wasn't just Kuro.

"I was coming back from dropping someone off at a nearby halfway house." Joe's forehead creased as he drew his eyebrows together in thought. "Someone brushed past me, but I was straining to hear what was going on with Kuro. I didn't think twice about it."

Kuro had come to stand on his four paws and was sniffing Joe all over.

"I think something happened to you, too," Marie said quietly. "There's something that's changed about both of you. I can tell."

Auras weren't her forte. She could see them if she tried, but she had no real basis for comparison since she'd never taken a look at their auras previously. But now that she was looking, there was something wrong about each of them. It was the same as a person walking through a cloud of cigarette smoke and having tendrils of the smoke cling to them as they continued on their way.

"But Kuro is the only one who's like this." Joe motioned to the kitsune next to him. "If he could change back, he would've by now. He hates not being able to interject when he's got something to say."

Kuro nipped at Joe's ear.

"Hey!" Joe clapped a hand over the side of his head to guard against Kuro's teeth. "It's true."

Marie huffed out a laugh. "This is serious."

Joe's expression sobered as he lifted his gaze to meet hers. "This is serious," he confirmed. "But it isn't going to be any easier to face if we're dire about it all. Keeping it light helps me get through."

"Okay." Marie gave him a faint smile. He had a point, and she wasn't going to question how he dealt with difficult scenarios. Everyone had their own methods for handling stress or processing things. "Other than not changing back into a human, is there anything else off about what Kuro can and can't do right now?"

She wasn't certain what kitsune could do, really. She was only familiar with folktales and mythology, and most of that she'd read months ago after her first encounter with them. If there was one thing she'd learned over and over again from working with the Darke Consortium, what the legends indicated was often only a hint of what the reality was.

Joe seemed about to say something, but a ball of blue flame flared to life in the space between the three of them. The warmth of the flames caressed her skin as if she sat close to a campfire. Only this ball of flames rose and fell in the air. As it moved from one side to another, Marie looked past the light to find Kuro's gaze on her, the reflection of the blue flames showing in his eyes.

Joe cleared his throat. "Seems he can create fox fire just fine."

Marie nodded. The ball of blue flames kept pulling at her attention, and she imagined she could lose herself staring into the fire. The flames winked out and the room seemed darker suddenly, the air definitely cooler.

"Try not to stare into fox fire for too long," Joe warned. "It's not the kind of calm people get from looking into a fireplace or a campfire."

Marie swallowed and nodded. She'd try to remember. Curiosity bubbled up, and she wanted to ask about the consequences. But this wasn't the time or place for any deep dives into supernatural abilities.

Instead, she addressed Kuro. "So you have your usual abilities for this form, you're just not able to turn back to human form?"

The kitsune nodded.

She sighed, looking out her window again. Most of the night was gone. It'd been well past midnight when her wards had warned her of the pain magic outside her home. Bringing the guys here and this conversation had taken a decent amount of time, too. Her tea had gone cold.

"Dawn can't be too far away." She sighed. "I've got limited space, but you're both welcome to use my chaise longue and crash for what's left of the night. Maybe after a few hours' sleep, we'll have enough brainpower to figure out how to handle this."

This was probably not the best idea she'd ever had. Thomas and Ashke would have opinions about her bringing two people she hardly knew into her home. She could picture Thomas's expression once he found out she'd also allowed them to stay over while she slept, with just a sliding door separating them from her.

Thomas was a colleague and a friend, nothing beyond that. But he was fiercely protective and he had a formidable temper, even among werewolves—supernaturals already known for extreme moods. She wasn't particularly looking forward to dealing with Thomas's temper, but she would be letting Thomas and Ashke know about this anyway.

The two of them shared different aspects of security for the Darke Consortium, and that included the safety of each member, not just on the small island where the consortium was physically located. As a member and a friend, she would be keeping them in the loop. But she was also incredibly tired, and the immediate danger had passed. She would contact them in the morning.

She gathered up the teacups and took them to the sink. "Let me get you some extra blankets."

The tiny hairs on the back of her neck lifted, and magic filled the apartment the way steam would, billowing gently outward from a single source. She turned back to Joe and Kuro just in time to see Kuro's fox form blur and lengthen until he was standing in front of her chaise.

His dark hair hung loose and wild around his face, with locks falling across his eyes, almost long enough to brush his jawline. His expression was brooding, and the corners of his mouth were turned downward in a frown. She was struck by how attractive she found him, standing there in the middle of her apartment as the night sky lightened outside her windows.

"Hey!" Joe exclaimed and wrapped his arms around Kuro.

Kuro blinked, his dark expression relaxing slightly. Then his arms looped around Joe's waist, returning the embrace. Joe must have been a lot more worried than he let on, because he buried his face in Kuro's neck and Marie thought he might be shaking slightly.

It hit her then that she was an outsider intruding on this moment between them. She turned away, moving as quietly as she could to get blankets for the two of them. It'd be a much tighter fit for them on the chaise now. It'd make a lot more sense for one of them to take the floor. Maybe she could give them some extra towels to create a makeshift pad under the blankets. She empathized with them having just gone through a scary experience, but she wasn't giving up her bed.

"Marie." Kuro's deep voice resonated in her chest. She felt it right in her sternum, and her nipples tightened.

Okay, she needed to get ahold of her reactions. She was too damned tired to be arguing with her own libido.

She put on a smile and headed back to them with an armload of blankets and towels. "Glad to have you back in human form. I was a little worried you might need a fresh set of clothes, the way werewolves sometimes do, but it seems your magic preserves whatever it was you were wearing?"

Okay, that might've been perilously close to babbling. She could've stopped at the welcome back to walking on two legs part.

Kuro only smiled faintly, his gaze holding her in place while she clutched the blankets to her chest harder. "Thank you."

The words hit her like a warm splash of water, washing through her unexpectedly until she found herself blinking back tears.

"Hey, hey, hey." Joe's tone was much gentler than it had been when he'd greeted Kuro.

Suddenly, Joe was taking the blankets from her, and Kuro was leading her over to the chaise. The concern and care coming from both of them only overwhelmed her more.

She didn't want them to worry, so she tried to put her feelings into words. "It's just been a while since someone thanked me. It's silly, honestly. It's just really nice to be appreciated."

There were several fae in the Darke Consortium, so no one thanked anyone out of an abundance of caution. Her friends and colleagues respected her and placed their trust in her. They did little favors for one another as a show of their appreciation, but they never said the words.

Beyond that, though, several of the toxic relationships she'd ended not too long ago had been ones where she'd been taken for granted. A lot. She honestly couldn't remember being thanked so sincerely by anyone. Even with her own family, thanks and love were expressed with indirect actions, not in words. Kuro's quiet, intense thanks had hit different.

"Not silly," Kuro said and pressed a kiss against her temple. Then he drew back, concern furrowing his brow again. "Is this all right? Or am I overstepping?"

He was close, sitting next to her on the chaise with his thigh pressed against hers. Joe was just as close on her other side, his palm lightly rubbing a soothing circle between her shoulder blades. She suddenly wanted those blankets back, so she could have something to do with her hands. Because with the two of them right there, on either side of her…

"No," she breathed out the answer to Kuro's question. "You're not…overstepping."

That slight smile played across Kuro's lips as he leaned even closer, his gaze holding hers until he was so close she couldn't maintain eye contact anymore as he brushed his lips over her cheek in the same spot he'd licked in his fox form earlier in the evening. "Thank you for coming to help me."

His breath was warm against her cheek as he spoke, every word causing his lips to brush over her skin.

"Thank you for giving us sanctuary in your home," Joe whispered in her ear. His teeth grazed the upper shell of her ear and she gasped at the sensation. He did it again, then asked, "Are you okay with me this close, too?"

She deliberately chose not to think, only to feel and answer. "Yes."

This was the sensation she'd craved since that day in the woods. The feeling of being held by them both. There'd been the promise of delight in this, a hint of what might be wonderful. She'd chased it in her fantasies. She probably would have dreamed about them tonight, after having encountered them on the street earlier in the day. Only she hadn't slept yet and dawn was coming and they were both right here.

"May I have a kiss, Marie?" Kuro's question was barely audible, but she heard it deep inside her head.

"Yes," she breathed.

His mouth closed over hers, taking over immediately as he tasted her. His tongue explored her until a whimper worked its way out of her throat. Her hand closed convulsively over his thigh, and she held on, desperately trying to keep her balance. One kiss and she was already melting into him.

When he let her up for air, Joe lifted her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "May I have a kiss, too?"

She looked at him with wide eyes and didn't resist as Kuro placed his hands on her shoulders to encourage her to twist her upper body toward Joe. Joe released her hand to press his forefinger under her chin and rub his thumb over her kiss-swollen lower lip. He lifted his gaze from her mouth to her eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh." She hadn't answered him. He was waiting for her. "Yes."

Absolutely. Yes .

His grin was wide and bright and his eyes sparked with mischief as he dipped his head and captured her mouth. His kiss was light and playful. He sucked her lower lip and nipped at the corner of her mouth before settling his mouth over hers for a deeper taste. By the time he pulled back, her heart was pounding in her ears and her breath was ragged.

Sunlight peeked through the city high-rises and shone through her windows, bringing out the copper highlights in Joe's eyes.

Magic flared in the room again, and Joe's expression changed to panic as his face and body changed. A moment later, she was sitting with a nine-tailed fox in her lap where Joe had been.

She stared at Joe, and somehow the shock in his expression was just as clear in his fox face as it had been in his human face before he'd transformed. Behind her, Kuro's hands tightened convulsively around her waist.

Staring at Joe, she suddenly realized what the spell on each of them must have done. "Oh no."