"Thanks for letting us stay," Alex said. He searched the still dark horizon for the first signs of dawn.
"Not like I was sleeping anyway," Don said.
"Another bad night?"
"Less so than yesterday, but yes. Coffee?"
Alex took the mug that Don offered, breathing deeply of the earthy, bitter steam. Don hadn’t turned on the porch light and they sat in darkness listening to the crickets and bullfrogs sing. Probably for the best. Charlie refused to transform out of his four-legged form and Alex had no doubt that the kitsune was still sound asleep in Jamie’s lap. That was an image he didn’t particularly need to see.
"What makes you think your protections will hold when ours didn't?" Jamie’s voice was still tight with frustration.
"Nothing against the Agency, but there's no way anything they could conjure in an afternoon compares to the generations of protections worked into this place."
"Did your family live here?" Jamie asked.
"Not mine. This land was entrusted to Dustin's family a very, very long time ago. We're just the current caretakers."
A sharp cry pierced the night and several more voices answered. Alex tensed, half way out of his chair before he realized he'd moved.
"Coyotes," Don said, his voice calm and even. "There's a pack that lives on the other side of the pond."
Scalding coffee sloshed onto his hand as Alex plopped back down into his chair. He cursed, wiping the hot liquid on his pants. Despite the shadows he could see that neither Mike nor Don's two dogs had moved from where they sprawled on the porch.
"Don't you dare sue me because I didn’t warn you the coffee was hot."
Alex could hear the smile in Don's voice and he relaxed slightly. The Hunt was far behind them in the city with no way of knowing exactly where they'd gone. Eventually the Hellhounds would sniff Charlie out, but by then the sun would be up and the demon dogs would return to whatever circle of Hell they called home during the daylight hours.
"I'll make some calls," Don said. "We’ll get your kitsune on its way to safety in the morning."
"Sorry to get you so deeply involved," Alex said.
"It is what it is.” Don’s words were matter of fact, as if he’d known all along that things would turn out this way.
"I know Charlie appreciates your help," Jamie said.
Alex was glad that she couldn't see him roll his eyes. That would put him in the dog house for sure. "Be nice if he switched forms and delivered a 'thank you' in person."
"He's fine as a fox," Don said. "Less emotions for Dustin to sift through."
"Animals have emotions too,” Jamie protested.
"True. And some Empaths can read animals. But Dustin's talents run in...a bit of a different direction than most." There was hesitation in Don's voice. "Anyway, you don’t need an Empath to know what an animal is feeling. It's all right there in their body language once you know how to read it. I think that's what Dustin likes best about the horses—no secrets."
The sun's first rays lightened the eastern horizon, tinting the edges of a group of low lying clouds a muddy pink. Birds twittered and chirped in the trees as they woke from their slumber. "Going to be a gorgeous sunrise," Alex said.
Don cleared his throat. "Like a red morn that ever yet betokened, wreck to the seaman, tempest to the fields, sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds, gusts and foul flaws to...."
"I get the picture," Alex interrupted him. "It's too early for Shakespeare."
***
"What are we doing back here?" Jamie asked as Alex parked the truck in front of the Agency's safe house.
"Something didn't feel right last night and I want to check it out." He opened his door and Mike scrambled over him, placing a well-aimed paw in his crotch on the way out. Alex grunted in protest. Why couldn't Mike climb over Jamie for a change?
Jamie's door slammed a bit harder than necessary. "You think Charlie had something to do with the Hunt tracking us down."
Alex cringed...it wasn't a question. "All I'm saying is that it's a little odd. I want to cover all our bases."
"You don't trust him." Still not a question.
"I don't trust his species," Alex clarified. Granted he wasn’t impressed with Charlie as a person either, but he was pretty sure that was due to the kitsune’s fondness towards Jamie. "There's a difference."
"That's a little discriminatory, don't you think?"
Finally a question, but Alex suspected a trap. "Kitsunes are tricksters. I don’t trust coyote spirits any further than I could throw them either."
"Maybe Charlie's different."
"You like him, don't you?" Alex hoped his voice sounded more teasing than jealous.
"That's none of your business." The sharpness of Jamie's voice answered the question even if her words didn’t. "This is a waste of time. We aren't going to find anything. I'll be back at the truck."
Alex sighed, imagining the sexual harassment seminars he’d be required to attend if the Captain got word of any of this.
"Come on, Mike," Alex mumbled to his four-legged partner. "Let's give the place a once over."
Mike crisscrossed his way over the front lawn, nose inches from the grass. Alex went to the miniscule concrete pad that served as a front porch. Turning his back on the house, he glanced up and down the street. Pastel colored, cookie cutter ranch houses populated this picturesque neighborhood. The whole street could have come straight off the page of a 1970’s article on suburban planning. Even the safe house’s yard looked ready to compete for some coveted lawn of the year award.
Alex squinted at the grass, a dull ache starting to throb at the base of his skull. The lawn rippled and the pain flared in a flash of blinding light. When his vision steadied, he could see Mike walking across a barren expanse of dirt. Alex blinked and the truth faded. Mike stood on a manicured, emerald lawn once more. At least the Agency wasn't running up the water bill. Alex shook his head, but the dull ache lingered.
Something white caught Alex's attention out of the corner of his eye. He knelt down and fished out a square of silk from under the bushes next to the front door. "Hey, Mike. Look at this."
A deep growl rumbled in Mike's throat as he approached the handkerchief. He looked over his shoulder at the animal control truck and whined.
"No, she isn't going to like it," Alex agreed.
***
"Don's not answering again." Alex glared at his phone as if it was to blame for Don's absence.
"I’m sure he’s sleeping. We kept him up all night." Jamie's words had yet to thaw from their previous exchange.
Alex eyed a pair of witches further up the hallway and hoped they hadn't registered Jamie's tone, let alone her words. He didn't need this hitting the rumor mill. The girls in the call center would never let him hear the end of it.
The door he was interested in stood open. Alex knocked on the frame before he peeked his head inside. "Heidi, got a sec?"
Heidi eyed him over the top of her computer screen, her lips in a tight frown. Alex couldn't blame her. He wasn't anyone's favorite person today. "Nice grass at the safe house. Very green and...itchy."
Heidi's eyes narrowed. She reminded him of a cat sizing up a mouse. "What did you do to my protections?"
"Nothing. I swear."
"You must have done something,” Heidi insisted.
"Alex thinks the kitsune sabotaged them,” Jamie offered.
Heidi shook her head, laughing. "What would it do that for?"
Alex took a deep breath, steadying himself. He wasn't sure who he was more frustrated at today—Charlie, Jamie, or Heidi. "I'm not sure, but...." He glanced at Jamie, hesitant to mention the handkerchief. No matter how much she irked him lately, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her with the news of Charlie's betrayal.
"Where's your kitsune now?" Heidi asked. "Don't tell me you lost him to the Hunt."
"He's with Don and Dustin," Jamie said.
Heidi nodded, turning her attention back to her computer screen. "No worries then. Nothing could get through the protections on their place, not unless it was invited in."
"That's why...." Alex stopped as Heidi's words registered. Invited in. "Shit." He dashed down the hall towards the front of the building and the parking lot beyond that.