"How the fuck does this asshole know about that?" she asked, standing up from the stool. Ziff hissed and screamed his rage at the sudden surge of emotion, leaping onto Revel's shoulder and perching there protectively. He really did have a weak spot for kitsune. "Give me the phone," she demanded as Nix clucked his tongue.
"Bring her with you tonight." He paused, as if he were talking to someone. "Actually, I'll meet you at your place. We have a little ritual to attend to."
"You're not coming over to my goddamn house," I said as I hit speakerphone and set my cell on the counter. "Nix, are you listening to me?"
"We'll leave together from there; it'll be easier than trying to give you directions. Our destination isn't exactly on the beaten path. Make sure the miko knows that she's coming with us."
He hung up on me—one of my biggest goddamn pet peeves—and left me to stare at Revel for answers.
"How does he know that about me?" she asked as I blinked and tried to put together everything that'd been said. A miko, or shrine maiden, was a kitsune born in the direct view of our goddess, Inari Okami. They were generally blessed with special powers and held a massive amount of power and sway over our people. All three members of the Vail Valley Earth Council had been born as mikos when they were young. Not all shrine maidens chose to live at Inari's temples or shrines, but to leave, they had to have explicit permission from the goddess herself.
"I don't know," I said, puzzling through our little conundrum. "Is it true?"
"I ..." Revel started, and then she just slumped back down on the stool like she was a deflated balloon. "I was born at Inari's temple, just outside of the city of Nara in Japan. So yes, my mother was a miko, but the goddess gave both of us proper leave when I was three. Nobody should know about that except my mother herself, and she's been dead for a decade."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I said, exhaling slowly. "My mom's dead, too."
Revel reached out and threaded her fingers through mine. I couldn't tell if we were having a moment, or if it was a sign of camaraderie.
"You gonna tell me a little more about your friend? Because if he knows shit about me he shouldn't know, I'm sicking my HASR buddies on his ass." I smiled, but it wasn't a real expression of happiness. How could it be when I had no idea what the hell the night was going to have in store for us? Or the week for that matter, because at the end of it, it could be Revel that I was shooting between the eyes with my Ruger.
"Guess you'll find out about him soon enough." I held up the text from Nix that'd just come in. "He's on his way."
"How the fuck did you find my address in the first place?" I wondered as I stepped back and let all six foot fucking five of Nix Locklear stroll into my foyer. He was wearing that dirty fur around his shoulders still, but his hair was immaculate, his suit tailored to perfection. The black lines of his jacket enhanced the width of his chest, the narrowness of his waist. And those slacks, well they were sharp enough to cut.
"I have my sources," he said as he paused just inside the door and let his ice-blue eyes trail over Revel's curvy body. "My, my, aren't we beautiful?"
"I don't do dick, so you can fuck off," she said with a little sneer. "Now tell me how the fuck you know about my mother?"
"Like I said, sources," Nix said with a long sigh. "You'll understand more when you meet my employer."
"Do you work for HASR?" Revel asked, narrowing her eyes. "Because if you do, I'll let you know I've got a level two security clearance."
"Fuck HASR," Nix said with a little smile. "The CEO has his head so far up his ass, he wouldn't see me coming if I drove a dump truck to take him out. Now, are we going to stand here and talk or are we going to make things happen? With your bloodline, you should be able to resist the disease longer than most. If you play along, maybe I can have you right as rain before Thea severs that pretty little head from your shoulders? It'd be a shame, considering what a beautiful body you have to go along with it."
"If you think sexualizing me will get me to play into your game, I'd be glad to show you what a buttload of tit and ass can do when she's pissed off." Revel sneered at Nix as Ziff let out a screaming little shriek. He seemed to dislike the skinwalker as much as Revel did. She turned to look at me and cocked an eyebrow. "If this is the man I'm counting on for my salvation, maybe I should commit a little hari-kari now and be done with it?"
That made me smile a little. Hari-kari was ritualistic Japanese suicide.
"You're not my type anyway," Nix said with a cold smirk of his own. "I like my women svelte and athletic." He turned away from her dismissively and looked me over the way he'd done in the bar that night. Wish I could say I wasn't affected by it, but I was. Good thing my brains were stronger than my ovaries or else I might've jumped him. "Shall we?"
"What the hell do you want me to do?" I asked him as he moved back over to the door and opened it again. That's when I noticed all the luggage sitting outside. "What's all that for?"
"This is for our little agreement," he said, grabbing a small leather briefcase off the top of the stack. "And the rest, well, those are just my personal belongings. Like I said, I'll need constant access to you, little fox." He bit this last word off with a cold, easy smile.
"Oh hell no," I said as Revel's mouth dropped open.
"You're going to let this asshole get away with pushing his way into your house?" she asked, which was actually pretty goddamn funny considering she'd just done the very same thing. "Babe, I don't think I can stay here if he's going to be camping out, too."
"It'd be best if we all stayed here," Nix said as he kicked the door shut with his expensive loafers and let his eyes rake over me yet again. I was wearing Mikhail's t-shirt and the same leather hotpants from last night. #fail, right? "That way, when Thea finally realizes how much she wants to fuck me, it can happen easily." He smirked and tossed his bag onto the counter. "But if you want to make a point, kick me out, or hell, if your lesbian friend wants to run off to make a point, she can die a slow, painful death and you can make daily trips to my penthouse for testing."
"You're a fucking prick, has anyone ever told you that before?" I asked as he unzipped the bag and pulled out a pair of ancient looking scissors. Seriously, it looked like they were made of bone.
"I'm practical, and I'm honest about what I want. If that makes me a prick, well, then I welcome the distinction." Nix turned and held out his hand. "Come here, fox, and let's make our deal official."
As I stared at his hand, I had this awful feeling of foreboding.
I was stuck to Bennett, stuck to Mikhail, and now I was going to be stuck to Nix, too?
What the fuck was I thinking? But I also knew this selfish asshole wasn't going to do a goddamn thing for me or Revel out of the kindness of his heart.
"I have no fucking clue what's going on between you two," she said, her husky pornstar voice giving me chills, "but if you're making a deal with him for me, then don't bother. I'd rather go mad and claw my own eyes out."
Nix let his mouth twist across his face like a disease, this awful smile that had me ready to shoot him and fuck him at the same time. I had problems, I'll admit. Counseling after all this, remember? I was going to seek counseling.
"This isn't just for you," Nix said, giving her a sideways glance. "How selfish and arrogant." He pulled out a syringe next and then turned around, leaning his huge, suited body back against my counter top. "This is for the good of the world, isn't it Thea?"
"God, I hate you," I said as I stepped up close to him. "What's the syringe for?"
"I need a bit of your blood," he said which caused me to roll my eyes. Of course he did. What bargain of mine hadn't been sealed in blood the last few days? I held out my arm and shivered as Nix wrapped his long pale fingers around my wrist.