“The storm mage will come back, little mate,” Maverick reassured me. “And if he doesn’t, I’ll gut the bastard.”
“In a harem of red-flag, psychologically unwell mates, you are the common denominator,” Kenji helpfully pointed out. “I’d consider therapy when this is all over.”
Stars, my familiar made a good point. What if I was the problem here?
“Ignore the kitsune, little mate. You are perfect.” Kenji growled at Maverick and then blinked away, taking the rest of my sausages with him.
I pushed the plate back, unable to swallow another morsel. Being surrounded by victims of Tiberius Vane’s dastardly plans for world domination had killed my appetite.
“What’s going to happen to these people?” I asked in a low voice. A small wood sprite with pink hair sat sobbing next to a female troll who awkwardly placed a gray, scaly arm around the sprite’s slim shoulders and grunted.
To our left, three tiny females with cute little bunny ears huddled together.
Goddess, Tiberius Vane needed melting. And fast.
“Olaf is reaching out to his network to find ways of returning them to their villages.”
“Network?”
“He’s been working with the resistance for the last year to disrupt the traffickers.”
“But won’t these people be in danger if they return home?” And traumatized. Heck, I was traumatized after only a few days in captivity. The female vampire said she’d been held captive for years!
“There’s a lot to think about, but none of it is your problem, Raven,” my bear reassured me. “Let Olaf and his people figure the logistics out. Would you like a coffee, little mate?”
“I’d love one.” He kissed me on the cheek before heading for the coffee machine on a nearby table.
I sat back and let my mind process the last few days. Not that it did me much good. Two more females walked in, arms linked. From their fluttery wings, they looked like sprites. Then I remembered the vampire female had mentioned there were kitsunes in the facility, and I realized Kenji hadn’t said a word about that.
“Kenji?”
My familiar blinked back and scratched himself vigorously, shedding fur all over the table. He looked darker, more black than gray. Was that because of my magic level up?
“Yes, witch?”
“The vampire I met in the, um, bad place, said there were kitsunes. Did you find them?”
Kenji stopped scratching and nodded. “Yes. My cousins were there. They are now free.”
I exhaled in relief.“Can I meet them?”
Kenji didn’t reply, but a second later, three kitsunes in various shades of gray pinged into view behind him.
“Oh my goddess, you’re all so cute!” They each blinked at me before Kenji rolled his eyes.
“Kyro thanks you for your compliment but says kitsunes are not cute.”
The kitsune with a white patch around one eye raised a paw before swiping a rasher of bacon from my discarded plate.
“Hi, Kyro.” He nodded. “What are the other two called?” It was so cool to meet Kenji’s family!
“Kento and Kasumi.”
I clapped my hands in excitement, prompting a few curious looks. “You guys could have your own reality TV show!At Home with the Kitsunes!”
Kenji looked at me like I’d had a mental breakdown, while his cousins paused in their quest to clear my plate.
“Why would four super-intelligent kitsunes want to seek external validation from a bunch of braindead TV viewers?”
