Chapter 19
Just a couple of hours before stepping inside the glass cell Kenzi was standing at the porch of the impersonal grey building of Halt farms Inc with an ID made out to Kristina Solovyeva. The ID was fake but the details were as true to life as an encyclopedia. According to Marco's reliable sources a young nurse by that name had applied for a junior lab job at the company and had just been invited for her first day. It was a walk in the park for the hacker to get Kenzi all the necessary papers, including a diploma and references, as well as to send the real Kristina an e-mail with refusal on behalf of Halt farms inc. "The girl will only be better off for that", as Tamsin commented judiciously. "She'd anyway need to go looking for another job when we tear the bastards to shreds"
The shreds part was actually on Tamsin, who was to get the united fae forces rallied, whereas Kenzi's solo mission was to make sure that the man she loved didn't lay down his life while the fae were preparing their offensive. So, that morning the awesome trio parted their ways. Marco remained in his apartment to reminisce about the valkyrie's intimidation skills, Tamsin herself was off to Bo, and Kenzi took a taxi to the outskirts to start on her duty. The lion's den she was to enter was described as a clinic for both treatment and research in a wide variety of fields ranging from biology to medicine.
Miss Solovyeva and her immaculately forged passed the vetting by the security officer after which she was given a probationary pass, a white coat and a workplace. Her newbie shift was supposed to be all about being shown the ropes and Kenzi could only pin her hopes on the scraps of info about labs she had gleaned from co-habitation with Lauren, movies, shows and a bit of luck to carry her through the day.
It wasn't the first time in her con career she had to impersonate someone, but it was by far the most professional and complicated role she had ever played and the stakes had never been so high. Fortunately, the newcomers were still considered uninitiated and were only given the simplest tasks, like fetching anonymous specimens, setting the temperatures on a strange microwave-like appliance or filling mysterious numbers into a no less mysterious log written in a kind of a code. Kenzi was acquiring herself of these not particularly mind-straining tasks with relative ease while keeping her eyes wide open and her ears fully perked. No leads on Dyson were presenting itself but the girl was hoping for a chance of a brief recce during the lunchbreak as a bit of eyelash-fluttering and coy flirtation had already got her a promise of a tour around the place from a young male coworker who introduced himself as Ben.
On her tiny self Kenzi had concealed a couple of handy items like a lock pick, a minuscule electroshocker and a small vial of some purple gas handed to her by Tamsin who had refused to enlarge upon what it was but had insistently recommended opening it when at your wits' end. "The end of your wits' end is clearly but a hairbreadth away if you are about to go in alone," the valkyrie had commented, "but this little something might save both of your asses and thus mine when I have to face one very angry succubus keen on tearing me a new one for letting you do this" "Bo will understand," Kenzi had then replied, "her heart is just so big, she would do the same and more for me or Dyson or you." The last words had gained her an unprecedented sight of a blushing valkyrie who had suddenly lost her snark. "The cavalry will come as soon as I can get it and that will be soon, promise. Hold on in there, both of you," Tamsin had half-hugged the girl, immediately pushed her away and hopped into her car without looking back.
That bitter-sweet scene was playing itself in a fast-forward flashback in Kenzi's mind, when she heard her being called by a soft baritone: "Miss Solovyeva" which made her give a barely perceptible start and turn around. Right in front of her was a tallish man in his mid-forties with an intelligent face wearing a white coat with the badge reading Dc Halt. Kenzi immediately went into the routine of showing her utmost reverence and a shy awe in front of the boss and an eminent scientist, which he evidently took as hid due.
"I heard you have just joined our friendly team today, Kristina, if I may call you by your beautiful name" he said smiling with confidence. "So, I have a very special little task for your very first day here", he went on without waiting for her reply, "we have a patient here with severe anger management issues. Today he attacked another patient and started a fight resulting in grave injuries. He even had to be put in an isolated ward" Kenzi's heart skipped a beat as she thought she had a fairly decent idea on who the violent patient might be. The part she found exceptionally unpalatable was the mention of grave injuries.
"We'll need his blood samples for the tests," Halt continued unaware of her inner turmoil as well he should be because the girl's pale face, by a miracle of exercising her all willpower, remained inexpressive. He handed her a large syringe and ordered: "Come with me, you'll draw the sample". After a quick mental operation Miss Solovyeva decided to play rightfully fearful. "You said he was violent, doctor, will he have to be subdued to take the sample?" she asked.
Halt's smile at once reminded her of Bayun's – sly, self-content and calculating. "No need, Kristina, I am absolutely positive we won't have to, he won't want to prove me right on this one". Kenzi felt a look of not understanding was in order, so she gave one which elicited another smug smile out of the doctor. "Trust me, Kristina, this is all you need to know"
"Of course, doctor," the girl mumbled humbly. A sudden idea born of genuine worry came to her then. "You have mentioned the patient is injured. Has he already been taken care of?" she asked as any innocent professional would. Halt made a wry face but had to keep up the ruse of an upstanding doctor. "Absolutely, Kristina, it so goes without saying that I even forgot to mention it, take the necessary supplies", he said in a much less enthusiastic tone.
A short while later with a small medical bag and a wildly beating heart Kenzi stepped inside a glass cell and came face to face with a bloodied and incensed Dyson pacing his cage like a trapped animal he actually was. When the initial anguish at seeing him hurt and ensnared dissipated, the girl got a victorious feeling coming to the fore. She found him, she knew the way to his cell and she knew where the electric lock was. The only problem was to manage to come back there unaccompanied to spring him free. The consequent issue of getting out of the secured facility at least relatively unscathed was yet to be addressed but Tamsin's promise inspired optimism in this respect.
Having handed in the samples to the senior lab technician, Kenzi returned to her first-day duties and had to bide her time till the lunch. When the time finally came, Kenzi switched on her brightest smile for Ben's sake. "Ready for the tour?" the man was already standing nest to her, "or would you like to grab a snack first? We have a canteen here"
Kenzi had already pinned him down as the geeky type – much more confident with test tubes than with girls, so in stark contrast to her demure performance with Halt she went for a slightly seductive. "Not really hungry, I am more hungry for new impressions … and new friends" she fluttered her lashes at him. Ben was only too happy to show off his competence to the new girl who was by far the prettiest he had ever seen, let alone talked to, at work as well as beyond it.
Kenzi had to endure a detailed account of the lab's unique equipment, was shown a particularly disgusting specimen jars with something deformed and creepy stuck inside. It was only after another onslaught of geeky blather that she managed to steer Ben in the needed direction, towards Dyson. His cell itself was not guarded, but to get to it they had to open an electronically locked door into another lab occupied by a couple of employees, go through it and into a corridor meandering towards the wolf's cage. Kenzi figured the sailing would be much smoother with Ben and his security clearance (hers was majorly restricted).
Her plan worked like a charm with Ben gentlemanly getting her through the locked doors, exchanging helloes with the guys in the lab they passed on their way and meekly leading her into the corridor. But there a predictable problem cropped up.
Chapter 20
Kenzi and Ben had barely stepped into the corridor when the young man started to get cold feet.
"We should better turn back, Kristina," he said with a touch of worry to his voice, "There is nothing of interest here. Let me show you the staff lounge"
"Hey, why the rush?" Kenzi put her hand on his forearm and smiled sweetly, "Don't you like it here? Nothing of interest, nobody around, just us and the privacy … " She let her words trail off and left it up to Ben to work the rest out for himself. She didn't like to lay it on so much but deep down an appalling thought that Dyson might be running out of time was driving her on. Ben, though unmistakably flattered by the pretty girl's attention, was still not keen on breaking protocol. "Anywhere is good with you around but we really are not supposed to be here. This area is restricted access", he explained.
"But you have the access. Aren't you the cutting-edge scientist?" the girl answered teasingly.
"Well, I do, but you don't. We might be in trouble if someone reports it to Doctor Halt" Ben half-turned to the exit door.
"Actually, I am kinda initiated already, I have been here today," Kenzi pointed into the depth of the corridor. Her patience was running dangerously thin and she started to drop the act. "I took samples from a patient in a glass cell there or should I say in a cage? Cause it totally looks that way"
Picking up on her change of tone, Ben instantaneously lost his smile and his illusions, finally got his wind up and made a frantic step back. But Kenzi was already switching into her badass mode. Ben was not a big guy, more on the frail side which should have facilitated turning him into putty in her hands especially if those hands were wielding an electric shocker. In a blink Kenzi was at his side simultaneously tucking her left hand into the back pocket of her pants where the said appliance was supposed to be, but there she stumbled upon a snag as the pocket turned out empty. In a flash of recollection the girl realized that she had relocated the damned implement into her boots because it seemed too conspicuously protruding through the tight material of her pants. If she bent down to retrieve the shocker, Ben would have plenty of time to jump her or simply run away and alert the others in the lab. Internally Kenzi vouched to go for loose next time she was on a mission, but the situation at hand called for immediate remedying. More out of desperation than of inspiration she delved into another of her hidden pockets and came up with a lockpick.
"Don't move, Ben, and listen carefully," she hissed at her most menacing, "we are walking together to the glass cell and you are not letting out a squeak unless you want this sharpy-sharpy razor to pierce your carotid". Her words were accompanied by a firm application of the lockpick to the man's neck from the side. Kenzi was brazenly bluffing her way through hoping the thin metal stick could really pass for a razor and that the area she pressed it onto was anywhere near the carotid she was threatening to cut.
Fortunately, Ben was not in the mood for being argumentative, nor was he a man of action. Obediently he followed Kenzi's push and they crept along the curving corridor until it led them to the room-like widening containing Dyson's cell.
The wolf heard a slight rustling sound and got up from the sitting position he had previously taken on the floor. Kenzi's visit had dispelled all hope of her being safely left out of this mess and the wolf had added her precious life to the list of his immediate worries. He hadn't come up with any reasonable plan of action so far and was basically stewing in his rage and anxiety. The sound of two sets of light footfall made him perk his ears and press himself against the transparent wall. His hear informed him of who was coming even before his eyes could. "Kenzi", he whispered torn between concern and admiration.
"Yep, D, that's me, thought I had left my lipstick behind, decided to go get it back," the girl chirped but the levity did not reach her eyes. She gave Ben another push and ordered, "Open the lock". The man only shrugged, "I can't. I told you it's restricted access, my card won't work for the containing cells, only for the corridor entrance"
Kenzi swore first inwardly, then outwardly. It still didn't help, she was desperately running out of ideas as well as of allocated lunch break. Another quarter of an hour and they'd be missed and searched for. The lock was not to be picked, the walls of the cell were not to be broken. Her suspected fae powers stubbornly refused to kick in.
"Kenzi!" Dyson cried out to her through the glass, "Get out of here, run before they've figured you out!" "No! NO!" the girl shook her head, "We are leaving together or we are not leaving. I'll better be living in the neighbouring cell than leave you to be skinned"
Never the one to rationalize the girl was running on pure instinct when she pushed Ben away and without further consideration for his possible actions bent down to get the shocker out. The lab worker immediately did a runner but Kenzi was beyond caring. She strode up to the electronic lock on the door and went at it with her lockpick inflicting as much damage as she could on the button pad, managing to worm out a wire, then another. She then applied the shocker against the disemboweled lock and pressed the switch, releasing a charge.
Kenzi was momentarily dazzled and thrown on her ass by a sparkly blast, for a second the girl blacked out from the collision with the hard floor surface. Kenzi was no more knowledgeable about electronics than she was about nuclear physics but her desperation-fuelled act of vandalism against the lock, strangely enough, did the trick. The short circuit that she had caused effectively activated the release mechanism on the cell door and sprung the prisoner free to run to her prostate form. When the mist in her poor head cleared she was safely in the arms of the very concerned wolf calling out her name. "Hey", she raised a weary hand, "Still Kenzi, still alive and very much kicking. Thank you".
"You are totally nuts, and reckless, and fearless, and I love you, and we don't have time to discuss it now," Dyson said on an exhale and pick her up from the floor. "How far did your rescue plan extend?"
"To just about the moment I got inside the facility, I have been playing it by ear from then on," Kenzi had to admit, though not without pride. "The faevalry should be on their way, they'll be storming in any time now. We just need to stick it out till then without getting killed or caught."
"Piece of cake," Dyson remarked drily and looked around sniffing the air. "Why couldn't you just sit it out if help is coming anyway?"
"Seriously? I believe it is called a rhetorical question?" the girl pouted. "Besides, on the plus side, I have just got you to confess your love to me. You just don't crack open without pressure"
Dyson muttered something about spanking a naughty human bottom but it was definitely not the time either for the procedure or for quibbling. "There is no abundance of options, Kenz, We can't go back the way you came. The side door in the cell leads to a wire cage, no help either. So, what's on the other end of the corridor?" the wolf grabbed Kenzi's hand and pulled her in the direction opposite to the one she came from along the passage.
After a minute's trot they turned another bend and came to another widening part with another cell like Dyson's. Inside it they could barely make out a lying form of a man with burn marks on his half-naked body. Kenzi ran up to the glass partition and banged on it, but the noise elicited no reaction from the prisoner inside. "He's dead", the girl whispered with horror. "And he is fae", Dyson added grimly, a sudden determination appearing on his face.
They rushed on, past the cell and along another stretch of the passage, until they finally found themselves in a room with miniature flower-beds under fluorescent lamps. "There is a door", Dyson pointed at the farther end of the botanical lab and pulled her there. The door was made of steel and locked but probably wasn't designed to hold in a supernaturally strong prisoner. Dyson rammed all his weight into the door and it gave a little. Another conscientious push and it flew open and the sun light flooded the previously darkened room. Kenzi stopped at the threshold suddenly overcome by trepidation but Dyson's sensitive ears had already picked up the sounds of many feet and the clang of weaponry somewhere behind them and he didn't hesitate to get them both out and into the open air.
They were now standing on the edge of a smallish backyard sparsely covered with sickly-looking grass. Surrounding the yard as well as the building they had just exited there extended a barbed wire fence with a reinforced gate at one point. Kenzi's heart sank to her boots when she saw a group of armed men at the gates who had obviously noticed a tall man in bloodied and torn clothes and a tiny girl in a white coat emerging from the unhinged back door of the secured facility. Dyson immediately shielded her with his body, sweeping through a mental calculation of how many bullets he could take and how many of the guards he could take out before Kenzi could come to any harm.
The countdown started with the first shot grazing his shoulder and spurred into action by the pain Dyson pushed Kenzi back into the lab figuring being captured was still an improvement on being gunned down. He debated shifting thus reducing the size of the target he presented for his assailants but intuitively decided on a half-shift to preserve his height advantage and access to their throats. The wolf didn't fancy his chances either way but there was no backing out of this. He prepared to handle as many of the guards as he could when a distant sound of an explosion and gunfire reverberated through the air. "Faevalry", he thought with relief. "Tamsin did it!" Kenzi squeaked from somewhere behind him. The group of guards got immediately scattered, grabbing their radios and obviously ordered to relocate as the best part of them took off at a run. The defense of the outer perimeter under attack was evidently deemed far more important than catching a couple of escapees. Just three of them made the wrong choice of staying and dealing with the simple task of recapturing the tiny girl and the injured man. The man dealt with them first.
After a few strangled cries and a good amount of growling trailed off Kenzi peeked out into the yard. Anatomy was never her forte along with the other school subjects so she wasn't even straining to identify the body parts littering the yard. Dyson was standing over their remains his face and hands bloodied, his eyes wild and his fangs visible between his snarling lips. He looked at the mesmerized girl in front of him. "Are you frightened by me, Little Red?" he asked hoarsely.
"A wolf can dream", Kenzi managed a weak smile, "I prefer you in a cleaner and more civilized version, but under the circumstances you'll do"
There appeared some commotion at the gate and Dyson squinted against the sun. "It's the Ash's soldiers, I can recognize some of them." The gate went crashing down and a couple of fae spilt into the yard, a tall blonde at the forefront. "It's Tamsin!" Kenzi waved to the valkyrie. The wolf pulled Kenzi closer and immediately pushed her towards the Light forces advance party. "Go!"
"And you?" the girl asked puzzled. "There is something I still need to do, babe", Dyson answered softly. "Believe me, you've done your bit for today"
"Are you going back in?" Kenzi guessed. "After I got you out"
"I swear I have no intention to die but someone has outstayed his welcome in this world," the wolf pressed her lips to her forehead. Kenzi nodded with sudden understanding. "Remember, you've just promised and fae don't break their promises" Dyson gave her an uncharacteristic wink and disappeared in the plant lab.
In a couple of seconds a slightly out-of-breath Tamsin was at Kenzi's side. "Are you alright?" she looked the girl over and didn't find anything amiss. "Where is the dumbass of a Dingo?" she asked with ill-concealed care.
"He is hunting down Halt" Kenzi answered, "the one who puts fae in cages doesn't deserve a throat. Not in the wolf's logic"
Tamsin frowned and took a radio out "And in your logic?"
"My perspective on the good and the evil has significantly shifted lately", Kenzi sighed resignedly. "I just want Dyson back in one piece"
Chapter 21
Tamsin took Kenzi out of the yard to the awaiting car cluing her in on the way about the state of play. The Fae Military units had effectively taken the research facility by storm suppressing human resistance by weapon as well as by nature-given powers. The people were surrendering and their fate was to be decided by the Fae tribunal headed by the Ash and the Morrigan. The facility itself was to be scoured for useful equipment and materials while the rest was to be razed to the ground. "The Ash's order is an all-out cleansing of the premises without turning it into a revenge mission", the valkyrie drawled handing Kenzi a blanket to cover her shivering frame. "While the Morrigan's was music to my ears – kill them all. Makes much more sense".
"I am not sure if all the workers here were a willing party to the crimes against faedom", the younger girl shook her head, "I think a fair trial … "
"A fair trial?" Tamsin quirked an eyebrow, "have you seen what they did to your sweet boyfriend? Speaking of which, when exactly did he manage to become one?"
Kenzi uncharacteristically blushed. "Don't think it's the right time to talk romantics, and technically he is not my boyfriend. We just kissed, that's all"
"Fair point," Tamsin nodded, "If a kiss counted for a relationship, your dearest Bo should be my great beloved." She smirked at Kenzi's big-eyed expression and her voice dropped a notch, "But she is so obviously not. It just wasn't in her eyes. But the way you two look at each other speaks volumes and then again some".
"Why do I track an undercurrent of sadness to your words about Bo?" Kenzi was quick to change tack and divert attention from the matters of her heart. "Has my busty bestie struck right through your bitchy armour?"
It was Tamsin's turn to do the best blushing she could manage by nature. "Right, not the time to talk romantics, Kenz. Get a move on, let's go find the afore mentioned succulent succubus."
"You mean, she is here?!"
"I would be a kamikaze mission to keep her out of this. She was the second person I called in on this Zoo trip. She was spearheading the attack on the front gates last I saw her. And she looked mightily pissed", Tamsin told the girl pushing her into the car and starting the engine. "As it turned out, in addition to the sexy fleabag and the pesky ex-human, her Lauren is also somewhere inside. Which brings your point about unknowing assistance and fair trials back into perspective"
"Lauren is here? Was she also kidnapped?" Kenzi's surprise was beyond surprised. "Or do you mean she participated in the experiments or even in capturing Dyson?"
"That's yet to be discovered", the valkyrie sighed, "But seems like Bo has her plate full as usual"
The veracity of Tamsin's last words was soon to be substantiated by the scene that opened before their eyes the moment they stopped the car before the front gate and rushed into the main hall of the facility. Bo was holding central stage with a blue-eyed display of power meant to knock out several resentful human guards, which the succubus swiftly achieved and turned to the blonde who had been keeping slightly behind her.
"Now, where did we stop before we were interrupted?" Bo's unsteady voice betrayed a mixed swirl of feelings which could have frightened a full-grown troll. But Lauren was standing tall. "We were on a break, Bo. And it's not like you reported to me on every single thing you were doing or every one you were doing? Neither did I feel obliged to ask your permission to take an promising job offer" Bo was about to reciprocate when out of the corner of her eye she noticed the two women at the entrance. "Kenzi!" she cried out with unmistakable joy and relief, ran towards her best friends and flung her arms around her slender shoulders. "And Tamsin!" Bo exclaimed with a quieter note of enthusiasm, but her now brown eyes were warm. "You are al right, you stupid thoughtless brave little girl. When I heard you went to save Dyson all on your own for the umpteenth time, I thought I would combust. Would you ever learn not to give me such a fright?"
"I had back-up", Kenzi nodded towards Tamsin, who was studiously keeping out of everyone's line of vision.
"I am so sorry, Kenzi", Lauren in her turn sprinted to their side, "I swear I didn't know. I was contacted by doctor Halt with an incredible proposition, I thought I was doing research for the good of the humanity."
"Ever came to work on a wolf's blood? The one we all know seems to have lost quite a lot of it around here." Kenzi couldn't resist, her memory conveniently bringing up the image of bloodied Dyson in his glass cage.
Lauren'd gaze dropped to the tips of her shoes, the young woman was in such obvious remorseful pain that Kenzi immediately relented, "It's Ok, LoLo. I know you would have never done it knowingly. Right Bo the magnanimous?" Her favourite succubus nodded but her next words were filled with apprehension, "We all know that, Lauren, but you tossed the Ash;s orders aside and went off the deep end. Now it's all in the open there'll a hell to pay."
All the while Dyson had been gliding through the unfamiliar passages and rooms guided by his acute senses. He spotted scattered groups of terrified humans but, wrapped-up in his single-purpose hunt, he paid them no heed – they were not his concern. Once he bumped into a fae lieutenant he knew who was securing a wing of the facility with his unit and exchanged intelligence with them. On entering another of the numerous labs the wolf caught a familiar whiff of smell but sadly not the one of his prey, though closely associated with him. Rose, the pale-faced assistant was cowering under one of the desks with a wild fear on her face and a syringe clasped in her hand. With a single swipe Dyson overturned the heavy desk ridding the woman of her cover. "You wanted to see how strong I can be?" he snarled grasping the lapels of her off-white coat and lifting her off the floor with one hand. "Is your scientific curiosity satisfied or do you need another demonstration?" Rose made a gurgling sound and in a desperate attempt tried to strike him with the needle. The wolf only laughed forestalling her move with his left hand and throwing the human against the wall with enough force to make her teeth rattle and her elbow give a painful snapping sound.
"You were interested in crashing bones?" he sneered, "One of your has just cracked"
"Where is Halt?" he made his fangs show and stepped up to the prostrate woman.
"I don't know", Rose was violently shaking her head, "I swear I don't."
"It's the right answer if you are thinking of ending your life here and now", Dyson's eyes were already burning amber. He felt a predator poking through the humane part of his being.
"Andrew …he has a car hidden next to the road in case of emergency. His best bet is to go there. I swear … I know nothing more", Rose raised her hands in front of her face in supplication. The sight of a tearful bruised woman begging for her life left Dyson's human side unruffled, but his wolf was howling for revenge. His wolf was running along the lines of his own reasoning: rip her to shreds, the one who took a professional interest in crashing fae bones. Let the animal in you come to the fore, do what you were intended by nature to do – kill the prey, kill the lowly human. And her it was that a vision of another frail human flashed across Dyson's mind – a small pale face with enormous scared grey eyes shedding bloody tears. Kenzi on the couch down in Trick's lair, poisoned and helplessly dying. How could he even think these last words?
Dyson's eyes reverted to their normal blue, his fangs retracted and he was almost calm when he spoke up, "You will be tried in court for the crimes you committed and your fate will be sealed by those you despised and tortured, but not by me. You are a despicable, lowly creature but not because you are human, you just are." With that he left Rose struggling for breath through the pain and rushed out.
Once outside it was much easier to get his bearings. The road was to the north-west and that was where the wolf headed as fast as his long legs would carry him. When he cleared the fence and steeped onto the field he stopped to regroup. The big question was whether Halt had really chosen this escape route. Dyson strained his ears and inhaled deeply and his face broke into a wide smile with his fangs protruding again – Halt had passed that way no longer than ten minutes ago. Dyson shifted completely and took full advantage of his wolf running speed. It took him no more than a couple of minutes to spot his adversary on the path leading to the road. In a tremendous leap the shifter soared above the ground and landed heavily on the man's back crashing him down with all his might.
For a split second Halt blacked out from the impact and lack of oxygen, but then the terrible weight was suddenly off him and he was able to turn onto his back and draw his gun out of the pocket of his jacket he had exchanged for his white coat in preparation for the flight. There was a giant silver-grey wolf with its fangs bared standing a mere metre away from him. The man fired but the beast easily dodged and his muzzle wore an expression so akin to contempt that Halt was chilled to the bone with a dawning realization. The man's scientific mind was obligingly telling him that it was definitely not just an animal accidentally straying out of the woods and that ordinary bullets were not a deterrent against such an opponent. Halt slowly put the gun on the ground but within easy reach.
"Hey, it's you, right? Broke free and bearing a grudge. How about we talk it through like civilized pe… well, beings?" he started on a speech of his life.
The wolf growled and took a step closer evidently not so peacefully disposed.
"I can be of use to you alive, I have accumulated so much knowledge about your kinds, the results of my experiments", the doctor hurried on sensing that he was running out of time. The mention of the experiments was, however, clearly unfortunate as the wolf immediately bristled and snarled his hatred to the man.
"You claimed not to be savage, not to be a killer", Halt screamed near-desperate and that last plea brought on an indistinguishable flash of colour and all of a sudden a tall man took the place of the animal.
Chapter 22
Dyson was towering over his opponent, who had already scrambled to his feet, and he could no longer make himself consider human and fae issues, the only thought on his mind was that this person was his mortal enemy who deserved to die.
"You are not going to kill me", Halt piped up suddenly feeling more optimistic. If the fae had wanted to tear him apart he would have done it in his bestial form, he reasoned. "According to my intelligence service you are a cop, aren't you? You abide by the law, be it the law of the state or the laws of your kind. I am sure killing me goes against both", the doctor was putting his silver tongue to the utmost use, talking for his life.
"You were willing to risk an innocent young girl's life to indulge your sick curiosity – remember the nurse you sent to take my blood? I might have ripped her to shreds before your guards had time to draw in a breath. That goes against human law. You made my people kill each other, you subjected them to torture and sadistic experimenting. That goes against the laws of my kind. You can count yourself tried and convicted," Dyson said through gritted teeth, "But in fact, I don't care about law, not now. I told you already, I've never killed an innocent human in my life, but you are not innocent, you are guilty as sin." That was about as much talking as the wolf felt like doing before he lunged at the man in front of him. In a last-ditch desperate attempt Halt dashed for the discarded gun but he was powerless against lightning-quick reflexes and unhuman strength of the uber-pissed fae. The person who had tormented him, had threatened the faedom and put his girl's life in danger had only seconds to live before falling to the ground as dead as someone missing his heart and his larynx can be.
The wolf made his way slowly to the facility ground wiping blood off his face and his hands the best he could manage without water and retrieving his abandoned pants on the way. He was about to retrace his steps to the back yard where he had left Kenzi, but the familiar scent coming from another direction made him change his course. He saw the girls at the main gate – the ruffled succubus coming down after the fight first with the enemies and then with her lover, a remorseful but unbending blonde doctor, an unaccustomedly subdued valkyrie and a tiny heart-rending frail figure with for-once disheveled raven hair. Bo was the first to notice his approach. "Dyson," she grinned, "Are you alright?" She ran towards the wolf and put her hands on his shoulders looking him over for injuries. "I am fine, Bo", Dyson answered with feeling and squeezed her forearm in response.
"Everyone is fine, my clue out or I'll combust with cuteness overload", Tamsin grumbled pasting her bitchy façade back on. She took a step back simultaneously giving Kenzi a hearty push forward. "Go to him", she hissed into her ear as Kenzi remained rooted to the spot in the clutches of a timidity previously foreign to her nature. All her prior doubts and insecurities came back to her with a vengeance. Snatching a boy-friend, even if technically he was an ex-boy-friend, from the super succubus counted for a traitorous and downright stupid and totally unkenzilike thing to do. "Go for it", the valkyrie hissed again but with a trace of compassion in her voice, "Speak up on your true feelings or you'll be as miserable and lonely as I am".
As if in a dream the girl took a dazed half-step forward and at that point saw Bo hugging Dyson closer and him hugging the gorgeous succubus all the way back and lowering his head to her ear to whisper something undoubtedly sweet. A sense of doomed resignation settled over Kenzi, her deepest fears and forebodings were coming true right in front of her eyes. She was losing the impossible competition for the man she loved with the super succubus and quite likely she was losing her best friend in the same go.
Tamsin stopped in her tracks and was also watching the tender scene with incredulous jealousy quickly brewing into indignation. "What a douchebag!", she exclaimed to no one in particular. "Should've given him a good one below the belt when I had the chance in the ring!"
Fortunately for Dyson's below-the-belt area the valkyrie was not to get a second chance to carry out her vengeful intention as the wolf suddenly broke away from Bo and ran over to Kenzi who was standing in a wide-eyed shock. He scooped the girl up in his arms and pressed her to his chest as close as he could without risking to suffocate her. "I've been meaning to tell you since I saw you in my cell. You are simply stunning without make-up. I would so like to see it every morning", Dyson breathed out. "And that's my best pick-up line"
Kenzi gave a strangled chortle and buried her head into his chest for the two-fold purpose of enjoying the sensation as much as avoiding to look at Bo. But when she finally had to emerge from the safe haven of Dyson's arms she had to brace herself for the sight of the seething succubus. Bo stepped up to the pair and her brown eyes seemed dangerously close to misting over with the ominous blue. "How could you? How could you both do that behind my back? I am your best friend, your sister, Kenzi!" Bo's gaze bored into the younger girl. Next she turned to the wolf, "And you, the person I shared so much with, the one I have always trusted the most?!" Dyson had nothing to say for the simple reason of not possessing the answer. In falling in love with another woman, with a human, he had gone against his nature and the only explanation that came to his head was the sheer unprecedented awesomeness that was Kenzi. But that could hardly account for an apposite interpretation to produce to Bo at the moment. He only pulled Kenzi in a tighter hug, feeling her fragile body tremble all over.
The succubus broke off in the middle of her Caesar-to-Brutus-like speech and suddenly a half-smiled played on her beautiful lips, "You two who have sacrificed so much for my sake, how could you not trust me with the most important thing in your lives? I love you both to bits and I am ready to die for either of you. Do you think I can be selfish or uncaring enough to ruin your happiness?" If Bo's heart were dented by the confession Dyson had mad into her ear during their hug, then his gobsmacked expression was an ample retaliation.
The first to pick up on the comic side of the whole situation was, oddly enough, Lauren who burst into an infection laughter swiftly caught by Tamsin and Bo herself. Kenzi and Dyson were standing in each other's arms encircled by hysterically giggling women and so overwhelmed by relief that even a half-squeezed chuckle was totally beyond them. When the laughter finally died down Bo came over to their side and grabbed their joined hands in hers. "If she ever needs a shoulder to cry on on your account, Dyson, I promise I'll make Baba Yaga's curse seem like a touch of indigestion in comparison," she said with a depth of feeling to her voice. "And you, Kenz, owe me a girl's night out and a full story of what you have been up to while I was so wrapped up in my pre and post dawning angst"
The succubus left it at that for the time being and led her small party to the cars with an honest intention of driving everyone home for the much needed rest, but somehow by a tacit agreement the said everyone ended up at the Dahl as the urge to talk the recent events out of their systems seemed to take precedence over sleep.
The gang settled around the tavern in a random sitting arrangement with Tamsin finding herself next to Kenzi while Dyson and Bo went over to fetch the drinks. The younger girl winked at the blonde with a touch of her returning mischievousness, "You see it might not be a must for the cool chicks like we are to be miserable and lonely". The valkyrie's eyes roamed to Bo picking the tankards at the bar. "Might be, but that's one hell of a long and tortuous road to take", she whispered back. "She is worth every inch", Kenzi nodded with conviction.
At the bar Dyson caught Bo's eyes for a second and felt compelled to level with the woman who had always been the world for him for the sake of the woman who was his world now. "Did you mean what you said there, Bo?" he asked outright.
"Do you love her? The way you used to love me?" the succubus asked back.
"I'll never love anyone the way I loved you, Bo", the wolf replied without a second's hesitation, "I think a part of me still does. But I'll never love anyone the way I love Kenzi. I'll die for you, Bo, any time. But I'll die without her."
Bo gave a sincere smile, "Then I am happy for you. For if there is anyone who deserves you more than I do it's Kenzi" Then a pained expression clouded her features and she went on, "But let me honest with you, for the sake of what we had, I can't pretend that I am not hurt much more that I'd expect to be. Maybe, professional pride – I am a walking-talking extra powerful pheromone, aren't I?"
Dyson felt her words tug at his heart – a sad, self-deprecating Bo was more than he could bear, which drove him on to speak up, "I would sacrifice myself to make you happy, you know I would, Bo, but it's Kenzi at stake here. She is the biggest treasure we both have ever stumbled upon. And it's her happiness that I will never give up, even for you, for the best succubus ever."
Bo looked over across the Dahl at the three girls on the couch in the corner, all the three precious to her heart. "We are of the like mind here, wolf," she replied, "Just bare in mind what I said earlier about a shoulder to cry on and Baba Yaga. I'll be ruthless if you put your douchbag on with my little sister"
Dyson growled with laughter and picked up the beers. "You'd have to take a number, Tamsin has already supplied me with the graphic details on how ruthless she can be under similar circumstances".
Chapter 23
After the winding-down ceremony of intaking a couple of beers and then a couple of shots to chase the beer taste away the merry gang finally felt up to retiring. The tiny bit uncomfortable question of who is crashing where and with whom was masterfully dealt with by Bo who appropriated herself of the two blonde women's hands and declared that as far as the complicacies of private life went they all definitely needed to sleep on it. "Tamsin will take the couch, Lauren can take Kenzi's bed", she gave the order. "And here we seem to have run out of beds, so Dyson, do you think you can find a place for Kenzi in your loft?" Bo couldn't help a mischievous wink directed at the very disconcerted wolf. The succubus brooked no objection as she hot-footed it out of the Dahl with the two girls in tow.
"They are looking at quite a lot of talking it out," Kenzi mused aloud. "And Bo's life is once again is full of hard choices"
"Unlike us", Dyson supplied in a low voice and elaborated in reply to the girl's questioningly cocked eyebrows. "We've made our choice …"
" … and are not intending to do that much talking," Kenzi picked up his idea smoothly. That was the last straw for the wolf who just lifted her in his arms and carried her out and into the car borrowed from Tamsin. "One more innuendo out of you, girl," he warned her in his best husky voice, "and my hands will no longer be on the wheel". "Maybe, there are other places I'd prefer them to be", Kenzi teased him subtly pressing her thigh against him. "A this rate we won't make it to my loft," Dyson growled back, "far be it from me to contest the romantic value of car shenanigans, Kenz, but I swear to you I do need a shower unless your nose's got blocked." He had only had a chance of wiping off the worst of the blood and sweat with a wet cloth and pulling on a spare t-shirt out of Trick's mysteriously bottomless stock of a-bit-of-everything-anyone-might-need.
Kenzi only giggled unabashed, but had to stop winding him up as her body suddenly felt in a terrible need of some sleep. She leaned back and her lids started drooping drowsily. Dyson looked at her askance and said tenderly, "Sleep, babe, it's been one long and draining day."
Kenzi babbled unintelligibly and was out like a light, crashing exhaustion at last catching up with her. She didn't even half wake up when the wolf carried her out of the car and up to his loft. The girl stirred and mumbled something with his name in it but didn't crack open an eye when he tucked her into his bed and straightened the pillows. For a while Dyson was just lying next to her looking at her dear sweet face, then he caught a whiff of something not even remotely fresh and pinning on the source of the smell dragged himself to the shower.
After the shower the wolf joined Kenzi on the bed in a much more presentable state and soon dozed off comforted by her soft breathing. With the earliest specks of light, however, he was roused by two little hands sliding down his chest and sides. Through the eyelids Dyson saw Kenzi watching him with an odd expression. "What's it, babe?" he called to her slightly worried. "Your wounds are practically closed," she whispered back. "You know I am a fast healer, nothing to worry about", he said in a matter-of-fact way. "I know and I am not worried, not any longer. At least, not about your injuries" Kenzi was fumbling with her words clearly distressed by something. Her inflection cold-showered Dyson in a fully awakened state and he propped himself on the elbows to look her straight in the eye.
"Now that you are safe and we are here I am worried if I am enough of a woman for you, I mean I obviously can't touch her curvaceousness in the assets department" the girl was trying for a light tone but failing miserably overcome by the deepest and yet unaddressed insecurity of hers. "I've never been self-conscious, D, but I've never had a supernatural hunk in my bed, or technically, in his bed. I don't know if I am shapely enough or strong enough for you."
Dyson didn't even try to laugh it off, "Confidence for a confidence, Kenz. I've been harbouring the same doubts"
"You what?!" the girl was beyond fuming, "We have just started dating and you are already douchbagging it out of the ballpark!"
"Hey, hear me out," Dyson put a calming hand on her shoulder, "I mean I have the same doubts as you. I don't know if I can be good enough for you, if I can be gentle enough and sensitive enough. If you can ever forget the sight of me blood-splashed and with pieces of Halt stuck between my teeth." The wolf geared up for a confession and got to the core of his fears, "I am afraid of hurting you, Kenzi. I am a wolf and you, apart from your fae smell, are still to all intents and purposes, a human."
"I guess, there is only one way to find it out. I am all up for an experiment," Kenzi whispered and her hands again glided down Dyson's body. "So, it seems, are you. And here was me fearing my tiny assets could be of no big interest to you", she added friskily furthering her exploration, "the interest seems quite considerable". The wolf growled and flipped Kenzi over onto her back dragging her underneath him. The doubts were still lingering, his wolf was still to learn to be reined in but the girl he loved was finally his.
It took trick nine calls and a great deal of quite unroyal patience to get through to Dyson and Kenzi, as it was well into the evening of the next day that either of them could consider getting far enough away from the bed to pick up the phone. The Blood King pretended to miss a practically purring undertone to Dyson's voice and demanded they both come to the Dhal at their earliest convenience, doing his kingly best to convey that the said earliest convenience was just a euphemism for "get your asses here right now"
"What's with the young people of today", the bartender grumbled hanging up. The earlier conversation with his granddaughter had got him no further than a garbled "Sorry, Paps, busy" accompanied by background noises which made him abort the call with an exclamation of "Too much information!"
When Dyson and Kenzi at last arrived at the Dahl and parked themselves at the bar Trick was tied up with his patrons and Kenzi seized the opportunity of grabbing some booze before the serious talk she felt was coming. Trick was not the one to call them over without a blastingly good reason. "What, I need a boost", she drawled in reply to the wolf's half-amused half-reproachful glance, "You are the best placed to know"
"You mean I exhausted you," he teasingly asked.
"I mean you made me go without a drop for longer than I care to go without a drop," the girl sniped back and down a shot. In an immediate swing of emotions she flung her arms around him, kissed him and whispered into the chest of his shirt, "And you haven't exhausted me, you've made me very happy"
Momentarily embarrassed by her own emotional outburst she returned to the drink she had swiped from under the counter and went on, "Even if I am ready to admit that my stamina might need some working on. So, I am carrying on my work-out with the second round of whatever it is in this Trick-sent bottle."
"Trick-sent and Trick-confiscated", the bartender groused retrieving the alcohol from the girl's hands. "Down to my lair, you two and try to tone down the shining your faces are giving off. It's bordering on socially inappropriate to be so openly happy with each other", he added with a barely concealed kindness in his voice.
"Have you heard from BoBo?" Kenzi chirped on the way downstairs.
"More than I bargained for," Trick winced slightly at the memory, "Let's just say she is occupied similarly to you two"
"Oh, sheet entanglement", the girl stated with a knowing air, "But the million-dollar question is …."
"I have no idea who with, Kenzi," the Blood King cut her short and guided them to the couch by the desk strewn with thick books, "And let's just for now distract ourselves from my granddaughter's romantic escapades. It's you in the spot-light now."
Chapter 24
Trick sounded so portentous that Kenzi couldn't help a shiver but was comforted by Dyson's warm arm around her shoulders. "What is it, T-man? Has a notorious Russian countess died and left me her family jewels?" she put a brave face on and tried for her usual cocky grin.
"Haven't socialized with Russian aristocracy of late," the bartender returned unperturbed, "but I have put in quite a lot of reading as Dyson asked me while your merry gang were drinking to your battle and bed triumphs the other night."
"Have you found anything about this bumptious cannibalistic feline and what he might have done to Kenzi?" the wolf cut in, ruffled by the old fae's tense voice.
"Not much about Bayun, I haven't had much dealings with Slavic fae and wasn't it Bismarck who kindly advised under no circumstances to tangle with Russia? I just found some vague references to the cat who lures travelers with his yarns and eats them alive."
Kenzi cringed at the memory and commented, "Yeah, helped me to realize I am decidedly a dog person. On further reflection, maybe, a tiny bit of a wolf person."
"And seems like it really has the power to change people's destiny with his tales. The legend says if you defeat Bayun, you can make him grant your wish," Trick went on.
"That's what we did," Kenzi piped up again unable to overcome her restlessness, "It was rather division of labour at play. Dyson defeated him and I made a wish, though I didn't realize it at the time. But the kitty con tripped me up nicely."
"What exactly did you wish for," the Blood King asked sternly.
"Don't remember it word for word. Something along the lines of being sick and tired of fae superiority complex," the girl muttered.
"Well, as far as wishes go, this one is rather open to interpretation," the old fae said pensively.
"The cat said that she wished not to be despised by other fae and that he had cured her complex," Dyson managed to recall. "I surmised that the only way to be treated as equal among fae is to be one. Besides, Kenzi's smell changed, she started smelling like a fae. Ok, I might be biased, but it wasn't only me. The dark fae in the bar I brought Kenzi to also took her for one of our own."
"If smelling like someone equaled being someone I could become Brad Pitt any time," Kenzi groused. Seeing the bewilderment on the men's faces she elaborated, "He's done a channel 5 commercial, aren't you following perfume fashion, guys?"
"Firstly, we are not following perfume fashion cause we are not following fashion, Kenz, your new boyfriend can't even be bothered to shave. Not in the couple of centuries I've known him. Secondly, in your case I guess stolen or fake Channel 5 wouldn't count anyway," Trick stated with truly royal dignity.
Kenzi pouted which provoked an amused smile on the part of the wolf who ducked his head to press his lips against the girl's ear and whispered, "If you can put up with my stubble, I'll turn a blind eye to your kleptomaniac tendencies and an insensitive nose to your fake perfume."
In the meantime, Trick continued on his findings, "I've done thorough research of my extensive library and all the wise books of fae say the same - there are no documented cases of humans becoming fae or fae becoming humans, it is impossible."
"But if the Norn had taken my wolf when I offered him up as a sacrifice, I would have become essentially human," Dyson interjected.
"You would most likely become a fae stripped of powers, not human" the Blood King corrected.
"So, Bayun is more of a con than we thought and I am not a fae," Kenzi said vaguely aware of a miserable dejected feeling taking hold of her mind. "That is why my illusory fea powers didn't kick in even when my life and D-man's life were at stake. Because I have none. And back to my pathetic human self," the girl was doing her desperate best to pass her trembling lips for an amused smirk. So far, she hadn't allowed herself to admit how much she wished for faedom, for the possibility to be equal to the man she wanted to make happy for a very long time to come. But now that the hope was getting dashed, the realization of how much she had been clinging to this dream was painfully in the open.
"It doesn't matter, Kenzi," Dyson said in his deep voice which had never failed to rouse butterflies in her stomach. "I love you, human or not, and I'll always cherish you and protect you." Noticing traitorous dew in the depth of Kenzi's azure eyes he promptly tried for a joke, "And let's face it, if you turned out a super powerful fae what a blow it would be to my alpha ego."
"Besides, far be it from me to disparage the wise books of fae, Trick," Dyson went on, "but things which never made it onto their wise pages are legion, often for political reasons. Books are written by fae and most fae will never acknowledge the fact that humans and fae might not be that far apart and a transfer between the species can happen."
"I'll make allowances for your obvious infatuation with Kenzi and let the comment slide," Trick said with a note of reproach directed at the younger man, "the more so that I happen to hold the same opinion. The fact that there are no documented cases of such a transformation proves nothing. In this instance I tend to trust my old friend's nose more than the dusty prejudiced volumes"
"So it is possible I am a super Kenz. Hey, I was awesome as a human, how much more awesome can I get now?" the girl shrieked with childish glee, her sorrows and self-doubts for the moment relegated.
"it's not something to toy around with," the bartender brought her up short, "If you are fae, we need to know which one, to know and to learn your powers before you have a chance to make your trademark awesome pig's ear of things."
"I wish we had heard what the damned cat was murmuring when he granted her wish," Dyson sighed. "I actually picked something but couldn't understand a word."
"Maybe, cause it was in Russian?" Kenzi suggested and Trick suddenly cracked a wide smile. '
"I think I've got an idea," he said ambling over to one of his cabinets, "which includes a secret potion of mine, a pocket watch, my exception and multifaceted skills and a very obedient Kenzi.'
Chapter 25
"That sounds mighty ominous, Trickster," Kenzi shot the old fae a nervous glance, "Are you gonna make me do press-ups to a stopwatch?"
"Don't know what you are talking about," Trick frowned busily rummaging in his cabinets.
"Yeah, sure, you've never been to secondary school," the girl muttered eliciting a chuckle from the wolf. "Nor to the primary."
"Will you stop nattering and lie down on the couch, Kenzi?" the Blood King walked over to them with the required stuff in his hands.
"Now, that sounds just ways better," Kenzi's discomfort was growing by the second, but she complied and stretched on the couch mounting her feet onto Dyson's lap. "What now?"
"Now you drink this," Trick offered her a flask, "and try to relax." He pulled a low chair to the couch and sat down. "And I am going to undertake the undertakeable – to delve into Kenzi's mind. If I can find one, I am sure it will be more tortuous than the Minotaur labyrinth and more booze-fumed than a distillery."
"Lame, T-man, leave snarking to the Kenzisms master," the girl twittered. "And still foggy. Delve?"
"I am going to hypnotize you, the potion should help you to relax, the watch will slow your rhythms. Don't struggle it and if we are lucky I might make you remember what the Bayun told you in his fairy tale. It should be in your subconscious even if you don't remember it on the conscious level." Trick finally elucidated.
Looking at the girl's tensed-up face, Dyson squeezed Kenzi's feet in support, "Guess, it's our best chance short of re-hunting the tale cat and shaking the information out of him, babe. I'll be here, by your side."
"Ok," she sighed and taking a gulp form the flask remarked, "When I am under, don't you dare ask indecencies, like where I got my Gucci purse from or who is the best kisser in my esteemed opinion."
"As if I don't know," the wolf winked at her with a naughty smile and that was the last distinct thing Kenzi saw before the potion made her fall flat limply on the couch and the steady swing of Trick's pocket watch before her face dragged her deep under.
Kenzi's fabulous eyes dimmed and closed, her soft pout relaxed and her breathing leveled. Dyson was still squeezing her unhumanly miniscule feet, which could practically fit in his large hands, and was watching the proceedings with a fair bit of concern. Trick checked the girl's eye by lifting a lid and put away the watch. "She is ready," he half-whispered in an aside to the wolf and started in a soft voice, "Do you hear me, child?"
"I want you to go back to the time you met the cat who calls himself Bayun," the Blood King went on after receiving the girl's affirmative answer.
"My Russian grandma read me about him in Pushkin's fairy tales when I was very small. When she died I learnt a piece of the poem by heart to remember her by," Kenzi said with a nostalgic tinge to her voice and Dyson marveled at her soothed face, at how young and kind, and sensitive, and a tiny bit sad she looked when she didn't feel the need to fight or hold your own against the whole fae and human world.
"Skip to the part after Dyson fought him down, what were you talking about?" Trick went on, beads of perspiration springing on his forehead with concentration.
"We talked about vegetarianism, and his fur, and books, and Dyson wanted to get a good bite out of the cat, but I told him about the legend. That you can ask him for a tale that can work miracles," Kenzi went on her voice dropping.
"And then? What did you ask for?" both fae were waiting for the answer with bated breath.
"I said Stop calling me little girl, you fae with your superiority complex. Maybe we could start with curing that attitude. And he told me a tale of his"
"What was in the tale?" Trick was fidgeting on his chair and Dyson had to take his hands off Kenzi's feet for fear of crashing her slender bones in the suspense of the moment.
"It said: И будет чудо сказочное – ты станешь тем, кого боялась больше всех феи в своей жизни." Kenzi pronounced in her most articulate and sonorous Russian. As multifacetedly skilled as Trick had claimed to be Slavic languages were never his forte. And the unsurpassed peak of Dyson's linguistic expertise was to drop his Scottish accent, which took him a couple of centuries.
"Translate it for us, baby," the wolf could no longer contain his agitation, "What does it mean?"
"It means Let a fairy miracle happen – you shall become the one fae you have feared most in your life," Kenzi obliged and suddenly her unperturbed face was contorted with fear. Her soft voice rose to a scream, "It's Inari, she took my friends, she put me on a chain and sicced her guard underfae on me. She said nobody needed me and nobody loved me. I have never feared anyone like her!"
Trick hurried to pick up the pocket watch again, "Calm it, Kenzi! Inari is not to be feared any longer. Take a deep breath, I'll start counting to ten and you'll wake up."
When Kenzi opened her eyes she was already encircled by the wolf's comforting strong arms. She looked up at his anxious face, which he immediately pressed against the top of her head, and then, extricating herself, at Trick who was busily gathering the hypnotizing equipment with totally overdone care. Both fae were averting her crystalline grey gaze and she rushed straight to the point. "What did i say? Do we know what I am now? I want to be something cute and badass at the same time. No sleaze, no stink, please. I wonder if I were to become a Mesmer like Vex, could we mesmerize each other. Or a succubus like Bo – now that doesn't bare thinking about. After all the crotch jokes I made at her expense!"
"Kenzi, you are babbling," Dyson stopped her in mid-flow.
"That is because I am shit-nervous and you two are playing it all doom and gloom and portentous," she pouted, "Cough it or I'll bite my nails to the quick with worry and you'll have to pay for acrylic extensions. One thing for sure, that someone is not gonna be me."
Dyson shot a desperate look at Trick pleading for help, but the older fae beat a hasty retreat with a murmured excuse of an urgent matter to tend to and left the newly coupled alone, equipping himself with an extra thick and old volume on the way out. Between his friend deserting the battlefield and Kenzi's implacably persistent glare pressing for answers the wolf had to work up the nerve to speak up, "Kenzi, we know what bayun turned you into," he started cautiously, "and I believe that this is in itself great news. And I personally have always found this type of fae incredibly attractive and really badass…"
"Dyson, another long-winded sentence and I am gonna test my new powers by punching you where it hurts," the girl hissed looking mightily convincing.
"You have turned into a kitsune, Kenzi" Dyson said looking straight into her eyes that managed to look so full of fight and of fear at the same time.
Trick had not strayed far from the stairs leading to his lair and had been all the while training his ears in that general direction while leafing through the book he had taken to prepare the much needed answers. He distinctly heard a muffled cry or two and a sound of something smashing against the wall, Kenzi's indignant voice against Dyson's soothing tone. "A wolf and a fox," the old fae signed with a slightly amused resignation, "and me as the keeper to this Zoo."
Chapter 26
When Trick returned to the room the worst of Kenzi's fit had blown over. She was sitting in Dyson's lap and fidgeting his the buttons on his shirt while the wolf was placatingly stroking her raven-black hair. The Blood King demonstratively flopped the thick volume down on the desk. The thud made the lovers tear their eyes off each other, which was quite the intended effect.
"She hasn't taken it lightly, Trick," Dyson grumbled, "The memories of her encounter with Inari are still rather fresh"
"I believe you are overreacting," the older fae replied unruffled settling himself into a chair.
"Overreacting?!" Kenzi piped up, "You've told me I am turning into the skank that hurt me like nobody else and I am overreacting by not embracing it with all my heart?!"
"I do understand the grudge you are still baring against the long dead fae, but the fact that Inari was a psychotic bitch doesn't mean you are gonna be the same," Dyson cautiously reiterated the point he had obviously already presented to her. "Besides, she was rather instrumental in making me realize how important you are to me," he tried to lighten the tone but the glare Kenzi gave him was nowhere near humorous.
"Dismissing Inari as a match-maker as well as a current topic," Trick interrupted their exchange, "I would like to point out that Dyson is essentially right. Kenzi, kitsune is not an abomination among fae, far from it. They can be as different in their moral worth as people and other types of fae. Actually, my fae encyclopedia depicts them as highly intelligent beings with extended life span and some serious powers. The ways they employ their powers, however, can vary drastically from individual to individual. Many kitsune turn into malicious tricksters while no fewer among their kind become faithful friends, lovers or guardians and supporters of good causes. Though, not without a mischievous streak."
"A mischievous lover - sounds just like my Kenzi," the wolf drawled appropriating himself of the girl's hands to press her closer to him. Kenzi's face was gradually losing the pained expression and revealing more of a guarded curiosity.
"As to your powers, apart from the obvious increase in strength, stamina and longevity, they are yet to be discovered for kitsune can belong to many subspecies according to their abilities. It could be any of the five plus one senses honed to the sharpest possible edge or can be the ability to assume other humans' or animals's form, which seems to have been Inari's specialty," Trick was warming to the subject and enjoying his didactic role. "You can be kitted out with a psychic ability or extraordinary vision or smell perception, or flash-of-a-lightning speed or … ." He paused for breath.
"However, kitsune's powers develop with time and usually peak at around one hundred years of age, so you, my baby fae, still have a long way to go and a lot to learn," he finished his lecture and closed the wise book with a flourish.
"One more question here, T-man, will I go red?" Kenzi's now much calmer voice rang out in the silence, "cause I have always totally rocked red wigs."
Trick gave a smile which was much more relieved than he would care to admit. "As a unique representative of the one-of-its-kind type of human-turned-fae your evolution is a bit hard to predict. Nothing in my books on hair colour."
"Maybe you'll need to write in a new chapter," Dyson suggested, "and while you are at it, I am planning to take this one newbie away from the city for a couple of weeks to a nice remote place"
"For a romantic trip?" Kenzi asked dreamingly.
"Rather for a training session, we need to assess your powers at present and get you to start working on them," the wolf turned on his no-nonsense mode, but couldn't hold it up for long looking into the beautiful face he loved so much. "Though, guess, we could throw in some romantics. I am quite keen on re-evaluating your abilities in certain areas," he added playfully.
When Trick had gone up to tend to his barman's duties and Dyson set about organizing their trip to a place he knew was "just as right for a bit of beginner-fae training as it was right for a spot of lovemaking" as the wolf termed it, Kenzi was left alone with her scrambled thoughts. Despite the chilling realization of how long her way to fid her true fae-self was going to be, she was feeling appeased and as happy as one could ever be. Gone were her childhood fears, Inari's ghost was at long last laid to rest (I can become even stronger than you were. Suck it up, bitch!), her own feeling of inadequacy among her super-powered friends faded to non-existent. And no matter how bumpy her road was going to be, she was not walking it alone – her beautiful wolf was right there by her side.
Author's Note: Millions of thanks to all those who were reading and reviewing this story. This is the last chapter to it as, tell you the truth, I have run out of twists for the line I took with this fic. I might go on with a sequel, maybe in a different rating, to tell about the training and further adventures of kitsune Kenzi and Dyson, and to explore her powers to be, but for now I am sadly lacking ideas for Part 2. I am carrying on with Little Red and as soon as I can reboot my imagination for the kitsune story I promise I will.