Reorganizing the living room hadn’t taken very long and now here I was, bored out of my mind. Niki wouldn’t be any fun until this deal with the Warlock Council was settled. My body stilled as I latched onto a burgeoning idea. It might be below Niki to go to the council, but it wasn’t below me.
A wicked little grin lit my face. Suddenly, the day seemed a lot more promising than before.
Sitting up, I sauntered into the kitchen, to the pile of mail Niki had been going through yesterday. It was easy enough to find the particular piece I was searching for. The gaudy, black card stock with the golden swans looked ridiculous sitting amongst the white letters, bills, and advertisements.
“Hello, ugly.” My fingers grazed the envelope as my eyes slipped closed. It was easy enough, locating the place the letter had originated from. Concentrating, my body dissipated, traveling untold miles within a matter of seconds. I could see the magical wards protecting the structure. They were more complicated and layered than the ones Niki used. Niki’s wards were lovely in their simplicity and grace. These wards were more complex than need be. They were fussy to the point of irritation and redundant in the most garish of ways. They spiderwebbed around, above, and below the Gothic looking structure.
Remaining in my mist form, I picked at the wards, twisting the magic and easily slipping through. Honestly, it felt like the magic welcomed me, like it knew its wielders were incompetent. The magical wards reached out to me, coaxing and stroking my magic. The relief I felt echo down the warded lines made me sad.It was obvious these warlocks had lost their way. The magic’s unhappiness was proof of that.
Inside the building, I floated about, my mist so dissipated that it was difficult to visualize. The building was cavernous and gloomy. Why anyone would wish to spend time within was a mystery. The emptiness of the space told me few did.
Voices drew my attention and I floated toward them. The cadence was higher pitched and didn’t sound like the deep bass of a warlock’s voice. The room I entered was a tad bit warmer than anything I’d yet witnessed. Cushioned chairs lined the wall, a third of them filled with young, adult human women.
An older human woman sat at a desk at the head of the room, near the door. Her graying hair was piled on top of her head in a contained bun. Reading glasses perched across her weathered face as she read from a file laid out in front of her. “Irene Golding.”
A woman near the end of the room stood. She appeared tall for a human female. Lean too. Clutching a tattered purse to her abdomen, the woman warily approached the desk.
“Miss Golding?” the woman behind the desk asked.
“T-that’s me.” Irene’s voice started out hesitant but grew in confidence.
The older woman handed Irene a stack of paperwork. “If you wouldn’t mind filling that out. Warlock Danzig will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you.” Irene grabbed the stack, along with the clipboard beneath and headed back to her seat.
What is this?Curious, I scanned the room. There was a message written above a door that led to another room. The words made me even more curious.Your Service is a Gift. Service? My eyes scanned the women again. Young. Human. Adult. Female. All of them appeared to be single, sitting in a room, their figures bent over forms they were filling out.
Breeders, my mind supplied. There were other words for the women sitting there. Mothers-to-be might be a better phrase. I’m sure Niki’s son’s mother wouldn’t have tolerated being called a breeder. No, Lydia Boone most definitely wouldn’t have tolerated that. Nor should she. Lydia Boone had done right by her son and was a true mother. I wasn’t certain if all these women would fit into that category or not. From what I understood, assuming they birthed warlock children, they would have little impact on the raising of that child. Giving birth to a necromancer was a different scenario all together.
While this wasn’t my original reason for coming, I found the situation too interesting to ignore. Moving outside the room, I found a quiet corner and pulled my body together. I always hated absorbing my tails into a humanoid form. It felt wrong, yet right now, it was necessary. Appearing female wasn’t as easy as my preferred male form, but it wasn’t difficult either.
My flat chest now sported generous breasts, my waist tightened and narrowed, and my face sported a much more feminine visage. The dress I wrapped my curvaceous body into accentuated all my finer points. I even managed a pair of low-heeled shoes. There was no need to change my hair color and it remained a riotous mixture of flaming reds, oranges, and blond highlights.
Righting my clothing, I walked through the door and straight to the front desk. Being careful not to smile enough to show my fangs, I placed my hands on the desktop, my clawed fingertips blunted to short, human nails. “Pardon me,” I interrupted the older woman behind the desk. When she looked up I could see her name was Lottie.
“Yes. Can I help you?” She pushed her reading glasses down her nose as she stared up at me. “Oh, aren’t you a pretty one.” Her wide, honest smile made me preen.
“Thank you.” I gave a fake, nervous look around the room. “I’m not certain I’m where I need to be. I’m here to apply.” I left the ending off, unsure what the official title of the women in the room would be.
“You want to be a carrier?”
That sounded accurate enough. “Yes. I apologize if I’m not doing this correctly. Is there some protocol I should have gone through before walking through the door?” I sounded so damn innocent and insecure.
Lottie’s features softened. “Yes, there’s a pre-screening process. If you’d like, I can go ahead and get you started on that.”
I let loose a weighty and grateful sigh. “Yes, please. That would be appreciated.”
Lottie’s smile was kind. “Just give me a moment to get the proper forms.” She stood and walked to a nearby corner, opening a cabinet and shuffling through different piles of forms. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for. “Here we are.” This stack was larger than the one I’d seen her give Irene. “You can take that home and mail it in or drop it off personally, or you can fill it out here if you have the time.”
“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll fill it out here.”
“That’s fine, dear. You can have a seat anywhere.” Lottie waved to the nearly empty waiting room.
“Thank you.” I grabbed my hefty pile of paperwork and made my way to the far end, near Irene. Tucking my skirt under my ass, I sat down. My feet barely skimmed the floor. Irene didn’t even look up when I sat. She was hunched over her own version of paperwork, eyebrows knit tight and chewing on the end of her pen.
I wasn’t sure why I was so curious about this woman. There was simply something about her that drew me in. Not in a sexual way. She piqued my curiosity and if kitsune had an Achilles heel, it was curiosity.
“Seems like a lot,” I whispered. “Have you already filled all this out?” I held up my stack of papers when Irene’s head shot up. Her eyes were a lovely shade of light blue, her short, cropped hair was light brown with a few lighter strands here and there. She had an intelligent gleam in the depths of her eyes. Those eyes also held more than a hint of desperation.
