“I don’t see the point. You’ll just wander around and go where you want to go.”
“True.” Looked like Niki was starting to catch on. “Where’s my room?”
A vein on Niki’s cheek throbbed and if he clenched his jaw any tighter, he’d probably fracture a molar or two. “What makes you think I have a guest room waiting for you?”
“Oh, please. This may not be the mansion I was expecting, but it’s big enough for you to have more than one bedroom. Although, if you’ve just got the one, I wouldn’t be opposed to sharing. In fact, that sounds like a lovely id?—”
“If you must stay, then you can sleep in Erasmus’s or Lydia’s room.” Niki gave me a dismissive hand gesture and walked away. I followed him to the kitchen.
“They have their own rooms?” I plopped my ass on a kitchen stool, allowing my seven tails to drape over the edge. It felt good, giving them more room. I could always absorb them back into my body, but I didn’t like the feeling. My tails deserved to be free.
Niki grabbed a stack of mail and started shuffling through it. I noticed he set each piece into one of three piles. There was a lot of mail and I wondered who he’d had take care of his home while he was gone. It had to be someone he trusted. For reasons I didn’t fully understand, jealousy sparked through me. I pushed the useless emotion away with vicious tenacity.
“Lydia and Erasmus shared a room when he was a baby. As he grew, they both wanted their own separate spaces,” Niki offhandedly answered.
Head tilted to the side, I considered Lydia Boone. A bit more aged for a human, but still a lovely woman. Did Niki still love her? Had he ever loved her? Suddenly, the answer to those questions was all I could think about.
“Do you love her?” I asked with absolutely no preamble.
Niki stopped sorting his mail. Eyes scrunched and lips thin, he appeared genuinely confused. “Who?”
“Your son’s mother, Lydia.” I didn’t like the hint of snarl underlying my words. I’m not sure if Niki noticed or not. With a letter in hand, he waved me off. Niki had a bad habit of dismissing me.
“Not in the way you imply. I love and respect Lydia. There is a reason I chose her to have a son with. We enjoyed our time together, but I believe both of us knew it was a temporary situation. There is no animosity between us.” Niki kept sorting, dropping envelopes and advertisements into his designated piles.
My clawed finger traced designs in the marble countertop. “If you wanted, I could look like her.” Changing my appearance took no more effort than breathing. Reabsorbing my kitsune traits, I morphed my body into a perfect copy of Lydia Boone. I could mimic anyone, right down to the tone of their voice. “Is this a more pleasing figure?”
Niki’s expression was priceless. The unimaginable and unmasked horror clear to see. His skin blanched and he took a step back, running into another counter. “Stop that at once.” Niki’s voice sounded raw and a little hoarse.
“Why? You found this form attractive at one point in your life.” I was truly confused. Sometimes, when I mimicked one who was deceased, the living would get upset. I couldunderstand that response, at least a little. Currently, Niki’s abject horror made no sense.
Slamming his hands on the counter, Niki’s dark eyes danced with menace. “I said, stop that. Immediately! You are not Lydia, and I will not have you making a mockery of my affections.”
Changing back to the form I preferred, I set my chin in my cupped hands and leaned my elbows on the counter. The look of relief washing across Niki’s expression puzzled me. “I do not understand your ire.”
“You don’t have to understand it. You must simply respect it.”
I took a moment to consider Niki’s words and decided, “I can do that.”
“Good.” Niki raked his fingers through his thick, dark hair. The white at his temples blended with the black. “That’s good,” he repeated with stark relief.
I studied Niki for a few seconds before I said, “You do realize kitsune are shapeshifters. Right?”
“Of course I realize that,” Niki snapped. “What kind of ignorant fool do you take me for?”
“I didn’t. I’m just trying to figure out your response.”
“Well don’t. As I said, my reasons don’t matter.” Niki went back to sorting his mail, a bit more aggressively than before. He slammed each piece of paper down on the counter. He was about to weed out another letter but stopped halfway to the pile on the right. Dropping the remainder of the stack, Niki turned the letter over in his fingers, staring at it as if puzzling through a great mystery.
“What is it?” Niki’s interest piqued my own.
He remained quiet long enough for me to believe we were back to him pretending I didn’t exist when he finally answered, “I’m not sure. Something from the council.”
“The Magical Usage Council?” I hoped not. That place was a clusterfuck after what Tenzen had just put it through. It was one of the many reasons I was currently sitting in Niki’s kitchen instead of my room at the main compound.
“No. The Warlock Council.” Niki didn’t sound thrilled.
“What do they want? Are you on the council?” That seemed like something Niki might desire. Then again, his secluded home indicated he wasn’t the most sociable fellow.
