The sub-basement floor was where Abigail was headed. She directed Number Twelve to the lower parking area, hidden in thick evergreen trees. He parked; she got out, carrying a fox-pelt-lined purse she’d brought from her store, and made her way to an entrance hidden with trellis and ivy. It opened before she reached it, a massivefoxendressed in camo nodding at her and motioning she should enter. He said nothing but dropped his eyes in respect as she passed. He pointed her in the direction of the elevator which would take her down to the meeting room.
She nodded at him and his big head bobbed, reddish hair sticking every which way. Monk Van Crimson had never spoken, and no one knew why.
Abigail touched his arm so he would look at her. She met his eyes, then she put her finger to her lips. He went slack for a second, then nodded, as she went dim, as dim as she was able without her essence, which wasn’t very dim, in her opinion, but still was dimmer than any of her progeny could manage. She didit withvvystweaved into magic, so it was more like invisibility-with-scent-and-sound-coverage, than biological dimness, but it got the job done. Her clothing and her purse also dimmed out.
The Van Crimsons were better at dimness than the White clan. Dred, the elder, was so good at going dim that he was totally undetectable to all for a short time, even to otherfoxen, and even to the demon, which had saved his ass several times over the last 150 years or so. Monk, however, didn’t go dim, just like he didn’t talk, and no one knew if hecoulddo either. He had arenquathough—a patch of tall grass. He could shift into an oversized red fox, one hundred pounds bigger than any normal fox.
Dim, Abigail squeezed Monk’s arm. He squinted his eyes and cocked his head, trying to see her from the corner of his eye. He gave her a thumbs-up, then turned back to the door, watching the monitors above it.
She turned and moved down the hallway to the sitting room just outside the double doors, which were closed. Thefoxenin the meeting room would be on the alert to anyone entering dim, but she was Abigail White, and she had ways to avoid detection. She flicked her fingers to swarm morevvystaround herself like camouflage.
She edged closer to the door, trying to hear conversations on the other side, but it opened. Rhogun Van Crimson came out, moving fast. He was big, with reddish hair and close-clipped beard, wearing jeans, boots, and a leather jacket. He wore an eyepatch over his left eye, because of a birth defect that left the eye withered and blinded. Abigail couldn’t see hisrenqua, but she knew what it was. He, like manyfoxenmales, had arenquathat symbolized their destiny, which was to be enslaved by the demon. Rhogun’s was a padlock with a chain attached.
Abigail slipped in the door on Rhogun’s blind side, both lighter and faster than normal. The meeting room was a large open area under the main house. Abigail moved through the room slowly, her eyes on everything and everyone, as she listened to each passing conversation. Near the door were two Van Crimsons, both teenage girls easily identifiable with their red hair. They had their heads together and were talking quietly.
“Sage must be out of her mind with worry. Where is she?”
“In treatment somewhere, for that disease the females in the White clan get.”
“She doesn’t even know Paisley is kidnapped?”
“Probably not.”
“That’s so messed up. When does she get out?”
“Dunno. Whenever her period ends, I guess.”
Abigail pointed her index finger at the one who thought she was so smart, about to zap her with some electricity, or maybe give her a teeny-tiny stroke, but then she thought better of it, knowing she couldn’t afford to cause a scene. She moved on quickly before she heard any more.
In reality, there was no disease. Abigail had made it up as cover for what she had to do to keep her family safe. Sage was locked away tight, hidden from the demon, but not in a medically-induced coma, like these girls thought.
Abigail moved deeper into the room, sticking close to the walls, where tables and chairs were stacked in storage. Across the room, a computer workstation was set up near a collection of couches. The couches were full of her family members and a couple of Van Crimsons, most talking quietly or looking at their phones, all waiting for news of Paisley. Reynard Van Crimson worked at the computers with Rissa standing behind him, her face twisted in worry. Near them, Mina talked to Ellis White inlow tones. Abigail moved close enough to Mina and Ellis to hear their conversation.
“Thevodhave been all over the street. They’re still in my yard,” Mina said with a shudder.
“I’m never going back. I don’t even want my stuff,” Ellis White said. Ellis was Frannie’s father. He stood just under six feet tall, with short brown hair and a slim build, wearing brown slacks, cable-knit sweater, and shoes.
“Nana is giving everyone a stipend to replace their stuff, plus everyone gets a cabin at the Inn,” Mina said.
Abigail froze and stared at Mina, angrily, thinking she’d said nothing about astipend. Mina looked around suspiciously, like maybe she sensed something. Abigail moved away from her, behind Reynard and Rissa, looking over Reynard’s shoulder at his computer setup. Reynard had short red hair and a clean-shaven face. He wore afoxentactical uniform, which was remarkably similar to the uniform of thevod, except it wasn’t blue, it was camo-green.
“Can you put my picture on her license?” Rissa was saying.
“Sure can,” Reynard answered, typing swiftly on his keyboard, “But what if I just did this?”
Rissa leaned over his shoulder and watched what was happening on the screen. “Change Paisley’s birth certificate?”
“Yep. There you go. Rissa White as mother.”
“David Upton as father,” Rissa said dryly. “No thank you. I didnotsleep with that playboy human.”
Reynard stood and pulled a piece of paper from a printer. He winked at Rissa, grinning and holding it out. “You know you didn’t, and I know you didn’t, but thevodare going to think you did.”
Rissa laughed and took the piece of paper from him. “This looks brand new.”
Reynard took it from her. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to show it to anyone. I’m changing it in the system and that’s what the hospital and thevodwill see if they look it up, but they won’t.”
Abigail considered whether she liked the plan and decided she did. Reynard used his family’s version ofvvystand had figured out how to digitize it years ago, so anything he did automatically and intelligently hid from thewolven, changing on the fly if it needed to, and always reporting back to Reynard for optimization.
