Page 11 of Foxin' Around

He shrugged casually without interrupting the rhythmic chop of his blade. “He may have a name, but foxes aren’t quick to relinquish their secrets.” He glanced up at her, the corner of his mouth quirking as if there was some private, inside joke that she was missing before lowering his gaze to his task once more. “But I am certain that any name you wish to call him will be a well-thought-out choice.”

Krystal leaned against the corner of the wall, watching him turn the meat into long, slender slices. “I thought Jasper was a good name, since he’s as red as the stone.”

Syrix lifted his head, and his eyes crinkled with amusement. “Jasper? That is a terrible name. What sort of magic is in that name for a fox?”

“Just the right amount. It suits him and you did say that I could name him, didn’t you?” she challenged.

“Yes, yes,” he soothed as he washed his hands and grabbed the towel hanging near her head.

Krystal’s heart began to pound as he leaned in close, the towel pulling free from its bar slowly. He held the moment, suspending time between them for one heartbeat, and then another, before slowing pulling back and wiping the moisturefrom his long, graceful fingers with it, his lips curling in an expression she couldn’t even begin to guess at.

“I found some goose eggs last night while wandering around the lake, but I am not sure how your people are about eating them,” he said conversationally, breaking the tension that had gathered in the growing silence between them. “I happen to love eggs and could not resist.”

“The lake? You found goose eggs around the lake… at night?” she echoed.

She could scarcely believe that he had been able to see well enough to accomplish it, but sure enough on the table sat a bowl containing five large goose eggs. Krystal’s mouth watered. How long had it been since she’d had eggs? She couldn’t even remember when she last tasted one, since they didn’t keep as long as the frozen meat had. She frowned, a thought occurring to her.

“How are the refrigerator and freezer working? Nothing powered by electricity worked following the Ravening.”

He hesitated, an uncomfortable expression on his face. “Simple magic currents are not too different. I need to renew the enchantments on this regularly since it does not have any other source options for power for the time being, but it works to fulfill my needs.”

“Wow,” she whispered. In other words, if he left, the magic that powered it would cease working the moment he was gone for a prolonged period of time. Krystal was even more grateful that he decided to stay. “That… is really a handy trick.”

He nodded, his bearing relaxing as he scooped up the meat strips and began to line a pan with them. In the midst of his work, he tipped his head toward the table. “If you would be so kind to crack three eggs for me into a bowl, I would be grateful.”

Murmuring an agreement, Krystal headed over to the eggs and began to meticulously crack them as Syrix’s warm voice floated across the room to her.

“I thought we might go over to the lake, today, if you like. The weather should be warm to enjoy being by the water and I can show you how to locate the young cattails. They are quite edible and very enjoyable in my opinion. It is a little early in the season, but I thought I saw some.”

“You mean you do not just magic everything into growing?” she teased over her shoulder.

Glancing back at her, he met her eyes with a faint twitch of his lips as she went over to the drawer and recovered a fork. “It may surprise you, considering all that I’ve done here, but I prefer to not use my magic to directly influence the unnatural growth of things out of their seasons. There will always be a warp in such things anywhere I live because my magic will influence the land itself and so the seasons will be… different, for lack of a better descriptive word,” he added with an apologetic grimace. “But other than getting a foundation started, I prefer to leave the plants to grow as nature intended as much as possible.”

She’d just picked up the bowl, ready to attempt copying what she’d seen plenty of times on TV on how to beat an egg, but paused in surprise. “That is actually really commendable. I don’t think that there are many who would have such powers and not be tempted to use magic for every little thing.”

He shrugged, but a guilty chuckle drifted across the room. “I am not quite so innocent. Like anyone who is born with such powers, there is always a temptation to wield them beyond what is wise. Like many, I have been caught in one of my own tricks before.”

“Really? I would like to hear it.”

He grinned over at her and gestured for her to join him. “Bring over the eggs then and listen to my tale.”

And so, he regaled her as they worked side by side cooking breakfast. She found large parts of it unbelievable and other parts awkward, as if he was intentionally making revisions in his story, but they happened in such unusual spots that she couldn’t even explain it. By the time they sat down to eat, he had drifted to another story, and she decided that it didn’t even matter.

So, there were some details he didn’t want her to know. That was natural. Who didn’t have their secrets and little things that they wished for no one to know? She had more than one embarrassing story herself. There was no harm in it.

Chapter

Nine

Syrix peered over at Krystal, his head fur fluffing with pleasure at her obvious delight as they walked together alongside the lake. Although the cabin did not sit close to it, unlike the other cabin he could see shadows of at the other side of the lake, it was a pleasant walk to get there. This was preferable. The lake was far too open for him to feel comfortable denning there, especially since so many of the races passing through his woods tended to stop at the lake before continuing onward.

At his side, Krystal shaded her eyes with her hand and pointed at the distant cabin. “That is the Mallory Cabin. Looks like it’s vacant. Good. They were always unpleasant to deal with. They thought they owned the entire lake despite the fact that it sits on both properties. That didn’t stop them from trying to run us off. With the way things are now, I wouldn’t put it past that family to shoot at us.”

“Ahh,” he murmured, his eyes narrowing with satisfaction.

The pair of males he had discovered there had done exactly that. They had lifted their strange, elongated weapons at him and paid dearly for their unkindness. Dispatching them was akindness toward his mate, then. Human or not, it seems that they would have threatened her harm, too. He wondered if he should mention their fate to Krystal but decided against it. He did not enjoy harming humans and while she might accept that he acted reasonably in self-defense, that it was his natural compulsion to eat his kills was another matter. It would be difficult to explain, and he did not wish for her to be afraid of him again. At least not until she understood without a doubt that he would never harm her.

The lamia hunting her was another matter. He would not tolerate that creature nesting in his territory and even if Krystal were not there, he would still hunt the lamia down and kill her if she didn’t flee first. Not only were foxes immune to the charms of the lamia, but her presence there was intolerable. Her foul scent stung his nose, stirring every predatory instinct within him to swiftly dispatch and consume her and every bit of her magic. Even now, there were times that he swore he caught her foul odor floating over to him as he walked with his mate, and it frustrated him that there was no way for him to pinpoint the location of whatever place she had temporarily claimed for her nest.

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