Vixen was sitting in a rocking chair, watching the fire as Camilla escorted me into the room. Today they were dressed in a green velvet bedjacket, a pair of peach lounging pajamas, and they looked very much like a rich retro housewife at a 1950s party. Very Joan Crawford, or Bette Davis.
They glanced over and a smile spread across their otherwise taciturn face. “Raven, you came! Here, sit across from me. That’s a new sofa and it’s so comfortable I’m thinking of having a bed made by the same company.”
I smiled back at them. “It’s lovely. The whole room is gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve seen this room before.” I had been over to Vixen’s other places a number of times, but this house, I’d only been in once. I took the offered seat and leaned back, still feeling weary. Although I had slept in, the events of the night before were still hitting me hard.
“You look tired, girl.” Vixen motioned to Camilla. “Fix us some peppermint tea, please.” To me they asked, “Have you had lunch?”
“I had a late breakfast, thanks. But go ahead if you’re hungry.”
“Tea, and a tray of those mint cookies—the chocolate mint wafers.” They motioned for Camilla to leave, and the housekeeper ducked into a brief curtsey and left the room. “So, how are you doing today? And don’t BS me.” They brought out what at first looked like an old-fashioned cigarette holder—one of those long affairs that the glamour girls used to use, but when I looked closer, it was actually a vape pen. Vixen still liked to smoke, but now they didn’t bother most people with the smoke.
I let out a sigh. “I don’t know, to be honest. I’m still processing. This whole mess came out of the blue—it struck like lightning. I’m heartbroken my father actually listened to Dougal, and I feel blindsided. If my mother hadn’t warned me earlier yesterday that something was going down, I would have been totally caught off guard.”
“You sound bitter,” Vixen said.
“Of course I’m bitter. I got thrown under the bus in a game that isn’t even my fight.” I frowned. “You have to admit, it’s a stretch to ding me for being Ember’s friend. It’s a stretch to try to force me to give up being friends with someone who killed one of the Ante-Fae in self-defense. What the hell was she supposed to do? Let him kill her…or worse. And believe me, I know what worse can be, thanks to Pandora.”
I jumped up, waving my arms. “I love being one of the Ante-Fae, but let’s face it, Vixen—our kind can be terrifying and ruthless. Blackthorn had it in for Ember ever since the first time they met. She told me about him. I wish Herne could have gotten to him first. The Banra-Sheagh wouldn’t dare chastise a god.”
“Sit down, love, you’re going to give yourself a stroke.” Vixen motioned me back to my seat. “You’re absolutely correct, of course. Which is why I’m going to put up a notice that I won’t be keeping you out of my club, and that anybody who chooses to enter may be subject to retaliation from the Queen—”
“You can’t do that,” I said, straightening up. “You can’t jeopardize your club for me.”
“It’s more than that,” Vixen said, frowning. “If I keep you out, I’ll be tacitly endorsing what the Banra-Sheagh did. It sends a message and I don’t want to send that message. And…” They paused, letting out a long sigh. “I realized that I’m doing the same thing to Trinity. I’ve never fully taken the time to know him. I went on appearance only. So I’ve invited him to the club to have a talk and to apologize.”
Too shocked to respond, I suddenly remembered why I had come to visit. In the surprise of Vixen taking a stand against the Queen’s ruling, I had lost the thought right out of my head. “Okay, then, you said you had a friend you think is possessed?”
“Yes, that’s right. So, here’s the problem. My friend Lenny—he’s human—runs the club’s website. He’s one of those people you can set your clock by. He’s reliable to a T. Never once have I had a problem with him in the past ten years.”
I could feel something coming. “But?”
“Yes. But…the past couple of weeks he’s been acting oddly. He’s gone from sunny and annoyingly cheerful to surly and downright obnoxious. He’s late on updates and that never happens, and in the space of less than a week, I’m thinking of changing computer techs. And I never expected to be saying that.” The pain on Vixen’s face was tangible.
“Lenny’s been a good friend, hasn’t he?”
Vixen gave me a reluctant shrug. “Yeah. I helped him through the death of his wife. I helped him avoid foreclosure after the medical bills for her cancer wiped him out. He’s a contractor, so he didn’t have catastrophic insurance. I put him on my payroll so that if—the gods forbid—he gets ill, that won’t happen again. You don’t know how many late-night calls we worked our way through during that time, and because of all that, we bonded in a way I never thought I could with a human.”
“You love him,” I said, holding their gaze. “Like a brother, maybe, but—”
“Maybe like a child, girl. Even among my kind, I’m unique. Usually, snake shifters bear live young, but I’m gender-fluid in the strongest of ways. My gender shifts with my moods, which is actually quite delightful. But I was born unable to breed. I can’t bear young, nor can I impregnate anyone. I’m unique. One of a kind. My heritage will die with me.” A look in their eyes told me that Vixen was lonely—in a way most people could never understand.
“We’re all unique,” I murmured. I had known about Vixen’s gender-bending, but I hadn’t realized they were sterile.
“Most, yes, but most of the Ante-Fae can engender young. I cannot. So I adopt. I gather my family in other ways. Apollo is part of my family—my lover and my mentee. You’re part of my family, a delicious young witch. Before you ever worry, I would never overstep my boundaries with you because you seem so very young to me. And Lenny is part of my family as well. Unexpected, but not unwelcome.” Vixen sat back, crossing their arms. “I’m unsure of what to do about this. I tried to ask him what was wrong, but he snapped at me.”
“Is there anything else that makes you think he might be possessed? He could just be having a bad month. Or maybe he’s on a new medication—”
“I know the signs of possession, child.”
“Well, I’ll have to meet him to tell whether he’s being possessed. I might be able to uncover something with my cards, but for a definitive answer, you have to bring us together.” I held up my bag. “You want me to pull a few cards?”
Vixen perked up. “Yes, please. Meanwhile, I’m going to try to figure out a logical reason for you two to meet.”
While they thought, I pulled out my cards and began to shuffle, keeping the nebulous Lenny in mind. I usually didn’t need a picture to go off of, given I was so attuned to the cards. But it would have been much easier if Lenny was here.
I shuffled the cards, keeping the situation in mind, then laid them out. I turned over the first card, then the others. The eight of Chalices, then the Death card. The third was the two of Discs. The fourth and fifth were the High Priestess and the Tower cards. And the sixth card—the outcome card—was the Sun.