Where Foxes Hunt with Wolves (Folk Lore 2)

“Fine,” Yev said but stayed put, still watching Radek standing by the gate, as if he had nothing better to do.

“Fine!” Radek yelled back, even though nothing was fine and never would be. He’d lost an arm and could never explain to anyone how that had happened. He’d changed into a fox, but couldn’t tell anyone about it either. He didn’t have a job, or a boyfriend. His life was in shambles.

He didn’t wait for any more passive-aggressive bullshit from Yev and rushed into the driveway as soon as he opened the gate with a code. He wouldn’t turn back. He wouldn’t. Because Yev was not allowed to see just how upset Radek was.

It was only once the gate closed behind Radek that Yev switched on his truck and left, as if he thought Radek needed to be controlled like a child who might get abducted by a stranger on the way to the nearest school.

So Yev was older, but Radek was still an adult, even if wearing Yev’s jacket made him feel like a kid in his dad’s sweater.

The massive home greeted him with faint light in the front windows, and he spent a long time staring at the door before he forced himself to enter. What was he to do? Secretly move into the guest house? Mom would have called the police or asked a neighbor to come over with his shotgun and confront the secret lodger. And Radek didn’t want to lose any more body parts.

A nostalgic tune played somewhere close, and he quietly removed his shoes and jacket, leaving his stuff at the door for now. It was getting late, so he figured Mrs. Irena had gone for the night. It would be just him and Mom, and his stomach cramped with anxiety.

He couldn’t believe he was back in this reality after months in Yev’s cabin. How long had it been? They’d met before Christmas, and it was mid-February. Less than three months had felt like a lifetime.

Maybe this would become his new normal. He’d never again shift into a fox, because what use would it be to him? He’d deal with his disability, and work out how to manage the farm in a way that made everyone happy. Maybe if he kept busy, he’d forget his broken heart.

“It’s me, Mom!” he yelled, because she’d find out sooner or later that he was back, and he didn’t want to startle her.

Something clattered. She must have dropped whatever she was holding, and within moments, the recording died.

“Radek? What are you doing here?” she asked as if she hadn’t claimed it was his home many times before. At least now he knew where to search for her and ventured toward Dad’s wing of the house, where he used to have his study, and where he’d invited his friends for billiards or card games. This was also where dad displayed his hunting trophies, and Radek found himself weak in the knees when he entered the side corridor with oak-paneled walls and faced a side table featuring a taxidermy red fox that looked painfully like Ember.

Like him.

He took a deep breath in an effort not to freak out. In-out. In-out. The fox stared at him with glass eyes, as if it wanted to tell Radek he’d never understand what it meant to be a fox.

In-out. In-out.

He tried to focus on something else, and his gaze swept over the collection of edged weapons Father had mounted on the walls. Some of them were fantasy weapons, or had come from foreign countries, but most were sabres, their curved blades glinting in the subdued light.

“I’ll stay here for a while, but I won’t bother you, so don’t mind me,” he said, his words slowing when he noticed a small dagger with a hilt decorated with bone and amber. Hadn’t this one been silver? Sweat beaded on his back when he remembered Burian’s vicious attack, and his hand gravitated toward the weapon when his mom raised her voice.

“Oh no, no, no! Come here! This isn’t a hotel,” she said, luring him closer, past the games room and into Dad’s studio.

“Are you saying I can’t stay here? You want me to pay rent or something?” Radek bristled with anger, but this moment reminded him how he’d offered to pay rent to Yev. Yev had only agreed for Radek to chip in for groceries, but Radek had never done that in the end. Yev had taken such good care of him since the day he’d saved Ember's life.

He kept his eyes low, but the heads of deer and boars hung on the walls of the office in a morbid display of man’s power over nature remained at the edge of his vision, and he sensed a lingering worry that he might notice them move.

Mom sat behind Dad’s heavy wooden desk with a record player that pretended to be much older than it actually was and even featured a polished, flaring horn. The fireplace buzzed with heat, as if Dad was about to step into the room and ask Radek to sit with him on the leather sofa, so they could talk about an upcoming hunt.