Firefox

She could never figure out what they were, but had always thought fairies, wood nymphs, the kind of stories her dad used to read to her when she was a kid. Except when she had nightmares.

Her nightmares these days always involved Norman in some way or another.

A noise came from the front of the house. The mailman. Chloe’s mailman was the most reliable thing in her life most days. She was in the front of his route, she’d discovered after making conversation with him one day on her way to work, and had discovered he delivered the mail almost exactly at ten minutes after nine every morning. She went to reach for her purse to check the time on her phone, but remembered she’d done a dance on it in the bar. She leaned back to look past the guy to see the clock on her microwave: nine minutes after nine.

Would a precise detail like that make it into a dream?

Chloe put both hands on her face and leaned on her elbows. This really isn’t a dream?

“Okay. I’m awake. That doesn’t mean anything you’re telling me is true. None of this can be real. It can’t be.” Her argument sounded feeble even to her own ears. She took a deep breath and turned to him. “Okay,” she breathed, her stomach flip-flopping.

This guy had cured her hangover with some sort of static electricity charge. He’d beaten her there even though she’d left him sleeping in the motel. She couldn’t explain either of those things. And she certainly couldn’t explain the fact that two ears stuck out of his hair on either side of his head. Two cute, furry, animal ears. Ears like…a fox. A white fox.

She blinked.

I’m never drinking bourbon again.

No.

Not a drop of alcohol will touch these lips again.

Chapter 6

He started feeling so comfortable around her that he let his guard down. And when he was feeling at ease, his shifting control slipped and his true nature took over, showing his fox marking. Sparrow waited for her to accept what she was seeing. When she reached toward him she touched one of his ears too lightly, tickling him and making it twitch. She pulled her hand back, but redoubled, the next touch firmer. “Oh my God,” she whispered. Then she tugged on his ear sharply.

“Ouch.”

Chloe gasped. “How?”

“I told you, I’m a kitsune.”

“Yes, but…do you understand how hard that is to believe?” She turned to face him on her stool and ran both hands over her hair to pull it into a ponytail at the back of her head, only to let go of it again. “We’re told stories when we’re kids, and we grow up and know that they’re not real. They don’t exist.”

Sparrow tilted his head. “An unfortunate trait in humans, refusing to believe in wonders. But it makes life in the other realms easier, I suppose.”

Chloe rubbed her fingertips over her forehead. “Other realms…this is mind-blowing. You realize that, right? Unless I’m losing my mind, and I don’t realize it. I suppose that’s possible.”

“You’re not losing your mind.” Sparrow drew his ears in, and she gasped like a delighted child, patting his hair where they’d just been. “You believe me now?” Slight disappointment crept in when her smile faded.

“I believe there’s more to you than I thought, yes. That you’re something…special.”

“And that you are the goddess Gaia?”

Chloe smirked. “I could strain myself until I had a stroke and no ears would pop out of my head.”

Sparrow felt good now that he was making progress with his goddess. “You don’t have ears, my goddess. You’re not a fox, don’t be silly.” He cupped her cheek. “But you have powers beyond your imagining. And your reincarnation means its time you used them to help restore your kingdom.”

“My kingdom?”

“This realm. You rule over the earth, over flora and fauna and all living beings. They’ll start to wane without your attention. The sooner your gifts are restored, the better.”

Her eyes narrowed. She seemed convinced by his ears, if nothing else, but wasn’t quite on board with the whole truth yet.

“How do I do that?”

“We do it.” He took her hand and leaned closer. “We consummate our union, and that will bring you to the fullness of your power.”

Chloe smirked, a sign he was learning to recognize as disbelief. “That’s convenient. We have sex, and I’ll become a goddess?”