“So ya sure you’re alright?”

Lucas sighed, looking up from the laptop in front of him to see Shaun’s worried expression. His partner had been uncharacteristically quiet since the night before. He’d spent his time studying both Lucas and Nic, without saying much unless he was directly spoken to. The most he had said on his own was to ask if Lucas was okay a handful of times. Now it was asked in complete earnestness, accompanied with a stare so intense that Lucas shifted uncomfortably beneath it.

“I am in one piece, not happy about what we’re trying to do but otherwise yes, I’m alright,” he finally replied slowly.

“Naw, I mean are ya alright about last night?”

He supposed he should have seen that question coming before now. “I…you mean what the three of us did?”

“Well I know ya ain’t happy about what we gotta do with Ana, so yeah, that.”

He thought it over for a minute, answering carefully. “It’s not something I would have seen myself doing before, that’s for sure. I had never given any thought to having someone else in our bed when we slept together before Nic came along. All in all, I would say that I am perfectly okay with what happened.”

Shaun chuckled, twining the bedspread around his fingers. “Guess Nic brought it outta both of us. I hadn’t thought of doing it either before he said somethin’.”

“He does have a peculiar effect on things, doesn’t he?”

“Makes ya feel comfortable. Plus, he’s kinda fun, ain’t he?”

“That he is.”

There was silence after that, leaving them both to think over the factors of their brief conversation: The fact that Shaun hadn’t argued with Lucas, that he enjoyed himself as well, and might be open to it again in the future. Lucas didn’t know how he felt about it completely, except that he had spoken the truth to Shaun. He had enjoyed himself last night, even if he had been shocked that Nic had somehow managed to convince Shaun to go along with it.

The problem was the same one that Lucas had about Nic being here and involved in anything at all. Nic wasn’t human. he was, in fact, something that Shaun would happily try to hunt down and kill, if he knew. Lucas knew that for a fact and hadn’t yet told him what was bothering him, worse than ever now that they had all slept together. It was one thing for Shaun to have slept with Nic before, but now Lucas had let last night happen, knowing what Nic was. It didn’t feel right, not totally lying, but it still went past the line in the sand that he should have drawn before last night ever happened. It couldn’t happen again, the three of them, or just those two, without Lucas telling Shaun the truth. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself, otherwise.

He was spared from having to say something as the door to the hotel room opened, and Nic came in with the phone to his ear. “Yeah, I just got back to the room. Gimme a sec and I’ll put you on speaker.”

Depositing the bags of food on the table in front of Lucas, Nic hit the button on his phone and set it on the table as well. “Okay, go ahead.”

A rough but jovial sounding male voice boomed out from the phone. “Shaun? Ya there boy?”

“Erik, hey,” Shaun said, standing up in excitement. “Tell us ya got good news.”

“I might just have, but that depends on a few things first.”

Shaun blinked. “Like what?”

“Lucas, ya there?” Erik asked.

“Less than a foot from the phone, what can I do for you Erik?” Lucas asked, putting on his best polite tone.

“Heh, Tony wasn’t kiddin’. You do sound a bit stuck-up.”

“Erik, be nice,” Shaun scolded. “That’s my partner you’re talkin’ to.”

“I ain’t sayin’ that he is stuck-up, only that he sounds like it. Lord boy, you act like a man can’t make an observation or somethin’.”

Lucas snorted, closing the laptop so he could see the phone clearly. “It’s fine. You wouldn’t be the first to say it nor will you be the last, I’m sure. But you haven’t answered my question. What can I do for you?”

“See, Shaun? The stuck-up soundin’ one’s got thicker skin than you. Anyway, Tony tells me that you ain’t that big on shootin’ every little thing that ain’t human or showin’ up on National Geographic.”

It was said with a casual air, but Lucas spotted the tension in Shaun’s jaw, telling him that a sore subject was being touched upon. “Something like that.”

“No, not somethin’ like that, is it true or ain’t it?” Erik asked, the friendly tone replaced by a harder one that fit the rough sound of his voice.

Lucas looked right at Shaun as he spoke to Erik. “I believe that not every supernatural creature is deserving of death purely because they aren’t human. If they aren’t posing a threat to humanity, or are simply trying to survive, then I see no point in wasting efforts trying to kill them. They deserve the right to life, just as the same as any human being.”

“Well, ya certainly said it a lot nicer than Tony did, and I bet that ya said it nicer than Shaun wants to. He glarin’ at you right now?”

He was, but Lucas wasn’t going to admit that to a stranger. “Is there a reason you wanted to bring up an old ethical argument between my partner and I?”

Erik snorted. “You bet your fancy ass there is. See, I don’t agree with Tony’s whole ideas about killin’ all things that ain’t human. It’s why I don’t help him too much unless I know for sure that whatever he’s after is a big, bad thing. Your partner tells me that this little friend of yours you’re tryin’ to find ain’t on the up and up, that she’s already tricked your new friend into killin’ two of your own, and tried to trick ‘em into killin’ you.”

“That’s true, all of it. I’m hoping for a peaceful resolution to all of this, but I’m not relying on it. Ana has already proven to be a threat to us, and to others as well. There’s no justification for allowing her to continue and potentially bring others into this game she’s playing, if she hasn’t already.”

“Wait a minute,” Shaun interrupted suddenly. “You sayin’ it like that Erik, that mean she ain’t a person?”

“She’s a person alright. She just ain’t human.”

“That’s what I said,” Shaun grunted, earning him a sidelong glance from Nic.

“No, it ain’t what ya said.”

Lucas could see the argument coming and cut across Shaun’s counterpoint before he could finish drawing in a breath. “So, she’s not human. How do you know that?”

“Because that’s what the spirits I sent to look for her said. To be straight with ya, I didn’t think they’d find her that quick, but they did. It’s cuz she’s a half-spirit herself.”

Shaun was busy glaring down at the phone, so he missed Lucas’ glance toward Nic. They had already spoken of the fact that she, like Nic, was a kitsune. What Lucas wanted to know was if that same ‘half-spirit’ status applied to Nic as well. There was a moment of hesitation, but Nic shrugged with a little tip of his head.

“What’s that mean?” Shaun beat him to the question, missing the silent conversation going on in front of him.

“What? Ya ain’t been taught what half-spirits are? What do ya think them werewolves you bunch are always tryin’ to stab and shoot are?” Erik asked, sounding both amused and tired.

“Monsters,” Shaun answered simply.

“Boy, I wish some of what I told your daddy had filtered down to you. Ain’t neither one of you like to listen, at least not when it don’t fit what ya already believe. Look, werewolves aren’t just half-human, half-wolf in their body, alright? It’s their spirits, their souls, that are a mix too.”

Lucas hadn’t known that either, but Shaun seemed unperturbed by the revelation. “So, she’s a werewolf then?”

“No, fox.”

“She’s a fox?”

“Half-fox, or half-fox spirit if ya wanna get technical.”

Shaun looked up to frown in confusion at Lucas. “You know what he’s talking about?”

Knowing the answer already, Lucas leaned toward the phone. “Erik, are you speaking of the legend of fox trickster spirits, the kitsune?”

“Oh shit, I dunno any fancy name for ‘em. I just know they’re half-fox in body and spirit. Werewolves ain’t the only half-spirit changers out there, ya know. They’re just not as common as the others is all.”

Shaun snorted. “What, like a Wererat?”

“Never seen one of them myself, but yep. Met a werebear once actually. Nice fella, kept to himself mostly.”

“Why aren’t these other half-spirit sorts as common as the werewolves?” Nic asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“Eh, somethin’ about some sorta war between the werewolves and all the other half-spirits. Guess there have always been more half-wolves, and they ended up goin’ to war with the other half-spirits. Between that and all the hunters pickin’ off the weak and wounded, the other half-spirits had a rough time. Best thing they could do was play dead and disappear,” Erik said, sounding almost annoyed at the thought.

“So, ya had to make sure, since she ain’t human, that we weren’t just goin’ off and tryin’ to kill some random monster, huh? Didn’t trust me when I told ya she was dangerous?” Shaun asked indignantly.

“I ain’t sayin’ ya were lyin’. I’m sayin’ that you and your daddy both ain’t exactly rational when it comes to this sorta thing. I just had to make sure, and now I am. I already done emailed y’all her location, but there’s a few things ya gotta know first,” Lucas could hear the sounds of typing in the background as Erik spoke.

“How to kill her would be nice, unless silver works,” Lucas threw out, knowing what Shaun would want to know first.

“Oh, can’t help ya there. Spirits found her, and figured out what she was, sorta, but that don’t mean they can tell me everythin’. Silver don’t work on every half-spirit, only the ones tied to the moon like werewolves are.”

“So, I guess we just use everythin’ we got if we gotta,” Shaun said, thrilled at the excuse to use his toys.

“Why do I feel like things are going to be set on fire?” Nic asked, looking askance at Shaun, who was giddy with excitement.

“Because he likes to kill things,” Lucas answered. “Now Erik, what was it that we’re supposed to know?”

“What? Oh, right. Now, I did my best to make sure we weren’t spotted or nothin’, but I’m pretty sure she realized someone had peeked in on her. Not enough to know who or what, but enough to be alerted. Couldn’t be helped. When ya got half-spirits and ya send in another spirit, sometimes that half-spirit is gonna pick up stuff like that.”

“Does that mean she took off?” Nic asked.

“Naw, see that’s what I wanted to tell ya. Not just that she probably knows someone was peekin’, but that she’s dug in pretty good where she’s at. Spirits ain’t too good at seein’ and understandin’ physical stuff, but they brought back enough for me to know the place is rigged. She’s got all sorts of traps all over, and cameras I’m bettin’. Ya were right to not use magic too, cuz the place is warded. Only reason the spirits were able to find her was because she can’t hold everythin’ off when she’s gotta use electricity,” Erik rattled on, sounding more and more excited as he spoke.

Realizing that he should probably be reading the email that Erik sent, Lucas opened the laptop. It didn’t take long to access his email and start going over what Erik had sent. He didn’t know why he had been expecting pictures, but there was a moment of disappointment as he realized there were none. Still, the description that Erik had laid out was pretty detailed..

Nic shifted around the table to stand behind Lucas and read over his shoulder. “What are you thinking?”

“Well, swamps, so a good chunk of the South is an option. It describes the property she’s on, and it’s isolated, so we don’t have to worry about cops or anything. Not all that sure of where this property is though,” Lucas told him, feeling a little disappointed.

Nic snorted, leaning forward to tap his finger on a line of text. “She’s near New Orleans.”

Lucas reread the line that Nic indicated, a vague description about a building with skulls and a “Light-up cactus?”

“It’s a bar on the outskirts. Been there a few times when I was there. It’s a dive, but a good sort of dive. If they were moving from there, I bet you we can dig around and find out where she’s at. Doesn’t sound like she’s too deep in the swampy areas outside New Orleans, which means it shouldn’t be too hard to find the property.”

Erik piped up at that moment. “She’s in a big ol’ plantation kinda house.”

“Well that makes it easy,” Shaun added, now finally looking happy.

“Save for the traps and the fact that she’s probably expecting someone to come knocking her door down, sure,” Lucas said dryly.

“Do you two take turns being the grumpy one?” Nic asked, still reading the email over Lucas’ shoulder.

“Naw, he’s usually the grumpy one. Ya just showed up when it was my turn for once,” Shaun said, now in a fantastic mood since they finally had a direction to aim toward.

“Anyway Erik,” Lucas interrupted before they could continue to talk about him as if he weren’t sitting right there. “Thank you for your help. It’s appreciated, and if there’s anything I can do personally to pay you back for this, please feel free to ask.”

“I’m sure I can think of somethin’ or another,” Erik chuckled. “For now, just keep doin’ what you’re doin’. It’s not often I get to talk to a hunter who ain’t about killin’ everythin’, and if you and your friend Nic there ain’t like that, I’m happy to help. You two keep tryin’ to preserve what ya can, and ignore lunkheads like Shaun and his daddy.”

Lucas smiled, more at the huffy look that had swept across Shaun’s face to replace the victory smirk. “I’ll do my best, and I think Nic will too.”

“Alright, you boys take care of yourselves, and uh, sorry to hear about what this woman did to ya,” Erik said by way of ending the call.

Lucas frowned at the phone but said nothing as Nic pocketed it with a thoughtful look. Shaun had already forgotten about the dig in his direction and was happily humming to himself as he probably made a mental list of everything he wanted to strap to his body when they headed out. There was still plenty of tactical discussion ahead of them, and probably a few disagreements. Shaun usually let Lucas have full rein when it came to planning, but it didn’t mean he didn’t protest heartily when he thought it was taking too long.

For this, they would need a solid plan. Ana was an intelligent and crafty woman, who had been manipulating people with ease for years. She had the home turf advantage, and would expect that someone might be coming for her. That meant that even what Erik’s spirits had seen would only be part of the defenses she’d have ready for them when they arrived. Even with a solid plan, there would be a lot of danger, and the risk of death. One or all of them might not walk out of her little fortress.

From the looks on Nic and Shaun’s faces, Lucas could see that they were as excited at the prospect as he secretly was.