The Midnight Foxxx

Chapter 14

BRAX

"Next," I motion for the next person in line to step forward. It's a young male human; his heart is racing. He hands over his I.D. when I hold my hand out to him. It's obviously fake at first glance. This kid can't be older than seventeen. When I shift my gaze up to look him in the eye, there's sweat forming along his brow. I narrow my eyes at him.

"Get the f**k out of here before I call the police," the kid bows his head and doesn't say anything, just reaches to take back his I.D.. I quickly pull it away from him.

"Seriously? Get the f**k out of here," the I.D. gets held up in front of his face, then promptly torn in half with my bare fingers. He scurries away like a scared mouse.

"Next," I sigh, exasperated. A female human approaches next.

"What's your name, handsome?" When I glance up at her, she's twirling blonde hair around a finger.

"Not important," I grunt while handing her I.D. back to her.

"I beg to differ," the woman slides her hand down my arm while smiling seductively, or at least I assume that's what she's going for.

“You’re free to enter, miss,” I miss plainly while holding the door open for her, “Otherwise, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” A pout scrunched up her conventionally attractive face, and with a whip of her hair, she stomps inside.

“Dude, seriously? She was f*****g hot,” the other bouncer says in disbelief. I roll my eyes and ignore him.

“When are you gunna stop pining after Vixen and actually let yourself get laid?” I level him with a glare. Elliot holds up his hands in surrender.

“It’s not like that,” I spit back, and it’s really not. I love her, but not in the way she deserves. She’s the spitting image of my late wife. Though her personality is very different, and they are completely different people, my heart can’t separate the two. I love Vixen, would kill for her and die for her. I will not allow her to die like my wife did.

“The line has thinned out, I need to go take care of something,” I give Elliot a passing glance before walking away.

It’s packed inside and stiflingly hot. I dodge my way around the writhing bodies towards the back, sighing in relief when I get to the basement door without incident. It’s much cooler downstairs, though a bit damp. My room is in the far back corner, and look over my shoulder before entering and swiftly closing the door behind me.

Vixen is lying on my bed, asleep. She’s barely moved for the past two days, only waking up when I force her to, making her drink, use the bathroom and change bandages. Though her shifter body normally heals at a quicker rate than most other creatures, it seems to be significantly slowed from the magic exertion. Her body is putting more effort into replenishing its energy reserves than healing itself. Though the broken bone seems to be healed, the shredded flesh is still in rough shape. She continues to be nonverbal. Her normally bright and fiery eyes are dull and empty. It breaks my heart when I look into them.

“Vixen,” I murmur as I sit next to her on the bed. Her eyelids flutter but do not open.

“Baby, you need to wake up,” her eyes slowly open, revealing the beautiful rubies.

“Come on,” I smile softly and help her sit up. She winces in pain, “Sorry…” Vixen lets me maneuver her without complaint, lets me change the bandages, feed her water, and carry her to the toilet. While she’s doing her business, a light blush dusts her cheeks, and hides her face in my shoulder when I help her stand and pull her panties back up.

“Are you willing to try to eat? Maybe take a bath?” I whisper into her ear. There is a brief pause before she nods her head yes. The bathtub in my bathroom is not quite as big as the one in Vixen's, but it'll do the job. Warm water fills the porcelain tub and soon a woodsy musky smell fills the air. It's not her usual floral wash, but it'll work for now.

I lower her into the water with minimal protest and begin cleaning away the dirt and blood caked on her skin. It doesn’t take long for the water to turn brown and have to empty and refill it twice before she's completely clean.

"You ready to tell me what happened?" I ask while patting her dry. Red eyes remain glued to the floor.

"I didn't kill him if that's what you're asking."

"You know it's not," I inspect her bandages to make sure they stayed dry during the cleaning.

"I... I remembered. What he did to me," her voice is soft and small.

"You mean Wilder Bishop?" I ask, jaw clenched. Vixen nods weakly as tears start brimming in her eyes.

"f**k, sweetheart, I'm sorry," warm skin burns mine as I pull her into a hug.

"I saw his face, and I... everything came back to me and I just... I lost it," her shoulders tremble violently as the sobs wrack her body. "I beat him. With everything I had. It wasn't enough to kill him, and by the time I realized his pack was coming, I panicked and cut his hand off and hid." A sick and twisted part of me is proud of her for mutilating the bastard, even if he wasn't dead like he deserved. I heard everything he did her. The only reason I didn't kill him myself was because Silas threatened to hurt her more if I intervened.

"Was he the one who injured your arm?"

She shakes her head in the negative, "Was the Alpha... Pretty sure anyway. Managed to spot me in a tree, then saw through my cloaking and bit my arm. Threw myself out the tree and took him with me to get him to let go." A faint smile pulls at my lips. That's my girl.

"You got away, that's what matters," I pull her in tighter to the hug.

"Uh... Brax?" Vixen tenses in my arms at the intruding voice. I wrap a towel around her before picking her up and carrying her back to the bed. As I go to lay her down, a trembling hand grips tightly onto my shirt. Instead, I sit on the bed, my back against the headboard with Vixen cradled in my lap. She relaxes slightly.

"Enter," Elliot walks through the door, his eyes immediately roving over Vixen's exposed skin. I yank the comforter up, pulling it over her body quickly.

"Tell me what you need or get the f**k out," I seethe.

"Right, sorry," he snaps out of his staring, "There's someone requesting Vixen. For a private show in one of the VIP rooms."

"She's not here as far as anyone else is concerned," I remind him.

"I told them she had the week off and wasn't available, but they're being persistent." Elliot is starting to look more and more uncomfortable.

"Tell them to f**k off," I look down at Vixen, who is still clinging to my shirt like a lifeline.

"That's part of the problem... It's a high-profile client. If I tell them to f**k off Silas will have my head."

Well f**k.

"Who is it?" Elliot's eyes once again glance down at the woman in my lap, though rather than a hungry gaze, it's a worried one.

"It's Alpha Drake and some of his pack," Vixen tenses in my lap, and I can hear her heart rate rising.

"Of f*****g course," and before I can even start coming up with a plan, my phone starts to ring. The caller I.D. reads Silas.

"Yes, sir?"

"I have Mr. Drake requesting Vixen for a private show. I need you to retrieve her and bring her back for the night. He's offering quite the amount for it," Silas barks off his order.

"With all due respect, are you sure that's a good idea when she's actively hunting one of their own?" I worry my lip.

"Frankly, I don't care. He's offered five thousand for a night with Vixen in a private room for him and his pack mates. Besides, Mr. Bishop is here with him, so she should be nearby if she's doing her job." My heart sinks.

"He's supposed to be on the banned list, how did he get in?"

"Mr. Drake insisted and was willing to pay extra for the allowance," Silas states plainly, unbothered.

"This could complicate Vixen's assignment," I try, but am quickly shut down.

"I gave you an order. Retrieve Vixen, and get her set up in a VIP room. You have an hour," and the line goes dead. I feel trembling in my lap, and when I look down, Vixen has a haunted look on her face, eyes wide as saucers.

Shit.

"I won't let them hurt you," I promise, and I mean it. I will disembowel any and every person who dares to hurt her. Even if it means facing consequences with Silas.