Page 25 of Vow Of A Fox

Ellis frowned. “I’m sorry you had to experience that.”

“How did you get away from him?” Dean pressed.

“Ben stepped in. He didn’t hesitate,” I said, flashing him a look of gratitude. “He grabbed Xander’s raven, which shocked him I think, because I’m pretty sure his focus was solely on me, and did some weird thing with tucking his face under his wing and shaking him around. He fell asleep, which broke his hold on me completely and allowed my fox to get a feather from him.”

“Badass.” Waylen grinned, nodding.

“It was nothing,” Ben said nonchalantly. “I’m a vet, so I’m used to doing things like that.”

“That explains why I haven’t seen him at his house in weeks,” Astrid said quietly, her gaze shifting back to me. “His raven must be staying at Lucius’s grave.”

“Aunt Maribel said the spirit inside him is tied to his raven form, not his human one,” Rachel reminded us all.

Dean shifted in his chair and took a swig from his beer. “Well, now that we have the feather, we have everything Maribel needs for the ritual.”

“Not exactly,” Rachel said, tension creeping into her expression. “Aunt Maribel mentioned last night that Xander’s raven has to be there for the ritual.”

“What?” Dean demanded. “She never mentioned that before.”

“I know,” Rachel said. “I told her the same, but she said it’s because Lucius’s darkness is rooted deeper than before.”

“I can attest to that,” Ellis said. “I’m sure Sienna can, too.”

“Sadly, yes,” I said. “There’s definitely a darker presence to him.”

“Okay, so now we need to figure out how to capture Xander’s raven,” Lyra chimed in. “Any ideas?”

The table grew silent.

“Well, we know where he’ll be now. That’s good,” Rachel insisted.

“Sure, but how do we get to him without him getting into all of our heads?” I asked.

The memory of Xander’s invasive presence inside my head sent a chill down my spine and caused my fox to pace. It wasn’t something either of us wanted to relive.

“Ravens like shiny things, right?” Waylen leaned his elbows on the table, his eyes wide. “We could bait him somehow. Once he’s out in the open, Ben could do whatever he did before and make him sleep or Rachel could use her power to sling him to the ground and knock him out. Then we could take him to Maribel.”

It wasn’t a bad idea.

“Okay, but how do we keep him knocked out while we take him to Maribel? If he wakes before we get to her, we’re all screwed,” Dean said.

“I can sedate him,” Ben offered. “It would make sure he stayed out for a longer period of time. I can also snag a cage from the clinic to put him in for traveling as an added precaution.”

“Sounds like we’ve got a plan,” Dean said, a smirk twisting his lips.

“How much time do we have before the releasing phase of the moon ends?” Astrid asked Rachel.

She pulled out her phone, and her expression turned serious. “Forty-eight hours. Tops.”

Waylen whistled. “We’ve got to move fast.”

“It needs to happen tonight,” Dean insisted. “That way, if we screw something up, we still have time to try again.”

Everyone seemed in agreement on that.

“We’ll need to find a babysitter for Serenity,” Rachel said to Ellis. “I don’t want her around while Aunt Maribel does the ritual, just in case.”

“I agree.” Ellis nodded.

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