by J. L. Weil
“I would like a large hazelnut coffee with cream. And one of those iced sweet rolls.” She pointed at the front display case, thoroughly peeved at having to repeat herself.
Maybe coming to work today hadn’t been such a good idea.
That was pretty much my day, constantly being haunted with possible glimpses of pink. By the time my shift ended, I was stiff, jumpy, and convinced Sura was screwing with me. She wanted to drive me crazy…and she was succeeding. I couldn’t shake the feeling she was watching me, waiting in the shadows for an opportune moment to manipulate me for her own devious desires.
Devyn was parked in front of the café, the engine idling in his still-dented car. The showers had stopped, and we drove with the windows down, hints of rain still lingering in the evening air, splashing over our faces as starlight twinkled in the sky. In the distance, I smelled traces of sea and smoke in the air.
Devyn’s eyes were trained on me with a particular intensity. “What has you so uptight tonight, Kitten?”
“Everything,” I mumbled.
He put a hand on my knee. “Do you want me to stay with you?”
I wanted to say yes. There was nothing less I wanted than to spend the night alone, but I remembered that my parents were home, and I wouldn’t be by myself. “I’ll be okay. I’m just worried about my mom and on edge, knowing Sura is out there stalking me.”
“Whatever the Camirra has planned, we’ll stop her.” He gave my knee a squeeze of comfort.
How many other faes were going to come after me? The Second Moon seemed filled with a gang of assassins with abilities I couldn’t imagine.
Chapter Eight
I was surprised to see Mom laying on the couch in front of the fireplace, the glow of the embers highlighting the yellow tint in her skin. The orange flames in the hearth were the only light in the otherwise dark room. I walked in, tossing my purse on the floor alongside the recliner and plopped onto the cranberry colored chair. The fire crackled and warmed my face. What a night.
“Devyn drive you home?” Mom asked. She had a knitted afghan my Grandma Lang had made draped over her legs, the same color as the recliner.
“Yeah. Why aren’t you upstairs in bed?” I countered, moving the topic away from my Shaman.
Mom gave me a sad little smile. “I think you and I both know that my sickness isn’t anything the doctors here can begin to understand, let alone treat. But it does ease your father’s worry, having the nurses and specialists poke me and run their tests.”
I slipped off my shoes and tucked my legs underneath me, realizing this was the time for Mom and I to have the conversation I’d been putting off. “Do you know why you’re sick?” I asked.
She pressed her lips together. “No, not precisely, but what I do know is it has something to do with my connection to Katsura. I felt it in my blood months ago.”
I nibbled on my bottom lip, struggling to find the words to tell her what I knew. She might look pale and weak, but Mom was neither. Underneath her failing body, she was the strongest woman I knew. She would stop at nothing to protect those she loved…including me. “Devyn told me Katsura is dying—the land, its people, and all things dependent on the region to live.”
Her dark brown eyes grew confused, firelight reflecting in the specks of her irises. “How could that be? Unless my father is sick? The land draws its power from him.”
“Devyn told me that, too. Katsura needs a Kitsune with the ability to commune with the land. Without one, everything in it will die, and one by one, the other regions will also fall.”
A gleam worked its way into her expression as she started to put together the puzzle. She stared intently at me. “Oh, my God. No. Not you. That’s why you shifted before your time. Something has happened.”
I nodded. “I didn’t know how to tell you, but you deserve the truth. Your father passed away. I don’t know what happened, only that he has passed on to the spirit world.”
Her eyes were glued onto the dancing flames. “We had our differences. He never understood me, nor I him, but I didn’t love him any less. I know it was extremely difficult to send me away. I had always hoped that one day we would meet again, and he would be able to see the beautiful daughter I raised.”
“I’m so sorry, Mom.”
A haunting look entered her eyes. This was hard for both of us. “Aw, honey, there is nothing either of us could have done. He was a great man, with an enormous amount of power and responsibility. My instincts were telling me something was very wrong, but I kept ignoring them. It’s easy to forget about a world you haven’t seen in eighteen years, but I’ve never forgotten the people there. So this was why Devyn was sent to you. You’re the next heir.”
“It appears so, but I’m a little behind on my tails.”
“Nine tails,” she murmured. “For you to be the successor, you would need all nine tails. Karina, that is nearly impossible. You can’t think to gain all of them in the time it would take to restore the land.”
I edged forward in my chair. “What other choice do I have?”
“My father had two brothers. Surely one of them could take his place. Either of them must be able to acquire their tails before you?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but they are definitely making it difficult for me.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
I sighed. This was the part I dreaded most, telling her that my life was in danger. It would be instinct to want to protect me, but this time, I needed to protect her. “They’ve been sending fae here to find me.”
“Oh, I bet they have. What you mean is to kill you. Damn them,” she cursed under her breath. “How many tails do you have?”
“Two.”
Mom’s eyes went wide. “Shift!” she said.
My mouth dropped. “What? Now? Here?”
“Yes, I want to see you in your other form.”
I blinked, and my stomach squirmed weirdly.
“It’s okay, Karina. You have nothing to be nervous or ashamed about. You forget—I know the thrill of being able to shape forms. I might not have my powers anymore, but I can still shift if I choose. Or I used to be. Turns out, I’m too weak to even muster up the transformation anymore. Show me.”
I stood, fumbling with the charm around my neck and sucked on my lower lip. Why the heck not? It wasn’t like I had anything to hide. With that thought in my head, I shifted, letting the tingles radiate throughout me as my body, cells, and muscles transmuted. The sensation was always exhilarating, a burst of magic trembling all the way to my soul.
Lifting my head, I met Mom’s gaze, the nerves I couldn’t help were still there inside my belly.
She extended her hand over the side of the couch, and I padded over, rubbing my head under her fingers. “You’re beautiful,” she whispered. “My father was also a white fox, but his fur was not quite as pure as yours. It reminds me of the first snowfall, untouched by the world.”
A noise thumped upstairs—Dad dropping an item in the bathroom or a book off the nightstand— but it spooked me, and as quick as I had become a fox, I changed back into my human skin.
Mom giggled, seeing the alarm leap into my eyes. “It makes your heartbeat quicken, doesn’t it?”
“Which part? The shifting or almost being detected?” I groaned, backing up around the coffee table to relax into the recliner once again.
“Both.”
Don’t tell me Mom was a thrill junkie. “My time as a Kitsune hasn’t been easy.”
She pressed her lips together, studying me. “What else is going on, Karina? I know there is more you’re not telling me. I’ve been patient, waiting for you to come to me, but I think we’ve reached the point where you need to tell me. I can help.”
I lifted a brow.
“Maybe not physically, but I do have experience on my side,” she wisely pointed out.
True, but I was afraid of how much she could handle. I had just told her that her father was dead. Could she also handle hearing I was
leaving? I exhaled. She was right. There was more, and once I told her, she was going to try to talk me out of what I had planned. My mind was already made up, and I was going to have to stick to my instincts. “I need to leave. It is the only way to keep you guys safe,” I blurted.
Mom gave me her shocked face. “Karina, no. What about college?”
College?
I had bigger things to worry about at the moment. “You know I don’t have any choice in the matter. If there is even the slimmest possibility I can cure you—give you your life back—I must take it. College will always be there, but right now, I need to do this.”
Her brown eyes tapered. “Why do I need protection?”
I took a short breath. “There seems to be a wanted poster in the Second Moon with my face on it.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Maybe not, but it’s the truth. Ryker and Talin have decided the best way to earn the throne is by absorbing my soul star.”
“Those power-hungry bastards! They will not get their hands on my daughter.” She was talking to herself, but the grim lines that crinkled at the corners of her eyes sort of scared me.
I unfolded my legs, making the chair rock with my movements. “That’s why I need to leave with Devyn. The fae they’re sending after me have threatened to hurt you, Dad, Hannah, and Jesse. I can’t take that chance.”
“I understand your desire to protect us and your friends. It’s the same feeling I have to keep you safe. I can’t say I want you to go, but I understand why. If this is what you have to do, then I support you.”
The tenseness I didn’t know was lining my shoulders went lax. I unfolded myself from the recliner and went to give Mom a hug we both needed. “Thank you. I’m going to do everything I can to make you better.”
Mom placed her palm on my cheek. “Karina, that’s too much pressure for one person. I won’t put that on you. Keep yourself safe. That is what is most important.”
I nodded, smiling with more relief than I wanted to be evident, because I didn’t agree. Sure, I needed to stay alive, but what I wanted more than anything was for Mom to be her lively, vibrant self again.
Chapter Nine
Devyn and I were planning on leaving in less than a week, which gave me enough time to get my affairs in order. Pack what I needed. Give Naomi my notice. And say goodbye to Hannah and Jesse. The last I was dreading the most. I didn’t think either of them would understand my sudden trip across the globe—with Devyn, nonetheless.
Okay, not entirely true. Hannah would understand, because for her, it would all be about hooking up with the dreamy and steamy Devyn St. Cyr, which probably wouldn’t happen anyway.
But my plans for the day came to a nauseating halt.
I got sick.
The fever hit me out of nowhere, and within an hour, I was rolling on the bathroom floor. A thousand pins of fire stabbed into my body, and nothing I did could cool down the inferno that had taken me over. Not the icy bath. Not the gallon of water I forced down my throat. Not the two little white pills I had taken more than thirty minutes ago.
I was dying.
At least it felt as if I was.
Mom found me lying in my bathroom floor in nothing but a T-shirt, my cheek pressed to the cool tile, groaning. She knelt down beside me. “Sweetie, how long have you been feeling ill?” she asked, pulling back my hair and pressing the back of her hand to my forehead.
I moaned. “It hit me out of nowhere. I figure maybe it’s the flu.” But honestly, I had been feeling off since my encounter with Sura. I’d bet one of my tails she was somehow responsible for what was wrong with me.
“And you’ve been taking care of me. Why didn’t you say anything?” She moved her hand from my forehead to the side of my face. “You’re burning up. Have you taken any Tylenol?” Grabbing a towel, she drenched it under cold water.
I wanted to curl up the bathroom floor and die. “Yeah, but it doesn’t seem to be helping. I don’t have time to be sick. I need to get to work.”
Pressing the cold cloth to my head, she tsked. “You need to get into bed. You’re calling into work, and I’ll get you some ice water.”
The coolness was bliss against my burning skin. I sighed, resting my head against the wall. “Mom, really, you don’t have to take care of me. I’ll be fine. We can’t risk you catching an infection.”
“Indulge me. It’s my turn to hover over you for a change. Come on, let’s get you to bed, and I’ll have your father run to the store for some ginger ale.”
Using the wall to help boost me to my feet, the room did a loop-de-loop. Each movement to my bed sent prickles of heat stabbing at my skin. It was hell.
Mom set a glass of water, two more pills, and my phone on the nightstand beside my bed. “Here is some Tylenol. Text me if you need anything. Promise?”
I nodded, snuggling further into the bed and closed my eyes. I wanted nothing more than the heat to go away. Before I forgot or passed out, I reached over, grabbed the little tablets, and popped them in my mouth, downing half a glass of water.
Apparently satisfied, I heard Mom’s soft steps as she tiptoed out of the room, gently closing the door behind her. Mom was probably right. I just needed rest.
It only took minutes for the hazy fog of sleep to take me under, yet it was anything but peaceful. I tossed and turned, waking throughout, my skin glistening with feverish sweat. The covers were scrunched at the end of the bed and my T-shirt clung to me as I twisted.
I was burning from the inside out. There was definitely something wrong with me, but what? An infection? A Kitsune thing?
All I knew was that I needed to cool down or my organs were going to be barbequed, and that sounded disgusting.
No matter how hard I tried to roll out of bed, I couldn’t do it. My body was weak and wouldn’t respond to the commands my brain gave, but this was a life or death situation. I needed to move, take another cold bath.
I don’t know how I found the strength to roll out of bed, but I crawled along the floor, trying to get to the bathroom. At the end of my bed, I reached up, using the sturdy frame to push to my feet. The door looked a million miles away. Just one foot in front of the other. Concentrate on taking small steps, K.
“Karina.” Someone called my name outside my bedroom door.
I paused and twisted my head toward the hallway. There was an orange-red glowing emitting from the other side and seeping through under the threshold. Is the house on fire?
A new set of fears clambered to the surface. Fumbling with the handle, I twisted and used my shoulder to swing the door open. My parent’s room was just down the hall to the right. No more than fifteen feet, and yet it seemed miles.
I moved at a snail’s pace toward the glow that was as bright as the sun. It was now coming from inside my parents’ room. I was out of steam by the time I reached the door and managed to open it.
What the shit?
The room should have been my parents’, but was another corridor. This wasn’t right. I get that I was sick, but hallucinating? Was my fever that high? I shuffled down the hall and tried the door again, but it was like I was in a funhouse hell. Each door I opened only lead to another hall, identical to the last, an endless cycle, and after the fifth door, I finally gave up.
It was then I realized I was dreaming. This wasn’t real, but the knowledge didn’t change the panic clawing at my chest. That was very real.
I wanted to wake up and put an end to this nightmare. If only it was as easy as wishing it.
“Karina.”
I spun around at the sound of my name. That voice. I knew it. Devyn. He was here, but where? I searched up and down the corridor, my hand shooting out to stabilize myself on the wall. I needed to find him. He would know what to do, how to save me from this constant loop of unconsciousness.
My hands trembled, and I lifted them up, studying the tremors wracking through them. There was a flash of yellow on the end of my middle finger. What is that? I lifted my hand higher to g
et a closer look, eyes narrowing. Is that a flicker of fire? I focused, watching the tiny flame that had sprung on the tip of my finger dance.
Holy crap.
With my heart pounding in my chest and blood roaring in my ears, I stared in fascination and horror, watching the flame grow, eating up my entire hand. But the blaze didn’t stop there. It climbed, sparks dancing in the air around me. Enthralled, I waved my hand, the fire leaving a trail of smoke and embers behind.
And then, like a gust of oxygen had blown through the hall, my entire body erupted in flames. It didn’t burn me, didn’t hurt. Just the opposite. I liked it, feeling empowered and heady.
But it still scared the heck out of me. My hand was one thing, but my whole body was something else entirely.
I screamed.
Jolting upright in bed, beads of sweat roll down my face. I scanned the dark room, my breathing ragged. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. I repeated, taking deep breaths.
And yet, the scent of smoke was in my nostrils. Not to mention, the heat that had swallowed every inch of me still glowed over my skin, though the unbearable fever and sickness had passed.
From the shadows near the window came a deep voice. “Are you okay?”
“You’re here,” I sighed, seeking out Devyn’s glowing eyes in the shadows.
He stepped forward, moving toward the bed. “I sensed you were in danger.”
“I-I had a bad dream…I think.”
Devyn regarded me, not looking convinced a bad dream was to blame. “A nightmare? That had you waking up screaming my name?”
Had I screamed his name? “I-I guess, I don’t know. It was strange,” I stammered. And had been so flipping real. I twisted my hands in the air back and forth, looking for something that suggested I hadn’t been imagining flames licking over my skin. The heat had been so damn hot.
“What happened in this dream?” Devyn asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
“I hadn’t been feeling good earlier—another fever—so I woke or I thought I had, but it was all part of the dream. I heard someone calling my name. You actually, but when I went searching for you, I got caught in an endless maze. Then things got weird.”