A Tail of Two Kitties: A Reverse Harem Academy Tail (The Fox and the Hounds Book 2)

by Jacquelyn Faye

  "Chances are, you would have exposed it sooner or later. I was expediting the process."

  "True story." I nodded for emphasis. "But still no jelly? I'm hurt."

  "You wish me to be jealous of your admirers? Your boyfriends?"

  "No, and yes. Kinda. I don't know. You're supposed to want me all for yourself. David and them are pack. I get that."

  He pulled me close and pressed his lips to my ear, kissing it gently before whispering. "There is more of you than I can handle. Something as grand as you is meant to be shared. Not hoarded."

  "You think I'm a hoard," I joked, intentionally softening the D sound.

  "A sexy little hoard."

  "You just like playing with the other guys." I slapped his chest lightly.

  "Hai. That, too." He winked. "Are they still watching you?" A hint of a smile turned up the corners of his lips in a way that never failed to mesmerize me. I didn't want to tear my gaze from his beautiful smile, not even to answer his question.

  "I don't care, Roki."

  His smile got even bigger, and my heart melted a little more as he spun me around the dance floor. When I finally did look back to the table, the two guys were gone.

  "See. I told you they weren't interested."

  "They probably saw me gazing at your beauty and gave up."

  That earned him another kiss.

  "Let's go home."

  "Will you settle for school?"

  "Wherever you are. That's home."

  Chapter 2

  The wet towel I'd wrapped around my hair slapped against my back as I stood up. Grabbing my bathrobe off the hook of the shower stall, I groaned as the mead-induced headache I'd earned from over drinking the night before threatened to squeeze the eyeballs from my tiny little head.

  "I need to quit drinking so much," I groaned, and then laughed at the absurdity of my statement.

  It was Saturday morning. More like early afternoonish, but that was the joy of the weekends. No classes. Even Hiroki was still sleeping when I'd dragged my ass out of bed, sniffed my pits, and decided a shower was very much needed after a long night of drinking and dancing. The shower had done the trick, but I was going to need to get dressed and get some food into me to get rid of the headache and face the rest of the world.

  I stuffed my shower things into the plastic-coated canvas bag Hiroki had procured for me somewhere and stepped out of the shower stall, nearly slipping on the wet tile. "Woah."

  I was a still little unsteady on my feet, too. Food was definitely the first thing on the agenda after clothes. The rest of the day was still a complete mystery to me, but at least I had a place to start.

  The hallway was starting to get a little crowded, and I should have had to weave my way through the other students, but wherever I walked, they parted and gave me a very wide birth. Almost as if they were afraid to touch me. It was unsettling, to say the least. Unconsciously, I sniffed my pits again through my wet terrycloth robe, but all I could smell was my floral body wash. Ignoring everyone and everything around me, I plodded to my room, keeping my eyes focused on the carpet ahead of me. I could still feel their stares as I shoved the key into the lock, and by the time I finally got the door opened and into the room, I was breathing almost frantically.

  "Kaede-sama? Are you all right?"

  Roki's worried tone brought me back to reality. "Yeah. I'm fine, why?" I lied and tried to sound as normal as possible.

  "Because I can hear you gasping for breath from here." He got up off his bed and peeked around the corner at me.

  I realized I was clutching my chest and let go, nodding and walking into the room confidently. "Just a minor panic attack." I opted for the truth, already having been busted for lying once.

  "Again, I ask. Is everything all right?"

  I tossed my stuff on the end of my bed and nodded. "Weirdest thing. The hallway was kind of packed. It felt like everybody was staring and avoiding me. It kind of set me on edge."

  He nodded and walked over to me, wrapping me in his muscular arms and kissing the top of my head. "You are safe."

  "In your arms? Always." I pressed my face against his equally muscular chest. He had gone to bed in his boxers and nothing else. I smiled as my cheek heated against his skin, and I breathed in his scent. Even after a night of partying, he still smelled delicious. "I'm hungry. Let's go get some food."

  "Hai." He let go and stepped back, eyeing me appraisingly. I must have passed whatever visual scrutiny he had subjected me to, and he turned, pulling out a pair of clean uniform pants from the dresser.

  I dropped my robe from my shoulders and did the same, smiling to myself as I caught Roki casting sidelong glances at my nakedness. "Get a good look, perv?"

  "Hai, Kaede-sama." He snickered.

  I turned my butt toward him and bent over exaggeratedly to get a skirt out of the bottom drawer. He hissed as he breathed in. Glancing over my shoulder, I gave him an embarrassed look. "Don't look at me there. It is embarrassing…"

  "As if you could be."

  I laughed and wiggled my butt at him, grabbing the skirt. Before I could stand up, he struck, slapping the left cheek of my ass. I yelped and laughed, running away from him to get dressed. Food first, sex later. A girl has to have priorities, and my stomach was more awake than my foxy bits, but they weren't too far behind.

  "Ready?" I asked after I slipped on my school issued, plain blazer.

  "Hai." He took my hand and led me to the door, only pausing to open it for me and usher me though. He locked up behind us, and we headed for the dining hall. "You are hungry." He didn't ask, he made a statement.

  "Staaarving."

  "I can tell."

  "How?"

  "You are practically running."

  I slowed down, almost tripping after I realized he was struggling to keep up. Hiroki wasn't the tallest of men, but his legs were longer than mine. I must have looked like a blurry white streak to anybody seeing us pass by. "Sorry."

  He chuckled. "Do not be."

  I grabbed his hand and let him set the pace after that.

  Luckily, we had missed the lunch rush, and the dining hall was mostly empty. Unfortunately, that meant the selection of food had dwindled down. Not the quantity, just the variety. That didn't stop me from filling my plate with roasted chicken, mashed taters, and a heaping helping of buttered corn. That would be a good start to filling the ravenous hole that had become my belly. I even grabbed a side salad.

  We set our trays down, and I turned to go get something to drink, but Roki stopped me with an outstretched hand. "Tea or soda?"

  "Sweet iced tea, please."

  "Hai."

  I smiled at his retreating back and sat down at the worn wood table, grabbing my utensils and groaning a little as the first bite of chicken hit my tongue.

  "Is this seat taken?"

  Looking up, I smiled at the twin standing over our table. "Actually, yes. Let's grab a bigger table. I figured you guys ate already."

  Rome or Remy turned and set his tray down on the table beside us, large enough for four people, and grabbed mine just as I'd set my silverware down. I stood and grabbed Roki's, setting it down across from me.

  "I would have grabbed it," the twin answered. It was getting more and more frustrating that I couldn't tell them apart. I didn't know whether to kiss him on the lips, or kiss him on the lips with tongue and grab his ass.

  "It's not like Roki eats like me," I answered, pointing at the barely filled plate.

  "Nobody eats like you."

  "Awww. You're so sweet," I said and slapped him gently on the back of the head as I sat and picked my fork back up to shovel more food in my mouth.

  Romy, as I was starting to refer to them in my head until I could nonchalantly figure out which one I was talking to, laughed and picked up a chicken leg, tearing a piece out of it. "Don't feel bad. We eat more than David, too. Think it has to do with how much magic we burn."

  "I don't feel bad. I feel hungry."

  Romy ch
uckled and took another bite just as Roki came back with drinks. "Greetings, Remy-san."

  Remy! I should have grabbed his ass and slipped him some tongue. It's not like Rome would have complained, anyway. I turned to Roki and stared at him blankly. "Wait. You can tell them apart? How?"

  He just winked at me and touched his finger to the side of his nose.

  Damn you and your sniffer. Roki was a nogitsune, a distant relation to the kitsune. They weren't as spiritually or magically powerful as kitsune, but were more akin to their fox selves in human form, and we were no match for them physically.

  I leaned in a little closer to Remy and took a whiff. He smelled good, damn good, but I couldn't tell a difference between him and Rome. "Do I stink?"

  "No. You smell good. But could I talk you into wearing a different cologne than your brother?"

  "And make your life easier? I don't think so."

  "You like that I can't tell you apart anymore."

  "I do."

  "You're evil."

  "Hellhound, remember?"

  I pouted and took another bite of my chicken, daintily using a utensil instead of picking up the whole damn thing like I wanted and shoving it in my face. KFC, the night before, was more like it. Not like you could eat chicken with a spork. They encouraged barbarism.

  Roki sat down and started in on his food, too. It was fun watching him fumble with a fork, and I smiled and did the same when he gave up and tore pieces of his chicken off and ate them with his fingers. "So, what are you up to today?" I stopped eating long enough to look over at Remy.

  "Going to check on David."

  "Can I come with you?"

  "I'm sure he'd like that."

  I frowned at my food, feeling a little guilty for not already having plans to do just that. Horrible girlfriend was my middle name, though.

  "Don't worry. He's doing fine. The school nurse just doesn't want him overdoing it."

  Nodding, I picked at my food instead of eating it.

  The other two must have picked up on my mood, and the three of us ate in silence. Until an explosion rocked the ground beneath our feet. Our plates rattled, and a few of the other students screamed as they ducked beneath the table. Roki stood, but didn't move, immediately signifying we weren't in any immediate danger.

  "What the hell happened?" I watched his face as Roki tilted his head and stared toward the exit.

  "An explosion."

  "No shit, Shirleylocks. Where?"

  "Not close. The main building perhaps?"

  "That's not where the Home Economics class is…"

  They both stared at me.

  "What?"

  "Not every explosion has to do with your cooking, Kaede-sama."

  "I know. That only happened once, but the kitchen is the only place where there is gas and open flame. I know because I checked. There's nothing in the main building that is explosive. Unless Uncle Tatsuo farted."

  "No…" Remy stood up and slowly turned toward the exit.

  "What?"

  "The dungeon…" He took off running without looking back.

  "His sister sploded?" I shot Roki a confused glance.

  Understanding dawned on his face. I could see it.

  "What?"

  "No. But an explosion would free her from imprisonment…"

  "Ohhh. Okay. Wait, what?"

  Roki took off running. I grabbed a chicken leg and ran after him. Don't judge, I nervous eat. Happy eat, sometimes sad eat. Definitely horny eat. Oh, and I could enter a competition when I angry eat. Angry eating is the best. It's right up there with angry sex.

  As soon as I got outside, I froze with the chicken leg in my mouth, staring at the castle that was the main hall of Aesir Academy. At the base of the building, a billowing cloud of smoke poured from a hole that hadn't been there when we went to lunch.

  Several professors were gasping for air around the brand-new entrance and doing what they could with water magics to douse the flames that had spread to the grass and bushes around the area. I was pretty far away, but I could still make out Remy as he plowed through the gathering crowd and vanished into the dark hole. Worry filled me as I watched him disappear, and then Roki followed him, and my worry turned to panic.

  Bad Roki! I spat out the chicken and ran after them.

  The smoke instantly burned my nose as I ducked through the students milling about, gawking at the excitement. Just before I made it to the hole, an arm shot out and stopped me, hugging me tightly against a familiar chest. "No, Kaede. Let the boys handle it."

  "Uncle Tatsuo! Let me go, please." Panic seeped into my voice as I struggled against him.

  "He is your protector. You are not his."

  "Does that really go to the dungeon?"

  "To the stairwell leading to the dungeon. What kind of jail would it be if it were on the ground floor?"

  "Did she escape?"

  "I do not know. I arrived just in time to stop you from doing something monumentally stupid."

  "Why now? Where were you the other three-point-five million times?" I growled in frustration, unable to take my eyes from the smoking darkness.

  We stood there, unable to move, until Remy came striding through the hole, blazer covering his nose and mouth. The rest of him was covered in soot. He immediately headed for Tatsuo and me. When Roki's head appeared behind him, I started breathing again, and Uncle Tatsuo let me go.

  Luckily, Roki had caught up to Remy. Tackling them simultaneously made things a little easier. "Don't you do that again!" I spoke to both of them, meaning it.

  "She's gone," Remy whispered.

  They were both holding me. My tackle hadn't gone exactly as planned, and I was actually clinging to both of them at the same time. Slowly, I slid to the ground and stood before them. "I know she was a bitch, but I’m sorry for your loss, Rem."

  He blinked in confusion and shook his head. "No. She's gone. Escaped. Not here."

  "Oh! Thank, Kami. Wait. Scratch that. Whut?"

  He nodded, the worried look on his face out-worrying mine exponentially.

  "Did I hear you correctly?" Uncle Tatsuo's voice behind me caused me to jump a little and spin.

  "Don't do that!" I swatted him in the chest. He lifted an eyebrow at me.

  "Yes, Headmaster. She escaped."

  Tatsuo sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You and your brother sweep the school grounds. Have the disciplinary committee aid you. I doubt she remained on campus, but one never knows. In the meantime, locate Stephanie. Your sister could not have escaped without aid." He paused a moment to stare at me. "Where is your Geri?"

  "Lewis?"

  "Not Gerry. Geri. Where is she?"

  "I don't know? We don't really hang out. I don't think she likes me very much."

  "She has little choice, and you are well aware of that fact. Close your eyes and find her."

  "Okely dokely." I closed my eyes as he asked and thought about Meg, Geri's real name. The one Fenrir had taken from her when he made her mine. "She's in her room, reading." I opened my eyes and looked back at my draconic uncle.

  "I did not think she had part in this, but it is better to be sure." He looked at Remy over my shoulder. "Find Stephanie."

  "Yes, Headmaster," he answered and took off.

  Tatsuo looked at Hiroki, and something wordlessly passed between them before he turned around and walked away without so much as a goodbye.

  "What was that about?" I asked Hiroki.

  "I am to keep you safe."

  "Duh," I said and leaned back against him, trusting he would be there. He didn't disappoint me, but his smell did. "Uh, keep me safe after a shower. You smell like a briquette."

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  "Knock, knock," I said as I entered David's room in the infirmary, instantly regretting it. He was asleep in the metal framed bed that seemed a little too small for him. I paused in the doorway, smiling at him. A stray ray of sunshine was filtering through the curtains, illuminating his face.

  He blinked as h
e woke, saw me, and smiled.

  "Hey, Kaede."

  "Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?"

  "Tired, but fine."

  Walking into the room, I slipped into the chair beside the bed, leaving Geri in the doorway. Before Roki would go take a shower, he made me call her to my side, telling me in no uncertain terms that the odds of me being alone at any point until Sabine was found were absolute zero. He even made sure Geri had a blade before he grabbed his toiletries and headed to get cleaned up, promising to meet us at the infirmary.

  "When do you get out of here?"

  "How are you doing? I heard about Sabine." He frowned, ignoring my question.

  "I'm fine. I doubt she escaped from the dungeon to come after me. She's probably in Sri Lanka by now."

  "Sri Lanka?"

  "Yeah. It's a country."

  "I know what it is and where it is, why did you pick there?"

  "I just like saying it. Say it with me. Shreeeeee Lanka. Sounds like a fun place."

  David blinked, not knowing if I was joking or not.

  Geri just snickered from the door.

  The nurse came into the small room and immediately swept up to David, grabbing his wrist and feeling his pulse while looking at her watch. "Is this the Kaede I've been hearing so much about?"

  "It is," David answered with a smile.

  I frowned. "I is."

  Staring at the gorgeous blonde of indeterminable age and smallish outfit, I felt the hair on the back of my neck bristle in outrage. His nurse was supposed to be a mountain troll or something as equally hideous. Not some svelte Swedish Danish (the pastry kind, not the people) with Alps for a chest. "Pleased to finally meet you, I am Lornca." She let go of David's wrist and held out her hand.

  Reluctantly, I took it and forced a smile on my face as we shook. "I'm Kaede. David's girlfriend."

  "Yes. I know. He talks about you all the time. Even in his sleep. It is quite cute. You have a beautiful name."

  "Thank you. You watch him while he sleeps?"

  "It is my job, yes." She gave me a funny look that I didn't find funny at all.

  "How much longer?"