***
After exiting the boiler room via an escape tunnel, Kevin proceeded through a dark corridor that led to an emergency exit. He ran swiftly. The world exploded around him. Faster. Faster. The sweltering heat caused his skin to break out in a sweat. He ran faster still. Several times a gout of flame would explode to his left or right, forcing him to cover his face, lest it get burned. Move faster.
There was an emergency exit at the end of the tunnel: a ladder with a hatch. Sonoran Junior High was an old building. He didn’t know what it had been before becoming a school, but he knew that the building must have been something else at some point. It was the only explanation for why they had an emergency exit like this. The hatch was already open and all Kevin had to do was climb up the ladder.
The cold night air felt almost welcome on his skin. His world opened, revealing that he was several hundred yards from the school. Desert landscape greeted his eyes. Large saguaros loomed over him like silent sentinels. Tiny bushes and barrel cacti sat by his feet. He couldn’t see Lilian or Christine, but if they had followed his plan, then they should have been at Desert Cactus High School by now.
With the Sonoran Junior High building exploding in plumes of fire and smoke behind him, an exhausted Kevin set out in the direction of Desert Cactus High School.
CHAPTER 4
A TROUBLING SITUATION
Lilian walked through the desert with Christine. The cold night air hit her skin, causing goosebumps to break out and shivers to run down her back. A pair of even colder arms were slung limply over her shoulder as she tightly gripped the bum of her insensate sister, whose unconscious body she was carrying.
Iris’s legs were limp, swinging back and forth like pendulums on either side of her. Shallow breaths, so light that Lilian almost mistook them for a soft breeze, hit the back of her neck. It worried Lilian how unresponsive Iris was.
“Do you think Kevin is all right?” Christine asked, snapping Lilian out of her thoughts.
They’d left Kevin behind to deal with Fan while they had vacated the building according to his plan. Lilian didn’t much care for this plan. She wanted to help defeat Fan, but Kevin had made a strong argument about why she couldn’t. The most important thing was getting Iris somewhere she could be treated. That meant one person staying behind, one person carrying Iris to safety, and the other protecting the one carrying Iris. Even if Lilian didn’t like it, she understood that this was the best course of action.
“Of course Beloved is all right,” Lilian stated. “Beloved is strong. Some three-tailed kitsune with a chip on her shoulder isn’t going to get the best of him.”
Christine stared at her for a moment longer, then turned her head. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”
Silence reigned after that. The school buildings belonging to Desert Cactus High soon loomed before them. People became visible as they neared the front gate. Crowding around the school entrance were several dozen, maybe even over one hundred people. Lilian was surprised, but after a moment of staring, she recognized some of those people from their uniform: light blue shorts and a white shirt with blue trim. It was the uniform worn by the girls’ soccer team.
One of the people wearing the girls’ soccer team jersey saw them and called out. “Christine! Lilian! There you two are! Where have you been? I was—what happened to Iris?!”
Lindsay ran up to them, her exuberant expression upon seeing them quickly morphing into shocked concern when she saw the pallid and unconscious form of Iris on Lilian’s back.
“Lindsay,” Lilian greeted. Christine remained silent.
Her face turning pale, Lindsay stared at the trio. “W-what happened? Why do all of you look like you were dragged through the mud? Is that blood on your clothes? Where’s Kevin?”
Lilian raised a hand to avoid the series of rapid fire questions her friend sent. She needed to reinforce her other arm with youki to keep Iris from falling. Lindsay quieted down.
“I can’t answer any of those questions. Not here.”
Lindsay appeared nonplussed. “What? Why not—” her eyes widened “—is it because of…?”
“Yes.” Lilian nodded. Lindsay looked from her to Christine. After a second, the yuki-onna nodded once, and Lindsay turned back to Lilian, though her gaze immediately flickered to the one on Lilian’s back.
“And Iris…?”
“She’s… alive.” Lilian grimaced. “Which is something I should be thankful for. Beyond that, there isn’t much I can tell you.”
“I-I see.” Lindsay closed her eyes, and Lilian knew that her friend was thinking. When she opened them again, it was to penetrate her with a stare. “Where’s Kevin?”
Lilian hesitated. “He’s still back there.”
“You mean you left him?” Lindsay’s shocked expression morphed into a scowl. “How could you? I thought he was your mate!”
“Do not take that tone with me,” Lilian snapped. “Kevin is my mate. No one is more worried about him than I am, but Kevin said he had a plan to… deal with the situation. He said that Iris was our first priority. He told us to leave and get in touch with Kiara. I trust him, so I’m not going to question his judgement.”
Lindsay reared back as if her words were a physical blow, or perhaps Lilian’s glare and tone merely surprised her. “I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I know you love Kevin and would never leave him behind without a good reason.”
“It’s fine.” Lilian took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. With everything that’s happened today and Kevin still not here… I guess I’m feeling more than a little anxious.”
“I’ll bet.” Lindsay gave her a sympathetic look before glancing at Christine. “Are you all right, Christy? You’ve been pretty quiet.”
“I’m fine,” Christine said, her voice softer than Lindsay had probably ever heard it.
Lilian’s heart went out to the gothic lolita. While they were both yōkai, Christine had never really been involved in the yōkai world. She’d experienced the violence at the Comic-Con in San Diego, but it probably hadn’t seemed as real. She, Lindsay, and their human friends had escaped before things got really dicey.
This battle had been personal. Even the previous fight that she had been in with the mind-controlled Heather hadn’t been this bad. That woman they fought, Fan, had really been out to kill them. That kind of thing tended to frighten most people, which she imagined Christine must have been feeling now that things had calmed down. The shock of what happened was probably hitting her all at once. Matters likely weren’t helped by the fact that Iris had been injured protecting her.
This is my fault. I got her involved in this.
Guilt. Lilian felt guilty for bringing all this trouble upon her friends, for making Christine experience the violence of their world. All Lilian wanted out of life was to live with her mate and have fun with her friends. She didn’t want to have anything to do with the yōkai world, but it looked like that world was refusing to let her go, and now her friends were being dragged into her problems.
“Are your parents here?” Lilian asked in an effort to ignore the way her stomach churned.
Lindsay shook her head. “No… Dad’s at work. Mom was going to come to the game, but… well, she got called in for a surprise meeting with her friends in the Aesthetics Appreciation Club.”
A small trail of sweat dripped down Lilian’s face at Lindsay’s mention of that club. “No offense, Lindsay, but I really don’t like your mom very much.”
“Ah-ahahaha.” Lindsay raised a hand to rub the back of her neck. “Yeah, I’m really sorry about her. She and her friends are kinda… weird.”
Weird didn’t even begin to cover Lindsay’s mom. She and her friends had formed a group called the Aesthetics Appreciation Club, which was just a pretense for a bunch of middle-aged women to drool over pictures of boys’ half their age, sometimes even younger. It was disturbing. Then again, Lilian didn’t really have any place to talk, since she was 160 years old and d
ating Kevin, who was only fifteen.
“Shut up!” Lilian glared up at the sky. “I don’t wanna hear another word out of you!”
“Uh, Lilian, who are you talking to?” asked Lindsay.
“No one,” Lilian said morosely. “Would you mind if I borrowed your phone? I need to make a phone call.”
***
Kevin was tired. His body ached, his clothing was ruined, and the burns on his arms and legs, courtesy of the explosion he had created, stung. He wanted to sleep. Yet he knew that he couldn’t, not yet, not until he had confirmed Lilian’s and Christine’s safety and made sure Iris was being cared for.
Stumbling toward Desert Cactus High School, Kevin arrived at the school gates to a surprise. A large number of students had gathered alongside their parents near the school entrance. With them were two police cars, their red and blue lights flashing. Four policemen stood within the crowd, which he realized must have been all the people who were knocked unconscious by Fan’s illusion. It looked like they were taking statements.
This doesn’t look good.
Worry wormed its way into his gut. Who had called the police? Would they take him in for questioning? What would they discover if they went over to the battle sight or, heaven forbid, the junior high? His worries caused him to stop for a moment, images of himself being arrested for causing all this trouble flittering through his mind like transient claws scraping the inside of his head.
“Beloved!”
The moment passed when Lilian rushed out of the crowd and ran over to him. He had barely a second to notice that Christine, Heather, and Lindsay were also present before his arms found themselves full of one gorgeous fox-girl.
Kevin didn’t even get a moment to speak before a pair of soft, warm lips were upon him, kissing him with an intensity that contained more than simple passion. It was as if all the worry Lilian felt was being placed within her kiss. He felt Lilian’s desire through her lips, felt her need to know that he was all right, her fervent wanting of reassurance.
He didn’t allow himself to think as he kissed her back. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, pulling her flush against him as two deceptively strong arms went around his neck. Just as Lilian did for him, Kevin put all the feelings he had, his relief at seeing her safe, at them both being alive, into his kiss.
They only broke apart when oxygen became a necessity; her mouth left his, her tongue retracted, the string of liquid that connected them breaking. Lilian then pressed her forehead against his. She closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath.
“I’m so glad,” she whispered. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Yeah,” Kevin muttered. “Sorry for worrying you.”
Lilian shook her head, and her eyes opened once more to stare into his. “I knew you would be okay. I had confidence in you. I knew you would win, but I just…”
She trailed off, but that was okay. Kevin understood. Even though she had confidence in him, that didn’t stop her from worrying about him. A parent might have confidence in their child, but that never stopped them from fretting when their child did something potentially dangerous, be that playing sports or whatever. It was the same thing, though Lilian’s worry seemed a lot more intense, but he was probably being biased.
Unwinding themselves from each other, Lilian sought his hand. It was a gesture that he reciprocated. They walked over to the group of three, who stood near one of the police cars. As they stopped in front of the group, Heather crossed her arms and smirked.
“Well, look at you two, acting all lovey-dovey with each other immediately in the aftermath of an unmitigated disaster,” Heather said, grinning as though unaffected by the confusion and fear that permeated the people present.
Kevin rolled his eyes. “Lilian and I are dating, you know. Acting like a couple is expected of a couple.”
“Hmm… touché.”
“Are you okay, Kevin?” Lindsay asked.
“I’m fine,” Kevin reassured her before something tugged at his sleeve. It was Christine. “What’s wrong, Christine? Are you injured?”
Christine shook her head, then looked at the ground. “I’m… really glad you’re okay. I-I was worried… um…”
Had the situation been different, Kevin might have expressed shock. Christine never really displayed worry for others. He knew that she could get worried, but she would normally deny ever being worried about someone else. That she was admitting she had been worried concerned him.
“I think she needs a hug,” Lilian whispered in his ear.
Kevin glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She nodded and gestured with her head, indicating what she wanted him to do. Knowing better than to go against her, as she knew women better than he did, Kevin followed her advice and pulled Christine into a one-armed hug.
“I’m sorry for worrying you,” he said to the stiff-as-a-board Christine.
“T-that’s right. Y-you should be sorry,” Christine muttered. It sounded like she was trying to sound angry, but there was a hiccup in her voice, and she was burying her face in his chest. “Jerk.”
Resisting the urge to chuckle, Kevin reached up and ran his hand over her head. Her hair was soft like powdered snow. For just a moment, he thought he heard purring, but then Christine pulled back, wiped her eyes, and glared at him.
“If you do something dangerous like that again, I’ll kill you dead, got it?”
He smiled. “I got it.”
“Good,” Christine muttered.
With that small episode over, Kevin looked around, a sudden bout of worry wiggling inside of his gut when he realized they were missing someone. “Where’s Iris?”
“I called Kiara a little while ago,” Lilian informed him. “She showed up with an ambulance in tow and they took Iris.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t go with her.”
“I wanted to,” Lilian allowed. “But I… I was worried about you, so…”
Kevin understood. She wanted to be with Iris, but worry for her mate overrode worry for her sister. It was just another part about being Lilian’s mate that made him feel guilty. Because he was the most important existence in her life, everyone else, including fraternal twin sisters, took a back seat.
“Let’s go see her, then.” He wrapped an arm around Lilian’s waist to draw her close. She accepted the embrace and returned it, seemingly taking solace in his presence and scent. He looked at Christine, who he knew was worried about Iris as well. “All of us.”
Christine looked at him. She didn’t say anything, but the nod she gave let him know of her desire to ensure that Iris was okay.
“By the way, where’s Eric?” asked Kevin.
“He already left,” Heather said. “He wanted to stay, but I called his dad and sent him home.”
“Gotcha.” Kevin nodded.
“It’s probably a good thing,” Lindsay said. “Eric’s presence would only complicate things.”
“Ah… yeah, that’s true…”
“I apologize for interrupting,” a masculine voice said, making Kevin and the others turn to the police officer walking up to them. “While I have no intention of keeping you from your friend, we do need to ask some questions to the young man who just arrived.”
“Uh, w-well, I suppose I could,” Kevin stumbled over his words. Oh, crap! He knew that he shouldn’t have just walked over here after everything that had happened. Now they were suspicious of him! He was going to get sent to jail!
“Don’t worry, son.” The police officer placed a hand on Kevin’s shaking shoulder. “I won’t be asking anything too invasive. It’s simply standard procedure to question everyone who was present during the vandalism.”
“Vandalism?”
Was that what the cops were calling the damage done to the soccer field? Vandalism? Surely they weren’t that dumb. Nothing about that soccer field looked like it came from vandals. There had been craters and holes all over the ground. Craters and holes!
As Kevin stared at the officer,
wondering if this man was an idiot, he caught sight of something that startled him. It hadn’t been noticeable at first because he’d been worrying himself sick, but a closer inspection revealed that the officer’s pupils weren’t the standard round shape. They were cat-like slits.
A yōkai…
Kevin knew that there were many yōkai working in various professions undercover: newscasters, reporters, doctors, they were all over the place. Their job was to cover up incidents like this, so the human population would never catch on to their existence. He knew that, but even so, he’d never expected to meet one of those yōkai.
I shouldn’t be so surprised.
His shock must have shown on his face because the officer winked as he led Kevin away from the others and began asking standard questions—or at least, that’s what it appeared like to everyone else.
“You should know that right now the story we’re giving everyone is that vandals somehow managed to get their hands on small-scale explosives and tore the soccer field apart,” the officer said. “However, claiming the field was vandalized won’t hold up in a major investigation. That’s why we’ll be tampering with the memories of everyone here.”
That was standard procedure, Kevin knew. When something happened that couldn’t be explained easily or in a way that was believable, yōkai altered the memories of the people present.
Kevin swallowed. “W-why are you telling me this… uh, sir?”
The officer played with the rim of his police hat. Kevin noticed that his fingers were clawed. His race struck Kevin like a bolt of lightning.
Nekomata.
“Because you, Ms. Diane, and Ms. Grant are exempt from this rule. I am merely informing you of what we plan on doing. That way, if anyone speaks about what happened, you don’t say something incriminating. Altered memories are delicate. Even after the memories have been altered, it is possible for the tampering to be broken by someone saying something that contradicts the alterations made.”
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