“D-don’t think hearing that makes me happy.” Her voice came out muffled, since her face was buried in his chest. “I-I don’t care if you’re worried about me… idiot.”
“Don’t you mean baka?” Kevin couldn’t help but tease. Christine responded by headbutting him in the chin. “G-gu!”
“Idiot!”
Christine glared down at Kevin, who’d fallen onto his backside, blinking up at her in dazed confusion. Above him, Lindsay shook her head.
“That was a dumb thing to say, Kevin.”
“U-ugh.” Kevin wondered why he was suddenly seeing two. “You should have told me that beforehand.”
“You should have known what would happen beforehand.”
Kevin could say nothing to dispute that.
***
Kevin reentered Iris’s hospital room. Kotohime and Kirihime were still present. The kimono-clad bodyguard had taken to sitting seiza on a tatami mat that she had acquired from somewhere—her Extra Dimensional Storage Space, he concluded. Kirihime slept sitting on a padded chair, her hair falling in front of her face as her head tilted down. He noticed that Camellia had switched to her fox form and was lying on Iris’s bed, her five tails lying limply behind her. Lilian still sat in the chair next to her sister, her hands holding onto one of Iris’s like it was a lifeline. Kiara and Heather had already left.
The hospital was letting them stay the night. Technically, that was against policy, but Kiara’s physician apparently had some clout. He’d told them not worry about anything, that he would take care of any complaints.
“Lilian.” Kevin placed a hand on her shoulder. “How are you feeling?”
Lilian didn’t look away from her sister. The despairing look on her face pulled at his heartstrings. “I feel guilty.”
“For what happened to your sister?” he asked.
“For everything. Even before I came here, Iris was also getting herself injured because of my problems. What’s more, Christine was nearly killed, and you… you’ve been forced to kill someone again, all because I didn’t have the power to do it myself.”
Kevin understood her guilt well. He also felt guilty over what had happened, though his reasons were both similar and different than her own.
“I don’t think you have anything to feel guilty about. There are times when things happen that are beyond our ability to control. I imagine someone coming to try and kill you is one of those things. It’s not your fault someone wanted to take your life. If anything, the one to blame in all this is your matriarch for having tried to play matchmaker by marry—mating you off to that spoiled brat.”
“I guess.” Lilian finally glanced at him, a half-smile touching her lips. “Though I don’t think you have any right to try and console me.”
Kevin’s own smile was quite wry. “I suppose trying to convince you that you shouldn’t feel guilty is hypocritical of me, but my point still stands.”
Lilian’s smile brightened just a bit. It was too bad the look only lasted for a second.
She went back to staring at her sister, whose still form had not moved an inch. With the moonlight shining in through the window, Iris appeared almost ethereal. Her skin had grown impossibly pale, to the point where it seemed translucent. It presented a stark contrast with her black hair.
“Things were so much simpler when it was just you and me,” Lilian said softly. “Back when you had first rescued me and my biggest worry was trying to make you fall in love with me. Now we’ve had to deal with everything from members of another kitsune clan to assassins. Every time something happens, we’re faced with more dangers than before. Iris was almost killed this time, and there’s a good chance she’ll never… that she won’t…”
Kevin moved to stand directly behind Lilian. He leaned down, wrapping his arms around her as he set his chin on the crown of her head.
“She’ll wake up,” he reassured her. “You know how stubborn Iris is. She’s not gonna let something like this beat her. She still has to seduce you into her bed.”
Lilian, shedding silent tears for her sister, snorted. “That’s true. She won’t let herself be taken down until she’s at least had a threesome with us.”
“Right.”
“If she beats this,” Lilian continued softly, “I think I might actually let her join us in bed.”
“Please don’t joke about something like that.”
“Sorry, Beloved.”
Despite playing off Lilian’s words as a joke, part of him wondered if she might truly mean them. Kevin knew about what Iris and Lilian did before him. It bothered him to think about their past.
Many clans often married within their clan. Since kitsune didn’t need to worry about genetic defects, and, in fact, kitsune mating within the clan kept their blood pure, it was more common for them to mate within the clan than outside of it. Kotohime had lectured him on this subject before, so he understood this from a purely academic standpoint.
It still bothered him. Maybe it was because he was human, but he didn’t approve of it. He didn’t think it was right—even if Lilian and Iris were the same gender.
“We should probably get some sleep,” Kevin said.
“Yeah,” Lilian agreed.
Kevin paused, sighed, and then said, “You should sleep with Iris tonight. I’m sure she’d appreciate your presence.”
Regardless of his thoughts on Lilian and Iris’s relationship, he, above everything else, wanted his mate to be happy.
“You’re probably right.”
They separated. Kevin straightened up, while Lilian got out of her seat, grabbed her shirt, and lifted it over her head. Her breasts popped free, bouncing several times like they were made of jello. She disliked bras, so she barely ever wore them. Then she unzipped her jean skirt and slid it, along with her underwear, down her hips.
He knew this was a kitsune quirk. Lilian, like most of her species, didn’t really like clothes. Being supernatural creatures that had been born as foxes, the concept of clothing only came to them because of their association with humans. To them, nudity was their natural state of being.
As she stood there before him, stark naked, Kevin admired her incredible figure and inhuman beauty. Her shapely ass, wide hips, and slender shoulders were a sight to behold. The delicate curvature of her spine as it connected her slender neck with her magnificent derriere still astounded him. Beyond that, her two red tails and fox ears gave her an exotic appearance. Kevin wondered if he would ever get used to this sight.
Probably not.
Lilian crawled into Iris’s bed, moving under the covers. Once she got comfortable, she turned around to look at him.
“Are you coming in?”
“E-eh?” Kevin blinked. “Ah, well, I was actually planning on just finding a place on the floor…”
“Don’t be silly, Beloved,” she said. “There’s no way I’m not sleeping with you just because Iris is using this bed. Besides, it’s not like this will be any different from every other night.”
“I guess that’s true,” he conceded. Iris snuck into their bed often enough that Kevin was never surprised to wake up with another occupant beside him and Lilian.
“Right. So, get in here.”
Sighing, Kevin decided to do as he was told. Even if he were inclined to put up a fight, he was too tired. It was no surprise, considering what he’d been through.
Kevin slowly divested himself of his clothing, until he was down to just his boxers. No matter how much time passed, or how many times Lilian pouted at him, he still refused to sleep nude like her. He wasn’t comfortable being naked.
He slowly crawled into the bed and was about to spoon with Lilian—
“Other side.”
—When the girl spoke up.
He looked at her. “Pardon?”
“Get in on the other side. Iris is really cold, and I need your help warming her up.”
“So, I’m being turned into a heating unit now?”
“Just for now.”
&
nbsp; Kevin wondered if he should be annoyed about being demoted from mate to heating unit. Probably. But he was too tired to care. He crawled into the bed from the other side. Lilian was already resting her head on Iris’s breasts, her arms and legs entwined around her sister. Kevin did the same and realized that Lilian was correct; Iris’s body was, indeed, much colder than normal. It made him think of a corpse.
If I couldn’t feel her breathing…
He followed Lilian’s example and wrapped an arm around Iris, pulling himself close and using his body heat to help warm her up. Just as he was about to close his eyes, Kevin could have sworn he saw the twin-tailed succubus’s lips curve into a delightful smile.
I wonder if I’m being too soft, he thought before drifting off.
***
Fan winced as she quietly limped her way up the steps to the modest condo that she lived in with Guang and Li. The stairs shook and jangled, metal clinking together. She winced with every step she took, gritting her teeth as pain lanced through her. Her entire body felt like it had been set on fire.
“That’s because it was set on fire, you idiot.” Fan scowled.
Right. Her entire body had been set on fire.
“Oh, shut up! I don’t wanna hear another word out of you!”
But then I wouldn’t be able to—
“I SAID SHUT UP!”
…
“Better.”
… Meanie.
“What was that?”
…
Fan scowled, but even that scowl faded into nothingness. Maintaining facial expressions hurt. Everything hurt. It was all thanks to that damn human.
“The next time he and I meet, he’s going to die slowly and painfully.”
Climbing the flight of stairs took a lot more effort than it should have. Her legs felt like gelatinous liquid. Her arms and face stung as the cold night air hit her burns. Having expended almost all her youki to protect herself from that last explosion, she had almost none left, and, therefore, couldn’t heal herself.
That fact irked her. To think she’d been driven to this point by a lowly ape. It was humiliating!
She opened the door and entered her condo. The door clicked shut behind her. Upon stepping further inside, she realized that she wasn’t alone.
“Li,” she greeted the man standing in the center of the living room… and then stopped when she noticed something was wrong. “Y-your arm!”
Li glanced over at her, his silent eyes purveyors of worry as he glanced at the burns on her arms, legs, torso, and face. He then looked at his own arm—or rather, the spot where his arm should have been. It wasn’t there anymore. His entire right arm was gone.
“There was an… unforeseen incident during my battle,” he informed her. “In all honesty, I am quite lucky to have escaped at all.”
“A-are you going to be okay?” she asked.
“I believe I am the one who should be asking that. You appear to have suffered a lot.”
“Oh, stuff it.” Fan knew she looked awful. She didn’t need Li rubbing it in.
“To answer your question, I should be fine. I lack the youki necessary to regrow my arm, but I should be capable of it after a good night’s rest.” While his facial expression didn’t change, his eyes contained a glimmer of worry. “And yourself? Will you be all right?”
“I’ll enter a healing trance tonight.” Fan waved a hand dismissively, or rather, she tried to. She winced halfway through. “It shouldn’t take too long for me to heal these. They look bad, but most of them are only second-degree burns.”
“I am pleased to hear that.”
“Where’s Guang?”
“Guang has been… defeated.”
Fan sucked in a breath. “So he’s dead?”
When Li remained silent, Fan closed her eyes. She’d never really cared about Guang, but he had still been one of her bodyguards. Hearing that he’d died struck her surprisingly hard.
“I see. I guess we’ll have to avenge him, perhaps after we kill the Pnév̱ma girl and her human boy toy.”
“Actually, Lord Bodhisattva has asked that we return home.”
“W-what?” Fan allowed her startlement to show on her face. “But we haven’t killed Lilian Pnév̱ma or her mate yet!”
“That is true, but it seems your father has changed his mind regarding her. That, or he simply wishes for us to return.”
Fan bit her lip. She didn’t like Arizona. She didn’t like being so far from her beloved younger brother. At the same time, Lilian Pnév̱ma and her mate had humiliated her. It would be one thing if she’d been defeated by a yōkai who was stronger than she was, but to be beaten by a two-tails and a human was shameful. She wanted to kill them, and not just because of what they’d done to her beloved younger brother. Not anymore. It was even more personal now. At the same time…
“F-fine,” she conceded to Li. This was an order from her father, and one did not disobey the will of the Bodhisattva, not even his daughter. “When do we leave?”
“We leave first thing tomorrow morning.”
Fan nodded, right before casting Li a suspicious glance. “We’re not going to be traveling on one of those metal death traps again, are we?”
Li’s silence was telling.
“… Dammit…”
CHAPTER 5
LEAVING
It was the day after the multiple attacks on herself and her charge’s family. Because she didn’t have any clothes of her own anymore, as they had been destroyed when their apartment blew up, Kotohime was wearing one of Kiara’s business suits. Dark gray. Slacks and a long-sleeved shirt. The shirt had the top three buttons undone because her chest was too large to fit in it. How Kiara could stand to wear these things was beyond her.
She stood in the office of Davin Monstrang. She was alone this time. Kirihime had remained at the hospital with Kevin, Lilian, Iris, and Camellia.
Kiara was with them. She had arrived early that morning. Since Lilian had been their target, they had deemed it prudent for at least two of them to remain by Lilian’s side at all times.
Sitting behind his desk, Davin Monstrang remained silent. Kotohime tried not to squirm. She was a warrior, a swordswoman renowned throughout the yōkai world for her talent with a blade. Even so, she couldn’t stop the small chill that traveled down her spine as he stared at her from behind his large, interlocked hands.
Davin Monstrang was a large man, though perhaps calling him large did him an injustice. His sheer size made him look like he could squash a bull with nothing but his girth. Numerous chins, thick brow ridges, and a lack of eyebrows made up his most outstanding features. His buzzed head had two small bumps on either side of his forehead. He wore a garish orange Hawaiian T-shirt that clashed horribly with the Spartan decorations of his office.
“This is the sixth time you’ve come to me after a major incident has occurred,” Davin Monstrang grunted. “It’s troubling how every problem that has happened recently seems to be caused by the Pnév̱ma Clan.”
“You have my most sincere apologies.” Kotohime bowed before the man, a deep bow from the waist. “I wish I could claim otherwise, however, it is just as you say. It seems the troubles of the Pnév̱ma Clan have finally caught up with us, and Arizona is getting swept up in our issues as a result.”
Davin grunted. “Don’t forget the brat. He’s also become swept up in your problems.”
“Kevin-sama has willingly involved himself with us,” Kotohime rebutted. “While you may not approve of a yōkai becoming romantically involved with a human, the fact remains that it was his decision to become involved with us. Anything that happens to him now is a direct result of this acceptance.”
“This has nothing to do with a human and a yōkai becoming romantically involved,” Davin said. “I promised his mother when she came to me that I would do everything in my power to protect him. That is a promise I have done my utmost to keep.”
This was Kotohime’s first time hearing about this. She had no idea that
Davin Monstrang and Karen Swift were acquainted, though that did explain why a yōkai of Monstrang’s position was working out of a newspaper distribution center. Kotohime would confess to being curious. However, she also knew better than to pry.
Davin grunted. “I didn’t call you here to discuss the brat’s love life. Things with the Pnév̱ma Clan are becoming volatile. First there was that business with the child from the Shénshèng Clan, and then there was the attack in California.” Kotohime opened her mouth, but Davin’s raised hand stopped her. “I am not saying that was your fault. However, you cannot deny that your involvement caused a lot of damage and threatened to reveal our existence to the humans.”
Kotohime did not like how he said that, but she also couldn’t deny the truth to his words. Their battle with Luna had caused a lot of damage, which had easily been seen by a number of humans. Only the timely intervention of Kuroneko had kept humanity from learning anything.
“And then there was also that incident with the kitsune assassin and his accomplice. They enchanted an entire school full of children and used them to attack the brat and your charge. We were lucky the most anyone suffered from that catastrophe was a few broken bones, and that only those who already know of our existence remember what happened. This time, we weren’t so lucky.”
The chair emitted a harsh squeal as Davin leaned back. Kotohime worried that it might break, but she said nothing for fear of sounding rude.
“The soccer field belonging to the Peoria school district is in ruins and Sonoran Junior High has been completely destroyed. What’s more, there is no way we can keep news like that from the public. Several people who live in the vicinity of the school saw it go up in flames, and we’ve received reports of people seeing figures fleeing from the scene. Can you guess what those eye witness reports claimed these figures looked like?”
Kotohime shifted to hide her discomfort. “I can take a guess, yes.”
Davin blew out a smoky breath. “That’s why I’ve decided that it would be for the best if you and the Pnév̱ma Clan leave the states for a while.” Kotohime’s eyes widened, but before she could protest, he said, “I’m not saying it’s permanent, but with everything that has happened here, and with the recent news that I’ve gathered, it would be best for everyone involved if you found yourselves a more secure location that is not within the United States.”
A Fox's Revenge (American Kitsune Book 7) Page 16