“Let’s get something to eat.” Lindsay grabbed her friend’s hand and smiled down at the yuki-onna. Christine blinked several times as if she was processing her words. She didn’t say anything, but after a moment, she gave her a nod of assent.
As she led the girl to the food court, Lindsay lamented.
I’m such a coward.
***
Kevin noticed the looks almost the moment they arrived at the village.
He, Lilian, and Kotohime had taken another carriage back into the village. It was a fifteen-minute trip from the ancestral home, which Kevin learned was actually built within the crater on top of the mountain. That explained why they had passed through a cavern to get there. The walls had blocked most of his view, but he had noticed the giant mountain range on all sides of the ancestral home.
After their carriage parked near the village entrance, they disembarked and entered the village itself.
The stares started almost the second they began walking around.
Kevin had become immune to stares. Indeed, with a mate like Lilian, whose inhuman beauty caused heads to turn wherever she went, he’d been pretty much forced to learn how to ignore people staring at them. The additional presence of Camellia, Christine, Lindsay, Iris, Kotohime, and Kirihime to his entourage had all but obliterated his ability to perceive stares…
… Or so he thought.
He glanced around at the people they passed. Almost everyone had stopped to look at them. At first, he assumed they were looking at Lilian or Kotohime. That was the first thing everyone else looked at back home. Only after thorough observation and making eye contact several times did he realize the truth. They weren’t looking at his companions; they were staring at him.
I don’t know why, but for some reason, these stares are really beginning to bug me.
Lilian seemed annoyed by the stares too. Her arms were wrapped around his right and she glared at pretty much every female who passed them.
“Ufufufu.” Kotohime chuckled. “Lilian-sama seems very territorial today.”
Kevin watched Lilian’s cheeks swell like a bullfrog.
“I just don’t like the way these vixens are looking at Beloved,” Lilian defended her actions. “These girls aren’t like Iris. They don’t care for my mate and me. They’re just a bunch of hussies.”
“I’m not sure they’re interested in screwing me,” Kevin said. “I think they’re just curious about why there’s a human in their presence.”
Lilian’s scoff told him how ridiculous she thought that notion was.
“Kevin,” she began, “these women are kitsune, not nekomata. We might be slightly curious creatures, but by and large, our thought processes run more along the lines of how we can manipulate others for our own purposes over satiating our curiosity.”
“You know, I get very worried when you say things like that,” Kevin observed idly.
“Ufufufu, do not worry, Kevin-sama. Lilian-sama has no talent at manipulation. I am sure you have realized that by now after all of her failed attempts to seduce you.”
Lilian’s face turned red. “T-that was a mean thing to say.”
Kevin ignored Lilian as he nodded in assent. “I did notice that. I mean, I’m sure that walking around the house naked would be enough for most teens, but it’s not really what I would call seductive.”
“Not you, too, Beloved,” Lilian bemoaned.
“Sorry.” Kevin tossed her an apologetic smile. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“Mou. You’re not sorry at all.”
***
Fan climbed the stairs to one of several spires that made up her father’s home. She had been thinking about her father’s plan for the Pnév̱ma girl ever since he had told them of it. She personally hoped to see it fail. Not because she didn’t want to see Jiāoào return to normal; she just didn’t the one who accomplished that feat to be Lilian.
I should be the one who heals his damaged mind.
The stairway slowly wound in a clockwise motion. Her hand trailed along the guardrail. There were no exits in his spire. No floors. Just a top and a bottom. A beginning and an end. Behind her, the surprisingly silent footsteps of her bodyguard, Li, echoed with much less noise than her own.
Intricately woven tapestries greeted Fan as she reached the top. They covered the wall in stately designs fit for royalty. Her younger brother always did have a habit of enjoying the finer things in life.
Father must have put these here in the hopes that it would help Jiāoào recover.
She looked around the room. Royal purple carpet covered the floor. Furnishings fit for a king were arrayed around the interior, a dresser made of a rich dark wood inlaid with golden designs, a nightstand of the same color. They gleamed brightly under the natural sunlight filtering in through the window. A potted plant sat upon the windowsill, a snapdragon, its blood red petals looking very much like a dragon.
Beside the nightstand was a large bed. A canopy hung above it, sheets of transparent silk hanging from it, swaying in the gentle breeze. Bedsheets the color of amethyst covered the bed, which could easily fit five people. It only had one occupant at the moment, and he rested upon several large, fluffy pillows that matched the sheets.
“Jiāoào…”
Fan traveled over to the bed on shaky legs and sat down beside her younger brother. His eyes were open but stared at nothing. He didn’t react when she sat next to him, not even so much as a twitch. It broke her heart to see him like this.
“What do you think of Honorable Grandfather’s plan?” asked Li.
Fan twitched. “No offense to Father, but I think it’s a horrible plan.”
“But if it works…”
Fan scowled at Li. “What makes you possibly think something like that could work? The entire idea is a human concept.”
“Don’t underestimate humanity, Lady Fan,” Li warned. “It was, after all, a human who bested you. And if I am right, then it was the same human who bested you that also bested Jiāoào. That should tell you something.”
“Even an insect will get lucky sometimes,” Fan said. “Either way, there is absolutely no way that Pnév̱ma girl will be capable of helping my beloved younger brother. I doubt he even likes her after what happened between them.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. The young lord was rebuffed by Lilian Pnév̱ma many times, yet he always came back to her over and over again.”
“There’s no need to inform me of what I already know,” Fan snapped.
Li shrugged. “Considering your words, I had assumed you’d forgotten.”
Fan clicked her tongue and looked back at her beloved younger brother. It was hard to forget about how he’d obsessed over that Pnév̱ma girl. Ever since he first saw the little trollop, he had been infatuated with her. She still remembered the first time he’d come back from the Pnév̱ma Clan’s ancestral home after traveling there with Father. He had mentioned meeting an angel with hair made of fire. She remembered how her heart shattered when he told her that he was going to mate with her.
Her brother had slowly pulled away from her after that. It was heartbreaking. They used to be so close before that girl interfered. Before that, she had been his everything! He’d always stuck by her side until then, spending time with her, sleeping with her, bathing with her. After that girl showed up, however, he’d stopped doing that.
“You’re my sister,” he would say. “I can’t be close to my sister when I’m trying to get a mate. I need to be seen as desirable, and having my sister fawn over me isn’t what women look for in a man.”
After that, her brother had become obsessed with looking manly. He’d studied everything he could about how real men should act, reading books and trashy human novels on manliness. He had soon determined that real men were players and had a harem of women at their beck and call. He’d gone behind Father’s back and acquired a number of slaves, which she knew he kept in a safe house. He would always disappear there when Father was away on business.
> Fan hadn’t said anything. It hurt. It broke her heart. Before that time, Father had planned on having her be the one to mate with Jiāoào. Seeing her brother who had, up until that point, been her whole life, leave her in the dust to play with slaves was the third most painful memory in her life.
I’m sure that Shílì had something to do with my brother’s change.
She didn’t know when Shílì had first appeared, and he never showed himself to anyone, but Fan knew. One of her brother’s maids had been her spy, so she knew about the Void Kitsune who’d appeared before him one day. Even so, she hadn’t said anything. Shílì was too good at disappearing, so she hadn’t been able to bring his existence up to Father.
I should be the one healing him, not that trollop!
That’s right. She should be the one who healed him. She was sure that she could find a way, one that not even her father had thought of. And once she healed her beloved younger brother, he would remember the love they had once shared and denounce his desire to mate with the trollop. Yes, she could see it all now:
Jiāoào’s eyes slowly fluttered open, much to Fan’s surprise and joy. He looked around, irises flickering back and forth, before they landed on her.
“Fan,” he said, his voice raspy from disuse. “Did you save me?”
Fan gave her beloved younger brother her gentlest smile. “I did.”
“Thank you.” He smiled at her. “And… I’m sorry for ignoring you the way I did. I know that it was wrong, but I… I was just so embarrassed.”
“It’s okay.” Fan reached out and cupped his face with the tenderness of a lover. “I understand that boys will be boys. So long as you have learned your lesson, that is all that matters.”
“I have.” He nodded seriously. “Don’t worry, Fan. I know the truth now. You are the only woman that I will ever need in my life.”
Fan’s heart lightened at his words. The ice that had formed since he had met that atrociously boorish Pnév̱ma trollop melted. Everything was going to be better now, she just knew it.
“Come on, my beloved younger brother, let’s take a bath together.”
“Okay.”
“Huhuhuhu…”
“Fan, your true self is showing.”
“Ge!”
Fan snapped out of her daydream at the sound of Li’s voice. She tossed him a vicious look, while trying to mask her embarrassment… and also surreptitiously wiping away the drool from her mouth before he noticed.
“A-anyway!” Fan stood up and dusted the nonexistent dust off her stately robes. “I do not believe Father’s plan will work. Therefore, we must discover another method while Father is speaking with the, um, the…”
“The Vættir Clan.”
“Right.” Fan nodded. “While father is meeting with the Vættir clan, you and I will research a way to cure my beloved younger brother.”
“I do not know if this is a good idea.” Li sounded most reluctant.
Fan ignored him. “Quickly, to the Bat Cave!”
“Don’t you mean the library?”
Fan blinked. “Did I not say library?”
“No,” Li’s tone was surprisingly dry, “you did not. You said Bat Cave.”
“O-oh.” Fan coughed into her hands, embarrassed. She must have been truly preoccupied to break the fourth wall that badly, and what the hell was a bat cave anyway? “My bad. Let me try that again. Now, quickly, to the library!”
Li sighed. “As you wish, Lady Fan.”
***
As they were no longer confined to a carriage, Kevin had a lot more time to study the layout of the village. It really did look like the ancient Greek settlements he’d read about in history books. All of the buildings were made of stone. They had no glass in their windows, and most places didn’t even have doors, just square-shaped holes in the wall, though some were covered by curtains.
While the design of the buildings was outdated by about 800 years, Kevin did notice that they possessed some technology.
Lilian led him into one of the few cafés Psyxḗ possessed. No bell chimed to let the owner know that customers had entered. Stone flooring presented a stark contrast to what he was used to seeing on a café floor. There were no decorations on the gray stone walls and the wooden tables looked old. However, while much of the building seemed ancient, Kevin noticed a relatively new cappuccino maker.
Of course, by relatively, he meant it looked like something from the early 50s.
A person walked up to them, a woman, whose brown hair shimmered and whose three tails waved behind her as she walked. She was pretty, but Kevin had noticed that every kitsune was pretty, so that didn’t mean much. Compared to vixens like Lilian and Iris, this woman was almost plain.
“Hello,” the woman greeted before stopping. She looked at Lilian, blinked, and then rubbed her eyes. “Lilian?”
Lilian shuffled. “Berenise, hello.”
Berenise frowned. Her eyes flickered to Kevin, then Lilian, and then to Kotohime. Kevin thought he saw her eyes flash with emotion, but then she placed her hands on her hips and grinned.
“Well, I’ll be. It really is you. I’d heard rumors that you ran away from home.”
“Is that so?” Lilian muttered. Berenise either ignored or didn’t hear the words. She turned to Kevin.
“And who is this handsome young man?”
Lilian held his arm closer. Kevin sensed her getting territorial again.
“This is Kevin, my mate.”
Berenise looked nonplussed. “Your mate? You have a mate?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Since nine months ago.”
“Oh, well, congratulations are in order, I guess.” Again, that emotion flashed in Berenise’s eyes. Kevin felt like he should know it, but he couldn’t figure out what it meant. “I’m glad to see you’ve found your mate at such a young age. You know that most of us don’t find our first mates until we’re a bit older. I had to go through ten mating periods before I found my mate.”
Kevin felt his cheeks burn at the mention of mating periods. He remembered Lilian’s first ever mating period last year. She had very nearly raped him. She probably would have raped him if it hadn’t been for some quick thinking on his part.
Lilian also blushed, clearly remembering her loss of control during that time.
“Ufufufu,” Kotohime giggled quietly.
“Quiet, you,” Kevin and Lilian said at the same time.
“Ara, ara.” Kotohime hid her mirthful smile behind her kimono’s left sleeve. “You said that at the same time. How adorable.”
“It is awfully cute,” Berenise agreed.
“W-whatever,” Lilian quickly changed the subject, “anyway, we were hoping to get something to eat here.”
“Of course.” Berenise’s demeanor subtly shifted into something a little more professional as she curtsied. “Come on, let me get you three seated.”
They followed Berenise further into the tiny cafe. Kevin noticed that a few other people were there aside from them. He saw a group of young kitsune girls who looked around Lilian’s age. They stared at him as he walked by, then began whispering and giggling to each other, while also stealing more glances at him. Kevin didn’t know whether to blush or roll his eyes.
It seems all girls act the same regardless of race.
“Here’s the menu. Let me know when you’re ready to order.” Berenise handed him and Lilian a menu. Kotohime declined one, claiming she’d already eaten. She also declined a seat, instead electing to stand behind Lilian, her katana held firmly in her left hand, as always.
“This place is actually kinda interesting.” Kevin glanced through the menu. All the dishes were written in Greek. He couldn’t read Greek.
“You think so?” Lilian also glanced at the menu, though she clearly could read it, unlike him.
“Yeah, I mean, it feels almost like I’ve stepped into the past or something. I think that’s pretty cool.”
“The novelty will wea
r off soon, trust me on this.” Lilian closed the menu. Kevin did as well. Not like staring would help him understand the language. “It seems new and exciting right now, but eventually, you’ll realize how boring it is. You’ll see that there’s nothing to do here except wander around, and that will eventually become boring because there isn’t all that much to see anyway.”
“I could probably find some interesting wildlife,” Kevin pointed out, causing Lilian to smile and shake her head.
“You and your animal fetish.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Lilian’s grin told him that trouble was coming. “It means you. Like. My. Tails.”
Kevin almost stiffened when one of Lilian’s tails caressed his leg. He did stiffen when it tried going down his shorts. Only quick-witted thinking on his part let him fend her off.
“We are so not doing this here,” he told her. Lilian giggled, making him decide to change the subject before she could embarrass him further. “Still, though… I know you don’t really like this place, but for a human like myself, it’s pretty interesting.”
“I guess it would be,” Lilian conceded. “I prefer being back home in Arizona. There’s just so much more to do there. I get to go to school and spend time with our friends. We can travel to the mall and see movies or have fun at the arcade. Plus there’s all the anime that we can watch at home. You can’t do any of that here.”
Lilian brought up some excellent points. Kevin did recognize that there wasn't much they could do there. There were only a hundred or so buildings in the entire village, and most of those were probably houses. This cafe was apparently one of two, and there were only about a dozen or so stores that sold clothing, which, judging by what everyone wore, consisted mostly of togas.
At the thought of home, Kevin felt a small ache appear in his chest. Was Christine okay? How was Lindsay doing? Were Alex and Andrew keeping Eric on a tight leash? Did Kiara and Heather miss him? He’d never really thought about it before, but these people had become inextricably linked to his life. Now they were gone—or rather, he was gone, and he didn’t know when he and Lilian would go back.
A Fox's Revenge (American Kitsune Book 7) Page 23