Wind Shift: A Young Adult Kitsune Paranormal Romance (Nine Tails Book 8)

by J. L. Weil

  Wind Shift

  J.L. Weil

  Dark Magick Publishing, LLC

  Published by J. L. Weil

  Copyright 2020 by J. L. Weil

  http://www.jlweil.com

  All rights reserved.

  First Edition 2021

  Edited by Stephany Wallace

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Also by J. L. Weil

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Read more by J. L. Weil

  About the Author

  Also by J. L. Weil

  DIVISA HUNTRESS

  (New Adult Paranormal Romance)

  Crown of Darkness

  Inferno of Darkness

  DRAGON DESCENDANTS SERIES

  (Upper Teen Reverse Harem Fantasy)

  Stealing Tranquility

  Absorbing Poison

  Taming Fire

  Thawing Frost

  THE DIVISA SERIES

  (Full series completed – Teen Paranormal Romance)

  Losing Emma: A Divisa novella

  Saving Angel

  Hunting Angel

  Breaking Emma: A Divisa novella

  Chasing Angel

  Loving Angel

  Redeeming Angel

  LUMINESCENCE TRILOGY

  (Full series completed – Teen Paranormal Romance)

  Luminescence

  Amethyst Tears

  Moondust

  Darkmist – A Luminescence novella

  RAVEN SERIES

  (Full series completed – Teen Paranormal Romance)

  White Raven

  Black Crow

  Soul Symmetry

  BEAUTY NEVER DIES CHRONICLES

  (Teen Dystopian Romance)

  Slumber

  Entangled

  Forsaken

  NINE TAILS SERIES

  (Teen Paranormal Romance)

  First Shift

  Storm Shift

  Flame Shift

  Time Shift

  Void Shift

  Spirit Shift

  Tide Shift

  Wind Shift

  HAVENWOOD FALLS HIGH

  (Teen Paranormal Romance)

  Falling Deep

  Ascending Darkness

  SINGLE NOVELS

  Starbound

  (Teen Paranormal Romance)

  Casting Dreams

  (New Adult Paranormal Romance)

  Ancient Tides

  (New Adult Paranormal Romance)

  For an updated list of my books, please visit my website: www.jlweil.com

  Join my VIP email list and I’ll personally send you an email reminder as soon as my next book is out! Click here to sign up: www.jlweil.com

  Chapter One

  KARINA

  Fuck. No. The two words echoed in my head.

  The air was like ice, coating my skin and freezing my veins. Silence entered the woods as if the world had frozen. I stopped breathing, staring at the pearl gem dangling from Talin’s fingers. It twinkled under the glow of the two moons, a dire warning of my current situation.

  No! No! No!

  I was going to vomit.

  This was my worst nightmare—everything I’d been fighting against—and I saw my life flash before my eyes. Not entirely sure how my great uncle went about absorbing my power, but he had the very essence of my soul.

  The life of my power was in his grasp.

  I lifted my hand to my neck, knowing I wouldn’t find the stone or the delicate chain from which it hung, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

  Blinking away, a sudden surge of emotion that was equal parts pure fear and wild rage, brought up a low rumble vibrating in the base of my throat. I felt my eyes shift, letting my fae side come to the surface.

  Talin had another thing coming if he believed I would just sit back and do nothing as he stole my life. That charm was more than just a fae talisman. It was my future. Given to me by my mother, the little charm had great meaning to me, a reminder of why I was here. If I let him take it, I wasn’t just killing myself, but my mother as well. Not to mention, what would happen to the Second Moon.

  No fucking way.

  At the sound of my growl, Devyn and Kai whirled, alerted something was wrong. “Give it back,” I gritted out. My voice acquired an alarming texture to it that I’d never heard before, an air of supremacy—a command issued by a queen.

  “Talin,” Devyn groused at my back. I sensed rather than saw the double blades in his hands. Wrath and Fury’s hissing filled the forest, penetrating the air in what sounded like a thousand snakes ready to strike.

  “What an unpleasant surprise,” Kai said in a monotone voice that bordered uninterested, but I’d come to learn that was just part of the Unseelie’s defensive instincts.

  Talin’s eyes flicked to Devyn, then to Kai, a wolfish grin curling on his lips. The black tear marks under his eyes made him look like something out of a Tim Burton film, but his body was that of a disciplined warrior. Not an ounce of fat. My uncle was made of fierce muscle, and the beast that lived within him could be seen in the depths of his crimson eyes—the shadow wolf.

  “I see you’ve picked up a few strays during your journey. I’d be careful of the company you keep, niece.” His voice sneered over the word.

  In truth, I hoped it would never come to this. I stupidly believed that I’d be able to reach Katsura and gain my last two tails, all without ever setting eyes on Talin.

  It was a dream.

  And now, I was living a nightmare.

  “What I do is no concern of yours,” I spat as my mind whirled, looking for the best option. Did I attack? Did I try to reason with him? Should I run and come up with a better plan? One that was more solid than just winging it?

  I didn’t know what the heck to do.

  “In that case, I’ll just be taking this with me,” Talin taunted, dangling my necklace from his fingers. “Be glad I didn’t kill you first.”

  “Like hell, you will,” Devyn roared. This was huge, a colossal size problem.

  Before the Shaman even finished threatening Talin, I was moving.

  In one smooth leap, I exploded into my fox, power radiating as my skin turned to fur, my feet and hands into paws, and my toes into sharpened claws. The shift was seamless, and I landed at my uncle’s feet, canines barred into a snarl.

  “Shit,” Kai swore behind me.

  “Karina!” Devyn rasped, but it was too late. He couldn’t stop me.

  I had nothing to lose.

  My desperation and will to survive spurred me into action. I sprung, my focus entirely on my soul star. If I had to take off his whole hand to get it, then so be it. I’d rip through flesh, muscle, and bone.

  Talin was wickedly fast, but I should have expected nothing less. He was a royal and a warrior. His body darted to the left, narrowly avoiding my teeth. Using the hand that clutched my necklace, my bastard of an uncle retaliated with
a nasty backhand to the side of my muzzle, sending me flying through the woods.

  Whack.

  Battered and bruised, my body screamed in protest as I skidded over the mossy and pebbled-forest floor. Despite my fae healing abilities, I’d had a night from hell. First falling into a pit and now this.

  FML.

  Scrambling upright, I anchored all four paws onto solid ground.

  “This is my land. I rule here,” Talin seethed.

  Devyn was in front of me, becoming my shield, and while I understood that protecting me was in his nature, this was one fight from which I couldn’t shy away.

  “Only until I kill you,” Devyn vowed lowly, flipping the sword in his right hand. Then, he lunged.

  The clang of metal hitting metal rang through the trees. I hadn’t even seen Talin pull out a weapon; it was just suddenly in his hand, blocking Devyn’s attack.

  Kai replaced Devyn’s position as my bodyguard, plumes of shadows cascading from him. I soon realized Kai was also preventing me from jumping into the fight, letting Devyn handle Talin.

  I snapped my jaws at Kai, but he only tsked at me and shook his finger. “Naughty, little queen. Let your mate do what he was born to do.”

  It was torture watching Devyn and Talin fight, knowing what was at stake. Talin’s moves were purely animal. Purely predatory, like the wolf he was.

  “I am going to kill you,” the Shaman declared quietly. “Maybe not today, but the time will come. And when it does, you will wish for a swift death.”

  Thrusting his sword forward, Talin laughed, forcing Devyn to take a step back. “Why wait? You always were such a promising student. Don’t disappoint.” Talin whipped out a dagger stashed along his thigh and hurtled it toward me.

  A wall of shadows burst from Kai as he stepped in its path, consuming the dagger and grinding it to dust.

  Talin smiled. “Impressive. But do you two really think you can beat me?”

  Kai’s hands fisted, itching to join in the fight, yet he stayed planted before me. I didn’t know what kind of arrangement the brothers had, but I had a hunch they were in agreement. One would always hang back to keep me safe—like they were doing now.

  Talin and Devyn wielded their swords expertly, whizzing through the air with such speed, that even my fae eyes had trouble keeping track of them at times. What I didn’t have trouble seeing, was the blood that suddenly beaded a line along Devyn’s arm.

  I shoved at Kai’s back but it was like trying to get through a brick wall. The Shaman didn’t acknowledge the cut. Just kept fighting, blade against blade.

  Somehow, through the roaring in my ears, my hearing picked up the tiny beats of wings fluttering through the trees, and although I couldn’t see who was coming… I knew.

  Instantly, I understood that this would be our only chance.

  Panic clawed and tore through me. This was our last chance. I had to do something before we were ambushed by a sea of guards, and Talin disappeared. Eyes snapping up, I saw Kai tilt his head ever so slightly, indicating he also heard what I had. I shoved off the ground, launching myself under Kai’s legs and at my deranged uncle again.

  Devyn shifted, putting himself in my path, but I anticipated the maneuver and changed direction at the last second. When Talin’s hand lifted toward me as expected, I sunk my teeth into his wrist, locking my jaw. Warm, sticky blood oozed into my mouth, the rancid metallic taste coating my tongue. I wanted to gag and might have if my will to live wasn’t stronger.

  Two male voices swore in the background.

  From the shadows behind Talin, Kai appeared, casting out a net of darkness that temporarily blinded my wicked uncle.

  Just as I’d hoped, Tink came swooping in from above, going straight for my soul star. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but at the moment, everything seemed sluggish. I reinforced my grip on Talin’s wrist when Tink swooped down. The tips of Talin’s fingers shifted into claws as he swiped out in the air with this other. Tink dodged the nails slicing through the air, flying directly in between the fingers, and grabbed the necklace in her tiny hands, but Talin wouldn’t give it up easily.

  Jumping into action, Devyn brought down his sword over Talin’s other hand—the one fiercely clutching my soul star. It was a clean cut, going smoothly through tissue, bone, and muscle.

  For someone who had just gotten their hand severed off, I expected my uncle to howl in pain, cry on the ground, or pass out at least. However, despite the fact that blood sprayed literally everywhere, he only glared at me with eyes that belonged to the devil.

  Tink took off like a bat out of hell, and I released my canines from Talin’s flesh, stimulating the shift. As I shed my fur, I clamped my hand onto Devyn’s forearm, reaching for Kai too. When my fingers touched his, trickles of his Unseelie magic seeped into me. It was just enough, along with a fraction of what remained inside me, to void the three of us out of there.

  Darkness encompassed me, and the last thing I saw was my uncle’s black tear-streaked face while he extended a wolf’s claw straight toward my belly.

  “No!” he bellowed into the night, his claws catching nothing but the onyx tendrils of my magic.

  A coolness permeated my bones and my hold tightened on Devyn and Kai—deathly afraid that I wouldn’t have enough energy to hang onto both of them through the void. It was only seconds, but each one counted. My feet touched the ground before the cloud of shadows faded, and I tried to shake off the last lingering ribbons of magic, but the cold clung to me.

  I blinked at the Crow’s cabin in front of us. “This is as far as I can go,” I panted, air sharply entering my lungs, but it wasn’t nearly as painful as the fear in my heart. Talin was still out there, fuming, in the woods, and now most likely hunting us.

  A ferocious, beastly roar rumbled through the land, shaking the entire forest. Devyn reached for me, pulling me against his chest. “Where’s the stone?” he murmured, his bright green eyes hardening.

  “Tink,” I gasped, collapsing into him.

  That was enough for Devyn to come to the same conclusion I had. The pixie would find me, and I prayed to God she still had my soul star.

  His mouth relaxed a smidge. “We’ll go on foot for as long as we can,” he instructed. “But it might not be enough, Talin will be right behind us.”

  “She needs rest,” Kai argued, frowning. His windblown blond hair and normally golden skin appeared pale under the moonlight.

  Devyn’s jaw tightened. “Don’t you think I know that? We don’t have that luxury. We need to get somewhere safe first.”

  Kai raked a hand through his hair, the shadows on the ground bending toward him. “I know a place. It’s at least a week or more on foot, close to the border of Willowland. It would be faster if we rode.”

  Devyn blew out a breath, his gaze flickering to the shabby cabin that had held so much promise when we arrived. Now it was nothing more than an empty shack. “I still don’t trust you,” he told his stepbrother.

  Kai schooled his features into bland disinterest, but he wasn’t fooling me. “I would think something was wrong with you if you did. But it is not you who I am offering my aid to. It is the future queen.”

  I sensed an argument brewing and flattened my palm over Devyn’s chest. “Guys. We don’t have time for this. We need to go. Now,” I emphasized. Every second that passed, was time wasted we didn’t have. “I don’t care where we go, as long as we go.”

  “I’ll grab what I can from the house,” Kai offered, walking inside.

  “Can you shift again?” Devyn asked softly, his face a portrait of concern while he looked down at me.

  I understood why he asked. In my fox form, I was faster, and we needed to gain distance. A lot of it. Talin’s animal form was a shadow wolf, so I assumed that meant that he was probably faster than even my fox was.

  Chewing on my lip, I nodded. “I think so.” In truth, I wasn’t sure I had the strength, but I refused to admit it, not just to Devyn, but to myself. I had to do this.<
br />
  Devyn dragged his eyes from me to Kai as the Unseelie dashed out of the cabin, tossing his pack to him. The Shaman slipped it onto his back and gave me a nod. “We run. I will shield us for as long as I can.”

  “Here,” Kai extended his hand toward Devyn. “Take what I have. It will give you both strength.”

  Blinking, Devyn stared at the offered hand, and I held my breath, wondering if he would refuse it. I didn’t want to intervene, but I would. “And what of you?” he asked.

  “I’m offering you some of my power, brother. Not all of it.” Kai kept his voice light, but that was no simple gesture.

  Devyn shook his head but clasped Kai’s hand. Only once had I been granted another fae’s power. It had been Devyn’s.

  The familiar tingles of fae magic trembled in the air between them, and Devyn’s green eyes glowed. Kai lifted his other hand to me. His lips twitched at the corner as he arched a single brow. I kept my gaze on his and intertwined our fingers, letting his icy darkness wrap around me like a cloak of midnight.

  I didn’t take much, just enough to ensure I could shift, but the temptation to suck every last tendril of Kai’s power was there. It scared the shit out of me. My Kitsune was becoming quite the power-hungry little fox. At least, I prayed it was my fox.

  The rim of shadows circling Kai’s lapis eyes grew as he kept them centered on me. There was something oddly intimate about sharing magic with another fae. Devyn watched me, and I felt my cheeks redden.