Is that what you truly believe? His voice sounded more amused than angry.
It is how the legend goes? Are you telling me that you won't wake up and destroy the world once Jormungandr can reach his own tail?
He chuckled softly in my head. What fun would it be if I told you?
I sighed and finished using the toilet, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed, even if it was with three naked guys. Maybe because it was with three naked guys. I just hoped that David wasn't kidding when he said he didn't mind. Plus, this was for truly medicinal purposes.
Or, so I was trying to tell myself. The truth of the matter was that I was almost afraid to get back into the bed. Not because of what could happen, but because of what it could do to David. He was my first serious boyfriend. I loved him, or at least I thought I did. I didn't want to ruin it or hurt him in any way, shape, or form.
Sighing, I washed my hands and rinsed my mouth out with the water from the tap. It was better than nothing and too damn early in the morning for dragon breath. Sorry, Uncle Tatsuo.
I dried my face on the scratchy bath towel and opened the door. Rem went to scoop me back up, but I stopped him with a hand to his chiseled, hairless chest. "I can walk a few feet."
"Not worth the risk."
"I'm fine. Seriously…"
"Kaede…you were dead."
"Huh?" I'm not the most articulate of foxes when surprised.
"Not breathing. Almost frozen. Blue lips and skin. We thought you were gone until Hiroki refused to believe it and started giving you CPR."
I peeked around the hellhound at my nogitsune sitting at the small table in the corner of the room. His head was in his hands and I could practically feel the waves of relief and worry coming off him. My heart broke.
"Well, I'm telling you, I feel much better. Less dead."
"Fine. But you're not getting out of bed today."
"Are all of you staying with me?"
He chuckled. "I do not think you could pry those two away from you with construction machinery."
"Good. Because I'm exhausted and don't want to be alone. What about you, Remy?"
"I shall stay."
"Because you want to?"
He blushed. I couldn't fucking believe it. I wanted to touch his cheeks just to make sure. "Yes."
I poked him in the chest and gave him a grin. "You like me."
"A little. You're amusing when you're not being irritating."
"There's a fine line between amusing and irritating."
"Glad you found one, because the genius and insanity one shall elude you forever."
"Yeah. Not the smartest fox in the den."
"No. But you have heart. Come, return to bed."
"In that order? Or can I return to bed and then come?"
His blush shifted from the pink spectrum to deep crimson. "I see you wish to skate that line again."
"Oh, come on. That was funny!" I grinned at him and climbed up into the bed, snuggling against David. "Hey, handsome."
He kissed me. Not passionately, but with every ounce of love he had for his goofy little girlfriend. I was almost crushed by the weight of it and snuggled against his chest. Remy slid in behind me, encircling me with his warmth.
Something was still missing. I lifted my head and looked at the corner of the room. Hiroki was looking at the three of us and smiling. "You coming?" I turned on my back and held out my arms to him.
"I should not…"
"You should," David said evenly, leaving little room for argument.
Roki sighed and got up, picking the comforter up and crawling onto the bed on his knees, moving forward and spreading it out over us as he lay down, head just below my breasts. I stroked his head and relished in the feeling of being completely protected, safe, and most importantly, warm.
Chapter 18
"Tell him, Kaede." Remy's voice held a measure of anger, a cup of sorry, a teaspoon of regret, and a hefty dollop of hatred.
When the four of us spent the afternoon in bed, I had regaled them with the tale of what had happened and how I ended up on the beach. I'd left nothing out, confessing the gods' involvement, but more importantly, I calmly informed Remy of his sister's part in my predicament. I'd felt him stiffen next to me as I told my story. He wasn't shocked, he was pissed. As soon as they deemed me rested enough, he used the hotel phone to call the school and waited until his brother was put on the line. In no uncertain terms, he demanded that Rome meet us at a nearby coffee shop.
And so, there we sat, Rome, Remy, and I. Roki and David were still back at the room. Remy wanted to be alone with his brother when I broke the news to him.
"She doesn't need to. I can smell Sabine on her. As well as the sea and death." Rome's face contorted into a visage of anger. He balled his fist, lifted it high above him and drove it down at the table. Closing my eyes, I turned my head expecting shrapnel that never came. When I finally looked, he had stopped just short of obliterating it, his fist quivering just a fraction of an inch above the table. "Is she that petty? Has she learned nothing?"
"Apparently not. She dumped Kaede in the middle of the ocean, tied to an anchor. That is premeditation on her part. You cannot let this go unpunished."
"I know."
"What about your mother? Can't she do something about her?"
"I am alpha. I lead our pack, not my mother. Besides, those two are more alike than I care to admit," Rome said without looking at me, staring at his brother the whole time.
Remy just nodded, but then gave his brother a worried expression. "There is more." He turned and nodded.
"I don't think she was completely in control."
"What?"
I closed my eyes before talking, not wanting to see the crazy look again, the one that Remy gave me when I told him. If Hiroki hadn't been there to tell him that it was not something I would lie about, ever, I'm not even sure if he would have believed me. Even now, I got the feeling of acceptance from him regarding my story. Not so much as he took it as the truth, but more of my perception of the truth. He thought I was mistaken.
"Kaede," Remy cautioned.
"Don't get me wrong, I think she planned on killing me, but I don't think Sabine was driving the car when it actually happened."
"What do you mean?" Rome leaned forward, finally staring at me intently.
I sighed. "One of my abilities is to turn rice and water into sake. It's one of the perks of being half celestial messenger. Except, I can't anymore. It turns into mead. Which I had never even heard of. On top of that, Fenrir still speaks to me. And I saw Jormungandr. Down in the ocean. He was almost completely encircling the earth."
"Jormungandr is no more, Tatsuo…"
"Is wrong," I said without a doubt.
Rome looked from me to his brother, who shrugged. Thanks for backing me up, cheese dick.
"So, you are saying Jormungandr controlled my sister and made her throw you overboard."
"No. That was Hel."
He blinked and slid his chair back. "You are saying our goddess wished you dead?"
I shrugged. "It wasn't Sabine who kicked me over the edge. Unless your sister is a schizophrenic who calls her best buddies 'mortal' and can make metal rods fly through the air before she stabs me with them, I'd say yes."
"You were stabbed?" Remy asked with more than a bit of shock in his voice.
I nodded, accidentally having left that part out before.
"But you were not wounded. We checked every inch of you…"
"Every inch?" I wiggled my eyebrows.
He sighed in exasperation. "Where were you impaled?"
"My shoulder. But we heal quickly."
"There should have still been a mark."
"I use this vitamin E lotion, it does wonders for scars."
He narrowed his eyes.
"You need to work on your sense of humor."
"For all we know, it was Fenrir," Rome said calmingly to his brother.
"Then why didn't he stop her from dying?"
"Perhaps he did. Maybe she was just really cold and breathing so shallow you did not notice."
Seems like a reasonable explanation to me. Better to think that than I was actually dead. I don't remember any sort of bright light or celestial palaces. Or pits of fire being stirred by horned guys with pointy sticks…
"Either way, this is all speculation." Rome picked up his macchiato and took a sip, shifting his gaze between the two of us. "Kaede, I am glad you are safe. Go nowhere alone." He gave Remy a meaningful stare. At least I assumed it was meaningful because Remy nodded. He turned his attention back to me. "I have a favor to ask."
Duh duh duuuh. "What?" I tried to keep the skepticism from my voice.
"Tell no one else of what happened. I know you probably wish to see my sister pay for her crimes, but I have my reasons."
I leaned forward. "Let me let you in on a little secret. I don't care."
He nodded. "If that is your wish, we will go to the headmaster."
"No. You're misunderstanding me. I know I can be fucking annoying, and even though she started all this bullshit, I don't care. You get her to leave me alone, and I will leave her alone. Let bygones be bygones."
"Huh?"
It was the first time I'd seen Rome completely confused. I kind of liked it and silently vowed to make it my new goal in life. To keep him in a perpetual state of confusion. It was infinitely better than angry.
"You heard me. Let sleeping dogs lie, no pun intended." I held up my hands. "Get her to leave me alone and you can do whatever to her whenever you want. Or not at all."
"Of all the creatures I have ever met, I think you might be the strangest."
"And cutest?" I blinked rapidly and grinned, baring my teeth at him.
A smile finally graced his lips. "Let us not get ahead of ourselves. Classes resume tomorrow. You continue to be your…charming…self. I shall observe our sister. I wish to learn her motives, if there are any ulterior ones, for myself before rendering judgement."
"Rendering judgement. Sounds scary."
Fire flared in his eyes.
"Yep. Scary."
He turned to his brother. "Keep her safe."
"I shall."
Rome got up, threw some cash on the table and left.
"He's so broody."
"He has a lot on his shoulders," he answered thoughtfully, staring at his brother's retreating back.
"You love him." I made it a statement, not a question. I could tell.
"I do."
"Roki's the closest I have to a brother, but I kinda get it."
He finally looked at me. "I am surprised that you think of him as a brother and not a lover."
I smiled at him over my coffee. "Not for lack of effort on my part. He thinks he is beneath me."
"I think that is where he would rather be…"
I spit my coffee. "If that were true," I said and mopped up the splatters on the table, "then I'd be riding on the Hiroki Highway right now."
"Want my opinion?"
"No. But give it to me anyway."
"After seeing him deal with almost losing you… I think you're full of shit. You might think you want him, but your half-assed attempts at bedding him in the past were nothing but a pretense."
"Exsqueeze me?"
"You heard me."
"But I think you're insane."
"No. You think I'm telling the truth. You know I am. If you wanted to bed someone, there isn't a man, or quite possibly a woman, on this earth who would tell you no."
"You're insane."
"You're certifiable," he answered.
"No duh."
"I think you're afraid of losing him."
"You think I suck in bed?"
"I doubt that. But I know you suck on couches…"
It was my turn to have my cheeks turn a fiery red. "How the hell do you know that? Did David tell you?" I was too embarrassed to be angry. I might spank him later, though.
"Do you think that neither of us could smell it when we came for David that night?"
The fiery blush became a raging inferno. I should have chewed gum or something. "What were we talking about?" Change the fucking subject.
"That you are afraid of losing your kitsune friend. You do not wish to bed him because you are afraid you will lose him if things do not go well between you."
I sighed. "Fine. You're right." I didn't even bother correcting him about calling Roki a kitsune.
"I know."
"Should I tell him?"
"No need. He knows," Remy said with a wink.
"Now I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"If you're Italian, why is your name Remy? Isn't that French?"
He laughed. "Not where I thought you were going with this."
"Answer that one and I may have another for you."
"It is not Remy. Just as Rome's is not Rome."
"Huh?"
"He is Romulus… I am Remus. Rome and Remy are just less of a mouthful."
"Uh…I saw you naked. You're definitely a mouthful." I grinned at my own witty retort.
It was his turn to blush.
∞ ∞ ∞
"Shouldn't we be going back to the Academy?" I looked at Remy with more than a bit of concern. I wasn't shy about my body, but the dress he had bought for me was more than a little bit revealing.
"I figured one more day away would be more beneficial to your health than being cooped up in the dorm."
"With your sister," I added.
"Yes."
"And you two are okay with going to a club?"
David and Hiroki nodded. I'll admit, they looked damn good in their jeans and button-down shirts. Even Remy looked stunning. But none of their assets were hanging out.
"You are the one who expressed a desire to dance." Hiroki cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but I didn't think Remy was serious when he asked what I wanted to do."
"Just limit your alcoholic intake. You will be fine. If you start to feel unwell or tired we will leave."
I leaned over and kissed Roki on the cheek. He was so practical sometimes, I just wanted to lock him in a cage. With a hyena. But he was sweet, always. "Fine. Let's go before I change my mind."
Remy smiled and opened the door of our hotel room. Personally, I had a feeling he just wanted to sleep with me in the same bed again. He probably bought the short, revealing dress so I would freeze my little ass off, and he'd have to warm me up again by sleeping naked.
It wasn't a far walk to Jotunheim, the one and only dance club in the village. Because of its geographic isolation, the place was completely packed. A line waiting to get in was at least thirty people deep and I was not looking forward to standing outside in my dress for at least an hour.
But then, Remy surprised me and walked right up to the guy behind the velvet rope and whispered something I couldn't hear. Not even with my fox ears. The guy blinked in surprise and opened the rope, letting the four of us inside.
"What did you tell him?" I practically had to shout my question over the blaring techno music filling the club.
"Unlike the pub, this club encourages interaction with supernaturals," he answered.
"Why?"
"Because it is part of its appeal. The whole village knows what the school is. Some of the locals want to be closer to us. I found it quite strange, too. But look at the name. You know what Jotunheim is…"
"Land of the giants. Loki's home realm."
He nodded sadly. "It's almost as if they know."
"What sleeps beneath them?"
"Yes."
"At least they didn't call it Ragnarok," I mumbled under my breath, but apparently not under enough. Remy nodded with a chuckle.
"Care to dance?" David slid his arm through mine.
"Of course," I answered with a grin.
"Come on," he said and led us out onto the dance floor.
"We'll get a table," Remy called after us.
"Alone at last," David said with a grin.
I nodded and leaned closer, standing on my tiptoes and pulling his face closer. Pausing my dancing, I locked my lips onto his. I missed kissing him. "Mmmm," I said dreamily as I pulled away.
"You're going to make the others jealous."
"So? I'm dating you, not them."
He cocked an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Nothing." He finally started dancing. A creature who could run through the woods at breakneck speed, narrowly dodging trees, and leap over ravines, was horrible at dancing. But I didn't care. I was happier than I had been for a very long time. Getting closer, I put my hands on his hips and managed to at least get him in sync with the music. He even knew he couldn't dance, but did it anyway to make me happy, that much I knew. That and I loved him.
"You're a really good dancer," he said into my ear.
"I majored in it in college."
"They had a big performing arts program?"
"No. I skipped classes to go clubbing."
His laugh was genuine and infectious. "Love you," he said and warmed me with another smile.
"Love you, too." I twirled around, facing away from him and dancing with my back against his chest. It had the desired effect. His hands slid over my hips as he held on for the ride. "Somebody's happy," I called over my shoulder as I felt him harden behind me.
"Not my fault. You have that effect on me."
"I'm glad I do."
"Me, too."
I pushed back a little harder, trapping him between us, grinding against him. "Gosh. We might have to kick the other two out of the room tonight for a little bit."
"Why?"
"Do I need to spell it out for you?" I grinned and grinded harder.
"No. I get that, but why kick them out?" He chuckled, leaning down to bite my ear. I gasped as naughty thoughts and pleasure ran through me.
"You love me. You're into me. The other two…"
"Have it just as bad as I do."
I let it go. It wasn't an argument I wanted to get into. Especially when I was having the time of my life. When the song ended, Remy was standing at the edge of the floor. David gave me a quick kiss, and a gentle lip nibble. "See you at the table. Love you."
A Tail of Woah: A Reverse Harem Academy Tail (The Fox and the Hounds Book 1) Page 16