A Fox's Alliance (American Kitsune Book 10)

by Brandon Varnell

  “Iris…”

  Justin pried himself from the tanker again. “You really are a piece of work, Kevin. I would have bet anything that you and Iris had been killed by my YK units.”

  Kevin grimaced, remembering his and Iris’s battles against those two YK units.

  ***

  Ignoring the sharp pain in his lungs, Kevin darted from pillar to pillar. All around him several tendrils tried to stab him without success. They impaled the floor, the ceiling, and the walls, but they never reached him.

  He didn’t return fire—not because he couldn’t, as he had plenty of ammo, but because he’d already discovered what type of youki this unit was using. Celestial. The divine energy granted to only a select few yōkai. Kevin had no idea how the Sons and Daughters of Humanity managed to get their hands on a yōkai with a celestial affinity, but it was definitely problematic for him.

  After all, celestial youki’s only weakness was the Void.

  I have one cartridge of void bullets, but if I were to use them here…

  Void and Celestial youki were polar opposites in power. Celestial was the embodiment of light and creation. The Void was the absence and negation of all concepts. When these two forces collided, catastrophe was often the result. Kevin didn’t even want to think about what would happen if he shot that thing with void bullets or, Inari forbid, he used a charged attack like he’d done last time.

  I need to find Iris.

  However, finding Iris was harder than it appeared, especially with a killer machine chasing after him.

  Feeling a shift in the atmosphere, Kevin zigzagged to the left. Six tendrils impaled the ground where he’d been standing, sinking into the cement like it was a soft loam. He then leapt over a car, which became perforated with holes when the Yōkai Killer fired multiple bullets from its fingertips. Oil leaked out of the car, forming a puddle on the ground, and Kevin didn’t hesitate to load his silver gun with a fire cartridge and shoot the oil.

  A massive conflagration went up behind him as the car was lit ablaze. Plumes of smoke and fire rose to the ceiling, hopefully masking his presence from the Yōkai Killer. Kevin ran further from the car, putting as much distance between him and the machine. Along the way, he shot several more cars, causing them to explode. It might not keep that blasted machine from finding him, but it should at least give him some time to find Iris.

  “Gya!”

  The sound of screaming pierced his ears. Kevin spun on a dime and rushed toward the source of those screams. He darted past numerous cars and pillars, then came to a stop when he finally found the person he was looking for.

  Iris leaned against a pillar, blood leaking from a wound on her shoulder. Her left arm dangled limply by her side, while she’d grabbed it with her other hand. There was a nasty gash on her forehead, from which more ichor leaked, forcing her to close an eye, lest she get blood in it. Standing before her, its hands forming two falchions, the Yōkai Killer she’d been stuck fighting appeared ready to finish her off.

  Oh, no you don’t.

  Kevin released a beastly snarl and charged the Yōkai Killer. He fired off several rounds from each gun, which pinged and panged against the machine’s silvery body. Sparks of flames flared briefly before going out. Lightning lanced out from a black barrel, only to become grounded as the Yōkai Killer’s body acted like a lightning rod. However, even without doing any damage, the attack had done its job—taking its attention off Iris and onto him.

  It turned to him and tried stabbing him in the shoulder. Kevin had seen it coming, however, having already fallen back into his fake opening style. He swerved around the falchion, batting the attack away with his black gun, which he then aimed at the Yōkai Killer’s face and fired a round at point blank. The machine didn’t react to the attack, and it relentlessly sought to carve him from shoulder to hip.

  “Stud?” Iris exclaimed, surprised. “What are you doing here? Where’s Lilian?”

  “Never mind that!” Kevin snapped. “Help me deal with this machine before the other one comes for us!”

  “No need to be rude! I was gonna help you out anyway!”

  Kevin grimaced. He would’ve apologized for snapping at her, but the Yōkai Killer’s attacks had increased, both in speed and intensity. Backpedaling to avoid having himself carved open from left to right hip, Kevin fired off several more rounds, which splashed uselessly off the machine’s surface.

  “Extension!”

  Two black tails slammed into the Yōkai Killer. It stumbled backwards, allowing Kevin enough time to switch out his lightning and fire cartridges for water and earth. He fired off a round each. The earth slammed into the machine with a loud clang but didn’t so much as dent it. The water merely splashed harmlessly off its hull.

  Swearing, Kevin jumped back before the Yōkai Killer could use its tendrils against him. It tried to kill him with a cross slash, its arms forming an “X” pattern before it brought them both down diagonally. Kevin went down onto his knees and slid underneath the attack and between the Yōkai Killer’s legs. Before rising to his feet, he hooked his left foot against the Yōkai Killer’s shin and yanked, making it stumble.

  “Extension!”

  Iris used the extension technique to attack again. The Yōkai Killer was launched into the air as her tails smacked it. Kevin used that moment to switch his cartridges again, changing his two current ones out for ether and spirit, which he’d only acquired recently. Spinning around, he fired one round from each gun, and was pleased when his black gun—which contained ether youki—blew a hole right through the Yōkai Killer’s chest.

  “Iris, can you distract this thing for ten seconds?”

  “I’ll give you twenty seconds, provided you and Lilian reward me after this is all over!”

  Kevin rushed behind a pillar as Iris distracted the machine, grabbing it with her tails and tossing it into the ceiling. He held the gun to his face and kept his finger on the trigger, charging it for one, two, three, five, eight, ten seconds, and then rushed out from behind the pillar.

  He fired his other gun, launching six spirit bullets that clanged off the Yōkai Killer’s metal surface.

  It turned to him, its visor flashing as it recognized him as a threat. Now that it was no longer attempting to slice her in half, Iris backed off, leaning against a pillar and gasping for breath.

  Kevin ducked and swerved left as a blade sliced down from above. The pavement split as the falchion cut through it with ease. At the same time, the other falchion tried cutting him in half, but Kevin, timing the swing precisely, slammed his black gun onto the top of the blade while leaping over it. He spun through the air, his body corkscrewing as he aimed his silver gun, the barrel of which emitted wisps of ethereal silver, at the Yōkai Killer’s head.

  “Bang.”

  Kevin’s hand was nearly jerked off course when he unloaded his charged-up payload. A beam of white light burst from the barrel, engulfing the Yōkai Killer’s head. It only lasted a second, then the beam dispersed as the youki was used up. Kevin rolled along the ground, shunting aside the bone-jarring impact on his shoulders, then leapt to his feet and aimed at the Yōkai Killer again, unleashing several regular youki projectiles into it.

  The machine’s body jerked back and forth as holes appeared in its torso. Kevin didn’t let up until he’d spent all of the youki stored in his gun. By the time the gun clicked empty, the Yōkai Killer barely had any matter left. It was just a barely standing mass of silver that was even now melting into a pile of goo.

  It must not have enough nanomachines to retain its shape.

  Kevin stumbled to his feet. A throbbing ache let him know that his shoulder had popped out of its socket again. Clenching his teeth, he pulled it back into place. Searing heat spread through his shoulder. He became aware of other injuries he’d suffered as well; a cut on his head caused blood to gush down his hair, and his right torso had been split open, ichor pouring from the wound.

  “You okay, Stud?” Iris asked.

 
; He took a deep breath. “I’m fine.”

  “I’ll bet,” Iris said, grinning when Kevin winced after taking a single step forward.

  “Oh, shut up,” he mumbled, looking around. “That’s weird.”

  “What is?”

  “That other Yōkai Killer was following me. I sort of expected it to have attacked us by now.”

  “It did not attack you because I took care of it,” Hina said, walking toward them and dragging a trussed up Yōkai Killer behind her. It was bound in what looked almost like mummy bandages—except these bandages glowed an ethereal yellow.

  “You’re okay!” Kevin exclaimed.

  “Of course I am okay, thanks to you, my honey.”

  Kevin shuddered.

  “Yeah, yeah, glad to see you’re not dead and everything,” Iris said, uncaring. “Now can we get going? Lilian is still fighting.”

  “You’re right. Let’s go help Lilian.”

  Kevin refocused his mind. He was tired, but he couldn’t afford to rest just yet. Lilian needed him, and he would be damned if he let something happen to her when he could’ve done something to prevent it.

  ***

  “We almost were,” Kevin confessed, “but Iris and I are nothing if not tenacious.”

  “So it would seem,” Justin all but sighed. “Is this the part where you kill me now?”

  “I really should,” Kevin admitted. His gun was shaking. “You’re dangerous. You’re a threat. I shouldn’t allow a threat to live, but I… I…”

  Justin smiled sadly. “You always were too kind for your own good.”

  Kevin closed his eyes. His face was set in a grimace, which told Lilian more about the turmoil he felt than words ever could.

  “Surrender,” Kevin said. “Give yourself up and I can promise that you’ll be treated fairly as a prisoner of war.”

  “You know I can’t do that.”

  “Damn it, Justin! Don’t make me shoot you!”

  “I can’t let you do that either.” Justin reached into a hidden compartment on his suit and pulled something out. He held it up, revealing it to be some kind of button.

  Lilian’s eyes widened.

  He wouldn’t!

  Kevin must have realized the same thing. He took a step forward and shouted, “Don’t do this!”

  “Goodbye, Kevin.”

  Justin pressed the switch.

  His body was then consumed by a massive explosion.

  CHAPTER 11

  IS IT FINALLY TIME TO LEAVE?

  “My Lady?”

  Phoebe had been bored since Kevin, Lilian, and Iris left. She wished they would’ve taken her with them, but she also knew that, even if she had begged Daven to let her go, it wouldn’t have made a difference. She was needed in Neo Seiryuu.

  It was the unfortunate part about being considered a member of Daven’s elite. Herself, Kotohime, Kiara, Mack, and Polydora were all members of this group. They were the strongest yōkai, the ones who went on missions that the others couldn’t go on—suicide missions where the likelihood of death was high.

  “Lady Phoebe.”

  Fortunately, suicide missions were rare. Neo Seiryuu wasn’t taking part in this war, though that might change if Kevin’s mission proved successful.

  Kevin…

  Phoebe thought about the young man often—or rather, she thought about how strong a child born from his seed would be. She really hoped that nothing bad happened to his baby maker during the course of his current mission. It would be disastrous for her if she couldn’t at least get one child out of him.

  “Are you listening to me, My Lady Phoebe?”

  But the only way to Kevin’s cock is through his mate…

  Lilian wasn’t really an obstacle for her, but she did present something of a problem. Phoebe knew the girl was doing her best to keep other girls away from Kevin—except for Iris, it seemed—though she didn’t know why. Wouldn’t it be better to have Kevin mate with many women, thus giving birth to many strong children? That was how the yama uba had done things for generations, and until the Mul Clan stopped giving them a constant supply of men, it had served them well.

  “Lady Phoebe!”

  Ripped from her thoughts of Kevin and babies by the sound of Polydora’s voice, Phoebe glanced up.

  “Yes? What is it, Polydora?”

  “You have been standing in front of Master Daven’s office for nearly five minutes now,” Polydora said, exasperated. “I do not believe we should stand here like this. Perhaps we should go inside since he did call for us.”

  “Ah, yes, you are correct,” Phoebe muttered. “My apologies, Polydora, it seems I was lost in thought.”

  “What were you thinking about, My Lady? I-if you don’t mind my asking, that is.”

  “Not at all. I was thinking about how many children I wanted to have with Kevin.”

  Polydora tripped on the carpet and slammed face-first into the wall. Phoebe winced when cracks appeared, starting from the point where Polydora’s head met the concrete.

  “Are you all right, Polydora?”

  “I-I am fine,” Polydora muttered, wincing as she rubbed her nose. “L-let’s just proceed inside.”

  “Of course.”

  After knocking on the door and receiving permission to enter, Phoebe, with Polydora in toe, entered the room and strode straight to the desk.

  A monstrous man sat behind the desk. Daven, their current leader and a man of few words. Phoebe stood patiently, her head held high, while Polydora fidgeted beside her.

  Unlike her, the young woman she called best friend did not hold men in very high regard. She believed that all men were better off helping birth children and staying at home to clean up the house. While Phoebe understood her friend’s position and beliefs, she felt those beliefs were outdated. She might want Kevin’s babies, but that didn’t mean she would stop him from doing what he wanted; she wouldn’t put out the determined fire raging inside of him. It would have been a crime.

  “I have a mission for you two, one that I can’t ask of anyone else,” Daven started. Phoebe correctly interpreted his words to mean they were going on another potential suicide mission.

  “Let us know of our task, and we shall do all in our power to complete it,” Phoebe declared passionately.

  Daven grunted, acknowledging her words. “Several days ago, I sent out a reconnaissance team after receiving reports that something strange was happening in Michigan. They went missing two days ago.”

  Michigan was a long way from Arizona. Phoebe didn’t know how far, exactly, but she understood that it took months to travel that far on foot. The team that disappeared had likely traveled there via airplane, which let them reach their destination in record time.

  Technology that humans came up with still astounded her.

  “And you would like us to travel to Michigan and find the missing team?” Polydora asked for clarification.

  “That’s only part of your mission,” Daven grunted. “While finding the missing team and extracting them to safety is your top priority, I also want you to see if you can discover what is happening up there. Find the team, find out what’s going on, and then report back to me. Your plane leaves tomorrow morning, so you should begin packing now.”

  “We understand,” Phoebe said. She hesitated for a moment before plunging on. “Also, have you heard any word from Kevin Swift and Lilian Pnevma?”

  “I have not heard from them,” Daven said. Phoebe’s shoulders slumped. “However, I did hear from my old colleague, Kuroneko, that Kevin, Lilian, and Iris are all in good health. It appears they took part in several battles while in California and—”

  “Battles?!” Phoebe slammed her hands on the table and penetrated Daven with her frantically desperate stare. “You mean to tell me they fought against the United States and the Sons and Daughters of Humanity?”

  Daven furrowed his brow. “Yes.”

  “Tell me,” Phoebe started, her voice deadly serious—serious enough to make even Daven straigh
ten in his seat, “is Kevin Swift’s ability to produce children still intact?!”

  The sound of Daven’s face breaking the desk apart could be heard throughout the entire building.

  “That’s what you wanted to ask me?!” Daven shouted.

  ***

  Lilian woke up to find Iris’s face barely a millimeter from her own. Her sister was sound asleep, eyes closed to reveal long, black eyelashes, and her mouth partially opened. She wondered what her human friends would think of her if she told them that, upon seeing her sister’s sleeping face, she felt a very strong urge to kiss Iris.

  They’d probably think it was weird.

  Even Kevin, her mate and the person who’d accepted her wholeheartedly, felt a little awkward when things became heated between the three of them. He tried to be understanding, and Lilian was sure that it turned him on regardless of his own morals, but she knew that a part of him also thought it was wrong. She guessed that was just what it meant to be a human. They lived by different rules, and merely becoming a kitsune’s mate didn’t necessarily change a human’s perception of right and wrong.

  Speaking of Kevin…

  Her mate wasn’t in bed. It was the reason she’d woken up in the first place. Glancing over Iris’s sleeping form, she found Kevin standing by the window, staring out at the early morning sky. The window was open, and his blond hair rustled in the breeze. She only saw part of his face, but judging from what little she could see, he appeared to be in deep contemplation.

  Lilian carefully extricated herself from Iris’s grip, sliding her legs out from their entanglement and unwrapping her sister’s arms from around her waist. The tails were a little harder, but Lilian had been sleeping with Iris long before she’d ever met Kevin, so she knew how to handle her sister’s clingy tails. Silently climbing out of bed, Lilian made her way to Kevin until she stood right behind him.

  Kevin didn’t jump or act startled when she wrapped her arms around his middle, nor did he do anything when her tails slowly entwined around him like a pair of velvety serpents. He leaned back, allowing her to pull him closer, and placed his hands over hers.