by H G Lynch
Now she wasn’t so sure.
“Ember? What’s going on?” Reid asked, touching her arm.
Ember shrugged him off and knelt down, peering into the cupboard, and the fox growled at her quietly. But she could feel it now, a faint tingle in the air around the small animal. He’d been masking it before somehow, but now she could sense it; the magic.
“It’s not a fox,” she murmured, thinking aloud.
“What? What do you mean it’s not—”
“She’s right,” Ricky said suddenly, and they all turned to look at him, hovering by the kitchen entrance. He was looking directly at Ember and the fox. “I didn’t sense it before because the iron in the pipes was masking it, but I saw it when Ember lifted it out; the fox has magic. It’s a shape-changer.”
At that, Reid hissed, and Ricky stepped in front of Sherry protectively, though she leaned around him to stare at the fox with a mix of uncertainty and curiosity. “A shape-changer,” Reid spat. “One of the fae, of course. A djinn, or a phouka probably.”
Ricky shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Phouka, and djinn are born of flames – their power comes from fire. Ember would’ve sensed that sort of magic the second she saw him…right?”
He looked at Ember, and she nodded. Her power had been growing in strength since the thing with Haunting Harry, and now she could light a fire as easily as clicking her fingers, and sense the flame of a candle through the stone walls of the vampire boys’ meeting den. If a creature with power rooted in fire were in the room, she’d know it for certain.
“Well then,” Reid said, frowning. “What the hell is it?”
They all turned their attention back to the fox, which had flattened its ears and lowered its nose, as if it had realised the jig was up. She could have sworn it looked right at her for a moment, right before the air around it began to thicken and shimmer, like heat rising off a hot road. A faint white mist began to rise out of nowhere, swirling thicker and thicker until it formed a mini tornado around the orange fox, obscuring it completely. The mist poured out of the cupboard and spilled onto the kitchen floor, and Ember backed up as it crept toward her toes.
“What the…” Reid murmured, tugging Ember back by the elbow.
The mist spread up and up, forming a whirling column of white fog, and then in an instant, it dissipated. Where the fox had been, the cupboard was now empty, and a tall Asian boy stood in front of the sink. He was slender and golden-skinned, with shoulder-length crimson hair, and almond-shaped eyes the bright colour of new copper. He had cheekbones like knives, and he was dressed in a burgundy frock coat and ragged grey jeans. His feet were bare, as was his chest under the frock coat. He was beautiful, in an odd, steampunkish way.
With a dangerous knife-edged smile, the boy bowed from the waist elegantly and said, “Lovely to meet you all. Sorry for the intrusion, but it’s ghastly cold out there.”
Ember and Sherry stared in astonishment. Ricky was still standing protectively in front of Sherry, and Reid looked like he was tasting something disgusting. He glared at the boy/fox and asked, “Who, and what, the hell are you?”
The Asian boy raised his red eyebrows, but before he could answer, Ricky muttered, “Kitsune. He’s a Kitsune.”
Reid glanced at him. “And what, pray tell, is a bloody Kitsune?”
Ricky was looking at the fox-boy with a curious fascination. “A fox spirit descended from Japan. I’ve heard of them, and they’re supposedly notorious tricksters and thieves, using their fox form to gain entry to people’s homes and then stealing from them and slipping away.”
“Actually,” the boy said, holding up a finger, “I find that definition offensive. I’ve never stolen a thing in my life…besides a little energy, but nobody ever misses that.”
Ember blinked. “Energy?”
The Kitsune flicked his copper-metallic eyes toward Ember, and beamed, showing small pointed teeth as white as snow against his caramel skin. He rubbed at the fine, dark stubble over his jaw while his gaze ran over her body. “Well now,” he said, “What have we got here? A witch who isn’t a witch, or a vampire who isn’t a vampire.” He leaned close and sniffed the air around her, his eyes half-shutting. “Mmm…your energy smells delicious.”
Reid growled, pushing Ember back as he moved in front of her. “Touch her and I’ll snap your neck. Now tell me who you are and what you’re doing in my cabin, before I decide to make fox stew for dinner.”
The fox-boy, who, now that Ember was really looking, looked more like a man than a boy — at least twenty years old, she judged, despite his willowy slenderness; there was an agedness in his eyes that interested her, as if he had seen and learned a thousand things that she never would – raised his thin eyebrows and asked of Ember, “Is he always this charming, or only to house guests?”
Ember laughed, which earned her a glower from Reid which she ignored. “He’s generally about as charming as a pit-bull.”
The Kitsune smirked, his eyes roaming over Reid much the same way as she’d seen the girls at school look at him. “At least he’s prettier than a pit-bull. I assume he’s yours?”
Reid scowled, looking a little uncomfortable, as if he wasn’t used to getting that sort of look from other guys.
Ricky snickered.
Ember shrugged. “I suppose you could say he’s mine, as much as he is anyone’s.”
The boy sighed wistfully. “Pity. Such vibrant energy. So…seductive,” he purred, flashing a mischievous smile at Reid, who looked ready to pop a vein…or sink his fangs into one. He was even blushing.
When the Kitsune boy winked at him, Reid clenched his teeth and growled, while Ricky covered a laugh with a cough. Sherry’s shoulders shook with muffled giggles.
“I’ll ask one more time, and then you’re road-kill, fox-boy,” Reid ground out between his teeth, his cheeks flushed redder than Ember had ever seen. “Who. Are. You?”
With a blinding smile, the Kitsune swept another courtly bow, so low that his red hair almost touched the ground. “You have the great pleasure of meeting Hiro Shisaku, exiled Prince of Kitsune.”
***
** Reid **
As it turned out, Hiro the Kitsune Prince had been exiled from his colony by his father, the King, several years ago, after he was caught sucking energy from – and sucking face with – the son of Ichu, the Kitsune man responsible for an attempt on the King’s life. His father was outraged by his son’s relationship with the son of a traitor, and had him banished, and the other boy, whose name was Kiza, executed in front of the colony as a warning against betraying the royal crown.
While it made for a lovely, heart-breaking story of star-crossed lovers, Reid was unmoved by the little prince’s tale.
“So your daddy didn’t approve of you being gay and kicked you out. Boo hoo. That still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” he said snarkily, leaning against the front door with his arms folded. Everyone else was clustered around the Kitsune boy on the sofa in front of the fire place.
Hiro glared at him past Ricky’s shoulder and said, “No, he didn’t have an issue with me being gay, because I’m not gay. I’m bisexual, like most Kitsunes. Unlike you, we don’t have a problem with homosexuality. We’re not that insecure about our masculinity. We feed on the energies of males and females, which is probably about as intimate as drinking blood is for your kind.” Hiro made a face, as if the thought of sucking blood disgusted him, and Reid scowled.
Looking away dismissively, the Kitsune added, “My dad just didn’t approve of the guy I was with. And the reason I’m here is because I’ve been living in those damn woods for months, and it’s bloody freezing out there. This was the closest place I could find to take shelter.”
“Yeah? Well, I suggest you take your furry tail back out into the snow and find a nice bush to sleep under, fox-boy.”
Ember, who’d been curled close to the fire, looping flames around her fingers absently like golden ribbons, looked up then, frowning. “Reid, come on. It’s blo
ody Baltic out there. He’ll freeze to death. And it’s not like there aren’t enough rooms here. It wouldn’t kill us to put him up, at least for a couple of nights until he can find somewhere else.”
Oh, for God’s sake, Reid thought, scowling. What is with her and taking in strays? First Cris, now the fox. Next she’ll want to adopt a werewolf. But she was looking at him with those big, blue eyes, the firelight casting an amber halo around her hair, and he could feel the disapproving eyes of Ricky and Sherry on him. If he kicked the Kitsune out now, he’d look like a tosser in the eyes of his friends, and while normally he wouldn’t care about that, he did not intend to spend the rest of the Christmas holidays with Ember sulking with him.
Defeated, Reid sighed. “Fine. He can stay…only for a couple of days. And then he’s out of here. And he stays out of my way, or I’ll make good on that promise of fox stew. Got it, fox-boy?”
Hiro nodded solemnly, but Reid saw a flicker of laughter in his bronze eyes.
He’s going to be trouble, Reid thought, irritated. But there was nothing he could do. For now, he would just have to play nice with his unwanted houseguest, and hope the little bugger didn’t try to pull anything that would make him regret his decision.
***
** Ember **
“Oh my God, they’re gorgeous!” Ember breathed, examining the pair of high heeled leather boots in the snowman-paper wrapped box. From Sherry of course. To match her leather jeans and waistcoat. The boots, she realised as she pulled them on, were almost knee high, and had a design of flames that licked up the narrow heels. They were awesome.
“Knew you’d like them,” Sherry said smugly, the silver bracelet she’d gotten from Ricky glittering on her wrist as she flipped her hair. Ricky was wearing an elegant shirt, so dark a green it was nearly black, that Sherry had given him, and it set off his eyes as well as making his hair seem even more chocolate-coloured than usual. He was drinking from a brown glass bottle, some sort of special vampire booze only the boys knew about. Ember glanced at Reid out of the corner of her eye, and caught sight of the leather bracelet round his wrist, marked with red-inked runes. She’d had no idea what to get him, but she’d seen some things in his room with charms and runes on them. Ricky had given him some sort of special grimior, that was about two centuries old —again, something only the vamps knew about to give each other. For all she knew, there were stores out there that catered specially for vampires. She didn’t want to know what else they might sell.
“Hey, I almost forgot.” Ember folded the boots back into their box when they were done exchanging Christmas presents —well, almost done. Reid was keeping whatever he’d gotten her under wraps until they were alone. She so didn’t want to think about what that could mean.
She got to her feet and went to the back room, scrambled in her suitcase until she found what she was looking for, and returned to the living room, where her friends were chatting quietly. They all looked puzzled as she dropped onto the sofa next to Reid, holding a thick, square parcel, long as her forearm. It was wrapped in uninteresting brown paper, but on the front, there was writing scrawled in silver ink:
“Cris gave me this to hang on to just before we left for the airport. Made me swear not to open it early.” She grinned, and looked up at her friends. “Anyone want to do the honour?” she asked, holding out the parcel. Everyone else shook their heads.
“He gave it to you to keep hold of, so you might as well open it,” Ricky commented.
Ember smiled and sliced open the end of the paper with her thumbnail, and slid out the thing inside.
It was a narrow photo album, with a sleek black cover. There was silver writing printed on the front with the message: Friends are memories you’ll never forget.
How sweet, Ember thought, her eyes stinging. She blinked back tears, feeling silly for the urge to cry, and flipped open the cover to see the first photo nestled behind a plastic cover. It was a photo she knew, recognised because she’d seen it in Cris’ room, pinned to a corkboard he’d hidden behind a curtain. She flicked to the next page, and the one after that, and the next after that. They were all photos from that corkboard, of her and Sherry and Reid and Ricky. But there were some new ones too, ones that showed Ember with her fangs out, smirking dangerously at Reid; ones of Reid all vamped out and scary; ones of Sherry in miniature form with lacy wings; ones of Ricky caught in a shaft of pale, blurry light that made him look so fragilely gentle. And the last photo was one she remembered taking just days before they’d left Acorn Hills. They’d all gathered outside by Ember’s tree and Cris had set up the camera on a tripod, set it to wait to take the photo, and joined the rest of them. The photo was of the five of them, laughing under the swaying boughs of the pine trees.
She traced her fingers gently over the photo and handed it over to Reid, so he could see it better. He smiled too and passed it to Sherry and Ricky.
“The boy’s a great photographer, I’ll give him that.” It was true.
“Okay, when do we get to see what you got your girlfriend, dude?” Ricky asked, grinning as he tossed an arm over Sherry’s shoulders.
Reid smirked and shook his head. “You don’t.” He slipped his hand into Ember’s and stood up, pulling her after him.
Sherry made a whining noise of disappointment, then called after them as Ember followed Reid down the hall to the guest room, “You know Ember will show me anyway, right, Reid?”
Ember laughed. “She isn’t wrong, you know,” she pointed out.
Reid threw a glance at her over his shoulder. “I just want to be the first one to see your expression when you open it.”
He dragged her into their room and closed the door, sat her down on the bed and produced a slim rectangular parcel wrapped in azure blue paper that matched his eyes. He slid onto the bed opposite her and handed it to her. Ember looked at him suspiciously for a moment before taking it. Reid watched her intently as she peeled the shiny skin of wrapping paper off the little box to expose a black velvet surface. Ember gasped as she realised that the box was, without a doubt, a case for a necklace. Her heart fluttered. She’d never gotten jewellery from a guy before, but she knew it was significant in some obscure girl-code way.
Reid smiled at her encouragingly. With slightly shaky fingers, she flipped open the lid. Her hand went instantly to her mouth, lips parting in shock. Tears prickled her eyes though she wasn’t entirely sure why.
“It’s a firefly. I thought it seemed appropriate,” Reid said quietly, his blue eyes not leaving her face. And he was right; It was a little firefly pendant, with a sapphire stone for a body and delicate gold wings. The chain was fine and gold, too. It glittered against the black velvet of the box. It was the most gorgeous necklace she’d ever seen. She slowly raised her eyes to his, and he flashed her a sweet, tender smile.
“It’s…amazing,” she whispered through her fingers. Reid’s pretty eyes lit up with joy. He leaned forward and put an arm around her.
Ember made a choked noise of delight and leaned into him as he whispered, “You are amazing.” Her heart jumped and there was a bright feeling trying to break through her ribs. Reid placed a kiss on her forehead, then he tilted her face up to kiss her mouth. Just a chaste brushing of lips, but her stomach quivered.
“I love you,” she murmured gently, snuggling into him.
His arms tightened around her briefly. “I love you, too,” he said softly, lips brushing her temple.
Right then, she wanted to stay like that forever, in Reid’s arms.
Eventually though, she had to let go, and Reid chuckled when she clung to him. Gently, he pried her off and picked up the necklace, motioned for her to turn around. The cool, heavy pendant settled at the base of her throat, and the deep sapphire sparkled against her fair skin.
God, she’d always wanted a sapphire necklace. And now she had one. It meant more to her than Reid could possibly know. He fastened the clasp behind her neck and smoothed his hands over her shoulders. She touched the beautiful pendant a
nd turned to show it off. The look on Reid’s face… She would’ve sworn he hadn’t looked like that since the first night she’d told him she loved him. The ecstasy in his expression made him look like a luminous seraph.
“Come on, look in the mirror.” He tugged her off the bed and dragged her to stand in front of the full-length mirror by the door.
Ember grinned at her reflection, twisting her neck this way and that to make the sapphire glitter.
Reid came up behind her and looped his arms round her waist, holding her to his chest. “You know, it makes me really, embarrassingly happy to see you wear that,” he murmured in her ear, and she giggled.
“Then I’ll never take it off, if you’ll smile like that whenever I wear it.” She wasn’t joking. She’d do just about anything to see that heart-wrenchingly angelic smile on his face.
Reid kissed her neck, his fingers brushing the firefly pendant. “Good,” he kissed her again, and shivers went to her toes. A knock on the door jerked them apart, and Sherry peered in, Ricky at her shoulder.
“What’d he get you? Let’s see! Please!” Sherry squeaked excitedly.
Ember turned to face her full on, her fingers flitting to the pendant resting just above her collarbone.
Sherry’s green eyes got very wide, and her mouth fell open a little. “Oh my God,” she breathed.
Ricky grinned at Reid, eyebrows raised. Reid lounged casually on the bed and shrugged at his friend, only a faint twinkle in his blue eyes gave away his feelings. He was mostly back to the witty, nonchalant boy everybody knew, but Ember smiled because she knew what was underneath that cool façade.
“Is that sapphire?” Sherry muttered, staring at the necklace still.
Ember laughed at her reverent tone.
“Lucky, lucky girl,” Ricky commented, but he was still watching Reid, a knowing lilt to his smile.
