Nine Tails Collection 1-3: Kitsune and Shaman novel

by J. L. Weil

  He swung his car into a secluded part of the beach where the towering trees lined the oceanfront. As I stepped out of the car, the sound of waves crashing against the dark rocks sang a harmonious tune to my soul. Peace and tranquility foamed and lapped at the shores. It was a beautiful view with the crystal aqua waters stretching as far as the eye could see.

  Driftwood laid scattered over the sand as we walked toward the waterline, and large cliffs jutted out into the sea like a boardwalk, untamed and rustic. “I haven’t been to this side of the town since I was little. I forgot how beautiful it is.”

  “And secluded. It will serve our purpose well. No distractions of the city to disrupt your concentration.”

  Ironically, he distracted me way more than the bustle of downtown Seaside Heights. “Okay then. What do I do?”

  His eyes were intoxicating. I tried not to stare. “Turn into the fox.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I know that, smartass. How?”

  His lips twitched. “Emotional triggers work the best, at first, until you learn to switch between forms at will.”

  I tucked my hair into a ponytail. “I’m not feeling very emotional at the moment.”

  Devyn’s lips pursed. “Let’s see if we can change that.” I didn’t even see him move. Suddenly, he was behind me. “Are you afraid?” he whispered near my ear, his grip steady on the sword he pressed to my throat.

  I shivered, but for all the wrong reasons. He held a blade to my neck, but all I could think about was how his body felt against mine. I swore I could feel his heartbeat. “No. Should I be?”

  The muscles in his chest and arms relaxed. “So you do trust me.” He lowered the blade and spun me around.

  I stared into his eyes. They glowed like the northern lights. “I guess enough to know you won’t hurt me.”

  His bright eyes narrowed. “We’re going to need a new tactic.”

  My gaze moved to the hilt of his sword. “Is that Wrath or Fury?” I asked, eyeing the sleek snake coiled around his wrist.

  His lips twitched. “Fury.” He held the blade so I could see.

  As if she heard her name, the olive-colored snake lifted her head, her black forked tongue tasting the air. All my life, snakes had been one of my greatest fears, but like Devyn, the serpent intrigued me. And by the way the dark slits watched me, Fury had just as much curiosity about me. She was small and thin, nothing like the giant cobras I’d seen in the zoo behind glass. “Do they go everywhere with you?”

  “Always.” A fierce protectiveness coated his tone, and his eyes softened, filling with an inner glow. If you messed with Wrath or Fury, you would have to deal with the Shaman.

  “Now what? Got any other scare tactics up your sleeve?”

  He sheathed his blade, putting it back with the other. “Nope. It’s all you now, Kitten.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him not to call me that, but snapped it closed when I caught the smirk on his lips. My head already throbbed, and we had barely begun. Fear, sadness, and anger were triggers—emotional connections. I massaged my temples to ease the tension building there. “Got any suggestions?”

  His dark T-shirt strained against his chest when he leaned on a tree. “You could try to think of something that makes you sad.”

  These days, I had doses of sadness that hit me out of nowhere. A few tears shouldn’t be a problem … if I didn’t have an audience. “Could you turn around or something? I can’t concentrate with you watching me.”

  He gave me a look that radiated smugness, and I made a face at him, but he finally complied and pivoted to face the car, leaving me to my own devices. It crossed my mind to run, leave all this behind, and never look back, never see Devyn again, but I knew he would find me no matter how far I ran.

  I glanced out to the ocean, watching the waves rise and fall onto the shore. This was so surreal. I was standing on the beach with the hottest guy I’d ever laid eyes on, trying to turn into a fox. Since when had my life become an episode of Supernatural?

  “Anything?” His dark voice carried with the wind.

  I turned over my shoulder and looked at his profile, the gentle breeze tousling his obsidian hair. “It’s going to take me more than thirty seconds. Check your email or something.”

  He chuckled.

  I racked my brain for the saddest idea—something that brought forth all the feels. Of course every time I thought about living without my mom I broke down. Now was no different. The first tear trickled down my cheek, and a pressure in my chest clamped over my heart. It came on quick, engulfing me with more emotion and pain than I was prepared for, but it also pulled out other sensations.

  Heat enveloped me from the inside out, like a flash flood of warmth. And with this surge of fever came the contorting of my body. It was neither painful nor pleasant but felt as natural as walking. And in less than ten seconds, I went from standing on two feet to four furry paws.

  Shifting this time was different than the other times. I wasn’t in any immediate danger. No one was chasing me or trying to steal my soul, allowing me to notice things I hadn’t before. Like my nails: they were long and curled over my paws, coming to a sharp point that could undoubtedly be used as a weapon. In the distance, over the sound of crashing waves, a flock of western sandpipers squawked as they skimmed over the surface of the water in search of food.

  Everything seemed more intense. Sights. Sounds. Touch. Smells, from the sea salt air to Devyn’s scent carried in the wind. I closed my eyes, letting my senses take over. It was incredible. I lifted my face to the sun. When my eyes fluttered up, I saw Devyn standing with his fists clenched at his sides, an undecipherable emotion on his face.

  I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but communicating as a fox wasn’t possible. My ears went down as I looked up at him towering over me. How did I shift back? The first time I had passed out, and the second, Devyn had done something to cause the shift.

  What if ended up stuck as a fox?

  I could never go home again. Never see my friends. Or graduate from high school.

  Panic set in, and my skin began to tingle and burn, the fine hairs on the back of my neck rising. My heart drummed erratically in my chest, and I recognized the warm sensation that flooded into my blood.

  I stood in the sand—back in my human skin for one minute, then two—trying to get my body under control. My ears rang, and I trembled inside as I tried to focus on Devyn’s face.

  I stumbled in the sand. Devyn’s arms snaked around my waist, preventing me from falling to the ground. I grabbed onto the front of his shirt, fisting the material. His muscles bunched under my hand as he held me. He felt so strong, so steady, that I leaned into him, letting him support more of my weight.

  Lifting my head, our gazes locked—my blue with his green. A tendril of concern filtered into his beautiful eyes. His black hair fell over his forehead, as if he’d plowed his fingers through it in worry.

  He watched me with cool eyes. “See, not so hard. Now we just have to get you to do it without going as white as a ghost. Here, drink this.”

  He offered me a bottle. With an unsteady hand, I took the drink and guzzled half of it. “Orange juice?” Not that I didn’t enjoy a tall glass with breakfast, but he had given me the stuff twice now.

  His hand reached out, brushing a lock of hair back that had fallen out of my ponytail. “The sugar and vitamin C help restore your blood sugar and energy level after a shift, at least until your body stabilizes.”

  Thankfully the fog thinned in my head, and the ringing in my ears faded. The world swooped back into normal motion, no longer enhanced by the fox’s senses. It was going to take more than a few shifts for me to get used to the change from one form to the other. “Why am I doing this again?”

  His finger slid under my chin, lifting my face upward until I stared into his eyes. “Only those who are taught to fear the shadows hide. You, Kitten, are a fighter. It’s in your blood. All we have to do is unlock it.”

  “You make it sound so simp
le, like riding a bike.”

  “It is. Trust me. I’ve seen Kitsunes who can shift back and forth in a blink of an eye, blending their human and fox forms. It’s impressive … and extremely powerful.”

  “In the Second Moon,” I supplied. I angled my head to the side, studying him. “A part of me still thinks you’re crazy, but I’m trying to keep an open mind.”

  His fingers around my waist spread, reminding me he still held me. “Oh, I’m definitely crazy, Kitten.”

  I scoffed. “That’s comforting.”

  His eyes were a heated green, consuming in their intensity. They drew me in, making me forget all the reasons why getting involved with Devyn was a bad idea. His head lowered, and I didn’t pull away.

  Oh my God. Was he going to kiss me? Should I let him?

  Chapter Eight

  Devyn had lips that could potentially get me in trouble. They hovered a breath away from mine. All I had to do was lean in a fraction of an inch and we’d be lip-locked. Wild anticipation built inside me—the hope that something could happen between us. Did I want him to kiss me? Did I want to kiss him back? I feared both answers.

  And then my stomach growled.

  How humiliating!

  “Hungry?” he asked, the corners of his lips tilting. “Because I’m starved.”

  The way he looked at me had me wondering if he was talking about food or something else entirely. My cheeks warmed.

  A part of me kind of hoped he hadn’t meant food.

  But it would be crazy to get mixed up with someone like Devyn. He wasn’t the type of guy you brought home to family dinners, not to mention, he was from another world.

  But technically, so am I.

  Maybe that meant we were more compatible than my brain wanted to admit, because it was pretty obvious my body was ready to go a round or two in the backseat of his car.

  I cleared my throat and looked out into the ocean, needing to break away from the trance of his eyes. “I could eat.” It would give me some time to grill him with the other gazillion questions that had been swimming around in my head since he stumbled into my life.

  Devyn stared at me for what felt like forever. He stepped back, his hands dropping from my hips. “Good. You pick the place.”

  Excitement rushed through me like a wolf chasing the moon—dangerous and unpredictable. I should have declined and gone home to tackle the mound of homework waiting for me or the laundry scattered in my room, but I wasn’t ready to leave yet. I wanted more time with Devyn. For what, I wasn’t certain.

  Somehow I’d survived my first lesson with only a splash of humiliation. It could have been ten times worse, and I had learned a little more about Devyn.

  Did I want to know more?

  Yes.

  The answer made me uncertain. I felt myself becoming a different person when I was with him. The question was: how much of myself was I willing to lose?

  I loved riding in Devyn’s car. The windows were down, the wind blew in my hair, and the radio blasted Madonna’s acoustics through the speakers. I’m walking through the wilderness. Somehow I made it through-ough.

  Unable to stop myself, I started singing, my hand thumping along with the beat. “I didn’t know how lost I was, until I found you. I was beat, incomplete. I’d been had, I was sad and blue.”

  Devyn watched me from the corner of his eye. “Don’t stop. You were on a roll.”

  Holy crap. How much more could I embarrass myself in one day? What was it about this guy that made me forget myself? “Sorry, I love to sing, but only in the car or in the shower.”

  “I know.”

  Tearing my eyes from the view out the window, I looked at Devyn. “How would you know that?”

  A wicked smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “I know everything about you, Karina Lang.”

  It was true he had an unfair advantage. The bizarro connection he had to me seemed to be only one-sided. I pressed my hands into my lap. “Maybe so, but I know nothing about you.”

  The setting sun cast a soft, golden glow over his face. “What do you want to know?”

  Everything popped into my head at once. “Do you have parents?”

  He shot me an easy smile. “I wasn’t hatched from an egg.”

  Devyn had the ability to make me weak in the knees with just one look. He had everything most girls would want: dark, good looks, a hard body, and something else that drew you in. I might be attracted to him, but that didn’t mean I had to fall prey to his dark charm. “Do they live on the Second Moon?”

  He nodded. “My mother does, as well as my little sister.”

  Devyn had a little sister? The idea seemed strange. “And your father?”

  His expression never changed, but his body stiffened. “He died shortly after I was born.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” We were near the boardwalk, not far from the coffee shop. There were plenty of places to eat downtown.

  “Yes, you did. And it’s okay. There is nothing I won’t tell you. I won’t keep secrets, because that’s not how our relationship works.”

  Relationship. Good God. In my head, I knew he meant as my bodyguard, but my heart had jumped onto something more intimate. Since the moment of our almost-kiss, I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to feel his lips on mine. I shook the hormones from my head. “What is it like in Katsura?” Katsura was the hub of the Second Moon, located in the center of the other four regions and according to Devyn, where my mother had been born—impossible for me to imagine.

  Devyn sighed and glanced out the window as the sun glinted off flecks of gold in his eyes, like a cat. For a moment, only a moment, his eyes radiated sadness. Then the hard-ass mask took over, shielding any real emotion from me.

  “You miss it.”

  A beat of silence passed. “I do. This world lacks magic. Although I’m accustomed to Earth, the Second Moon will always be my home. Katsura is the golden city. The air smells like fall, spicy and warm.” His voice took on this smooth quality that in no time had me mesmerized. I leaned on my hand and listened as he described the Second Moon. “In the center of the city is a pyramid building that feels as if it reaches the sky. The sidewalks are paved in gold. Well, not literally gold, but a mineral found deep in the Second Moon that shimmers like gold. It is a magnificent city, eye-catching to behold. I remember the first time I walked through its gates. I was dazzled.”

  It sounded enchanting, a place I might have read about in a fantasy book, untouchable. An urge filled me to see Katsura with my own eyes, and the pull scared me. I’d always wanted to travel and see exotic lands—run through the hills of Ireland, traipse the deserts of the Sahara, roam a castle in Scotland, or scale the Great Wall of China. But to explore another world … I suddenly didn’t want to leave my life, my world, but I would be lying to myself if I denied that I was fascinated. This had been the realm my mom had been raised in—the place she had fled from. “You weren’t born in Katsura?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No. I was born in Willowland, the region to the north of Katsura.”

  I pulled a leg underneath me, relaxed, and pressed my cheek to the seat. Devyn could drive around in circles and I would be content to sit in his car, learning about this whole other world I came from. “And are the streets gold there as well?”

  A soft chuckle escaped his lips. “Definitely not. Willowland is not as wealthy as Katsura. It is the softest region in the Second Moon. The trees all bloom with petals of pure white snow that blanket the ground year-round. The air is neither hot nor cold, but somewhere in between with a gentle breeze. It is heavenly.”

  “How did you learn to fight?” I asked. The blades that were always strapped to his back weren’t there now. They seemed to appear when he needed them and disappeared when he didn’t. I folded my arms over my stomach.

  Devyn’s jaw popped, and I wondered if I’d hit a nerve. “I was sent to train in Thornland. For as soft as Willowland is, Thornland is equally as harsh. It is a pla
ce shrouded in a perpetual fog with a sharpness that cuts into the soul. Thornland is where warriors are bred.”

  Mental note: stay away from Thornland. It didn’t sound like a place I’d be interested in visiting. “Like the Silvermysts?”

  He nodded, his knuckles tightening on the wheel. It appeared neither of us wanted to remember that night I’d first been attacked.

  “Were you really born to protect me?” I couldn’t fathom that his sole existence was to keep me safe.

  His eyes caught mine, piercing deep into my soul. When he looked at me like this, it made me feel as if he knew me on a distinctive level, so different from the lifelong friendship Jesse and I had. I couldn’t find the words to properly describe the connection I sensed when Devyn and I were together. “I will only tell you the truth. Yes, I was born with the instinct to protect you. For as long as I can remember, I dreamed of you from the Second Moon, watched you as you grew up. The moment your grandfather died, I was sent here to find you and protect you, until you are ready to return home.”

  I was uncertain how our connection made me feel. I was uncertain about a lot of things, including going home, as he’d said. So he was here to bring me back to the Second Moon. I didn’t want to talk about that right now. “Is this bond between us one-sided?”

  The car no longer moved, and Devyn draped an arm on the back of my seat, flashing me a million-dollar smile. “That depends on you.”

  “How so?”

  “On whether you decide to accept your fate. As a Kitsune, you have undiscovered abilities. The stronger you become, the more enhanced your gifts will be. A Kitsune can have up to nine tails. You’ve already earned your first: the power to shift skin. But your link to the Second Moon is weak. For now, I am the only tie you have to that world, but in time, as you grow stronger, the bond between us will make itself known within you.”

  “Is there an emotional link between us as well?” I couldn’t believe I had just asked that. Yes, it had been on my mind, but I hadn’t meant to voice the question. This was one of those moments where my mouth moved before my brain had a moment to tell it to stop.