Nine Tails Collection 1-3: Kitsune and Shaman novel

by J. L. Weil

  Confusion tinged her smile. “No. It’s unusual; quite unusual, in fact.”

  I leaned forward in the chair, tucking one of my legs underneath me. “I don’t see what the big deal is. So, it’s uncommon to be paired with the opposite sex. It’s not like the veil between worlds is going to rip open.”

  Mom’s finger tapped rapidly on her teacup, lost in her thoughts.

  “Is it?” I repeated, suddenly worried maybe hell was about to be unleashed on my world.

  “What? No.” She waved a hand in the air. “The veil will be fine as far as I know.”

  “Good,” I exhaled.

  “But, there must be a reason why you were paired with a boy.”

  “To annoy me to death,” I mumbled under my breath.

  Mom’s lips twitched, and it dawned on me, she had heightened abilities like me—sight, hearing, scent, and sound—my whole life. All those nights Jesse snuck into my room. Chances were, she knew.

  My cheeks flushed.

  “Does Devyn have a last name?”

  I rolled my eyes. “St. Cyr.”

  “St. Cyr,” she repeated.

  I waited patiently for her to explain why she looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

  I was about to usher her upstairs and demand she lay down when Mom reclined in her chair. “Of course.”

  I could only stare at her. “What?” I prompted, having no clue what had suddenly made sense to her. I knew only bits and pieces about the Second Moon. “Besides having a tail and having strange creatures try to kill me, I don’t know much else about being a Kitsune.” My hand flew to my mouth. Oops. I hadn’t meant to blurt out the part about my life being in danger. Me and my big mouth.

  Mom’s eyes sharpened, her lips tipping downward. “Okay, we’ll circle back to the killing part in a minute,” she said, seeing the surprise leap into my eyes. “But to answer your question, Devyn’s mother was my Shaman.”

  I was pretty sure Devyn had mentioned that, and I wasn’t positive why the knowledge puzzled her. “What happened to her when you were banished?” I asked.

  Mom’s eyes got misty. “I don’t know. She wasn’t allowed to come with me, and when my powers were stripped from me our bond was severed. She could no longer protect me, and wasn’t allowed to follow me through the veil. It was like losing a limb.”

  I gasped.

  “Trust me, the horror you’re feeling is only a fraction of what I felt being torn from Cersa. She was more than my protector. She was my best friend, and I loved her deeply. Being separated was an agony I have never forgotten. A piece of me has always been missing.”

  I had mixed feelings about Devyn but, truth be told, I depended on him. It was strange. As much as the Shaman rubbed me the wrong way, he also intrigued me. I wasn’t even sure if rubbed the wrong way was the right expression.

  “Now, tell me about these creatures.”

  There were so many other things I would rather talk about. My mind was brimming with a million questions, but I recognized that glint in my mom’s dark eyes. She wouldn’t be derailed. I sighed. “It’s not a big deal,” I tried to downplay. “Devyn has it under control.” So I hoped.

  Mom slowly got up from the table to refill her tea. “I’m sure he does. If he’s half the Shaman his mother was, then I know you’re in good hands.” She returned to the table with two cups and set one in front of me. “But I would like to meet the Shaman who is Baransu.”

  “Barnaseu-what?” I mumbled, butchering the foreign word.

  “It means balance,” she explained. “That’s what a Shaman is to a Kitsune. Someone who stabilizes the power inside us, and the outside forces that might wish us harm.”

  I rested my hands around the mug, letting the heat seep into my fingers, and inhaled the scent of jasmine tea. It had a calming affect I could do with in large doses. I wasn’t positive Devyn stabilized me. He definitely enticed emotions. “Is it wise to have Devyn over? Did your dad grill your Shaman?”

  Humor glinted in her dark eyes. “There was no need. Besides, my father was a busy man. He didn’t have the time to worry about who was protecting his daughter, only that I was.”

  But maybe if he had worried more about my mom, she might not have run off as she had. I kept my lips pressed together, not voicing the thoughts in my head. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

  “There’s no harm in meeting him.”

  Then why did I have such a bad feeling? Explain that. Something told me to keep Devyn and Katsura separate from my normal life. I wasn’t sure why, other than to protect them. “I guess,” I agreed, slipping the heel out of my shoe and back in as I fidgeted. “Does Dad know what you are?” I asked, tactfully moving the topic off Devyn.

  Mom shook her head, a chunk of her long silky hair falling forward over one shoulder. “No. I never told him. There was no reason after I found I was pregnant and stripped of my powers.”

  What would have happened if I had accidently shifted in front of him, not knowing what I was? I wanted to ask, but again I bit my tongue. My father had no idea who he was married to, or where she was really from. Sadness and a tinge of anger flared up inside me on his behalf. I tried to imagine how I would feel having been cheated of the opportunity to truly know the person I’d married and the deceit that lay between them. It wasn’t my place to judge, but I couldn’t help feel as if my father deserved more—deserved the truth, just as I had.

  “You don’t agree with my decision,” Mom said, reading the emotions I hadn’t done a good job hiding.

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I don’t know what I would have done if I had been in your place.” And that was the truth. I’d only been a Kitsune for a few weeks. Mom had known her whole life. Maybe she did know what was best, but it didn’t change the fact she should have at least told me.

  “It wasn’t a choice I made with a light heart. Your father was a surprise, a twist of fate I never saw coming. When I crossed over, I never expected to fall in love. It just happened as matters of the heart often do, and I haven’t regretted a second of it. Given the choice I’d make the same decisions again, except one.”

  I didn’t have to ask which one that would be. It was in her face. She wished, as I did, that she had told me about her past, about what I was, years ago. “Well, for obvious reasons, I’m glad you did.” I wouldn’t be here, or have had the amazing life I had, if she hadn’t. Up until Mom getting sick, I’d pretty much had the picture-perfect, white-picket-fence, all-American childhood. There wasn’t a moment I could complain about until this year, when she fell ill.

  Then everything went to shit.

  “Why did you decide to leave Katsura?” I asked.

  She exhaled. “Wow, it’s been so long since I’ve heard that name.” A series of emotions crossed over her face. Fondness. Sorrow. Remorse. Longing. I couldn’t help but wonder if she missed it terribly, or how hard it had been to leave everything she knew behind to come and live in a strange place. She had to be incredibly brave, and I already knew she was. “Things were complicated with my family. I was born with a responsibility I’d been prepared for my entire life, and it didn’t matter what I wanted. There was only one choice for my life, and it suffocated me. I was never given the chance to figure out who I was, what I loved, or what I wished for my future. Every detail was strategically laid out from me, down to who I should love.”

  My mouth gaped open. That explained why Mom had always pushed me to be my own person, to own my decisions and explore my options. “That’s horrible. So, you leaving was an act of rebellion?”

  “In a way, I guess it was. I never thought my father would banish me. It hurt him to do so, but he had to set an example for his world. Your grandfather is a man of great power and duty.”

  Grandfather. She rarely ever talked about him, and after years of her dodging my questions, I finally gave up asking about the extended family I never saw. Papa and Nana Lang had given me more than enough love and attention. I never noticed part of my life was missing. This wou
ld have been the ideal opening to tell her that her father had passed away, but the sadness I could see beneath the surface of the smile she tried to keep on her lips stopped me. “Maybe another time you can tell me about him, about it all. I’d like to know where you come from.”

  Her lips lifted into a small smile. “I’d like that. A girls’ night.”

  We hadn’t had one of those in forever. What had once been a monthly occurrence had ceased when she had taken ill. I’d forgotten how much I’d missed our girls’ nights: popcorn and a movie in front of the fire, Saturday morning shopping to beat the crowds, or afternoon tea parties when I was little. I had so many fond memories of us together.

  “So, getting back to this threat on your life…”

  I groaned, dropping my head into my hands. “It was nothing. Just a misunderstanding,” I muffled.

  “Uh-huh,” she replied, not believing a word. “I know the kinds of dangers lurking in the otherworld. If you’re in danger, Karina, you can tell me.”

  “I know,” I insisted, forcing myself to look her in the eye and not fidget, as I was prone to do when lying. She didn’t realize why she was sick, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was because her father was dead, at least not today. It had already been an emotionally draining day for her. I could see she was exhausted and barely holding on.

  Mom reached out and touched the amulet at my neck. It glowed softly under her touch, a gentle hum of power as if it recognized another Kitsune of the same blood. “Our power comes with even greater responsibility. I’ve forgotten what it was like, but there was never a day I regretted my decision. You were the only thing that mattered to me. I did what I thought was best for you.”

  “I know, Mom.”

  She released the charm, weariness etched on her face.

  “I should probably start on my homework, and I have a mountain of laundry I need to do,” I said, standing up and making excuses to head up to the solitude of my room. This little talk had taken a toll on us both, and I could see she needed to rest.

  I walked to the doorway of the kitchen leading into the hall. “Karina?” Mom’s call stopped me.

  Spinning around I faced her, lifting a brow.

  “Why don’t you have Devyn come over for dinner this week? I’d like to meet him.”

  I groaned, my hand pausing on the doorframe. Was that a good idea? A part of me wanted to keep my Kitsune life separate from my normal world. Mixing the two seemed dangerous, especially considering the danger I was in, but I couldn’t find it in me to say no. I glanced over my shoulder and smiled. “I’ll ask.”

  Wonderful.

  My worlds are about to collide.

  Chapter Two

  I had made it two feet into my bedroom when my phone started buzzing. Digging it out of my back pocket, I stared at the screen and sighed as Hannah’s goofy face popped up. I bit my lip, contemplating whether I should ignore the video call. Did I have the energy to deal with Hannah?

  No.

  But I knew Hannah Tisdale, and the girl wouldn’t stop calling until she got the scoop. Hannah was as persistent as she was bubbly, and I’d taken off on her and Jesse the other night.

  Kicking my shoes off in the corner, I hit the accept button on the screen and plopped down, belly first, on the bed. The white curtains on my window were pushed to the side, and swayed with the gentle spring breeze blowing through the room, standing out against the mint-green walls.

  “Oh hey, girl.” Hannah grinned into the phone. She was in her soft-pink bedroom, a room that would have made Barbie envious, swiveling on a velvet chair. My best friend was kind of a living Barbie.

  “I’m surprised you’re up this early,” I replied, checking out the clock beside my bed.

  Hannah rolled her pretty cornflower-blue eyes. “Where the heck did you take off to last night? And don’t give me that ‘I wasn’t feeling well’ bullshit. I’m so not buying it. Did you and the green-eyed hottie run off to make even hotter babies?” Hannah’s chatter barreled through the speaker.

  “Hannah,” I groaned. “Do you wake up thinking about sex?”

  She batted her long, wispy lashes. “Doesn’t everyone?”

  If that was true, there was something wrong with me. Up until a month ago, I’d barely had time to think about guys let alone have wild fantasies about one, but then in strolled Devyn St. Cyr, the dark-haired Shaman who was born to protect me…and turned my life upside-down. My feelings about the devilish Shaman were still under evaluation. He was a mystery I wanted to crack, and darn it if he didn’t make me feel like Nancy Drew.

  Hannah pouted her rosy, heart-shaped lips. “So, there was no kissing involved?”

  My feet dangled in the air, a ghost of a smile playing on my lips. “I didn’t say that.”

  “I knew it!” she shrieked, her blonde ponytail bouncing with her excitement. “I want deets, like, graphic ones. Was he a good kisser? Too much tongue? Nah. That boy has experience. Did he make your toes curl? What did he taste like? Were his lips soft? I bet they were. Lips like his have to be baby-ass smooth.” Hannah thrived on being naughty.

  I shook my head, a dull throbbing beginning to take up residence at my temples. “It was just a kiss.” A kiss that had ended with an apology and regret, as in Devyn had regretted kissing me, claiming feelings complicated matters between us. He more or less had friend-zoned me.

  Fine by me.

  The last thing I had time for was a complex relationship. My life was complicated enough. Still, the quick remorse hurt more than I was willing to admit.

  Hannah gasped, a hand flying to her chest. “Girl, if you got just a kiss vibes from a guy like that, you must be doing something wrong.”

  “It was a fabulous kiss; there, are you happy? I’d gladly kiss Devyn a hundred more times. He didn’t just curl my toes.”

  “I knew it!” she sung, doing a full spin in her chair, her long locks twirling in the air. “Then why do you look like someone kicked a kitten?” she asked, studying my face.

  “If I say it’s complicated, are you going to grill me?” It was a ridiculous question, because I already knew the answer.

  “K, you deserve to make a big deal out it. You deserve to have a guy like Devyn chase after you, and have a little fun. I don’t know anyone who deserves it more. When are you going to see him again?”

  “I’m not sure. I have to work at the coffee shop today.”

  “There’s something so mysterious about him, like he’s from another world.”

  I choked. She had no idea.

  “Do me a favor.”

  “Your favors always end up with me doing something I don’t like,” I mumbled.

  “Not evvvvery time,” she over exaggerated. “Just don’t work so hard that you forget to have a little fun. We’re only in high school once, and the year is almost over. Live, K.”

  Hannah had been trying to get me to step out of my comfort zone since the day we met. “I’ll try,” I promised. “But that doesn’t mean I’m having sex with him.”

  “Well, if you’re not, I will.”

  I scowled.

  Hannah laughed. “See, you want to. Go get him, tiger. I’ll talk you to later.”

  It would have been more appropriate if she had said fox. I stared at the blank screen and rolled over onto my back. I’d been lying to my friends for weeks. Neither Hannah nor Jesse knew the real reason I was spending so much time with Devyn, and it occurred to me maybe I understood why my mom had kept what she was a secret from my father.

  To protect him.

  Dressed in my work uniform of black and white, I threw my long dark hair into a ponytail, pulling out a few pieces to frame my oval face, and grabbed my keys and wallet off the dresser before trotting downstairs.

  “I’m going to work now,” I yelled over the TV in the family room. My father was in his recliner and Mom was lying on the couch, a pillow propped up behind her.

  “Drive save, Kit Kat,” Dad called back.

  I raced outside to
my car with ten minutes to get to Sugar and Spice. The short drive gave my mind time to wander; never a good thing lately. There were too many things in my life to worry over, and at the moment all I could think about was Dad. How Mom kept this gigantic secret from him. How I was going to go on pretending, as if my whole life hadn’t suddenly changed?

  Then, of course, the impending dinner with my parents. How was I going to explain Devyn to my dad?

  Kitsune problems. They were real.

  Sugar and Spice was nestled on the corner of a quiet, quaint street. There were a few iron bistro tables out front on a small patio, flower boxes lined the brick building, but the scent of coffee was strong, even from outside.

  I inhaled, never tiring of the smell.

  The little bell chimed as I opened the door, maneuvering around the tables to the counter. A black chalkboard wall lined the shop, listing the menu and daily specials. Working at the coffee shop, gave me a sense of normalcy I desperately needed.

  “Look who decided to show up today,” Tristan razzed, still giving me a hard time for the one night I had blown off my shift. It had been the night I had first shifted—one I wasn’t likely ever to forget. Obviously, Tristan wasn’t about to forget either.

  Tristan Delcour had graduated two years ago and attended the university in town. He had earned a full ride with a swimming scholarship, and was overall a nice guy, if you were into the frat-boy, jock types. I wasn’t, but Becka Wick was. His bleached-blond hair had a bright blue streak running through, taking team spirit to new levels.

  Becka also worked at Sugar and Spice, although she spent most of her shift making dreamy eyes at Tristan when he was scheduled, which meant today was going to be a busy day for me, picking up her slack. I didn’t mind, not when all I wanted to do was throw myself into work and keep my mind off all the other crap.

  “Look who doesn’t smells like a bottle of chlorine.” I sniffed the air around him. “Wow, did you even take a shower today?”

  Tristan often came to work straight from practice, with damp hair and emitting a strong stench of pool chemicals. He draped an arm around my shoulders. “It is your lucky day, then, I guess.”