In the poignant pause that followed, Kevin could only shake his head.
SMACK!
“Gaoi!”
“Not happening,” Lilian declared, her tail retracting from whence it came before anyone could see it. Eric, whose head had dented the metal table when her tail shot out and smacked it, could only groan.
***
Immediately after the meeting with the UN delegation, Justin returned with Commander Paine to the Sons and Daughters of Humanity’s headquarters.
While the Sons and Daughters of Humanity had bases located all over the world, their main base of operations was about fifty miles outside of Denver, Colorado, located deep underground.
Justin looked down at the base—what he could see of it—as the military helicopter they were in prepared to descend. The entrance, which had been built on a lake, consisted only of a helipad jutting out of the water and a small elevator entrance that led into the base.
“Are you sure that was a good idea?” Justin asked suddenly.
“Don’t tell me you think I was being heavy handed.” Commander Paine didn’t even look at him. Decked out in his black military uniform and black cloak, the man sat with his legs spread as he leaned back in his seat and stared out the window.
“More like stupid,” Justin quipped. “You not only insulted a delegate in the middle of a UN meeting, you threatened her afterward. That woman looked like she wanted to murder you on the spot.”
“Ms. Sophia Grace is a fool, and she will be dealt with soon enough.” Commander Paine paused, a large red vein pulsing on his head. “And what have I told you about your smartass comments?”
“I can’t remember,” Justin said with a completely straight face.
“Tch! You’re lucky that I have need of your talents.”
Justin said nothing. He merely offered a smile.
The helicopter set down on the landing pad, and Commander Paine exited the vehicle.
“Follow me.”
Justin followed the stern commander out of the helicopter and into the elevator. The giant war machine, a model of the new YK series, trailed behind them. No words were spoken as the elevator descended, and when it stopped and allowed them to disembark, the noise on the other end made Justin flinch.
The elevator led into a busy hallway composed entirely of cement. All of the people who were in the hall stopped what they were doing and saluted the commander as he walked past them. Justin simply ignored the salutes his commander received and followed the man to his office.
Commander Paine’s office was a simple affair. It lacked any form of decoration, and the only furniture it had was a desk, which the commander sat behind. Justin looked at the bare walls with a sigh. Why couldn’t this man at least decorate his room a bit? Was some color too much to ask for?
“It seems you finally got your wish.” Justin moved to stand in front of the commander’s desk and crossed his arms. “The United Nations has not only agreed to increase your budget, but they have also decided to let you kick off the war against the yōkai. Even if they haven’t realized it yet. Now you can finally begin exterminating all those big bad monsters you dislike so much.”
“Watch your tongue, boy,” Commander Paine grunted as he pressed a button on his desk, activating a holographic computer complete with screen and keyboard. “I don’t pay you to be a smart aleck.”
“You don’t pay me at all.”
“You’re alive, aren’t you? I could have discarded you with the rest of the failures, but I didn’t. I kept you, trained you, gave you a purpose. You should be grateful.”
“Yes, because being turned into a child soldier is so much fun.”
“Quit complaining.”
“Yes, sir.”
Justin knew when to push and when to pull back. Commander Paine looked ready to throw him out a window, so it was probably best to pull back.
“I have a new mission for you.” Commander Paine typed a few keys, the soft click echoing in the mostly silent room. “You’re going back to Phoenix, Arizona. The details of your mission are in a report that I’m sending to the new division we’ve established there. One of them will get in contact with you upon your arrival and inform you of your mission.”
“You’re not sending me to Arizona merely to take part in one of our operations there, are you?” Justin’s lips twitched. “Worried about your son?”
Commander Paine scowled. “Anyone who willingly affiliates themselves with yōkai is no son of mine.”
“You’re a harsh man as always, Commander.”
Commander Paine ignored Justin’s words and continued talking. “I expect you to be ready to leave by o’thirteen hundred hours.”
Justin tossed the commander a slightly lazy salute. “In that case, I’ll take my leave. I need to get ready for my next mission.”
After being dismissed, Justin wandered to his room, a basic military-style barrack that he shared with several other members. It was small. There was only a little space to move. The rest of the room was taken up by six bunk beds embedded into the wall.
While getting packed, he couldn’t help but wonder about this latest mission the commander was sending him on, and if it had anything to do with Kevin Swift and his mate, Lilian Pnév̱ma.
***
The ringing of the bell signified an end to school. Students rose from their seats, grabbed their stuff, and headed outside in their rush to leave.
Kevin and his two kitsune companions moved with the flow of the crowd. He held Lilian’s hand, their fingers entwined like a pair of lovers. Strolling next to them, her hips swaying exaggeratedly from side to side, Iris looked like a picture-perfect sin.
Iris and Lilian were fraternal twins, and while they had different colored hair and eyes—Lilian had red hair and green eyes while Iris had black hair and red eyes—both of them looked similar enough. The difference between them lay not in their looks, but in their general disposition and how they carried themselves. Iris acted like a sexy bitch who knew she was a sexy bitch and flaunted it. Meanwhile, Lilian didn’t even realize her appeal, which added a charming innocence that further emphasized her luscious curves.
He led them into the parking lot, past the honking cars belonging to impatient parents, past the first few lots where teachers parked, all the way to the back row near the gate where his own car sat, patiently waiting to be driven.
Kevin didn’t know what he’d done to deserve it—given what happened during the summer, he honestly didn’t think he did deserve it—but his mom had bought him a brand new Honda Civic Hybrid for his sixteenth birthday. Painted all white, his car wasn’t the most sporty nor the coolest vehicle around, but it was safe and fuel efficient. Kevin really couldn’t ask for more.
Unfortunately, there was someone already standing by his car when he, Lilian, and Iris arrived.
“Juan.”
Juan Pompadour something or other stood in front of Kevin’s car. His dark skin clashed with his bright clothes—poofy red pants, a blue shirt with ruffles, and a red shoulder cape. Bleached blond hair styled in a pompadour haircut bounced and jiggled as he moved.
“Someone uses waaaay too much hair gel,” Iris muttered. Lilian nodded.
Even now, Kevin didn’t know what to think or how to feel about this guy. On the one hand, it was Juan who gave Jiāoào knowledge of Lilian’s whereabouts. On the other, Kevin was positive Juan had also tried warning him about Seth Naraka, the three-tailed Spirit Kitsune who’d been contracted to assassinate Lilian. The half-kitsune had the moral compass of a drug addict who needed his fix, but nothing he ever did seemed to be done out of malicious intent. He was, in all regards, a paradox, a puzzle that Kevin couldn’t solve.
“Eet is such a pleasure to see you three again.” Juan’s lips curled condescendingly. “I have not seen you three since before the summer break, despite how school started two weeks ago. I was beginning to think you were trying to avoid me.”
“We were trying to avoid you.” Lilian’s annoyed h
uff made Juan place a hand against his heart.
“You, my sweet hermosa de flor, are harsh as always.”
“Tch!”
“I’ve heard some interesting rumors going around about you three,” Juan continued in his fake Spanish accent. “So many interesting rumors. You were quite busy this summer, weren’t you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kevin said bluntly.
“I think you do,” Juan retorted. “I think you know very well what I’m talking about. You might not know eet, but you and the raven-haired one have become quite the legend within certain circles.”
The smug look Juan sent Kevin’s way would have upset him last year. Perhaps he had matured, or maybe he had just realized that Juan merely wanted to rile him up, but the boy’s attitude no longer bothered him as it once did.
“If you say so.” Kevin shrugged to show how much he cared about Juan’s attempts to taunt him.
“Ha…” A dramatic sigh. “Eet is no fun if you don’t react to my words.”
“Then maybe you should find someone else to bother,” Kevin suggested. “You know, some wet behind the ears brat that you can taunt to your heart’s content. I’m sure there are plenty of them out there.”
“You would be surprised by how few people there are that I can screw with. You three have offered me the most fun I’ve had in years.”
Kevin rolled his eyes. “Glad to know you take such pleasure in messing with us.”
“Do you think we can hurry this along?” Iris asked impatiently. “We all know that you’re here to tell us something important or give us some kind of warning. That’s the only time you ever show up in this series, so if you could just hurry up and tell us whatever the hell it is you want to tell us, that would be nice.”
“You’re a very rude young mujer, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told.”
Juan clicked his tongue, seemingly annoyed by Iris interrupting his fun. Lilian and Kevin just glared. The boy sighed.
“I felt eet only fair to give you a warning.” Juan looked Kevin in the eyes. “There’s been a stirring of unease among the yōkai population lately. More and more yōkai are disappearing, especially the younger ones. Rumor has eet there’s an organization kidnapping and experimenting on them, though that ees only a rumor at the moment. What’s not a rumor ees that several yōkai villages in Europe have been destroyed by a creature that, according to eyewitnesses, looks like eet was made of liquid metal.”
Kevin and Lilian shared looks of alarm, though Iris only crossed her arms, as if to say she wasn’t surprised by the news.
“Why are you telling us this?” asked Kevin.
Juan chuckled. “I thought eet would be obvious. You and your mate always seem to be at the center of any trouble that goes on around here. I would hate to lose my greatest source of entertainment because you weren’t prepared. Now then, I bid you all hasta la vista.”
Kevin frowned at Juan’s back as the half-kitsune turned and left.
“Well,” Iris started, “that wasn’t ominous at all.”
“Do you think the creature he mentioned was the same one that attacked Kotohime and Kirihime last year?” asked Lilian.
“Could be,” Kevin mused, “but it’s not like we can know for sure without solid evidence.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Still, we should probably tell Kotohime and Kiara about this. And Heather too, just to be cautious.”
Iris wrinkled her nose. “Do we really have to tell that dog?”
“That dog happens to be my teacher.” Kevin cast a mildly disapproving glance at Iris. “She has also helped us numerous times. It’s only right that we tell her. Even if she’s not potentially in danger, she might be able to help us.”
“Besides, she’s not bad,” Lilian said, then paused before adding, “for a dog.”
“Fine.” Iris shrugged. “Go ahead and let the dog know about what the pompadour boy told us. It’s not like I care.”
Kevin didn’t even deign to roll his eyes at Iris’s words. He merely unlocked the car, held open the door for Lilian and Iris, and then entered through the driver’s side. After turning on the car’s engine and listening to it lightly thrum, he slowly navigated his way out of the traffic-congested parking lot.
***
Justin wondered why a secret organization that had an over forty million dollar budget made one of their agents book a flight on a passenger airliner. He sort of understood the whole “need for secrecy” thing, and he knew that no one would question a teenager traveling on his own these days, but it still didn’t make much sense. Commander Paine never used a passenger airline. He always traveled in one of his customized helicopters.
I wish I had a customized helicopter.
A soft ding sounded out seconds before a female flight attendant spoke up over the intercom.
“We have arrived at our intended destination. I would like to ask that all passengers please exit in an orderly fashion. Thank you very much for traveling with Alpine Air. We wish you an excellent day.”
Unlike everyone else, who jumped out of their seat and rushed to get off, Justin remained where he was, waiting until everyone else had left before grabbing his small duffel bag and exiting the plane.
He glanced around upon entering the terminal, searching for the person he was supposed to meet with. It took awhile, mostly because the person he was supposed to meet looked so plain. When he finally did locate his contact, it was only due to the man in question holding up a sign with his name on it.
“Mr. Spencer,” Justin greeted after striding up to the man.
“Justin Verräter.” Allan Spencer nodded at him. “Follow me. I’ll brief you once we get in the car.”
Since Justin had only brought the duffel bag with him, they bypassed luggage claim and walked straight outside of the terminal where an all-black sedan sat waiting for them. Justin climbed into the back seat, having noticed that the front passenger seat was taken by someone. Spencer entered from the other side.
Darkness descended upon the vehicle as the doors closed. The windows were tinted to the point where he couldn’t even see out of them, and the only source of light came from a tiny bulb overhead. He couldn’t see the driver or the other passenger, who was blocked from view by a large tinted glass panel.
No one spoke for a long time—not until they were well away from the Phoenix Airport and traveling down the I-10.
“Right,” Justin finally decided to speak up, “are you going to tell me what my mission is, or are we going to play twenty guesses?”
Spencer frowned. “I see that Commander Paine’s report was right. For an individual born and raised for the purpose of spying, you have an awfully… unique personality.”
“All people are unique in some way, in case you haven’t noticed,” Justin fired back. “People are like fingerprints. No two people are ever the same, not even identical twins. If I want to blend in with the crowd, then I need to have my own unique personality.”
Spencer’s frown deepened, but he said nothing more on the subject. “Your mission is to be done in conjunction with a team whose own mission is parallel to yours.”
“And do I get to know what this mission is?”
“At exactly twenty-four hundred hours, a team of specialists and two of our YK series war droids will be sent in to kill two high-profile targets. While they are doing this, you will have two assignments. The first is to assassinate Lilian and Iris Pnév̱ma. The second is to either capture or kill Kevin Swift, depending on the situation. We would prefer capture, but if he puts up too much of a fight, then we expect you to properly dispose of him.”
And suddenly, this mission just got a hell of a lot more difficult.
“You will be given your own team to command. Two elite assassins who have been prepared for this mission and one of our YK war droids to use in case the mission goes FUBAR. Can you do this?”
“Of course,” Justin’s voice was steady and strong, leaving no impression t
hat there might be anything afoot. “It’s just as you said: I was trained to be a spy and an assassin. I won’t have any trouble disposing of a single teenage boy and a pair of two-tailed kitsune.”
Spencer nodded. “Very good. We’ll be counting on you.”
***
Kevin received a surprise when he returned to his condo.
“Welcome home, Master.”
Phoebe curtsied to him, her long blond hair bouncing in strange drill-like curls. No longer wearing her Amazonian armor, the girl had donned a French maid outfit. Her nearly skintight bodice pushed her already impressive breasts up, which were further enhanced by the large dip that revealed vast amounts of creamy white cleavage. Her skirt was indecently short, exposing her muscular thighs. Oddly enough, she was only wearing one black stocking on her left leg. The other was mysteriously bare.
Polydora stood next to the eighteen-year-old woman, the look on her face telling him that she was more than a little put out.
“What are you doing?” he asked. Beside him, Lilian and Iris also looked on, one of them clearly amused while the other appeared resigned.
“I am welcoming you home, Master,” Phoebe answered as if the answer should have been obvious.
“My Lady Phoebe, please do not refer to this miscreant as ‘master,’” Polydora pleaded. “He does not deserve such a title.”
Phoebe tilted her head. “But Master is Master. Why would I call him anything other than what he is?”
“He isn’t your master!”
“Anyway,” Phoebe decided to ignore Polydora and address him, “I wanted to welcome you home, so here I am.”
“Yes, I got that part.” Kevin wondered if sarcasm was needed here. “I meant why are you greeting me? And why are you wearing a French maid costume?”
“Who cares?” Iris said. “I just want to know why I didn’t think of wearing a French maid costume.” She began to drool. “Just think of all the kinky ideas I could come up with. The five of us could easily play French Maid.”
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