The Fractured Soul

by Nicolette Andrews

  “Don’t get up. Mori said it will take time until you’re at your full strength.”

  She felt as if her brain were filled with cotton, this couldn’t be true. Souta dead? He had a piece of Kazue’s soul inside him, how were they going to defeat Hisato without him.

  Hikaru guided her to sit and took her hand in his. “While we were on the mountain. They found the last piece of Kazue’s soul, but she brought a hybrid army to the seaside palace and destroyed it. Suzume and Souta fought her, but he didn’t make it out alive.”

  She felt dizzy. This couldn’t be happening. It had to be a bad dream, after all the things they’d fought for to gain peace among the yokai, to get stronger to defeat Hisato. It was as if someone had come and cleared the board. It was like starting all over from nothing. And what scared her more was if Souta could die, what about Hikaru? She’d lost him once, and it nearly broke her. She couldn’t risk losing him again.

  “Let’s run away,” she said.

  “We can’t, what about defeating Hisato—”

  “Souta is dead. The water of Kazue’s soul has sided with Hisato, how can we possibly hope to defeat him?” Her hands trembled as she took Hikaru’s in hers. He stroked them lovingly.

  “I lost you once, I can’t do it again,” Rin said as tears rolled down her cheek. He pulled her into his embrace, holding her tight.

  “I’m not going anywhere, you don’t need to worry.” She clung to him as if letting go meant she would lose him. And a part of her feared that’s exactly what would happen.

  After passing through the tengu guard’s scrutiny, Ryuu was finally allowed into the tengu compound. A message had to be sent up to Kaito, and he feared that the dragon would turn him away. Instead, as he entered the tengu compound, The Dragon came to greet him.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Kaito said to him.

  Ryuu blinked a few times in surprise. Never would he have thought that The Dragon would be happy to see him. There was no time for sentiments.

  “Where is Suzume?” Ryuu asked.

  The Dragon’s face looked drawn, and though yokai were not able to get dark circles under their eyes, his expression was shadowed.

  “She’s not well,” he said.

  “Take me to her,” Ryuu said with his heart in his throat. He never should have left her behind, and the moment he’d heard about the hybrid attack, he should have returned himself to protect her. When he saw the neko next, he would punish him for his failure to do as he was ordered.

  The Dragon brought him to Suzume’s room. She lay on her rumpled futon, a sheen of sweat on her forehead. As he got closer, he could feel the wrongness of her energy. It wasn’t just flame but wind and fire. No. That fool, he hadn’t...

  With a trembling hand, Ryuu knelt beside her and pressed his hand to her fevered brow. The energy inside her was chaotic, battling the foreign wind energy as a body fought disease. Souta had fallen similarly ill when he’d first taken on the wind of Kazue’s soul. It was the body’s way of rejecting a foreign soul. But if Souta’s soul piece was inside her, that meant he was gone from this plane.

  He’d only been thinking of Suzume’s safety; he had never considered the risk to his oldest and closest friend. Ryuu clenched his hand into a fist. He’d been so blinded by his desire to uncover Izume’s plot, he’d lost sight of those who were most important to him.

  “Can you do anything?” Kaito asked him.

  Ryuu turned toward him. A selfish part of him wanted to tell him to leave her to him, blame him for his losses. But there was no one to blame but himself. Even if he wanted to take Suzume and hide her away from the world, The Dragon would upturn it all to reach her. He could see it in his gaze.

  “She’s taken on Souta’s wind energy, and her body is fighting to find resonance within itself,” Ryuu said and stood.

  Kaito looked incredibly tired, his shoulders sagged. “I need to speak with the Tengu Elder, will you stay by her side?”

  It had shocked him; never before did he think Kaito would entrust Suzume to him.

  “Why me?”

  Kaito eyed him for a few moments. “Because I know you alone will protect her with your life.”

  His words surprised him, and warmed him more than he thought they would. It was a simple sentiment, but one that spoke volumes. Perhaps there was a chance they could find common ground between them. Though it was early days, this was enough for now.

  34

  Kaito didn’t want to leave Suzume’s side, but her condition continued unchanged. And he knew Ryuu would take care of her. The seaside palace might have fallen, but he was still ruler of Akatsuki. And the soldiers who had followed him here to break the siege and who remained at his side, needed him. Now more than ever, securing an alliance with the tengu was crucial.

  He went to the audience hall, where the tengu were gathered. The Tengu Elder sat at the head of the room. Mori beside him. Both of their expressions were blank, as he would have expected from the tengu, they never gave anything away.

  Kaito bowed low before the Tengu Elder. There was no room for pride here.

  “We welcome you Dragon, and thank you for your role in protecting the tengu mountain from the yuki onna,” the Elder said.

  “Forgive me for not greeting you sooner, an urgent matter came about that I could not delay a moment for,” Kaito replied. It was fortunate he had. If he hadn’t left when he did, Suzume might have collapsed alone from her fever, or worse.

  The Tengu Elder pursed his lips. “Does this urgent business have anything to do with the human woman you brought here?”

  “It did, Elder. She is my intended bride.”

  Murmurs of surprise rippled through the tengu. The Elder shifted in his seat, his black wings twitching behind him.

  “Surely this is a joke. A yokai and a human to wed?” the Elder remarked. If he really thought it was a joke, he didn’t look very amused to Kaito.

  “I came here today to agree upon terms of an alliance,” Kaito said, he already knew there would be obstacles against his marrying Suzume. But that didn’t concern the Tengu Elder.

  “We have never agreed to an alliance, Dragon,” the Tengu Elder said, as he threaded his fingers in front of him.

  “You would deny me even after my emissary rescued your son, and my army spared all your people from the yuki onna attack?” Kaito’s voice was rising, and he had to take a few controlled breaths to stop himself from losing his temper.

  “Do you know what is whispered among the yokai about you? They are calling you pretender. Even here removed as we have become, we have heard of the human woman who uses you like her puppet. And now, what do you have but a ragged band of yokai whose allegiances may very well change with the next breeze.” The Elder shook his head, and his long white beard swayed back and forth.

  Kaito ground his teeth together to prevent himself from saying something that would only make things worse. He exhaled through his nose. When he’d first built his army in preparation to take over Akatsuki, he’d come against similar opposition. People that doubted his strength and his ability to rule.

  “You know me, you saw me when I first rose to power. You, Elder, were one of the first to swear your clan to support me. What has changed that you won’t put your faith in me again?”

  “The world has changed while you slept, Dragon. I have lived a long life and saw many things. I appreciate what you’ve done for our people, but I have no desire for war. I only want my people to live in peace.”

  Kaito clenched and unclenched his fist. “The Elder I knew repaid debts in kind. I find it hard to believe you would spit upon everything we’ve done for you.”

  “You are mistaken, I may not give you the war you crave. But I will give you and your men who fought for us shelter, and you will be treated as honored guests among the tengu. But I can promise you no more than that.”

  His loyal soldiers had risked their lives and died for the tengu, and he would have him accept the scraps with a smile. His pride told him
to refuse, but then he thought of Suzume sick with the fever, and soldiers who would need to be housed and fed. The palace was gone; there was nowhere else for them to go. He forced himself to bow before stalking out of the audience hall.

  Suzume had been sleeping for days. The energy inside her was still chaotic, the clash of Souta’s wind energy continued to fan the flames inside her. A sheen of sweat glistened on her brow. He’d removed the sleeping spell from her, but the fever that raged through her body, if not resolved, might destroy her.

  Suzume’s dreams had been haunted by strange images. People she had never met, but seeing them, she felt as if she had known them her entire life. A White Palace that was both familiar and foreign. And over and over, Ryuu. He wore different clothes, and at times, a different face, but she knew it was him. As the fever abated, she realized that the things she saw were Souta’s memories. They were the last lingering traces of a very long life. A part of her never wanted to wake because when she did, he would really be gone, and she would have to face the reality that she had killed him.

  When she finally escaped her fever dreams, she was bundled under a blanket in a room that was unfamiliar to her. She had woken in enough strange places that she wasn’t even surprised anymore. The window was open onto a snowy garden. Flakes drifted downward and collected on the windowsill.

  She felt strange in her own skin. Souta’s wind energy whispered through her in harmony with her flame. It felt wrong. How could she live when Souta had died? She climbed up from her futon and walked over to the window, she pressed her hand against the cold glass.

  The flames warmed her frigid digits without effort. It was cruel to be given this much power. She’d fully harnessed Kazue’s power, but the cost was much too high.

  “I’m glad to see you’re awake,” Ryuu said.

  She couldn’t look at him, Souta was his friend, and she had killed him.

  “You’ve been unconscious for several days. You should eat to regain your strength.”

  “Don’t bother.” Her voice cracked, and her lips were dry.

  He put a hand on her shoulder, and she shook it away. She didn’t deserve his sympathy or care, not when she was living with Souta’s stolen energy coursing through her veins. She never should have tried to take Kazue’s flame. Kazue was right, the only way to become stronger was to destroy everyone around her.

  “Kaito told me you think you killed Souta, but that isn’t true,” Ryuu said.

  “How could you know, you weren’t there.” Her voice wobbled.

  “I know Souta, if he had to choose between your life and his, he would have chosen yours.”

  She spun around to face Ryuu.

  “Why me, why did I deserve to live and he didn’t?” The tears kept falling down her face, she couldn’t stop them, and she swiped them away with the back of her hand.

  Ryuu sighed. “Souta lived a very long life, hundreds of years longer than any human should because I tried to stop death. I know he had no regrets.”

  Suzume collapsed to her knees. It didn’t feel right, any of it. But she wouldn’t squander Souta’s sacrifice. His physical form was gone, but as his energy lived inside her, she would hold onto it, and she would use it to destroy Hisato and Kazue, no matter what.

  Even though there hadn’t been a funeral held for Souta, Suzume wanted her own private one to say goodbye and thank you to him. Bundled in layers, she had left the tengu compound with Kaito. He’d been busy with the soldiers and negotiating with the tengu for their shelter and making plans to rebuild his kingdom, but he agreed to join her without protest. They found a spot that overlooked a valley.

  It was a cloudless day, and the snow reflected the sunlight in beams of rainbows. Standing at the edge of the ledge, the wind rustled through her hair. He would have loved it here. The snowcapped mountains dotting the landscape and the horizon that stretched all the way to the sea. A lump formed in her throat. She’d promised herself she wasn’t going to cry today.

  In such a short time, she’d lost so much. Akira and Tsuki had been corrupted and joined Hisato, Souta was gone and so was the seaside palace. Kaito embraced her from behind, holding her close to his chest. She leaned back into him. They’d lost much, but she’d gained even more.

  “I never knew it was going to be this hard,” Suzume said.

  “Nothing worth fighting for ever is,” Kaito replied, squeezing her tighter.

  “If I had trusted you, if we hadn’t argued—”

  “Don’t blame yourself. I should have seen through her.”

  “We were both fools,” Suzume said and grabbed his arms to pull him tighter around her.

  “We were.” He nuzzled against her neck.

  Her heart raced, and the wind blew harder. It picked up snow from the ground and tossed it around her in a spiral. A tingle raced over her skin, the wind powers were new, and it would take time to get used to them. But even now, she felt more in control of them than she had when she first discovered her flame power.

  Despite that, the future had never felt more uncertain. Would she and Hikaru be strong enough to defeat Kazue and Hisato themselves? Had Kazue been telling the truth when she said that to defeat Hisato, others would die in the process?

  “Something on your mind?” Kaito asked.

  “I’m scared for the future,” she admitted. It felt even more real speaking it out loud.

  Kaito turned her around to face him, and spoke to her with both hands on her shoulders.

  “No matter where you go, I will be with you. And whatever obstacles you face, I will be with you.”

  “Are you making a promise?” She laughed. His expression was more solemn than usual.

  He captured her lips in a kiss, and when they broke apart, she was a little breathless. “It is my vow to you. I am yours, Suzume. Forever and always.”

  Don't miss the series finale: The Immortal Vow now available for pre-order. Reserve your copy here. Want to be notified when the book is released? Join my readers group to get an exclusive short story, SORCERER.

  And then the while you wait, check out more from the world of Akatsuki, and find out how Rin and Hikaru met in Kitsune. Get it here or read on for an excerpt from the book!

  Excerpt Kitsune

  The boar was covered in coarse black hair. The giant yellow tusks curved around his snout as he pawed at the ground. The young man stood transfixed in place, staring down the eyes of the beast. Rin watched him, wondering what he would do. From the trembling of his hands, he did not seem to be the type who could defend himself very well. His clothes were tattered and dirt stained but finely made. He must be someone important in the human world. I wonder why he came into this forest.

  She did not meddle in human affairs as a matter of principle. They lived such brief uninteresting lives she could not be bothered by them. Then as she stared at the young man, he turned slowly to face her. His dark eyes looked at her and saw her not as a fox, as he should, but as a woman. She could see the spark of recognition, and the confusion, overlaid by his fear. The boar charged and the young man looked for his sword, just out of reach in a bush nearby. Not that it would have mattered either way—no human blade could kill that beast. She should not have cared what happened to him. But as if controlled by some outside force, she pushed the young man out of the way of the churning hooves of the monstrous boar.

  The boar roared as he passed, the sheer weight of his body propelling him forward and crashing through the brush. It was a large clumsy beast. It collided with a tree twice as thick as Rin and snapped it in half. It tossed its massive head and focused gleaming yellow eyes on the pair of them. Now I’ve done it. Akio will have my head for interfering. She looked down at the young man as she straddled his waist and he stared up at her in a daze. His eyes glazed over her face and came to rest upon the pair of fox ears on top of her head. No doubt about it now, he knows what I am.

  He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. It was rather amusing. She grinned as she jumped off of
him.

  “We should get out of here; those trees will not hold him back for long.” She jutted a thumb towards the trees that shielded them from the boar’s wrath. The boar tore at bark with his tusks, grunting and snorting as he dug chunks of earth out of the ground. The space in between the branches was too narrow to allow for his massive body to pass. But judging from the growing pile of splinters, they would not remain an obstacle for much longer.

  A wild animalistic panic threatened to overcome her. It screamed at her to transform into a fox and hide in the underbrush. She smothered the impulse; for some strange reason she felt she had to help this young man. If Akio wants him this bad, then I cannot let him have this man.

  The young lord climbed to his feet, his hands shaking. His open mouth gaped at her ears; then slowly his gaze traveled downward to her foxtail, which she swished back and forth behind her. The boar roared again and the young man tore his gaze away from her and stared terrified back at the beast trying very hard to come and tear them apart.

  “Run, my lady, I will defend you,” the human said. He reached for a sword that was not there. So instead he put up his arms to shield her from the boar.

  She laughed. She did not mean to, but he had all but wet himself out of fear. How could he hope to protect her when she had to save him first?

  “You cannot hope to defeat him,” she replied. “Follow me or die, those are your choices.” She jogged away from the clearing and deeper into the forest, where the undergrowth grew to her thigh and the trees close together. It would be impossible for the boar to follow.

  It was foolish to save him, even more foolish to talk to him, but sometimes it was the foolish things that brought the most entertainment.

  What I want to know is how he can see me. A human should not be able to see my form without me revealing it to him. Any other Yokai in her position would leave him to the mercy of the boar, but he had piqued her curiosity. He fumbled in the undergrowth as he followed after her, whereas Rin moved about with grace, not so much as bending the grass underfoot. He broke branches and mumbled curses under his breath when his silken robes got caught on a thorny bush and tore a gaping hole. He’ll wake every bloodthirsty Yokai in the forest, stomping around like that. She waited perched on a boulder as he mourned his ruined clothes.