Temper Dread: Book Two of the TEMPER Saga
Page 25
Lana’s heart twisted but she pushed down her surge of anguish. “Are you… are you guys considering moving there?” Silence on the other end stretched for so long Lana thought the network was out. She checked her screen but no, they hadn’t been disconnected. She pinched her lips at the three missed call notifications. All of them from Honda.
Not now. Give me space. It’s not me you need to talk with.
“Well, maybe,” Gabriella finally replied. Her hesitation was plain to hear. “But I don’t know if I could live in Italy again. As always, it’s lovely to visit, but honestly the country is in shambles. We’ll see. First things first, let’s get this blasted wedding done, settle in, see how it goes, and then we'll talk. It’s way too soon, cara mia, way too soon, so don’t worry!”
Lana shook her head vehemently. “No, please, don’t stay in Japan because of me. If both of you can be happier somewhere else, go! I’d hate myself if you kept sacrificing everything for me.”
“Don’t fret. I promise I’ll make the decision that is best for me. Now… there’s something else I wanted to tell you, and it’s also why I’m calling today. But with all this drama, the timing sucks.”
Lana frowned and got on her feet, her steps taking her toward the clearing. It was getting cold under the trees with no sunlight to warm her back. With any chance, network reception would be better over there. Her left hand continued to rub together the two plastic balls but with less frenzy now that she had been able to release part of her frustration.
“No, no, go ahead, what’s up?”
Gabriella hesitated briefly. “Well, when we arrived, I made a couple of calls to my ex, Francesco, the carabiniere. Remember him?”
“How could I forget him? He’s the most handsome guy you ever got your hands on, lady. But more than this, he was sweet and kind. I might have... drooled over him. Discreetly.”
“Ah, I don’t blame you, he was a piece of art. Anyway. We chatted, I wanted to see if we could get more info about that... family... the one at the reception back in May? I played it nice, we remembered some good moments. Turns out he works at Interpol now. He called me back yesterday and confirmed that they have deep interests in Japan, unfortunately. They’re attempting to get in touch with clean and underground business circles at the same time. But that’s not the most distressing, cara mia. Francesco told me another name associated with them came up, a name he remembered thanks to you.”
Lana stopped in her tracks, a few meters from the tree line. “What? Who...?”
“His name.”
Lana’s throat constricted, and a wave of dizziness washed over her. “No.”
Gabriella's voice turned soft. “Yeah... your stepfather is connected with shady Japanese groups and that family through his shipping business; indirectly, and they can’t really nail him. He’s a sleazy bastard who can tweak the system to his benefit. But I’m not surprised at all, Lana, he’s a stinking piece of shit. I just hope the other piece of garbage you reduced to tears didn't register your name. I don’t think so, and I don’t see why he would tell anyone about his... incident, least of all to that freak.”
Lana closed her eyes and tried to regulate her breath as red-hot hatred washed over her. “Yes, thank you, I really appreciate you telling me this. It’s bad luck but I can’t see how this will ever have any repercussion on us here. The holding will need to double-check all business ties with Italy, that’s for sure. I’ll send a note to Nakazawa as soon as we’re back in Tokyo.”
“Well, cara mia, I think I heard Yoshiro move… Are you going to be fine? Do you want to call me back later?”
“Nah, you’ve done enough, don’t worry. I don’t want to take any more of your precious time. But thank you so much for calling me, it was great to vent a bit.”
“That’s what I’m here for! Take good care, keep me posted, okay?”
“Count on it! Enjoy Roma… and Yoshiro!” Lana ended the call and put away her phone. She had reached the clearing.
It was large and inundated with sunlight, at the foot of the mountain slope Lana had seen earlier. Ancient cedar trees reached toward the sky - dozens of meters high. Flights of stairs made of stone blocks covered with deep green moss and lichens, almost breaking apart from each other, ran to the top. The canopy over them was so thick snow didn’t cover the ground.
A 15 meter-tall torii, also made of grey stones, marked the beginning of the stairs and she could see the pillars of another one at the other end. Lana glimpsed the shape of the shrine’s sanctuary behind it at the top, but it was hard to make out its details from where she stood.
In the clearing itself, five large toro — stone lanterns — and two hokora — miniature shrines — flanked a purification font. No water ran from the mouth of the bronze dragon sitting on top of the basin. The two lion-dogs guarding the stairs were so worn out they were almost faceless.
The amount of vegetation growing over the hokora and along the pillars of the torii was excessive; it was highly unlikely anyone still took care of it. Something was also missing in the overall picture; after a few seconds, Lana realized no plaited ropes hung on at the top of torii, nor around some of the largest cedar trees, as they usually did to mark holy spaces. Given its size, the shrine had been an important place of worship, but looked like it had been left to its own devices.
Silence permeated the place. Birds were quiet; leaves remained still as there was no wind. Wary, Lana slowed down. She didn’t step any further into the open space although she longed for sunshine on her face and grew increasingly sensitive to the cold. Even if there was nobody, this kind of place was never truly empty. Crossing the clearing along the tree line would have to do.
Movement caught her eye; her heart fluttered before she let out a relieved sigh. A shrine officiant had come out from behind a toro, energetically clearing out the fresh snow around it and the hokora with a bamboo broom. So, the shrine was old, but not so abandoned after all. The man saw her, stopped what he was doing, and said something.
“Oh, sorry, what did you say?”
The officiant spoke again and pointed toward the other side of the tree line, but still, she couldn’t catch his words. Politeness overcame her hesitation, and she approached the middle-aged man.
“Excuse me… I couldn’t hear you. You wanted to tell me something?” Lana asked again, a few meters away from the man now. He wore the traditional garments of a kannushi: a purple hakama and overlaying white kimono vest, as well as a tall, peaked black cap.
“Yes, I guess you must be lost. I was telling you where the road for Nikko is. It’s not too far from here, just on the other side.”
“Oh!” Lana exclaimed, relieved and feeling silly. “Thank you very much. I’m not lost… or rather I don’t think I am, but it’s good to know. So which way is it exactly?”
“Well, there’s a path, but with the snow and fallen leaves, it’s difficult to find at this time of the year. Do you see those two old cedar trees over there?” He pointed behind her. Lana turned on her heels, but it was hard to distinguish anything as the forest was so dense.
“Ah… I’m not sure which ones you are talking about, do you mind show—”
Terror rooted her on her spot, and her words died in her throat.
Something… or rather some things, long and warm, wrapped themselves around her legs, climbing up quickly over her leggings under her tunic. With a whimper, shaking from head to toes, Lana glanced down and saw two more furry tails insert themselves inside her coat, and go around her chest, brushing her nipples along the way.
She had no time to react. Two other tails seized her wrists, immobilizing her hands in her pockets, and another one went around her neck and jaw to push itself inside her mouth. Eyes wide with fright, she found herself locked in an escapable embrace, unable to flee, scream or fight. Sobs wracked her as something hot, rough and wet licked half of her face leisurely. Understanding dawned on her; fear and despair made her moan at the sight of long and sharp teeth.
“Yes! Finally…” The gravelly, inhuman voice of the changeling fox chuckled in her ear. He yanked her against him, and the back of her head hit a marble-hard chest. How tall was this cursed devil? “My gift is here… Not so young anymore, but so feisty! There are advantages at getting you more mature than promised. My, my, it’s going to be so de-li-cious...”
A tail passed under all her layers of clothing, pushing up her knee-length tunic, ripped her leggings and pressed against her core. The tails were as agile as fingers, and rubbed her clit and nipples, but each touch felt like sandpaper rubbing against her flesh.
“All those past weeks, when you dreamt of me…” The fox rasped behind her. “I could hear the call of your mind, your burning desire for me, how you much you wanted me to take you. How ready you are! I couldn’t wait anymore, I had to have you, to bind you to me once and for all. You’ll see, you’ll like it: I’ll be rough, rougher than him… and you’ll beg for more, like you always do, little mudansha.”
Her gag muted Lana’s scream; sheer fright and panic brought her to the verge of passing out. Does he know everything? Has he seen it all?
Around them, the world was slowly but surely turning dark, bright colors replaced by creeping shades of bloody red and viscous blackness.
One by one, trees were reduced to bare skeletons and nameless, eyeless, legless things seeped from the cracks between the stones to wriggle on the ground. An awful stench, as if they were standing inside old sewers, filled her nostrils. To her abject horror, they were shifting outside her reality, far from anyone, from any hope of being rescued.
“You were hidden from me for so many years, it was so frustrating... At first, I thought I’d rip that low-life into pieces for daring to lay hands on what is mine. But then, he awoke your real self, you became this shining beacon of raw lust. I let him train you, making you ready for the next step. I hope you are grateful I made sure you would end up living with him, right? It was so easy… as if that weak little man was waiting for a nudge, to get rid of his noisy brat and insufferable mother-in-law…”
The changeling fox chuckled, and fresh tears ran down Lana’s cheeks. My condo… The fire… It was really my fault then...
“Anyway, we’ll invite that decrepit teacher of yours to our wedding. He’ll understand how slutty little bitches like you should be handled. How inept he is, compared to me. And then, I’ll kill him. But I’ll be quick and merciful. A token of my gratitude.”
Something harder and larger than a tail pressed against her back as paws covered with silver fur, similar to human hands but adorned with long claws, fondled her breasts above her coat. The large tail muffled another scream. It’s… it’s just another nightmare, right? I’m going to wake up, this isn’t happening, I’m not going to disappear to be… to be… raped by that beast!
“Rape? Oh… what an ugly word…” She shuddered at his ability to read her thoughts. “There’s no rape when a husband takes what is rightly his. And don’t fret, I know that’s what you want. Soon, you’ll crawl at my feet,” he rasped. “I’ll give you what you crave. Isn’t it more rewarding than what this worm will ever do for you? Of course, his spawn won’t survive, but who cares? I’ve healed you, and my seed will breed you, many, many times. You will give me strong, powerful kits! And so what if you get a little damaged in the process? I don’t mind broken toys, as long as they behave.”
The yokai pushed Lana forward, and she found herself sprawled over the stone fountain. “Open your legs and bend over now, I want to taste every single little hole of you… But tell me, aren’t you honored to become my bride? Hm? Speak! I am your lord and master now! I want to hear it from those delicious cherry-red lips.” The tail inside her mouth went away.
Heaving with sobs, Lana gasped for breath and attempted desperately to clamp down her panic and terror. With all her might, she pushed back against his double invasion of her body and mind. You can fight this! You can be stronger than this! Don’t give in!
She clenched her fists, her only body parts that were still free. Her right hand grasped the balls in her pocket.
This time, her scream of agony filled the clearing; for a fleeting second, inhuman pain seared through her body, as if dozens of irons branded her skin wherever his tails touched her. Piercing through the red fog of her pain, the angry roar of the changeling deafened her when he unexpectedly let her go. She almost passed out but managed to take a few steps away from him on wobbling legs, unable to believe she was free from his deadly embrace.
“What? What did you do! Who gave you this?!” he shrieked, full of rage, towering over her.
Lana finally got a good look at him. Screaming again in sheer terror, she fell down and crawled back on all fours as fast as she could manage, sobs of fear and pain leaving her without strength.
A freakish, tall monster! Silver fur covered all his body; nine tails swirled around him angrily, as if sentient themselves. His head was the most terrifying of it all: with vaguely human traits, its pointed snout and awful rows of sharp teeth, from where an extremely long red tongue hung, left no place to doubt as to what he was.
Fury and resentment burned in his slanted orange eyes. His impossibly long and large erection jutted angrily at her. If he ever laid a hand or anything else again on her, she was done.
“Lana! Lana san!” Her breath caught; on her right, Yuki was rushing into the clearing. Her companion was the only thing that Lana could clearly see. Even though colors were back to normal, it seemed like a shroud had fallen on everything around her. She raised a trembling hand to warn Yuki to stay away but only a moan passed her lips.
“Sweetling! I’ve been calling you for an hour now! We’re all looking for you! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“Yu… Yuki… don’t…” Lana panted, frantic with worry. To her relief, the shape of the fox was now by the stairs, transparent, almost gone.
Her companion kneeled next to Lana. Her arms went below her back and shoulders to support her. “Don’t stay in the snow, now! Did you slip? Did you break anything?”
Yuki’s hands roamed over Lana’s shoulders and arms. The young woman shouted in pain as her lover’s fingers unknowingly grazed the places where the fox had touched her bare skin. A glance at her trembling hands ripped a horrified shriek from her throat.
“My hands! Look at my wrists! What… what did he do to me?”
Angry red lashes criss-crossed her lower arms and wrists. She touched her face and winced; her skin burned. Her nether regions, legs and chest throbbed with pain. It no longer felt as if irons scorched her, but more as if she had gone naked in a sea of stinging jellyfish.
“Your wrists? What are you talking about?” exclaimed a frantic Yuki.
TEMPER: DELIVERANCE
The shocking conclusion of the TEMPER saga.
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About the Author
Readers will find behind the pen name Lila Mina a European woman in her early forties who has been living in Japan for a decade with her family. After nearly twenty years of using her writing skills for drafting legal and business reports, she went back to her first love: fiction. These days, you can find her practicing aikido, writing or editing her manuscripts in local coffee shops, or sipping delicious green tea at home.
Inspired by the rich and complex Japanese culture and folklore, her stories feature strong and mature female protagonists facing their inner demons or ruthless enemies and who are never shy to embrace their desires.
The TEMPER saga is her first major published work of fiction.
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Table of Contents
1 Too Close for Comfort
2 Dizziness
3 No Child Game
4 A Birthday Gift
5 Shattering News
6 Anxious yet Hopeful
7 Spite and Pride
8 A Dangerous Proposal
9 Teaching New Lessons
10 Renewing Pledges
11 Piercing Through the Veil
12 Staring into the Abyss
13 Mistress of their Bodies and Souls
14 A Ruthless Man
15 Bitter Disappointment
16 Unraveling
17 Dictated by Fate
18 Fallout
19 Finding Solace
20 Drawing a Line
21 Crushed by Duty
22 Webs of Lies
23 The Imprint of His Hand
24 Appeasement
25 Swimming with Sharks
26 Life-altering Decisions
27 Above and Beyond Duty
28 New Clouds on the Horizon
Glossary of Japanese terms
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The TEMPER Saga Continues!
TEMPER: DELIVERANCE - SNEAK PEEK!
About the Author