“So, that’s what’s been going on…” Christine leaned back on the bench that she’d chosen as her seat, her mind awhirl. She’d just been informed of everything that had happened since the start of this trip, from the assassin to Kevin’s fight with a two-tailed Ocean Kitsune. She should have been shocked, but the only feeling going through her in that moment was resignation. “You two are a magnet for trouble, aren’t you?”
“That’s not a very nice thing to say.” Lilian pouted.
Kevin nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it’s not like we going looking for trouble.”
Faced with identical pouts, Christine came to the startling realization that these two were practically made for each other. It was almost odd, their relationship. They seemed to pull from each other’s personalities. From Lilian, Kevin had gained courage and the ability to be outgoing. From Kevin, Lilian had learned restraint and modesty.
It made her wonder about her own designs towards Kevin. Did she love him as much as Lilian did? Could she love him like Lilian did?
Why are nyou questioning nyourself nyow? a voice with a feline-like purr asked her.
Lilian is everything that I’m not, Christine answered sullenly. How am I supposed to compete with that, especially when she’s already won?
So, nyou are giving up? That’s an awfully defeatist way of thinking.
I-it’s not like I have much of a choice.
There is always a choice. Besides, nyou knyow that there’s unlikely to be another person who’s better matched for you—biologically speaking, I mean.
I know that… get off my back.
Have nyou thought of becoming his Mistress?
W-w-w-w-WHAT?! Why would I—you shut up! Shut your damn mouth, cat!
Nyahahaha!
“Christine?” Kevin interrupted her conversation with her other half. “Are you okay?”
“Huh? O-oh, yes!” Christine squeaked. “I-I’m fine! Of course I’m fine! Never better! Why would you even ask that?”
“Because you were spacing out, and your face has turned awfully blue,” Lilian answered for Kevin, leaning down and placing her forehead against Christine’s. “Really, though, are you sure everything’s okay?”
“I-I’m fine!” Christine jerked back. She felt a little guilty when Lilian bit her lip, appearing hurt, but she brought them back to their original topic. “So, what do you two plan on doing about this?”
The young couple shared a look.
“We don’t know,” Kevin admitted.
“We’re not exactly sure if there’s anything we can do,” Lilian added. “We don’t know enough to make a decision. We know nothing about that assassin. We also don’t know anything about those Ocean Kitsune and, honestly, neither of us wants to get mixed up in a battle that we have nothing to do with.”
“Our life is hectic enough without us looking for trouble,” Kevin reaffirmed.
Christine couldn’t help but agree with them. “Makes sense. But, you do know that you’re gonna have to do something. At the very least, you need to deal with that assassin. She’s not going to go away just because you don’t want her around.”
“We know.” Kevin grimaced. “But short of waiting for her to attack, there isn’t anything we can do. We don’t know where she is, how she found us, or even what her name is. We just know that she’s a nekomata, and that she’s been hired by some as of yet unknown benefactor to kill Lilian.”
“You got me there.” Christine worried her lower lip. “This is a really troublesome situation.”
“It is, but Kevin and I have already talked about it at length,” Lilian said. “We’ve decided that we’re simply going to stay alert. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open, and deal with her the next time she tries to kill me. That’s about all we can do.”
Looking back and forth between the two, Christine couldn’t help but voice her thoughts. “You two are taking this awfully well. Aren’t you worried? You’ve got an assassin after you!”
“Of course we’re worried,” Kevin said, running a hand through his hair. “But if we spent all of our time worrying, then we won’t have any time left to create a plan to deal with this. Besides, with everything that I’ve already seen, heard, and done, having an assassin after me feels almost natural. I blame Lilian’s poor taste in stalkers.”
“Mou…” Dejected, the normally vibrant kitsune crouched down and drew circles on the ground with her right index finger. Christine blinked twice at the strange black cloud hovering over Lilian’s head. “It’s not my fault that idiot wanted me so badly.”
“Yes, it is,” Kevin retorted, eyes glittering with mirth. “It’s totally your fault. If you weren’t so pretty, none of this would have happened.”
Lilian perked up. “You think I’m pretty?”
Kevin rolled his eyes. “I think you’re gorgeous. Why else would I say something like that?”
“Oh, Kevin, you have no idea how much hearing you say that means to me.” Lilian’s eyes sparkled.
Kevin’s eyes were also sparkling. “I’m only speaking the truth.”
“Kevin.”
“Lilian.”
“Kevin!”
“Lilian!”
Kevin and Lilian embraced each other. Christine’s right eye started to twitch.
“Stop hugging like that, damn it!”
***
The meeting seemed to have degraded, going from what should have been a discussion about why a clan of Ocean Kitsune were trying to kill off this group of kappa, to a shogi match between Shuǐ and Kotohime.
Kiara watched from her place against the wall. Her face was set in a frown as she wondered if her companion even noticed the passage of time. Kotohime seemed completely engrossed in her shogi game. Even now, watching the much older woman from afar, she could see the intense look of concentration; the furrowed brows and the black eyes that studied the shogi board with startling intensity. Kiara had never seen the four-tailed fox become so focused on a board game before.
“You’re a very skilled shogi player, Ms. Kotohime, aru.”
“As are you, Shuǐ-dono.”
Shuǐ and Kotohime had been playing shogi for the past 30 minutes. Kiara was getting bored. How long did one game take?
She looked around the room, but there wasn’t much to look at. The plain room didn’t hold anything interesting. Really, couldn’t they just finish their game already?
Fortunately for her peace of mind, the game came to an end when Kotohime trapped Shuǐ’s king in checkmate.
“You are a very unpredictable opponent, aru,” Shuǐ observed the board with the canny eyes of one who had seen much. “Rarely have I met a person who’s unpredictably allows them to use the strategies and tactics that traditional players take for granted and create new moves so flawlessly, aru. You are incredibly talented.”
“Thank you.” Kotohime graciously accepted the praise. “You are also quite skilled. You had me on the ropes a number of times.” She raised the left sleeve of her kimono to her mouth, hiding the delicate curve of her lips. “Your use of the Yagura Castle was quite admirable.”
“Yet you broke it, aru.”
“You sure you’re not Chinese?” Kiara interrupted. She took a mild form of vindictive pleasure at seeing the kappa’s face turn red.
“Enough with the Chinese already, aru!”
“Perhaps we should get down to business, then,” Kotohime suggested smoothly, her polite tone calming the old-looking kappa. “You requested our presence due to the kitsune who have invaded your territory.”
“Yes, that is correct, aru.” Shuǐ coughed into his hand several times, then began his tale. “This is a most unusual situation, aru. You kitsune have never bothered other races unless it was to play pranks, and you usually prefer playing tricks on humans, aru. What makes the situation even more implausible is that these kitsune have invaded a state in North America, aru.”
Kiara understood what the kappa was getting at. North America was often considered a free country a
mong yōkai, a place where no one ruled over anyone else, where no yōkai factions or clans congregated and claimed territory for themselves.
Only one or two clans could claim to have any power here, and they’d been given express permission to claim a state as their own by the Four Saints—powerful yōkai who were charged with ensuring that humans did not find out about their existence.
Kitsune were no different in that regard. A few clans had estates here, but they were merely glorified vacation homes.
“I take it the reason for their appearance in this state has something to do with the unrest you spoke of?” asked Kotohime, her placid face gazing upon Shuǐ’s wizened visage.
“We suspect that it does.” Shuǐ nodded in her direction. “Tell me, aru, has the Pnév̱ma Clan contacted you recently?”
A disturbed expression crossed Kotohime’s face. Kiara felt unease at seeing such a look on the face of a woman who normally appeared so calm.
“They have not,” Kotohime replied, knitting her brows together. “The last message that Pnév̱ma-denka sent me was a request to stay in North America, and to remain constantly vigilant.” A long pause followed. “Has something happened to the Pnév̱ma Clan?”
“We are unsure, aru,” Shuǐ admitted. “You apparently do not know this, but our group has a deal with the Pnév̱ma Clan. To be more specific, we have a deal with the conglomerate known as Spirits Inc., aru.”
“I see.” Kotohime’s eyes lit up in realization.
Spirits Inc. was a company owned and operated by the Pnév̱ma Clan. They were the tenth largest company in the world, and they had their hands in many different businesses, including the importing and exporting of rare and valuable materials and artifacts.
“Yes.” Shuǐ steepled his fingers together in front of his face. “Our group builds personalized luxury yachts. It is our largest and most important business. Over sixty percent of our income comes from it. The reason for that is due to our deal with Spirits Inc., who’s exports include the rare and durable wood that we use in our yachts. However, about five months ago, the shipments stopped coming, and we had no idea why.”
The silence that followed this proclamation was profound. Even Kiara knew not to break it.
“About two months ago, we received information from Kuroneko, who’d been hearing rumors that there has been an altercation between the Pnév̱ma Clan and the Bodhisattva. We do not know what transpired. All we know is that the two clans are in a state of cold war.”
Kiara and Kotohime shared an alarmed look. There was only one reason why the Bodhisattva and the Pnév̱ma clan would have a dispute: Jiāoào Shénshèng.
About four and a half months ago, Jiāoào, the son of Shinkuro Shénshèng, the Bodhisattva, had kidnapped Lilian. They, along with Kevin, had rescued her—and Kevin had utterly crushed Jiāoào, both physically and mentally. No doubt the cold war happening between the Pnév̱ma Clan and the Bodhisattva’s Shénshèng Clan was due to that altercation.
“That would not normally affect shipments from Spirits Inc.,” Kotohime pointed out, recovering from her shock.
Even if Spirits Inc. was a Pnév̱ma Clan company, the Bodhisattva knew better than to attack it. Spirit Inc. extended beyond the kitsune world. Humans and other yōkai clans also did business with it. An attack on Spirits Inc. could reveal the existence of yōkai to the humans, which was something to be avoided at all costs.
Shuǐ nodded as if he’d already expected that question and come up with a suitable answer. “You are correct. Kitsune affairs generally tend to stay kitsune affairs and rarely affect the rest of us. It does not change the fact that the materials we buy from Spirits Inc. have not been coming in, nor does it change that the Pnév̱ma Clan and the Bodhisattva are in conflict. We believe these two incidents are not unrelated.”
“Do you have any proof?” asked Kiara.
The grayish, wizened head of the old kappa swiveled to look at her. Two dark eyes peered at her from underneath heavy brow ridges. “We do indeed. The clan of Ocean Kitsune who have been killing my people are members of the Mul Clan, one of the Twelve Great Kitsune Clans and, as of six months ago, allies of the Bodhisattva.”
***
Kiara and Kotohime returned to the resort, shaken.
Kevin didn’t know what they had learned. They had not told him, and he had not asked. Whatever knowledge they’d gleaned from the ancient-looking kappa, it was enough to have spooked them. In turn, that spooked him. Anything that could disturb the normally unflappable Kiara and the cool as ice Kotohime was something to be wary of. Still, he tried to put their expressions of shock out of his mind. If what they learned was important, they would have told him.
He lounged on one of the beach chairs that lined the pool, though to call the massive body of water a pool was a gross understatement. Pools were often tiny things. This was a gigantic body of water reminiscent of a lake or even the inlet of a bay. A “shore” near the chair that he rested on marked the start of the pool, which expanded until meeting its inexplicable end—a sharp drop that led into a basin down below.
His friends played in the pool. Eric laughed uproariously as Alex and Andrew quarreled about one thing or another, dunking each other’s heads under the water with increasing violence. Justin did not join them. He, like Kevin, lounged on a beach chair, shades covering his eyes and earphones blocking out the world.
The girls were also having fun. Lilian and Lindsay were kicking water at each other and giggling. Even Camellia was having fun, jumping and bouncing around in the water, while Kirihime tried to keep the woman from tripping.
“Kirikiri! Play with me!”
“M-My Lady! Please be more—”
“Hawa!”
Splash!
“—Careful…”
Christine had chosen to not partake in the splash-a-thon. She sat on the shoreline, the water lapping at her porcelain thighs and bare feet. The yuki-onna watched the two more lively girls prance around, much to the joy of Eric, who Kevin realized had stopped laughing and was now staring at his mate.
Kevin felt a brief surge of irritation, but he buried it in the darkest corners of his mind. He couldn’t blame his perverted friend for looking at Lilian’s chest. That would have been hypocritical of him. Besides, if he got angry at every male who stared at his mate’s breasts, then he would be Hulking 24/7. So long as they stuck to looking, he would not react with impending violence.
While his gaze encompassed the entire poolside, Kevin eventually realized that they were missing someone.
“Not gonna get all wet with your friends, Stud?”
Kevin looked down, blinking in a stupid manner as carmine eyes mere inches from his own stared at him. Iris knelt on his left, arms crossed over the beach chair, chin resting on them. The smirk on her lips, a delectable curve that made him realize how kissable those lips truly were, only added to her allure.
“When did you get here?” he asked.
“Oh, I’ve been here for a while now,” Iris admitted.
“How come I didn’t notice you?”
“Silly boy.” Iris giggled, and it was all he could do to not shudder. That tone of voice, which could cause men to drown in lust, could be considered a weapon of mass destruction. “Avoiding the notice of a single human is easy for a kitsune.”
She must have been using an illusion.
“Not quite,” Iris told him when he mentioned as much. “Illusions are merely the act of tricking the mind into believing that something exists when it really doesn’t. The image of a beautiful woman, the heady scent after a night of passion, the feel of skin against your body, of soft hands tenderly caressing you. Making people imagine that happening when it’s not is an illusion. All I did was erase my presence, which is easy for a Void Kitsune like myself.”
“Does everything that comes out of your mouth have to be sexual?”
“Embarrassed?” Iris shot him a teasing grin.
“Of course not,” Kevin mumbled, looking at anything but the bea
utiful bikini-clad girl.
Iris chuckled as she rose from her crouch, her movement undeniably graceful. Lovely hands pressed against the bands of the chair, causing them to creak and bend. Hips canted and a knee rose onto the chair, joining the hands. This was followed by the other knee. Strands of midnight silk danced around her face, swaying as she crawled forward. Her firm butt moved with sensual elegance, timed to the movement of her slender shoulders.
Unbidden, Kevin’s eyes moved to her front. Clad in a nothing but a bikini, Iris’s breasts were even more enticing than usual. The movement of her arms pushed them together, and Kevin struggled to ignore his rising libido.
I wish I could say she was using an enchantment on me, but she hasn’t used one since the bathroom incident.
She sat down between his legs, her firm butt resting on the heels of her feet, hands in her lap. Kevin tore his gaze from her chest, which was no small feat as the perfectly rounded breasts were practically staring him in the face.
Calm down. It’s just Iris.
“So, why aren’t you playing with your friends or mate?” she asked, squishing her breasts together with her arms. This time, Kevin did not look, and Iris inclined her head, as if giving him a small amount of respect.
“I was just thinking.”
“Ah, that must be why your face is all scrunched up like a pit bull.” She chuckled when Kevin scowled at her. “All that thinking can’t be good for you. It’s gonna wrinkle that handsome face of yours.”
“I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or not.”
“Oh, it’s definitely a compliment,” Iris said eagerly. “I don’t hand those out to people who aren’t my Lilian very often, so you had better be grateful.”
“Hn.”
“So, then…” She leaned forward, and her face came so close to his that their noses touched. “What were you thinking about?”
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