“Here you go.” I offered her a cup.
“You’re real free with the alcohol lately.”
“I mean, I can drink them both if you want.”
She snatched her cup and held it out of my reach. “No, I’m good, thanks.”
Another twenty minutes passed, people settling in their chosen spots, including a few on the same hill as us, before the first rocket shot up into the sky. Exactly as I’d said, the show opened to the national anthem, and the fireworks exploded overhead in vibrant shades of red, silver, and blue to match the tone.
Then the real show began, set to music by Queen.
“I had fun today,” Sky whispered, reaching over and taking my hand.
“I’m glad. I want you to enjoy your Texas stay.”
“I am.” She rolled to her side and looked down at me. “This whole vacation with you has been amazing.”
“Even the working part?”
“Yeah, even that.” Her expression turned serious, brows drawing together. “Don’t get me wrong, I was scared shitless during that last attack but…”
“But now you know what you’re getting into by taking this career path.”
“Exactly. Not only for me, but for you. And as scary as it all was, we did some real good. We saved people. It felt right and I’m not gonna back down from my goals.”
And that was what made her special—what made me love her so much that it was worth the torturous wait to take our relationship to the next level.
“Besides,” Sky’s smile widened, “now no one can ever say we distract each other.”
“True.” But there was no reason we couldn’t get distracted now. Her silky hair gave way to my questing fingers and I guided her down for a kiss. Who needed fireworks?
16
The Demon Queller
Unbridled excitement coursed through me when I woke up Saturday morning in the third week of our extended stay in my childhood home. The same feeling infused the whole household, my entire family up early and bustling around.
Mama intercepted me in the hallway, clothed in her old sweats, an apron, and wearing a bandanna over her hair. “Mijo, good, you’re awake. Put out a new pair of slippers for your grandfather and sweep out the dust from the patio.”
“Sure thing.”
Honestly, if Dad hadn’t told me Jiisan planned a rare visit from Japan, Sky and I would have returned to PNRU campus a couple weeks ago. I’d waited all this time to see him.
One by one, my mother put us to work, assigning tasks one after the other while she rushed to and fro, tidying imperfections invisible to anyone but her. Teresa waved from the living room where she was putting away the vacuum, and I caught a glimpse of Alex outside tossing the trash in the bin. Sam power washed the house.
A little over an hour into the frantic cleaning spree, Sky groggily descended and pitched in with faerie magic. Either oblivious to my mother’s cool stare or past the point of giving a fuck, she swirled her crystal wand and sent a magical cyclone flying through our house.
Only a year ago, she’d struggled to cast a dishwashing spell. Now she was bippity boppity boop’ing hidden dust from carpets, shelves, and knick-knacks. Samuel blinked.
“Well hot damn. Nice work, Sky.”
Sky preened. “Thanks. My roomies sorta bashed that spell into my skull.”
Meanwhile, Mom looked like she wanted to grind Sky into dust. I ignored it.
“All of you get dressed in your best clothing. Now.”
Skylar’s Rags-to-Riches glamour swept over me from head to toe in a spiral of golden glitter, saving me time by providing a fresh shave, a haircut, and clean trousers.
I sniffed myself.
Damn, I smelled amazing. I recognized the Giorgio Armani scent from a trip we made to the mall.
Alex hurried over. “Can I have some of that too?”
“Omigod, what about me?” Teresa crossed the room. “Can I have a dress? I saw the most amazing dress at Neiman Marcus the other day.”
Mom snorted. “It’s not permanent, Teresa. It will fade and become worthless again in hours. Don’t waste your time.”
“Actually,” Skylar said, eyes glittering with mischief. “I hoarded a lot of faerie dust over the holidays and even more while in New Orleans with Gabe. I can spare a little.”
“Really?” My sister’s shriek pounded into my ear drums.
“Really. So…” Sky canted her head, studying Teresa. Looking through her and into her soul at something the rest of us could never see, because only fae could see a person’s deepest dreams and desires, and if they used it for dark or evil purposes, it stripped a vast portion of their light. Fae were only meant to do good things with their magic—to help, to save, and to nurture. “Dolce & Gabbana, huh?”
“Yes, yes, yes! Can you do that?”
“I got you, fam.”
Man, I never got enough out of watching my girl do magic. She wove a series of glamours that tucked Teresa’s hair into sleek spiral curls, and transformed her every day yoga pants and T-shirt into a sundress that probably surpassed a grand. Maybe two.
When she tossed in a pair of new shoes to match—appearing beside Teresa on the wooden floor in an open box—I thought my sister was really going to lose it. She threw her arms around Skylar and hugged her like she’d been visited by Santa Claus.
“I love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“You’re welcome. You can wear them on that date you mentioned to me.”
Wait. A date? I puffed up, standing a little taller. “What date?”
“None of your business.”
“Nobody mentioned a date to me. Who is he? Why wasn’t I told you had a date with someone?”
“Because everything doesn’t revolve around you.” She stuck her tongue out at me.
“Jasmine Teresa Fujimoto, I will not have such rudeness in my house. Your brother asked a legitimate question.”
“Sorry, Mama.”
I smirked at her. Scooooore. “So, who is he? What is he? Human? Raven?”
“A wolf shifter,” she muttered, looking put out that Mama hadn’t taken her side. I knew why. Mom had no qualms about holding micro-grudges against any of us, and Teresa had committed the sin of appreciating Sky’s magic. I loved the woman, but no one knew how to be petty like our mama. She should have been born a faerie.
Before I could question her about the boy’s identity, Samuel yelled from the front window. “They’re pulling up!” A moment later, he came zipping over in his avian form, smoothly shifting back to a man beside me.
Mom gave us a last minute inspection—including Skylar. For once, she didn’t look like she smelled something unpleasant and actually nodded in approval of Sky’s sundress. As for me, she tidied my hair and plucked an invisible thread from my shirt before moving to stand beside Teresa.
Our front door stood open with the screen door shut. Dad held that for Gramps to move inside ahead of him. At 94, my grandfather’s long-legged stride moved at a confident, unfaltering pace. He always wore a suit, and he carried a cane, but I figured it was for spontaneously handing someone their ass when needed, not actual mobility issues. He didn’t have a single hitch to his step, and he looked as healthy now as he’d been when I was a boy sitting on his knee. Silver streaked his hair, but most of it retained its deep, blue-black color. Out of all us Fujimoto men, I thought Samuel resembled him the most, though others claimed I carried the honor. Jiisan, Dad, and me were just three different stages of the same being, like a weird Pokémon evolution.
Mama stepped forward. “It’s so good to have you in our home again, Father. It’s been too long.”
“It is always a pleasure to see family.”
Teresa broke decorum first and bolted at him. “Jiji!” Confirming my suspicion that the old man was as solid now as he’d been in his youth, her collision didn’t even rock him.
Then Alex joined her. Sam and I managed to exercise restraint and not turn it into a five-person group hug.
Mom sighed. “That was a record. Thirty-five seconds.”
Dad snickered.
Jiisan weathered the storm with grace, as he always did. Grandmother had once told me in confidence that he actually enjoyed it. Now I wondered if she’d told all us kids the same thing.
“I see we have a new face today. Please forgive me for not greeting you properly,” he said, then bowed in Skylar’s direction.
Looking panicked, her green eyes darted around the room for guidance. Mom looked smug. From his position next to my grandfather, Dad mouthed something I didn’t catch in time.
Sky blinked a few times, then she recovered like a champ. “Oh, no, that’s fine. You came to see all of them. I should be the one to greet you properly, Fujimoto-san. It is an honor to meet you.” Sky dipped so low the end of her ponytail slid over her shoulder.
Mom frowned at Dad, but he just shrugged.
I stepped forward and touched Sky’s elbow. “Jiisan, I’d like to introduce you to Skylar Corazzi. My girlfriend.”
His eyes twinkled with merriment, creasing at the corners. “Thanks to your grandmother, I am quite aware of who she is, Gabriel, but thank you. I have heard much about you, young lady. A natural at slaying darklings. Your reputation precedes you.”
Sky tucked her chin shyly. “Hardly, sir. I’m nothing special.”
“She’s amazing, Jiisan. Don’t listen to her.”
“Humble, brave, and intelligent enough to date my grandchild. Given the news I have heard recently from my own son, it is only fitting that you call me Jiisan as well.”
The news? My gaze darted to Dad. He shrugged again. What the hell had he told my grandfather?
Then my stomach sank. I did know what Dad had told Grandfather. Jiisan knew I’d put in a claim on Sky, which meant he expected us to bond.
Which meant he had all the confidence in the world that Sky wasn’t going to inevitably shoot me down. Hell, I had confidence too, but I had to be realistic. Anything could happen. At any moment, Sky could decide against being bonded to a tight-knit shifter family and flee to her own kind. And sometimes I thought she should when my mom brought out her nastiest, snottiest behavior.
Part of loving Sky meant that if I really did have to let her go, I would.
Until she made her choice, I’d just be the best boyfriend I could be and give her no reason to believe I wasn’t worth her love in return.
* * *
Jiisan stayed with the family for two weeks, extending the original duration of my visit by three weeks. Bless this woman for understanding my reluctance to zip back to Chicago while the grandfather I rarely saw remained in the States. At his age, I didn’t want to miss a moment.
If she and I weren’t dating, I’d have probably gone to Japan to see him. The old man wasn’t getting younger, and shifters didn’t make ghosts. None of us paranormal beings left ghosts behind. What few years we had left with him was all we’d ever have, and something told me Obaachan would go with him.
I dreaded that day.
Then one fine Saturday morning, it was time to leave Texas. Dad planned to drive Jiisan to Houston for his evening flight, and we’d already packed my car with our luggage. All it needed was us and Ama’s travel cage.
She still hated me, lashing out unpredictably. I didn’t know what I had to do to regain her trust or how long she’d hold a grudge against me, but it seemed unnatural that a parrot bonded so closely to me could turn that fast. My only hope was that she’d become herself again once we returned to my apartment.
So much for asking Sky to live with me this year. I loved them both, but I had to choose my battles, and Ama had been my friend too long to lose each one.
“I’m going to miss you guys,” Teresa said, hugging Skylar for the hundredth time. The whole family had gathered in the living room to see us off, Mom and Dad sitting together on the loveseat and Jiisan on the couch, while my siblings took turns giving the both of us farewell hugs.
“Hey, one more year and you’ll see us practically every day,” I assured her.
“Yeah, and then you’ll know the aggravation of having your kid brother—well, sister in your case—following you around everywhere like a lost puppy,” Samuel said, grinning. If Mom and our grandfather weren’t standing within view I would have flipped him off.
Nah. I would have done it even with Gramps over there, because he and I shared the same sense of humor, and I’d once caught him shooting our dad the double bird like a pro.
Untangling herself from my sister, Sky stepped away from my side and pulled a frosted glass jar from the Neverspace. Then she dipped into a polite bow toward my parents.
“Mr. and Mrs. Fujimoto, I want to thank you so much for having me as a guest in your home. You’ve made my first trip to Texas a truly memorable one.”
“We were pleased to have you,” Dad replied. “I hope you will come to visit us again.”
“I’d really like that.” She smiled, seeming to take courage from my father’s kindness. Then she turned to my mom and presented her with the gift. “I made these for you using my father’s recipe. Gabriel told me about your love for coffee so I thought you might enjoy some biscotti to have with your morning cup. Or evening. Or whenever.” She bit her lip and held her breath, for once not looking as confident and nonchalant as she had during the rest of our stay.
“Thank you, Skylar,” Mom said after what seemed like an eternity. She accepted the gift and even lifted the airtight lid to take a sniff. “They smell delicious. This was very thoughtful, thank you.”
And that right there was why, despite everything, I loved my mom. I mouthed a silent “thank you” over Sky’s shoulder and Mama smiled. It was a tiny step in the right direction.
“Before we all part ways, I wish to give a gift of my own,” Jiisan said, rising from the couch.
Teresa’s eyes lit with greed. “We already had omiyage time. There’s more gifts?” I saw the gears turning in her head, and wondered if it was a struggle not to rub her hands together and cackle. Gramps had already gifted her a new kimono for high school graduation this upcoming year. I overheard Dad mention to Mom that it cost sixty-five thousand dollars. She’d held a hand to her heart and almost passed out.
My gramps had some serious cash flow going on. He’d worked a long career as a sentinel, both for the SBA and for stinking rich Japanese mages. What really fucked me up was that he planned to gift Teresa yet another when she graduated PNRU, and its cost exceeded her most recent kimono by a whopping forty grand. I was there with him in Kyoto the day he received the custom piece from a master artisan a couple years back, and he’d saved it ever since.
“This gift is for Gabriel.”
“Oh.” Fleeting disappointment among the others passed in seconds. Our parents had raised us too well to seriously envy each other.
A couple seconds passed before it sank in that he’d named the gift as mine. I straightened and turned to face him, bewildered. “Yes, Jiisan?”
“Of my many grandchildren, you perhaps, are the one most like me, and I sense you will go great places as a sentinel for the bureau.”
Oh God. I kind of knew what was coming. I had an inkling, a mere suspicion of what was about to happen. What worried me was that I’d sob like a snotty five-year-old when he handed it over.
“I wish you to take this gift and return to Chicago with my blessing, Gabriel.”
Before everyone in attendance, my grandfather revealed a sheathed katana.
“I present you with Shōki, the Demon Queller,” Jiisan said.
My heart couldn’t take this. He carried Shōki with him at all times—even through TSA, somehow—but he disguised the blade in public with a standard vanishing illusion, an easy trick we ravens used as kids to hide candy and toys we weren’t supposed to have. As an adult, especially as sentinels, they were great for hiding weapons among humans.
The sword never left Jiisan’s side. Even when I didn’t see Shōki, I just assumed he carried it on him somewhere.
“But…I thought you were going to give Shōki to Dad. Or Samuel.” Both were older than me and next in line, technically speaking.
Jiisan chuckled. “I could, but I think Shōki would go to waste in your father’s hands. He has never enjoyed working for the SBA, and Samuel has chosen a different path as well.”
I stared at my grandfather. When I glanced at Samuel, he merely shrugged. If it bugged him, he had the respect for Jiisan and me not to let it show. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you is a nice beginning.”
“Thank you,” I babbled out in Japanese, bowing deeply again, still taken aback by the gift. “I’m so honored, Grandfather. There truly are no words to express my gratitude. I’m not worthy of it.”
“Ah, but there you are wrong, Gabriel. You have earned this and much more.” He offered the weapon to me with both hands and bowed.
I stared down in wonder as I accepted my grandfather’s greatest personal treasure. It slid smoother than butter from the wooden sheath, and its blade gleamed. A long row of runes shone pale gold when a sunbeam reflected off polished surface.
“Your future is bright and full of purpose. I would tell you to bring pride to the Fujimoto name, but you already have.”
Other Books by Vivienne
Fairy Tale Retellings
Beauty and the Beast
Red and the Wolf
Goldilocks and the Bear
Belle and the Pirate
Zarina and the Djinn
Birds of a Feather: The Paranormal University Files: Skylar, Year 2, Summer Page 16
