A Fox's Mate (American Kitsune Book 6) Read online

Christine felt her shoulders slump further. “He did seem really down about something. I’m guessing something happened during the Comic-Con and he’s not telling us so we won’t worry about him.”

  That was just like a man, refusing to tell others anything to not worry them, heedless of the fact that by keeping it all in, he worried them even more. Honestly, if she didn’t love him so much, she would have hit him.

  Nyou can still hit him, nya.

  Christine felt her cheeks burn like dry ice as a feline voice bounced around inside of her head. You again? Don’t you ever give up? Besides, I know where you’re going with that, and I’m not hi-hitting on Kevin. He already has a girlfriend.

  So? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind having a mistress on the side.

  Despite not wanting to, Christine did imagine what it would be like if she was Kevin’s mistress.

  She sat on the bed. Kevin stood just a few feet away. She was dressed only in a translucent nightgown while Kevin was clad in a pair of boxers that did nothing to hide his erection.

  “Are you sure we should be doing this?” Christine asked in a husky voice that sounded absolutely nothing like her. “Your mate will get upset.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Kevin said.

  He walked over to the bed, climbed onto it, and animal crawled up to her. Christine lay down as he moved on top of her. She gasped when he leaned against her, pressing his erection against the junction between her legs.

  “I can’t take this anymore, Christine,” he whispered into her ear. Christine shuddered. “I need you.”

  Christine whimpered when Kevin took her ear into his mouth and nibbled on it. She placed her hands on his back, and her nails scratched against his skin as if she was trying to find purchase.

  “K-Kevin…”

  “Christine,” Kevin spoke her name in a low-pitched growl.

  “Kevin.”

  “Christine…”

  “Christine. Christine? Hey! Christine!”

  “Gya!”

  Christine screamed as Lindsay’s face suddenly appeared in front of her. She lost her balance and tumbled off the chair, her arms wind-milling until her head smacked against the floor. Trying to blink the stars out of her eyes, Christine lay there until her friend’s face appeared within her field of vision.

  “You okay?” Lindsay asked

  Heat rose to her cheeks as Christine stood up. “I’m fine,” she mumbled, trying to play off what happened.

  Lindsay didn’t look convinced, but she also didn’t argue. “If you’re sure.”

  “I am sure.” Christine calmed her racing heart. Damn that stupid cat for putting delusions in her head. “A-anyway, what were you saying?”

  It took Lindsay a moment, but her eyes widened a moment later. “Right! I was talking about Kevin. I said that sounds just like him to keep everything inside so he doesn’t worry us.”

  Christine nodded. Lindsay had known Kevin for a long time. They’d been together since elementary school, so it only made sense that she likely knew more about him than anyone else. Even Lilian probably didn’t know Kevin like Lindsay did.

  “Has Kevin done this before?” Christine asked.

  “Plenty of times,” Lindsay admitted. Grinning, she went back over to the bed and sat down while Christine took the chair again. “Kevin hates troubling other people with his problems, so he always suppresses his feelings when he’s facing some kind of hardship. I remember when Kevin used to get picked on for being too different. He never told me what happened. I didn’t even know about it until much later.”

  “Different how?”

  “Come on. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen it,” Lindsay said. “Kevin’s not like most boys. He’s too… responsible.”

  Christine nodded. She had seen it. Before Lilian had shown up, Kevin had always done things by himself. He lived by himself, he took care of his mom’s apartment by himself, he cooked for himself, and he even had a part-time job to pay for his own activities. None of the other boys in their group did any of that.

  Back then, when all she’d done was watch him from a distance, she had thought that Kevin acted too responsible. Teenagers like them should have been having fun, not working and cleaning.

  Lindsay leaned back against the bed and sighed. “I remember the times when Kevin would have to take care of his mom when she was going to college. He’d always come to school depressed. Whenever I asked him why he was sad, he’d give me this really fake smile and say, ‘Nothing. I just didn’t get enough sleep,’ or some other stupid excuse.”

  “Now why are you looking all depressed?” Christine asked, noticing the way her friend’s shoulders had slumped the longer she talked. “Don’t tell me talking about stuff that happened in the past is making you sad?”

  “No, no, it’s not that.” Lindsay waved off her friend’s words with a strained smile. “I was just thinking about how Kevin will be fine so long as Lilian’s by his side.”

  Christine wrinkled her nose. “Ah.”

  Thinking about Lilian and Kevin put a damper on Christine’s feelings. She liked Lilian. The girl was outgoing, open, and that made it hard to hate her… but she was also dating Kevin. That made Christine’s feelings about the kitsune conflicted.

  She always asked herself those “what ifs.” What if she had been the first person to reach out to Kevin? What if she and Kevin had reconnected before Lilian showed up? Would they be where they were now, or would their relationship have deepened?

  When she had confessed to him, Kevin had told her that the only reason he could even talk to her was because of Lilian, because Lilian had helped him find the courage to speak with girls. Christine often wondered, if she had been the one to help him overcome his nervousness around girls, would she be dating Kevin instead of Lilian?

  Then she would remember that Lilian was more outgoing than her, and that the chances of her helping Kevin overcome his weakness the same way the redhead had would have been slim, and then she became disheartened.

  “What do you think about what happened at the Comic-Con?” Christine changed the subject.

  “Which part are you talking about? You’ll have to be more specific. A lot happened, you know,” Lindsay pointed out.

  “Of course I’m talking about the fight that happened. What else would I be talking about?”

  “I guess I should have expected that.” Lindsay shivered. “I remember what happened to my mom when Lilian was kidnapped, but I wasn’t actually there when that happened. I had no idea that stuff like this happened in real life. It’s scary. Is the yōkai world always like that?”

  “You mean is it always that violent?” Christine asked for clarification.

  “Mm.”

  “Hell if I know. What?” Christine shrugged when Lindsay looked at her. “I’ve never really been part of the yōkai world. I’ve lived around humans my entire life. Before coming to Arizona, I lived in Alaska with a bunch of orphaned human children. I didn’t even know that I was a yuki-onna until my benefactor found me.”

  “Benefactor?” Lindsay asked.

  “That’s right, I never told you about my benefactor, did I?” Christine said. “He’s the guy who adopted me. I don’t call him 'Dad' because he’s never acted like one. Honestly, I can’t see him as anything other than a pervy old man with a loli fetish.”

  Lindsay tilted her head. “Loli fetish?”

  “But he does pay for my apartment and all of my necessities, so he’s not all bad,” Christine continued, ignoring the questioning stare of her friend. “We don’t talk very often, though. I’m not even sure where he is right now.”

  Thinking of Orin made her wonder what that perverted old monkey was doing. Knowing him, he was probably hitting on some unfortunate young lady, or getting his ass kicked for hitting on said unfortunate young lady.

  “Doesn’t he at least call you?”

  Christine shrugged. “Of course he does. He calls at least once or twice a year to make sure I’m doing okay.”

 
“That’s so sad.” Lindsay hugged herself around the waist. “My parents are usually busy with their own lives, but I at least see them every day and know they love me.” She suddenly shuddered. “My mom, at least, sometimes displays a little too much love for me.”

  Christine snorted in amusement. “Whatever, it’s not like I really care about that. I’ve lived on my own for most of my life. Not being able to see a man I’ve only met a few times is no skin off my bones.”

  “Don’t you ever get lonely, though?”

  Christine looked at Lindsay, and then averted his gaze. “Sometimes,” she admitted. “I’ve been alone all my life, so it doesn’t really bother me too much, but there have been times when I wished someone was there for me. Ah! B-but it’s not like I’m lonely or anything! I’m not! I just would’ve liked someone to occasionally talk to! That’s it!”

  “Hm. So you get lonely occasionally?” asked Lindsay.

  “N-not in the least!” Christine felt a chilling coldness rise to her ears. They were most definitely turning blue. It wouldn’t have surprised her if steam was rising from them as well.

  “What about now? Are you still lonely?”

  The coldness that had spread to her cheeks slowly vanished at her friend’s questions. Calming herself with several deep breaths, she looked at Lindsay as the other girl stood up and walked over to her, and then glanced away.

  “N-not recently,” she said, stuttering only a bit. “Not since—kya! What are you doing?!”

  Christine squawked as Lindsay pounced on her, sending them both spilling to the floor. She hit her head on the carpet, again, and then squeaked when she realized that someone was sitting on top of her. It was, of course, Lindsay. Her tomboyish friend was wearing the largest, creepiest grin that Christine had never seen.

  “I think someone needs a hug!” Lindsay sang as she leaned down, presumably to give Christine a hug.

  “I do not need a hug! Get! Off! Get—kya! Stop that! W-what are you—WHERE ARE YOU TOUCHING?!”

  It was during this moment, as Christine and Lindsay rolled around on the floor, looking almost like a pair of lovers in the middle of a hot make out session, that Mrs. Diane opened the door.

  “Dinner’s ready, you two—”

  She stopped.

  And stared.

  Neither Lindsay nor Christine noticed her peering into the room, thus they continued rolling around on the floor. To the impressionable mother, it looked like her daughter was having a very heavy petting session with her loli lesbian lover.

  “I’ll just… leave some food in the fridge for you two to grab whenever you’re hungry,” she said, slowly shutting the door behind her and walking the other way. She could still hear their voices coming from the other side of the door, however.

  “Hahaha! Come on! What’s wrong with a little affection between friends?”

  “Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean you can—H-hey! What the—cut it out, Lindsay! Stop grabbing me—no—wait! Don’t!—iyahn!”

  ***

  “Nya…”

  Cassy Belladonna looked at her depressingly empty fridge. Her stomach was rumbling and she was on a quest to find some food. Most unfortunately, there wasn’t much—a slice of cheese, an almost empty carton of milk, and half of a fish. It was barely enough to make a halfway decent meal.

  I guess this is what happens when you fail all your missions.

  Feeling awfully downtrodden about her lack of foodstuffs and her failure to kill Lilian Pnév̱ma, Cassy took everything that she had left and prepared a paltry meal for dinner.

  She sat down at her small, rickety table in silence. Her chair creaked precariously underneath her weight. She didn’t weigh much, barely 110 pounds. The chair was just that old and decrepit, much like the rest of her residence.

  Cassy lived in a studio apartment in the bad part of Phoenix. The worn walls had paint peeling off and the ceiling had several holes in it. She thanked the Shinigami that it didn’t rain very often in Arizona. Even so, she kept several buckets on hand for when the stormy season came. Much like the walls, the floors were old, weathered, and ragged, while the carpet was rundown and missing chunks in several places. Her furniture, too, held the appearance of something that she had found in a junkyard.

  This apartment didn’t actually belong to her. The complex that it was located in was rundown, derelict, and abandoned. The person who had owned it died several years ago, supposedly murdered, and no one wanted to live in it afterward. It would have been demolished and constructed into something new, but because of its inconvenient location, the government had decided not to waste the money and left it standing—a ghost complex in the middle of the ghetto.

  After her disappointingly sparse dinner, Cassy lay down on her ratty old couch, the torn fabric scratching her skin as she tried to get comfortable. She didn’t have a bed, just the couch. It was, in fact, one of only six pieces of furniture in her entire apartment.

  Before she could get too comfortable, a loud ringing penetrated her eardrums. Cassy winced as she sat up and fumbled around inside one of the pockets of her leather pants. She pulled out her cellphone, accepted the call, and placed it against her ear. Only one person could have been calling her. Only one person even had this number.

  “M-Mistress Sarah,” she stuttered, “I didn’t expect you to call while I’m on nya mission, nya.”

  “On a mission? Truly?” The person on the other end was a woman with a young, yet harsh-sounding voice. “Is that what you’re calling it? You failed to kill your target, and now, instead of returning in shame like you should have, you’re loafing around in Phoenix. I should have you locked up for insubordination.”

  Cassy winced, but she still tried to defend herself. “B-but you never gave me the order to return!”

  “Because I had decided to allow you this chance,” her mistress explained. “Since you were so eager, I thought I would let you prove yourself to me. Unfortunately, much like I have come to expect, you’ve proven yourself to be nothing but a sore disappointment. Not only have you failed to kill your target, but you spent more time hanging around that boy you’re so fond of… while in the presence of your target, I might add.”

  Even though she was only speaking to her mistress through the phone, Cassy couldn’t keep the shiver from escaping her. “N-nya, t-that’s because…”

  “That is because you are a failure,” Mistress Sarah spoke harshly. “You’ve never once completed the missions given to you. Every single one of them has ended in failure.” A tired sigh came from the other end. “I honestly have no idea how someone with so much talent can be such an abject failure, but there you have it.”

  Cassy didn’t know what was worse: Her mistress’s harsh words, or the fact that everything her mistress said was true. “I-if you give me one more chance, I’m sure I could—”

  “You have been given many chances,” Mistress Sarah cut her off. “Too many. Twenty-four missions I have sent you on and twenty-four missions you have failed. This is the last straw, Belladonna. I can’t have you lowering the reputation of my village.”

  “You’re ordering me back?” Oh, that was not good. Receiving an order to return was the same as being told that she was a failure, which she didn’t need anyone telling her. She already knew that she was a failure.

  “No, not yet at least,” Mistress Sarah said, but before Cassy could sigh in relief, the woman spoke some more. “You are too talented to just take back. However, I have come to the conclusion that you lack the necessary ability to harden your heart and steel your mind to complete your assignments. That is why I have decided to assign you a tutor. He will teach you, train you, and work with you on this assignment. You will listen to him and do everything that he tells you to. I will not suffer another failure on your part.”

  “Yes, Mistress,” Cassy replied meekly.

  “Good.”

  A soft click emitted from the other end and the line went dead. Cassy dropped the phone on the floor and lay back on
the couch, raising her left arm and covering her face.

  “Nya…” she moaned piteously. “It looks like my life is going from bad to worse.”

  In the stillness of her apartment, the only sound to be heard was that of the crickets chirping.

  “I didn’t even find out who she was sending, did I?”

  ***

  Long after the sun had gone down and everyone else went to sleep, Kotohime remained awake.

  She stood on the balcony, staring up at the night sky. A million stars shone with a brilliant luster, their formations creating shapes and patterns that Kotohime recognized but was not necessarily familiar with. The world of twilight was so different from daytime; it was a beautiful vision of the phantasmagoric night given form by the moon goddess, Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto.

  Hovering several feet above the ground in front of her was a kudagitsune, the small, ephemeral creature’s tube-like wraith body giving it away. Kotohime extended a small scroll for the creature, which took the parchment into its mouth, swallowing it and causing the entire thing to disappear. The kudagitsune promptly took off into the night.

  She waited until it was gone, and then walked back into the living room. She noted with some amusement that Iris was no longer on the couch. Kotohime assumed that the girl had snuck into Lilian-sama and Kevin-sama’s bed again. It was something that she’d been doing a lot, especially recently. Whether she was doing this as a means of pranking her sister and her sister’s mate, or simply because she didn’t want to sleep alone, Kotohime had no idea.

  As she stepped further into the apartment, a noise caught her attention. She paused and tilted her head, listening.

  “Hawa-hawa-hawa-hawa… zzz… hawa-hawa-hawa-hawa…”

  A small droplet of sweat formed on her temple and trailed down the right side of her face as Camellia-sama walked into the room. The woman’s eyes were closed, her mouth was half-open, and she was completely naked.

  Is she sleepwalking?

  After further observation, Kotohime determined that Camellia-sama was, without a doubt, sleepwalking. Her gait was slow and stumbling. She’d bump into a wall, turn around and walk off in another direction, only to bump into another wall.