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  Sakurako shook her head in answer then turned her back to slither out of her nightgown. Like Kira, the old woman glowed as she shifted, but her transition was more of a supernova than the twinkle of a distant star. I rubbed my eyes, trying to make sense of the vision. Sakurako’s luminous white fur gleamed in the near darkness. And was night playing tricks on me or did she really boast multiple tails?

  I only had a second to stare at the strange kitsune, however, before tires on gravel heralded the arrival of enemy werewolves. We’d left the RV blocking the roadway, so it was inevitable our enemies would begin searching momentarily. We had to be out of earshot before that happened. Was I really ready to endanger our entire party for the sake of one bloodling wolf?

  Curly whined, peering up at me. Then Yuki was at my shoulder, arms outstretched. “I’ll carry him.” He glanced toward the white fox, already receding into the darkness, then told me: “I’ll put his life before mine, I promise.”

  And Yuki must have had kitsune blood somewhere inside him, because his words came out oath-like and binding. That was exactly the confirmation I was waiting for. So even as the first car door creaked open, I relinquished my burden and fell down into the form of my fox.

  WE RAN FOR EONS. OUTSIDE the tunnel, snow fell harder and faster, the fraction that filtered down through interwoven trees and shrubs not quite sufficient to slow our footsteps. I’d never thought kitsunes could control the weather, but it seemed like a strange coincidence that such a dramatic snowstorm had blown in out of nowhere at the exact moment we started fleeing from hunting wolves.

  Because I’d been wrong—the snow helped rather than hindered us. It muffled our scent and covered our tracks even as we fled through the network of tunnels some long-dead werewolf had created out of bushes and trees.

  Our enemies didn’t give up the chase, however, even though passage through the forest had to be much more difficult outside our vegetative pathway. Instead, their howls were terrifyingly close at first, then only a little more distant when trees laden with both leaves and snow began thundering to the ground and further blocking our pursuers’ paths.

  One huge trunk in particular smashed into the tunnel behind us, making Kira squeak and Curly whimper inside the shirt-turned-knapsack twined across Yuki’s shoulders. But Sakurako didn’t hesitate as she chose turn after turn in a winding, twisting labyrinth that led us who knew where.

  Then the cold air outside descended into eerie silence, nothing but our own pants of exertion evident as moment after moment flowed past without any additional werewolf howls. We’d lost them, had shed our followers like winter fur wafted away by a breeze in springtime. And in that elation of survival, my pack bond momentarily flickered back to life....

  Gunner, living. His lungs billowing and his muscles aching so drastically I stumbled over my next footstep.

  Pain was acceptable, however. Pain and the knowledge that even though Gunner was losing the battle, I could now tell him that he’d won the war.

  “We’re safe,” I attempted to shout down the pack bond. “Stop fighting. Save yourself!”

  But my presence just spurred Gunner to work harder, leaping at his enemy until they went down together in a pile of fur and claws. Something broke in one of his extremities, something tore above his ribcage....

  Then I was knocked backwards into my own body by brilliant lights above us combined with wind roaring so loudly it couldn’t have been a natural part of the storm.

  Sakurako squeezed out through a gap in the shrubbery, led us into a whirlwind of snow and ice. Above our heads, a helicopter hovered. Somehow, my grandmother had called upon human technology to complete our escape.

  As I stared, a rope ladder fell from the open access hatch. The first of Sakurako’s guards was already climbing up while the second reached down to grasp Kira’s fox body in his arms.

  This was it—the moment of decision. I could trust my grandmother to protect those I cared about and run back to assist my partner. Or I could follow her into the chopper and leave Gunner behind.

  A mate wouldn’t have hesitated, but I stood so long in the snow that ice formed pellets between my vulpine foot pads. Meanwhile, the fifth male knelt beside me, offering his arms as an easy route up.

  This was the same male who’d sprayed our footprints as we entered the tunnel, the same one who might have tried to kill Gunner and actually killed Edward. Could I really leave him alone with my sister and a defenseless bloodling puppy? Could I trust any of these strangers to do the job I’d accepted as my own?

  I couldn’t and I didn’t. But I did accept the male’s offer of assistance, leaping into his arms and closing my eyes against the pain in my temples as he clambered upward into the aircraft above our heads.

  Then we weren’t hovering but rather flying. And my connection to Gunner abruptly winked all the way out.

  Chapter 28

  The pilot and I were the only ones awake by the time we landed, swooping in on a helipad on the roof of a mansion that made Gunner’s city abode look like a run-down row house by comparison. Snow gusted away from the raised surface as we descended, but it was only a dusting. As if the vast blanket that had hindered our footsteps during our rush away from clan central had avoided this location...or as if Sakurako had another dozen minions on call just to sweep her roof clear.

  The latter appeared to be the truth of the matter, because two additional specimens of perfect manhood came out to greet us as the helicopter rotors slowed from a roaring storm into a gentle breeze. The pair didn’t even glance in my direction as they assisted Sakurako in descending, the robe that had been waiting for her in the chopper sweeping out behind them all like a bride’s train.

  Kira followed, eyes wide as she took in the lighted facade of the building, heated fountains flowing through zones of red and blue amid the snow below. “Wow,” she breathed, spinning a circle so her own robe floated around her like a princess’s, a few final snowflakes landing jewel-like in her hair.

  Which meant I was the only one estimating the width of the windows while stiffly unfolding myself from the position in which I’d waited out the journey. How deep was the snow? How far away was the road? Would the wrought-iron fence surrounding this residence keep enemy werewolves at bay?

  “Three miles.” Yuki’s voice drew me out of the helicopter before Kira could follow our grandmother inside the mansion. His hand was strong as he helped me down onto the helipad, and I appreciated the support after a day that still stretched before me with no obvious conclusion in sight.

  “Three miles?” I repeated, trying to make sense of the observation as I released his hand a little more quickly than I’d intended to. The memory of Gunner’s pain made it difficult to touch another man.

  “Three miles to the nearest roadway, and even that is gated and completely covered with snow at the moment. We’re safe here, Mai-san. But you can bunk with me if it will help you sleep soundly tonight.”

  I glanced backwards at Yuki rather than taking in the opulence as we passed through the doorway, me leading and him hovering not far behind. If he was insinuating what I thought he was insinuating, perhaps Soba’s attendants weren’t my cousins after all....

  We trailed the rest of the party down a circular staircase in the center of a tremendous, four-story atrium. There was more to look at here than there had been outside the residence, chandeliers and vast, shiny tables and vases large enough I could have stepped inside. Still, my attention was riveted on Yuki, trying to figure out how to reject his offer without coming across as irredeemably rude.

  “Prepare our guests a chamber.” My grandmother was the one who saved me from answering, sending Yuki away on an errand that even I knew had already been completed. He didn’t complain, though. Merely bowed and left us even as Sakurako pulled me into a corner where I could keep an eye on Kira without worrying that anyone might overhear our words.

  “Sobo, thank you for your hospitality,” I started. But the high-handed kitsune shushed me in her us
ual manner, speaking over me without waiting for a lull.

  “It’s best not to play favorites, granddaughter. At least in the beginning. Later, once they all have a chance of being the father, it’s easier to keep them at heel.”

  A chance of being the father? I must have twitched because Sakurako sighed, and for the first time looked the tiniest bit tired. “Sleep with Kira tonight if you’re cold. That’s all I ask from you.”

  That suggestion, at least, I could comply with. Well, except for the sleeping part. Because after Kira and Curly snuggled up together on the tremendous, canopied bed in their fur forms, I used the last gasp of my energy to materialize my star ball into its familiar sword shape. Then I sank down to the floor to listen for intruders while staring at Curly’s side as it rose and fell with his breath.

  He was just as cute as ever, but all I saw was a potential source of blood. Because the last of Edward’s fluids had been lost on snowy leaf litter, so this tiny werewolf was my only remaining avenue to discover whether my partner had survived his ill-matched fight.

  But I wasn’t about to steal energy from a toddler, no matter whether both he and his mother had given overt approval of that course of action. So, laying my sword across my lap, I settled in to wait.

  I MUST HAVE ENDED UP sleeping after all. Because when I woke, it was to Sakurako’s crinkled fingers shaking me back to life.

  “Granddaughter, walk with me.”

  Sunlight streamed through the windows so brilliantly I was pretty sure it was once again closer to lunch than to breakfast. And I considered waking Kira and Curly so I wouldn’t have to let them out of my sight.

  But Sakurako raised one eyebrow, reminding me of her promise. And I reluctantly admitted that her kitsune nature would force her to stick to her word.

  So I nodded, following Sakurako past two males guarding the outside of my doorway. Then we traveled at a pace that should have been beyond such an elderly lady as we strode rapidly down the hall.

  At first, I thought this was going to be another information-gathering session where my grandmother’s stubbornness exceeded my ability to batter through it. But she only waited until we were beyond the range of Kira’s hearing before she began filling me in.

  “This is one of several properties our lineage manages,” Sakurako told me, waving her hand at the expanse of snow-covered forest we could see through the long line of windows we were currently walking past. “There are four lineages left, ten kitsunes in the entire world that we know of.” She paused, corrected herself. “No. With you and your sister, that total comes to twelve.”

  So few. The weight in my stomach was nothing compared to what settled there when I thought of Gunner—of Gunner who had to have survived the previous night. Still, it was significant that Kira and I each made up eight percent of the total world kitsune population. And it also explained the males who fawned over Sakurako...and the one who had already started fawning over me.

  “That’s why you wanted us to join you,” I suggested. “To carry on that lineage. With, what, a harem of males to ensure we reproduce in a timely manner?”

  “We call them an honor guard. They are chosen as much for their skills as for their genetics. But, yes, your statement is correct factually. The important point, however....”

  I wasn’t fated to learn what the important point was, unfortunately. Because Sakurako stepped closer to the glass expanse rather than finishing her explanation. And when I leaned sideways to see around her, my attention was captivated just as hers had been.

  Outside, the snow was waist high with no plowed pathway to enable a vehicle to drive through it. According to Yuki, the road lay three miles distant with a gate blocking the way. And yet, a gray animal bounded through the drifts toward us, tail and ears iced over but the beast most definitively a wolf.

  Chapter 29

  “That’s Elle.” My first burst of fear was replaced by breathless anticipation as I discerned the werewolf’s identity. Maybe my former mentor knew what had happened to Gunner. Maybe she’d come to inform me that her half-brother was safe.

  But Sakurako was no longer close enough to hear my explanation. Instead, she’d pushed open the nearest window...and was now striding down a staircase of snow that I was 99% positive hadn’t existed one moment before.

  Meanwhile, wind created a mini spiral of white with my grandmother at its center. Her feet slid rather than stepped forward, skimming across the tops of drifts as if she was surfing. So this is what a kitsune could do at the height of her power. The snowstorm hadn’t been a coincidence...and I hadn’t even seen my grandmother charge herself up with werewolf blood.

  I shivered in place for one split second, then I pushed through heavy snow in Sakurako’s wake. Unlike my grandmother, I wasn’t able to levitate so I had no chance of closing the distance between us. Still, Sakurako was slowed by the wrought-iron fence encircling her residence, and I nearly caught up as she melted drifted snow away from the gate.

  I wasn’t close enough to interrupt, however, as my grandmother spoke without a single glance in my direction. “You dare to invade my home without permission, werewolf?” Sakurako’s words didn’t soften even as Elle struggled to regain her human form.

  “I...used...the pack bond...to find...Mai...so I could deliver...a message. I came...” Gunner’s half-sister looked pitiful, naked in the snow. Meanwhile, cold made her teeth chatter so rapidly she barely managed to spit out her words.

  But I understood what she was saying. Understood that my connection to Elle was still strong enough to be used to locate me...which made the absence of a tether between myself and Gunner more ominous yet.

  “Is...?” I started, not able to voice the possibility. In answer, Elle raised one hand to a strange, bulky choker encircling her neck.

  And maybe my grandmother thought the choker was a weapon. Or maybe she was simply annoyed by the fact that Elle wasn’t lying prostrate, groveling in the snow. Whatever the reason, a flash of light leapt between them, Elle flinched, then a long line of blood rose along the outside of my friend’s arm.

  “Sobo!” I yelled, as I attempted to push my way between them. “Elle is my friend! She isn’t an invader! Leave her alone!”

  Rather than answering, Sakurako reached toward the naked werewolf with bony, cronish fingers. Scooping up a streak of red, she brought it to her mouth. “Now she’ll be obedient,” the old woman agreed, turning at last to face me with the tiniest smear of blood clinging to one corner of her mouth.

  This was last summer all over again. A kitsune stealing werewolf power to force those I cared about to obey someone else’s will. And regardless of the fact that I was a guest in Sakurako’s mansion, that wasn’t a fate I could allow to befall someone I called my friend.

  So, without another word, I pushed myself between the two females. And this time it was me who stole a long lick from Elle’s blood-streaked forearm, claiming Gunner’s half-sister as my own.

  I EXPECTED ANGER, BUT Sakurako only smiled and turned her back on us both to lead the way toward a wide-open door on the ground-floor level. The old woman should have been angry that I’d contradicted her, but I got the distinct impression this was, instead, the first time I’d ever made her proud.

  Ignoring the fleeting thought that I’d played directly into the old woman’s hands, I wrapped my arms around Elle to warm her while explaining what I’d done. “I had to break her hold over you, but I won’t coerce you,” I promised...feeling like a hypocrite as I latched onto the burst of werewolf power flooding my body in an attempt to connect with my not-quite-mate.

  Gunner, where are you? I pushed outwards with all my might, attempting to rebuild the connection I’d lost yesterday. But either the few drops of blood I’d consumed were too minuscule to overcome such a vast distance or the alpha wasn’t alive to answer. Either way, no pack bond flared to life between us, and an uncontrollable shiver racked my body from head to toe.

  Although she had just as much reason to lose herself to the
darkness as I did, Elle was the one who brought me back to reality. She planted her bare feet and tugged at the choker rather than continuing to follow me toward the door.

  Only it wasn’t a choker. It was a hollow collar that clicked open to reveal a slightly damp sheet of paper. “From Ransom,” Elle managed between chattering teeth.

  Ransom, not Gunner. Shoulders slumping, I accepted the letter only because Elle was so adamant about it, then I did my best to usher the naked female a little faster through the snow. She was so cold now that her lips were blue and she’d actually stopped shivering. Even I knew that couldn’t be good.

  But Sakurako’s underlings were prepared for every eventuality. Two ran out to meet us wielding a big, woolly blanket, and I wrapped Elle up even as I snapped out orders at the others waiting just inside the door.

  “We need a hot bath and someone who knows how to treat hypothermia,” I demanded, ignoring the fact that my grandmother had chosen these men to be part of my honor guard. Giving them commands felt like a first step down a slippery slope that ended in me owning their bodies and souls. Like stealing blood from Elle, the notion made me subtly sick.

  But my friend needed medical attention and she needed it immediately. So, ignoring the frisson of discomfort in my stomach, I accepted the bows of Sakurako’s attendants and the way they sprinted off to do as I’d asked.

  Then both Elle and I were inside, walking down a hallway into a room that was blissfully warm and decked out like a small-scale clinic. “I have medic training,” Yuki offered as he sorted through a doctor’s bag on the table beside him. “If you’ll ask the patient to sit, I’ll see what I can do.”