Fox in the Quarter (5 page)

“
S
o this is
why it’s not likely they moved her far, Kit?” He didn’t answer. In fact, I wasn’t sure if he was in the room.

We had at last located Yuki. She was a petite slender girl. In fact, I doubted she reached five feet tall. She looked more like twelve than eighteen. With long silky dark hair and small slanted eyes, she had a very beautiful round face. Those lovely eyes stared right through me at the moment, vacant but a tad threatening. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Yuki had been strapped into a chair, her wrists and ankles bound in a room absent of adornment except for the very handy alter behind her. Habiki and his men knelt around Yuki, chanting something I couldn’t make out. Yuki’s lips moved as well, but I was pretty sure what she spoke wasn’t Japanese.

One of the men stood and approached her with a weapon in his hand. I shouted before I moved. “Stay away from her!”

My steps faltered when power swept out from Yuki to raise the man from his feet and slam him into a wall. I gaped at the young girl, came to myself, and approached. Nathan touched my arm, but I shook him off.

“Yuki?” I said softly. “I’m here with Kit, um, Kitsune, your companion. I won’t hurt you.”

None of the men moved or stopped chanting. The girl didn’t respond. What had they done to her?

“Yukiko, can you hear me?” No response. The two men from the hallway upstairs entered from a side door. I expected them to come after me, but they joined the circle of men as if Nathan and I weren’t there.

“This is some kind of cult craziness,” Nathan whispered. “Trust it to happen in New Orleans.”

“Right under a grocery store,” I agreed. “We have to get her out of here, Nathan, and I’m going to make these men sorry they targeted her.”

“Back away.”

Nathan and I spun around at the voice. My eyes must have bugged. Standing before us was a young Asian man, mid-thirties maybe, but I sensed he was far older. Instead of regular clothing, he wore robes styled from an era long vanished.

Nathan bared his teeth, which had turned wolf. He was on his way to a change. “Who are you?”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Nathan, it’s Kitsune.”

Nathan gaped at me then swung his head toward the fox who had become a man. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. What’s this about, Kit? Why are you in that form? Have you been lying to us all this time?”

“You’re surprised?” Nathan snapped. “I told you you couldn’t trust a fox!”

Nathan launched himself at Kit, but with a wave of his hand, Kit sent my friend flying. I moved in the blink of an eye between Nathan and the wall. Bad mistake. I’d forgotten in that moment even if Nathan got hurt, he would heal. My insides felt like they had been crushed. The impact put both Nathan and I through the wall, and plaster and cement crumbled around us.

“What are you doing, Rue?” Nathan groaned as he climbed to his feet and yanked me to mine. I bit into my lip to keep from crying out. Good thing my fangs had already receded after the earlier incident.

“He is not as powerless as he claimed,” I said when we re-entered the room.

“You’re wrong,” Kit said, and he continued across the room toward Yuki and the men, moving as if he concentrated hard. “I am using what I reserved and what I have been forbidden to use here. I’ll be found out soon, but it will be too late for
them.”

Habiki snapped out of his trance to turn to me. “Please help us! Don’t believe what he’s told you. We aren’t the bad guys. My ancestors were responsible for killing off all of her bloodline, but we had a reason.”

“There is never a reason to kill a young girl and her family. I don’t care how you try to justify it.”

“Even if it’s to save the world?” Habiki stood and faced me.

“Silence,” Kit commanded, but we both ignored him.

“The Nakahara family are protectors of mankind, not destroyers. Habiki pointed to Yuki, and his face contorted with rage and hate. “Her and all her family are evil.”

“Now, now. Name-calling isn’t appropriate.” I inched along the wall closer to the front.

“Do you think this is a joke, vampire?” He flung something toward me, but I deflected it. He wasn’t getting me with that trick again.

“I don’t think it’s a joke, but if you think I’ll believe anything you say when you have Yuki strapped to a chair, you’re mistaken. The only reason I haven’t killed you yet is because I need you to take her out of that trance.”

“That trance,” he grumbled, “is the only thing that’s keeping us all alive. She hasn’t awakened, but if you take her out of it, she will.”

“Awakened?” I wondered aloud. Nathan had been making his way around the opposite side of the room, and at Habiki’s words, he paused along with me. “What do you mean?”

“Listen closely, vampire,” Habiki quipped, and I was tempted to throttle him for the repeated offense he infused the word
vampire
with each time he said it. “When the members of this girl’s bloodline awaken, they are always overtaken by evil. It has never been different in fifteen hundred years. That’s why we put the alert on this country as well as all others that will give us permission. Upon the off chance a descendent was missed.”

“And you missed Japan?” I mused.

He frowned. “There are many powers in Japan that will cancel such an alert for their own reasons. We were vigilant in our own country.”

“Not vigilant enough. Anyway, aside from that I mean what’s evil? Some would say I’m evil. One of your men called me a demon earlier.”

Habiki flared his nostrils. “The kind of evil with an ambition to rule the world and slaughter everyone that stands in the way.
Everyone.”

I started to argue further that he was insane, but movement drew my attention back to Yuki. She was so slight and adorable. How could these people possibly think she—my thoughts fell away. I realized that while Yuki was dressed in simple blue jeans and a blouse, there was an expensive looking necklace hanging around her neck. An emerald that must be the size of her fist was encrusted with diamonds all around it. The gold band holding the gems was half an inch thick. How could an orphan afford such a piece even with a trust fund? Who would want to?

Then the blue light began, and the necklace glowed so bright it hurt my eyes. I squinted and shielded them, and everyone else in the room did the same. My fangs began to ache, and they dropped down despite the low level of blood lust. Darkness stirred in my soul, something I knew was there ever since I had been changed.

“Yuki,” I shouted, but she didn’t hear me anymore than before. Yet, the dazed expression left her face. She moved her head, surveying the entire room, taking me in, Nathan, the men, and finally Kitsune.

“Onii-chan,”
she whispered.

The humans rose, and runes brightened all along their arms and on their faces. I imagined it continued beneath their clothing from the glow produced. In response, the necklace flashed brighter, and blue lightning burned a path from Yuki’s chest down her arms, creating burn-edged holes all along her sleeves. Where the sleeves ended at just below her elbows, runes appeared like an unseen hand wrote them. They continued to her wrists and circled them then snaked into her palms. She raised her hands before her.

I darted forward. Too late, every single human landed at her feet, and none rose again. I tried to get to her, but the power flashed. This time, Kit darted between us and took the brunt of the attack. He sank to a knee and bowed his head, panting.

“You…must…sleep, Yukiko,” Kit rasped.

I gaped. “What they said was true, wasn’t it? She’s just like they said she is?”

Kit didn’t answer, but I knew I was right. Yuki looked at me, and the darkness increased. I hissed, but the pressure that had begun in my head the minute she began to awaken became unbearable.

“Serve me,” she said.

I tried to shake my head but failed. I couldn’t move. “A vampire doesn’t serve anyone except her sire, and only if he insists.”

I sounded confident, but in reality, I was getting worried. Yuki’s power was more than I imagined. A groan caught my attention, and I looked down to find Habiki wasn’t dead. He managed to roll over, but he couldn’t stand. I wanted to help him, but I still couldn’t make my limbs obey.

“Vampire,” he whispered.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s Rue Darrow.”

“Rue… We were going to kill her, but the necklace...”

“What about it?”

“It came to her when she was close. We kept it safe all this time because we didn’t have the power to destroy it. How could we know bringing her to the necklace would awaken her? We messed up. Please, you have to stop her. Take the necklace off.”

I frowned. “All this time you didn’t know you needed to keep the two apart, and you call yourselves protectors of men? Honestly!”

“Rue…Darrow.”

The compulsion to pay attention to Yuki’s call came over me.

“Serve me.”

“I’ve already told you, princess, no deal.”

She reached out into the air and closed her fist. An unseen force grabbed on and dragged me forward. A roar of rage split the air, and Nathan tried to jump between Yuki and me. Her other hand rose, and Nathan tumbled head over feet across the room. He didn’t move again after he stopped rolling. I detected his heartbeat, but I took exception to her hurting him all the same.

Rather than resist Yuki, I rushed her, moving at top speed until I hurtled into her. We both toppled backward, but the blue light changed to fire and roasted me. I screamed and held on, thinking if I could bite her I could gain control. Oh the ideas that enter a silly vampire’s head.

Yuki lost concentration for an instant to allow us to fall to the floor with me on top of her. I sank my fangs into her neck and promptly caught on fire from the inside out. Blood never tasted so horrible. Her thoughts entered my head, and I saw the truth of what her ancestors had done. The Nakaharas didn’t lie or exaggerate, and what I felt put fear in a vampire’s unbeating heart. Yuki had the potential to do the same because of this wicked power that seemed more of a curse.

I drew away, retracting my fangs, and the runes once again created themselves, chasing over her face and glowing. One minute I sprawled above her, and the next I was thrown by an invisible force. I reached out and grew my nails into claws to slow my progress, scratching and digging into the hard floor until I slid to a halt.

Yuki sat up like a woman possessed. Her head swiveled on her neck in my direction, and I braced for another blow. Then arms encircled her from behind, and the necklace came off to dangle in Kit’s hand.

My jaw went slack. “You could have done that sooner, fox.”

He raised the necklace and tossed it toward me. I flinched but braved catching it. Cold, dead jewelry was all I felt, and when I looked back at Yuki, I found the runes fading. Unlike with the other humans, they left no trace as if they had never been there.

“
O
nii-chan
?”
Yuki said.

I noticed Kit’s fingernails were ordinary at first, but now they had begun to change into claws. His solid form faded, and the man shrank and spouted fur to become the cute little fox again. Yuki bounced happily and spouted a mouthful of Japanese at him. He answered her in the same language. Nathan roused and began climbing to his feet.

“She doesn’t remember?” I asked Kit.

He glanced at Yuki and then turned to me. “No, she’s no longer awakened to the power as long as she doesn’t wear the necklace.”

The young woman said something else in their native tongue. I handed her the book I still carried with me. “Yuki, it’s okay to talk to me. I’m sorry I bit—uh—I won’t hurt you.”

The young woman took the book with obvious gratitude and ducked her head in a slight bow. Kit explained. “She doesn’t speak much English.”

“Well, when she was trying to command that I serve her, she did a pretty good imitation of an English speaker.”

“That was the power. It allows her access to all that her ancestors have learned. Someone in her past was able to speak English.”

“And you do.”

“My ability is similar to hers.”

“But you’re not cursed.”

“That’s one way of looking at it.” He sighed. “Rue, I’m sorry I lied. I wanted to protect Yuki. Even knowing who she is, I don’t want her to die.”

Nathan tried to snatch the fox, but his hand passed through him. “So instead you keep risking the whole world! You said you were with her mother and her grandmother. What, are you going to watch her get married and have a bunch of kids too, to increase the chances for it to happen?”

“No!” Habiki struggled to sit up. “Destroy the necklace, Rue. That’s the only way for her to awaken.”

I looked down at the emerald still in my hand. To think power had emanated from it just moments ago that had almost took over my will. I had broken through all the rune spells cast by the humans without even trying, but the necklace on Yuki was a different matter.

The gold and gems felt ordinary in my palm. Not even a vibration or light. Were they recharging? Habiki had said the necklace had gone to Yuki. If I moved closer, would it come to life again? I decided not to test it out. In the same room felt too near for comfort.

A glance at Kit brought no answers. He spoke with Yuki and ignored the rest of us, almost as if he was putting the fate of the necklace in my hands. Anger surged through me, and I closed my fingers around the gem. That’s when I felt it, the darkness, but subtle. Whatever was in Yuki was a curse, and I wanted to stop it.

I pressed hard on the jewel, expecting it to crumble in my fist. Nothing happened. I tugged at the chain using all of my super strength. Again, no response. The rings didn’t even strain and bend out of shape.

“Let me try,” Nathan said. He grabbed for necklace.

“No, you mustn’t,” Kit shouted.

An explosion of power and light started in the necklace as soon as it left my hold. Nathan was being dragged across the floor toward Yuki. I understood in an instant and zipped to him to take the necklace back. Right away, the power winked out.

“The necklace is indestructible,” Habiki said. “If we had known you could suppress its power, we would have used you sooner.”

“Thanks,” I muttered.

He looked from me to Yuki.
“She’s
not indestructible.”

Just like that I became responsible for a young woman’s life and the fate of the world. I would have quipped “all in a day’s work” if I could muster the gumption, but I decided not to.

“Kill her, Rue,” Habiki insisted.

“Aren’t you the gentleman, leaving it in my hands like that,” I snarked. “I won’t kill her.”

Kit seemed relieved. The fact that he was barely there told me he had expended all his energy, and he wouldn’t be able to stand between Yuki and me if I tried to take her life. I refused to tell any of them I
couldn’t
take her life.

“There are billions of people in this world,” Habiki snapped. “Think of them before one stupid little girl.”

“If you want her dead, you do it!” I said it knowing I would stand in his way.

Habiki probably had several broken bones. He wouldn’t be getting up any time soon without help. I considered asking Nathan to do it, but the words refused to form on my tongue.

“Go back to Japan, Kit,” I said, “and don’t let her leave again. I don’t want a repeat of what happened tonight. You also won’t let her get married or have children, or I will find them and kill them myself.”

The fox’s nose twitched in indignation, but he agreed. “We don’t have much of a choice, but I’m grateful to you, Rue. Thank you.”

“What about payment,” Nathan grumped.

The fox said something to Yuki, and the two of them left the room together. I walked over to Habiki and crouched at his side. “And as for you…”

“You’ve made a big mistake!” He glared at me, but I could see he was in great pain. “He wants her to kill everyone and take over the world. It’s probably what he plotted all along.”

“I don’t think so. If Kit wanted that, he wouldn’t have protected me from Yuki. He also wouldn’t have given me this necklace.” I held it up, wondering what I should do with it. There was no way I could hold it in my hand forever or wear it for that matter. Call me crazy, but I didn’t relish evil draped upon my person as an accessory.

Steps echoed in the hall, and I recognized the scents of more humans. Nathan tensed beside me. Habiki panted, holding his side. “Don’t worry. They’re not going to try anything.”

The men walked into the room, and two approached Habiki to help lift him from the floor.

“Wait.” Habiki tapped the arm of the man who held him. They spun to face me. “Rue, please, entrust us with the necklace.”

“What?” Nathan shouted.

“Hear me out. It’s our responsibility to stop the curse on it. The necklace didn’t activate until the woman was in the same room as the necklace. We know now what we have to do, and we know she exists. I’m not saying we’re going to give up.”

I heard “we’re going to find her and try to kill her,” but something told me in Japan, Kit would be a far different adversary. Maybe it was a foolish decision, but I had my own worries. I didn’t need to take on other people’s responsibilities. Wait, did I sound like Silvano just then?

So, I handed over the necklace. Unlike when I let go of it the last time, nothing happened, and Nathan and I took our leave. On the street, Nathan questioned me.

“Are you sure about giving them that thing? They could misuse it.”

“How? Yuki’s the only one who can wield it, and you saw for yourself she killed them all except for Habiki.”

Nathan pushed his hands into his pockets. “I don’t like it.”

“Well, you could take it from them and guard it.”

“No way. That evil? I sensed the way it started to get inside you.” He probably didn’t realize he had begun to growl low in his throat. I patted his arm.

“We’re okay now, Nathan.”

“How can we be okay when I didn’t get my cereal?”

“Poor pup. Maybe next time.” I looked toward the horizon but already knew my time was up. “See you tonight?”

He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. “Yeah, come by so I can whip your butt at cards again.”

“Sure, gotta make yourself feel good some way, since you can’t in any other.”

“You’re going to pay for that, vampire,” he teased.

I chuckled and then said, “I’ll be a little late though. I’m thinking of getting a tattoo.”

He smirked. “Have fun with your ‘sister.’”

“I will.”

Soon, I was in the wind, leaving him far behind.