“There she is. Yoo-hoo, Miss Flight Attendant, I’m a bit peckish.” Hikaru obnoxiously leaned to his left and into the aisle as he frantically waved his hand. His new position placed his ass higher in the air, his tails flopping this way and that, half of them smacking me in the face. My active swatting did little to reign those fluffy bits in.
Janice’s eyes widened as she glanced between me and Hikaru. “Sir, I don’t remember you be?—”
“Oh, look at all those little packages of snacks.” Hikaru licked his lips. “I want two of each and something better than that shitty ginger ale stuff Niki’s drinking.”
Niki?!Magic sparked around my fingertips, alarming Janice.
“Sir, I must remind you that using magic is forbidden while flying.” There was more than a hint of nervous alarm in Janice’s voice.
More than once, I’d wondered just how in the hell they planned on enforcing that rule. Most likely I didn’t want to know. Somehow, I managed to reign in my anger andmagic while grounding out a completely insincere, “Apologies.” Janice’s raised eyebrows and pallid skin let me know she didn’t buy my false concession.
While Janice was distracted, Hikaru reached into the cart and helped himself to a handful of varying snack packets along with two different types of soda. “Thanks!” Hikaru settled back into his seat; his hoard nestled in his lap. Pleased humming vibrated through his chest and his eyes shown a little brighter as he ripped into the first package.
Janice stood there, wide eyes blinking and mouth opening and closing on unspoken questions. The longer Janice remained, the quieter Hikaru became until his silence was deafening. Ever so slowly, he lifted his head, eyes narrowed. “You may go now,” Hikaru insisted, all earlier mischief and lightness gone, leaving a chill in the air.
Jerking back, Janice tossed me one last confused glance before pushing her cart down the aisle.
With a huff of irritation, Hikaru stuffed a handful of peanuts in his mouth. His eyes never left Janice’s back as she moved further down the aisle. After swallowing, he growled, “Some humans are just plain rude. You’d think she’d never seen a kitsune before.”
I’d rarely found myself at a loss for words. I was often poignantly quiet, allowing my lack of response to speak for itself. Lack of words was not the problem, nor was being able to speak them. Typically, I had a plethora of words I wanted to say. Most individuals were not worthy enough to waste them upon.
But this…this was different. I truly had no idea what to say. Most likely, Janice had truly never met a kitsune before. While there were rarer creatures, one would be hard pressed to list or find them. Most likely Janice believed Hikaru to be some type of common shifter. She could not be more wrong.
The soda can hissed when Hikaru popped the top. Unbothered by drinking directly from the can, Hikaru tilted it back and downed half in one go, letting loose a disgusting belch of obvious satisfaction when finished.
“You are crude and disgusting.” I didn’t even attempt to hide the disdain from my words.
Hikaru’s eyeroll rivaled Erasmus’s when he’d been a teenager. “As if I care what a stuffy old warlock thinks.”
Again, I bristled. “I am not old.” Not by warlock standards. In fact, most would say I was in my prime.
Hikaru waved me off. “The white at your temples says otherwise.”
It was my turn to huff. “That is natural for a warlock. Our first white hairs begin developing when we are but children.” While it was true that the whiter a warlock’s hair, the older they were, it wasn’t a good way to judge a warlock’s age once they’d reached adulthood.
Unbothered, Hikaru leaned back, stretching his arms above his head, lifting his threadbare T-shirt and exposing a sleek abdomen covered in a thin layer of blondish-red fur. The sight was…distracting.
“So, where are we going?” Hikaru asked as he lowered his arms, settling into his seat.
“Weare not going anywhere.Iam going home.”
“And where’s home?” Hikaru pressed.
“I do not see why that knowledge is pertinent considering you are not invited.”
Hikaru’s slow grin grew wider by the second until it scrunched his cheeks so much the action appeared painful. “It’s funny you think that.”
There was nothing comical about the situation. “And I believe it isfunnythat you believe I will allow you into my home.”
Two of Hikaru’s tails slipped into my space, sensually rubbing against my jaw and neck. “Oh, Niki, you are so much more fun than I thought you’d be.”
My stomach rolled. Hikaru’s words negated all the earlier good my ginger ale did. “I cannot decide if you are foolishly naïve or simply stupid.” I had a sinking feeling it was neither.
Throwing his head back, Hikaru’s joyous laughter held a sinister quality. “Careful, Niki. A little arrogance is sexy. Too much is dangerous. To you, not me. Now, be a dear and be quiet. I wanna take a nap before we land.”
Incredulous, I silently stared as Hikaru drew his legs up, twisting sideways in his seat and cocooning himself within his tails.
I wanted to scream and had the unimaginably juvenile urge to repeatedly poke Hikaru in the side just to annoy him. I did neither of those things. Instead, I leaned into my seat, head tilted to stare out the small porthole of a window. I would not look at him and I most certainly would not think Hikaru looked cute wrapped in his fiery fur. I absolutely refused to allow that thought to wander through my head.
