“Looks are irrelevant.” Niki held up a hand, shifting his fingers while magic sparked and wove its way around them. “This is what is important—what counts.”
“Ah.” I nodded with understanding. “Power.”
Niki’s nod was oddly reluctant. “I’m not saying that I agree with its importance, only that I recognize itisimportant. Power is how I keep those I love safe. Without it…” Niki swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I do not wish to contemplate the consequences of my deficiencies.”
I huffed a disbelieving laugh. “I hardly think you need to concern yourself regarding yourdeficiencies.” I offered alascivious grin. “I’d much rather stroke other, more interesting, parts of you than your ego.”
“Menace,” Niki growled, so low I almost didn’t hear him.
“I love it when you call me that.”
Niki’s cheeks darkened to crimson. Oh, he knew all right. That’s why he said it in the first place. He might not consciously realize it, but that didn’t negate the fact he’d done it on purpose.
I chuckled but did Niki a favor and kept further thoughts and actions to myself. Silence resumed until my stomach growled, reminding both of us that I still needed fed. “Growing an eighth tail is hungry work,” I said while patting my stomach.
Niki’s head whipped my direction before quickly going back to the road. “I thought I saw an extra bit of fluff back there.”
Nodding vigorously, I tilted my head up and practically preened with delight. “You saw correctly. It’s young and will take time to grow, but having it back, even in its infantile state, is amazing.”
Hands shifting, Niki’s knuckles flexed and relaxed against the wheel. “I noticed earlier that there was a…space where a tail seemed to be missing.” Niki quickly glanced my way. I’m not exactly certain what my expression was, but it was enough to make him back down. “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it. It’s really none of my?—”
“I was a trusting fool,” I answered. My chest ached as the words left my mouth. Embarrassment warred with my rage and betrayal. “I trusted the wrong individual.”
“Huxley,” Niki rightly answered.
I scoffed. “He told me heneededit—the magic it held. Tenzen told me… I suppose it doesn’t matter now what he told me. It was a lie. All of it was a lie.”
I nearly jerked when Niki’s fingers touched my furred tail, gently stroking its length while his other hand remained on the steering wheel. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Oddly, it waswortha lot. More than I would have thought. “It’s in the past.”
“The action is in the past, but its repercussions live on in the present. The past molds our current actions and our future decisions. Unless one utilizes a forgetting charm—something I would not recommend—then we are as bound to our past as we are our future. That is simply the way of things. Perhaps that is the one benefit to human frailty. They do not live as long as other species, limiting their regretful pasts.”
I squirmed while contemplating the truth of that statement. Still, I didn’t want to live in my past and I certainly didn’t want Tenzen’s actions to dictate my future. The best revenge was living as if Tenzen Huxley hadn’t fucked up my life.
Niki kept stroking my tail. Evidently jealous of the attention that singular tail was getting, two more joined in. Niki’s ruff chuckle let me know he found them more amusing than annoying.
“Am I to assume the magical boost I gave you was the fuel needed to start the regeneration process of your eighth tail?”
There was no reason to lie. “You assume correctly.”
“Hmm, and how long will it take this tail to grow into…adulthood? Is that the right terminology?”
“Close enough. Based on past experience, about a hundred years.” Although, if I could manage a few more magical meals like the one I’d just experienced, that number might be less.
Niki remained quiet for a few moments before he asked, “And a ninth tail?”
I sighed while leaning back into my seat. “The Holy Grail of every kitsune.” Or, at least I thought it probably was. I’d met so few of my own kind that I hardly knew what wasnormaland what wasn’t. I had no idea how long it took most kitsune to gain all nine tails. I imagined those whose goddess had kept them,who had nurtured them, grew faster but I honestly had no other situation to compare it to.
“And what will you be able to do once you gain your ninth tail?”
I blinked while contemplating the question. “You know, I’m not certain.” It was a curious mystery.
“Sub sandwiches okay or do you want something greasier?” Niki asked, already pulling off at an exit.
“Subs are fine, but I want a lot of food,” I warned.
“Of course you do.” Niki didn’t even sound put out as he pulled into the drive thru line. As we neared the grand menu, I leaned over Niki so I could see the offerings better. I was in such a good mood that I didn’t even tease Niki when I felt his heart rate accelerate
