He shrugged furry pink shoulders, making his dark blue wings creep next to his ears.‘Strange times, Ev. What can I say?’
Well, there was no fucking denying the times were strange. Then I had a thought that panicked me, surprising me at the intensity of my reaction.‘We’ll still be BFFs, right?’
Cass strolled right up to me and wrapped my thighs in a tight hug. I crouched down so we could properly embrace and he leaned his head against my shoulder.‘Girl, we’ll always be besties. There isn’t a thing on Earth that can come between us.’
Relief flooded through me. It had been Cass and me against the world for so long … now we were growing up, falling in love, and having babies and shit.
I sniffled.
‘You and me are forever. We always have been.’He squeezed me with his small arms.‘But if you ever tell anyone we had this sappy moment, I’ll deny it till my dying day. It’d mess with my badass persona, you know? I have a reputation to protect. Pulling off hot pants like these is harder than it looks.’
Man, I loved the fuck out of this demon imp.‘Your secret is safe with me.’
“Break up the love-fest,” Tianna called ahead. “We’ve got some selkie ass to kick.”
“We’re hoping not to even have to interact with the selkies, remember?” Haru said, he and his brother trailing behind the Amazonian fae-witch.
“In and out without disturbing a thing,” Reo added.
Tianna flicked her copper hair behind her shoulder. “You boys just don’t want me to have any fun.”
A shotgun cocked while Molly swept out onto the porch of Gran’s cabin. She appeared to be inspecting the rifle.
Tianna pointed at Molly. “You don’t want her to have any fun either.”
Realizing Tianna was referring to her, Molly looked up, smiling from behind a sheet of bright violet hair.
“Shit. This isn’t going to go down quietly, is it?” Brock said against my ear, sidling next to me and settling possessive hands around my hips.
I shook my head. “Not a chance.”
Selkies were territorial bitches, and if they didn’t let me in to their little healing water cave, there’d be hell to pay.
We loaded up into two cars, Tianna and Brock’s, and peeled out of there, a convoy of chaos and redemption.
* * *
We drove through Washington all morning and made it to Bellingham around noon. We were so far up the state that we were near the Vancouver, Canada border. Once in Bellingham, Haru instructed us to rent a private boat and we made our way over to Lummi Island.
“How do you know about this place?” Molly shouted above the sound of the wind gliding across our motorboat as Brock drove to the island.
Molly was out of her mind excited that she might be about to see a real life selkie. They were super reclusive and kept to themselves most of the time.
“We have a similar cove in Japan,” Haru said. “It’s our job as kitsune protectors to know all the places where we could heal the kitsune’s sword.”
I raised one eyebrow. “So swords have broken before?”
Reo nodded this time, his dark hair pulled up into a sexy man bun. “A kitsune’s power isn’t dependent on their katana, but they aren’t as powerful without the use of it. The first thing the Akuma does when they want to take out a kitsune is break their blade, to limit the kitsune’s range of magic.”
Fear gnawed at my gut. Was I weakened now that my katana was broken? Is that what he was essentially saying? I gulped. My magic, kitsune or otherwise, didn’t feel any different, but I hadn’t exactly tried to use it.
“And this kitsune killing faction still doesn’t know I exist, right?”
Haru shrugged. “We hope not. It’s our goal to keep your existence a secret at least until you can permanently close the gate.”
The wind picked up and a frigid blast whipped across the boat, making me wish I’d thought to dress in something warmer than my usual crop tank-top. I’d left my leather jacket at the cabin.
Brock slowed as the island came into view. Thick green trees spanned the length of the oasis. I’d spent the last several years living in the concrete jungle of LA. This was so raw and untouched in comparison. “It’s beautiful,” I breathed.
