Molly brought her shotgun to rest on her shoulder. “You’ve never rested when you almost died, and you’ve almost died plenty.”
Brock growled next to me.
Thanks for reminding him, Molly.
I steeled my face to my apprentice. Whether she liked it or not, she was my responsibility, which meant I needed to look after her even when she didn’t like how I went about it. “Just take a time out for now.”
Molly’s eyes blazed before she breathed deeply and got herself under control. “This is all because I’m the only human here, isn’t it? I’ll bet if I was a wolf no one would treat me like I was made of glass.”
“You had an Akuma talon in you just a few hours ago!” I barked, but Molly was right. If she were a supernatural, I wouldn’t worry about her as much.
Molly cocked a hip and an eyebrow. “So? You healed me.”
Cass moved over to our apprentice. “Come on, Molly. I’ll help you get settled in and then join them.” Oh, Molly wasn’t happy about that, but she followed my BFF off to the cabin anyway.
I unclasped the band of my sword’s sheath from across my chest and handed my katana to Haru. “Take it. I need to shift to check out the gate,” I said. That green phosphorescent gate was only visible in my fox form. I needed to fully assess how open it was. Had things changed?
The warriors nodded. “Good plan,” Reo agreed.
“Lucky me.” I forced a tight smile. Shifting hurt like a motherfucker. The pain was supposed to diminish with each time, but so far it hadn’t diminished enough. Maybe the fifth time would be the charm.
“Hold up, Evie,” Haru said. “Before you shift, we need to talk to you about something.” He and Reo walked away from the others, just far enough that they wouldn’t overhear. Curious, I followed them, Brock on my tail.
“What is it?” Brock asked sharply. He was on edge. Tension rolled off his taut muscles and through our bond.
Haru and Reo exchange a wary look. “Closing the gate isn’t a science,” Reo said. “There’s no one single confirmed way to do it. It’s more of a guess, really—”
“Out with it,” Brock said, and I slipped my hand into his and squeezed in an effort to calm him down.
Haru sighed and ran a hand through his short hair, a rare nervous gesture. “Her father didn’t give us much direction, but one thing was clear. Evie needs all nine tails before she’ll be able to harness enough power to close the gate.”
And just like that, they dropped the bomb. Five more shifts.Five.I would have to complete five more shifts before I was ready. Even if I did one a day that might be too much for the baby, and we had hours to close this gate before the tsunami arrived, not days.
“No fucking way…” Brock’s voice was deadly.
“It could hurt the baby,” I explained to the warriors.
They nodded in unison. “We thought we had more time to let you ease into the shifts and acquire your powers, but talk to your doctor and see what she thinks you can do. Shift once now and we can take it slowly. The siren doesn’t know the exact placement of the gate yet, right?”
I was hoping not, but Calista was a wild card. I just shrugged.
“If we can find them today, stop the tsunami and kill them, it could buy us a few weeks until you can acquire all of your tails and close the gate.”
They both bowed to me, looking regretful that they’d had to be the bearers of bad news, and walked to the side to give Brock and me privacy.
Brock turned on me right away, his face animated with anger. “Didn’t that witch tell you not to shift too often? That it might jack up your powers?” The veins in his neck bulged; I stroked his bicep in soft, soothing motions.
“Yes, she did. And I’ve been cautious, as I’ll continue to be cautious. Let’s stop the sirens from bringing that tsunami to shore and then we’ll worry about the gate. I’ll shift at a rate that Sabine thinks is safe. If we kill the sirens, we can buy time before closing the gate.”
His agitation receded a bit while he seemed to come to terms with what the warriors had said. “Okay,” he said, but his nostrils still flared.
Tianna stepped forward, flicking a sheet of glorious coppery hair across her shoulder. How her hair still looked like she’d just stepped out of a salon after all we’d been through, I had no idea. It must be magic.
“Sorry to eavesdrop, dearies, but I’d also like to try to see how we can bring your witch magic through into your fox form,” she said. “There’s got to be some way we can combine the two to blow up this damn gate.”
“We’re not blowing anything up, remember, Tianna?” Haru said from where he stood a few feet away. “Evie will be closing the gate with as little collateral damage as possible. Reo and I’ve been training our whole lives to assist the kitsune to do this. We’ll get it done.”
She nodded. “As will I.” A smile pulled at her lips. “And if I get to blow shit up, that’s just a bonus.”
