Page 93 of Secrets & Sake
Hideyoshi kicks Namikawa hard in the back. The sword rips free. Breathing hard, Hideyoshi says, “You have hurt my grandson enough!”
My spine snaps back into place, and I gasp in relief as the pain fades.
Namikawa laughs, coughing up blood. “You old fool. You will regret this!” Fury makes his voice rise. Fur erupts over his body which shifts in seconds. A fox with bright red fur and nine tails howls. At the kitsune’s command, several flaming blue orbs materialize up from the ground. Foxfire. Hell, this is bad. Not even werewolves can heal from foxfire. The crowd scatters into the trees before they’re burned by the foxfire as the orbs shoot toward their targets and erupt. I leap behind a tree as the orb of foxfire explodes, scorching the bark and lighting the tree ablaze in seconds.
Hideyoshi rushes to my side. “Stay back. Let me face him!”
“You’ve done enough!” I snarl, furious as I remember the way he’d pinned down Jinta and held that bloody sword to his neck. “What, you think dying will make up for what you’ve done?”
“This isn’t about redemption!” He grabs my large arm, eyes imploring me to listen. “You have so much left to live for. Live, Raiden. For yourself. For your mate. Get out of this life.” In seconds, he’s shifted to his gray wolf, snout tinged with silver. With a furious bark, he charges at the kitsune.
The kitsune snaps its jaws, but Hideyoshi skirts around it. Hideyoshi fastens his fangs into the skin of its throat. Then, the kitsune dissolves into mist. It was an illusion. Another kitsune yelps as it leaps from atop the shrine and flies toward Hideyoshi. Another charges his flank. Hideyoshi snaps and slashes, dissolving the illusion. A snarl comes from above me. The kitsune leaps from a tree and crashes onto my shoulders, fangs snaring the back of my neck.
I struggle and thrash but just as I grab a fistful of fur, the kitsune leaps off my back, turns invisible, and disappears. Straining my ears, I listen for the slightest sound that might betray the kitsune’s presence. Hideyoshi growls beside me, head swiveling this way and that. The ground burns hot. Barking a warning, Hideyoshi slams his body into me, bowling me off my feet. I tumble over but before I can stand, a flash of blue flame blinds me.
Hideyoshi’s agonized howls split the night. His howls turn to screams as he shifts back, his body wreathed in blue foxfire that consumes his flesh. Blood spurts from the charred, melting remains of his skin as he stumbles and collapses. His body has been so severely burned it’s unrecognizable.
A roar of fury and agony tears from me. What my grandfather did was unforgiveable. I can’t reconcile his actions with the man who taught me to cook, the man who raised me. But he was still my grandfather, and I know he won’t be walking away from such an injury. I run toward him and the kitsune materializes in front of me.
More illusions surround me in seconds. They leap upon me, fangs like needles shredding my flesh. I swipe and slash but when I dissolve one, another appears. I can’t hurt them, but they can hurt me. There’s no time to heal as their fangs tear into me one after another. They swarm me, bringing me to the ground. With a howl, the kitsune conjures more foxfire orbs. I hurl a kitsune illusion into one of the orbs, dodging an orb as it soars at me. An illusion tears its fangs into my ankle and I go crashing down.
Blue foxfire hurtles toward me, obscuring my vision.
“No!” Jinta’s voice echoes through the woods. And then, he’s there, standing over me, arms spread wide.
Horror has me reaching out my claws toward him. I’ve got to get him away, now, before—Foxfire consumes my mate’s torso, devouring his clothes, scorching his flesh. His screams tear into me as he frantically tries to extinguish himself, but the foxfire goes on burning him alive. His beautiful fair skin is raw and red when he collapses, writhing in the grass. The scent of cherry blossoms is consumed by the stench of burning flesh, blood, and charred fabric. With a shuddery gasp, Jinta’s head falls back and his body goes completely still.
I can’t move. My mind can’t comprehend what just happened.
The kitsune’s body shudders, jerking erratically.
That was it.
The final sacrifice.
The transition is complete.
“No! I was free! I was finally free!” The kitsune wails in a woman’s furious voice.
Black mist oozes from the kitsune as it shifts back. Namikawa totters forward, haggard and far too thin. A ghastly groan escapes him before he falls. The scars he carved into my skin so long ago heal, disappearing completely. Namikawa is dead. I’m free from his control forever.
The black mist swirls through the air and covers Hideyoshi’s burned and blackened body, but the blood won’t stop flowing. There are some wounds not even a werewolf can come back from. He'll be dead in minutes. The kitsune will no longer be confined to a host. She’ll be set free to do whatever she wishes, causing chaos wherever she goes.
And I can’t bring myself to fucking care because my mate isn’t fucking moving. The shock leaves me unable to sustain this new shape, and I revert to my human form.
“Jinta.” My voice is hardly more than a whimper. I claw myself to my feet and run, crashing to my knees in the grass beside his limp, bloody body. With a shaking hand, I roll him over. The breath gets stuck around a sob when I see how badly burned he is. When his bloodstained lips twitch and eyelids flutter over dull chocolate-brown eyes, I gasp my relief.
He’s alive, but only just.
“R-Rai…” He tries to say my name and coughs weakly, a bubble of blood bursting at the corner of his mouth.
“Shh. Don’t speak.” Carefully, I lift him into my arms, grimacing when he gasps in pain. In seconds, his blood soaks my clothes. I told myself I’d only cry once for him. It wasn’t a vow I could keep, because I can’t stand seeing him in so much pain. “I’m here, Sunshine. I’m here.” I kiss his forehead, brushing his soft hair away from his sweaty skin.
“Sorry. For everything…” Eyelids fluttering, he struggles at first, but manages to hold my gaze.
I press my quaking lips into a tight line but can’t hold back my anguish. “I’m not.”
I will never regret Jinta Onodera.