Storm Born Chapter Seventeen

To his credit, he didnt re each(pre nary(prenominal)inal)y man messle me a homogeneous badly that night. At dinner, he kept a achieve on mine or an ramification approximately my shoulder befaces picayune much than that. As he pointed appear to me in a muffled moment, any ane could make a brazen display of fleshiness. What re on the wholey indicated intimacy was how deuce people interacted with each other, what their body language said. So I worked on looking comfort adequate and happy in his presence, and from the shocked views on peoples faces, we must(prenominal) have through with(p) a pretty convincing job.He took me to his bed mode after that, looking smug and presumptuous to those watching. however when we got in that respect, he real gave me my first slighton. Honestly, it was a bit disappointing. Id been ready for fireworks. What I got was a readiness of practice on quiet speculation and focus. He claimed if I couldnt mark mop up my testify mind, I cou ldnt control the power.So I pass the adjoining couple hours with him working on this and found my most difficult ch either in allenge was in non slipping into trance or astral travel. Those behaviors came so automatically to me in still moments that I kept lapsing. The kind of meditation he cherished me to do involved turning my senses give awayward preferably than inward, which take onmed strange to me since I had thought misrepresentation came from wi clarified.We at long last ended the lesson with him good-looking me a heavy gold ring that hed put part of his centre into. It was an anchor. Now if he left the Othercosmos by means of a thin spot, he could transition to mine without appearing in a corresponding thin spot. He would simply travel to wherever the ring was. It would save ii of us surplusneous travel time.What it also meant was that he planned on attack to my world for whatsoever of the lessons. I had mixed feelings on this. sure enough it would be m ore convenient for me. except the fact that he could dismantle ricochet with an anchor wish that indicated how powerful he was. That realization was honourable a teensy bit unsettling, as was the thought of him in the human macrocosms world at all. And yet, by being on that point, his powers would diminish. He would be safer or rather, humanity would be safer.Back home, the following couple of days were more of the same fights, fights, and more fights. Yet, as Dorian had predicted, some of the traffic desiccate up. I worryd to remember this was because my reputation was scaring would-be suitors outside(a). More desirely, my in the alto subscribeher connection to the Oak King do my assailants think twice burn down incurring political fallout.As it dark out, I had to deal with my own sh be of fallout over this alliance from Kiyo.argon you sleeping with Dorian?He stood in my doorway, his dark hair taillit by the late afternoon sun. He wore a white lab coat with K IYOTAKA MARQUEZ, DVM on the pocket. He must have driven here straight from work.Good watchword travels fast, I said. Come on in.I offered him a drink and a blank space at my kitchen table, moreover he right kept walk around restlessly. He reminded me of a wolf or a apply dog. I didnt sincerely prolong out anything most contrive behavior.Well? he asked.I poured myself a cup of coffee and gave him a calculative look. Dont unsay that tone with me. You have no claims to what I do.He stopped pacing, and his expression softened. Youre right. I dont.It wasnt ingestly an apology, but it was close. I sat down in a chair, folding my legs up underneath me. All right, consequently. No. Im not sleeping with him.His face stayed the same, but I adage visible eternal rest flash in his eyes. It was petty, I realized, but fareing hed been jealous do something warm flutter up inside of me.Grabbing a chair, he sullen it around and sat down so that his chin be on its ass. Then what s up with the stories?I told him. When Id finished, he closed his eyes and exhaled. A moment later, he opened them.I dont know what some(prenominal)ers me more. You turning to magic or you turning to Dorian.I beckoned hind end me. Have you conn my living room? I am not going to be responsible for inflicting Hurricane Eugenie on Tucson.That make him smile. Tucson already deals with Hurricane Eugenie on a regular basis. But yeah, I take hold of your point. What worries meI dont know. I dont in truth use magic, but Ive spent half my life around people who do. Ive retrieven how it affects them. How it can control them.Are you questioning my self-control? Or my strength?No, he rep lie downd in all seriousness. Youre one of the strongest people I know. But Storm KingI saw him once when I was puny. He waswell, lets put it this way. Dorian and Aeson and Maiwenn are strong. Compared to other gentry, theyre like torches beside candles. But your fatherhe was more like a bonfire. You can t use that kind of power and walk forward unscathed.I appreciate the warning, Gandalf, but I dont know that I have a choice.I guess not. I neertheless dont indirect request to see you changed, thats all. I like you the way you are. A smile flickered across his lips and then faded. And as for working with Dorianwell, that fair makes the situation worse.You sound jealous.Of course. He practiceed without hesitation, not really ashamed to fess up to his feelings. But hes power-hungry too. And he motivations to see the Storm King conquest happen. Somehow I doubt hell be content to have you be his pretend-lover for long.Well, hey, remember Ive got a choice in at that place too. Besides, prophylactic device technology is a wonderful thing, right?Absolutely. But Maiwenn says I know, I know. All sorts of wise and compelling things.Kiyo eyed me warily. Whats that supposed(p) to mean?nothing. Just that I think its funny for you to talk to me closely Dorian when When what?I set down my cup of coffee and looked him in the eye. Honesty again?He returned my stare unblinkingly. Always.You two seemedmore than chummy. Is there anything going on between you? Romantically, I mean?No. The answer came swift and certain.I reconsidered. Was there anything going on?This got a hesitation. Not anymore, he said after a moment.I see. I looked away and snarl my own wave of jealousy run done me as my cruel mind pictured him and that beautiful woman together.Its over, Eugenie. Has been for a while. Were fair friends now, thats it.I glanced up. Like you and I are friends?His lips turned up wickedly, and I saw the temperature in his eyes dial up a a couple of(prenominal) degrees. You can call it whatever you compulsion, but I think we both know we arent unspoilt friends.No, I supposed not. And suddenly, after so much time with him and the fact that Id made out with a climb-fledged gentry, Kiyo being a kitsune wasnt really a problem anymore. The lines that organized my life had all blurred. That scared me because I wanted Kiyo, and suddenly I had no excuses rest in my way. And honestly, I realized, it was a covey easier having excuses. Excuses meant you didnt have to work or open yourself to someone else and be vulnerable. If I really wanted to be attached and with Kiyo now, I was going to have to look beyond sex. hinge upon was easy especially with him. What was going to be sullen was remembering how to get close to someone and trust him.I looked away, not wanting him to see the fear on my face, but he already had. I dont know what it was about him, but sometimes he seemed to know me better than I knew myself.He stood up and moved back tooth me, his authorises kneading the kinks in my sleep with and shoulders. Eugenie, was all he said, voice warm.I relaxed into him and closed my eyes. I dont know how to do this. I referred to him and me, but considering the rest of my life, that statement could have apply to any number of things.Well, we sto p fighting, for one. Lets drop this other stuff and go out.Now? Like on a date?Sure.Just like that? Is it that easy?For now. And really, its only as easy or difficult as we choose to make it.We took Kiyos car, a pretty sweet 1969 Spider, to one of my pet restaurants Indian Cuisine of India. The name sounded redundant, but the latter part of it had been a necessary addition. filming all the local restaurants that served Southwest and American Indian cuisine, a lot of tourists had come in expecting to find Navajo fry bread, not prepare and naan.The tension melted between us the hostile kind, at to the lowest degree though he did have one pensive moment in which he asked, All right, I have to know. Is it true you kissed him?I smiled enigmatically. This is as easy or hard as we choose to make it.He sighed.After dinner, he drove us out of town but wouldnt say where we were going. Almost forty minutes later, we were driving up and around a large hill. Kiyo found an area with other c ars but saw there were no espy left, forcing him to drive back down and put a considerable distance away. Twilight was giving way to secure night, and it was hard to find the path up the hill with no lighting. He slipped his egest in mine, guiding me. His fingers were warm, his grip tight and secure.It took us almost a half hour, walking until the path at last crested to a small clearing. I hid my astonishment. It was filled with people, most of whom were setting up telescopes and peering up at the clear, star-thickened sky.I saw this advertised in the paper, Kiyo explained. Its the amateur astronomy group. They let the public come out and hang with them.Sure enough, e genuinelyone there was more than happy to let us come and look through their telescopes. They pointed out sights of particular interest and told stories about constellations. Id unwrapd a lot of them before but enjoyed hearing them again.The weather was perfect for this kind of thing. sore enough to not need ja ckets (though I still wore one to cross weapons) and so perfectly clear that you could forget pollution existed. The Flandrau Observatory, over at the university, had fantastic shows, but I loved the casual nature of this one. composition listening to an older man talk about the Andromeda galaxy, I thought about just how vast our existence really was. at that place was so much of it we didnt know about. The outer world, the universe, spread on forever. For all I knew, the inner world of spirits continued on just as far. I only knew about three worlds the world we lived in, the world the dead lived in, and the Otherworld, which caught eachthing in between. A lot of shamans believed the divine world was beyond all of this, a world of God or gods we couldnt even imagine. flavor up at that snowstorm of stars, I suddenly felt precise small in the greater scheme of things, soothsaying or no.Kiyo shifted beside me, and I felt his arm brush mine. My body kept an exact record of where we touched, like some sort of military tracking system. He caught my eye, and we smiled at each other. I felt at peace, almost deliriously happy. For this moment, all was right in the world between us. Maybe Id never fully understand what pulled two people together. Maybe it was like nerve-wracking to comprehend the universe. You couldnt measure any of it. It just was, and you made your way through it as best you could.Thank you, I told him later, as we walked back down the hill toward the car. That was really great.I saw the telescope at your category er, what was left of it anyway.Oh. Yeah. Being up here had sort of taken me away from reality. Id forgotten that my home was in a state of disaster. Mine couldnt really compare to any of these. Maybe Ill have to upgrade now.We passed the other cars and finally finished the long trek back out to his car. The temperature had cooled down a little, but it was still nice out. Kiyo wrinkled his nose as we walked.Smells likedead fish out here.I inhaled deeply. I dont smell anything.Consider yourself lucky. You probably couldnt smell how more people hadnt showered back there either.I laughed. I remember how you smelled my perfume back in the bar that night. I thought it was crazy. So super-smell is some other kitsune perk?He shook his head. Depends on what youre smelling.We got into the car. He started to put the keys in the ignition, then decided he wanted his coat.Can you reach it? Its behind my seat.I unfastened my swath and shifted around, lots hanging through the seats to reach his coat. It was crumpled and lying on the floor.Jesus, I comprehend him say.Are you staring at my ass?Its practically in my face.I snagged the troublesome coat and leaned back, but his arm caught me and pulled me onto his lap. It malformed me in an awkward position, and I squirmed to straighten out my legs. I finally ended up sort of straddling him.I cant believe you lectured me earlier about the dangers of losing control, I chasti sed. His take places had slid down to the ass he so admired.What was I supposed to do?Hey, Im not complaining. Just surprised, thats all.I think its the fox in me.Never heard that excuse before.No, its true. Youd be amazed how ingenuous the instincts are and how strong. Sometimes I have to fight to not jump every woman I see. And then I always want to eat. Like I have this paranoid fear if I dont origin up now, I could be starving later when winter comes. Its really weird.It was compelling too, but wrapped up against him, I realized this discourse was wasting perfectly good make-out time. I unfastened his seat belt and then put my hands palm down on his chest. tipped forward, I kissed him, pushing myself harder into his lap. His grip on me tightened.I thought you didnt want to get involved with a kitsune.WellI happen to think foxes are cute.I wriggled out of my coat and then pulled off the store top underneath, neither of which was easy to do with the steering flap behind me . I rose up on my knees a little, putting my breasts near his face. His mouth showered my cleavage with kisses while his hands move to undo the bra.Meanwhile, my own hands unfastened the button on his pants. I reached down and slid my hand into his boxers.Eugenie he breathed. He managed to combine a cautionary tone with an absolutely turned-on one. We dont have condoms.I moved my hand farther, suddenly very turned on myself by the thought of having nothing between us. The pill, remember? Besides, contraceptive technology is a The car suddenly lurched dangerously onto the side we werent posing on. My back jammed into the steering wheel, and we half-tumbled onto the other side. Kiyos arms went around me, clout me toward him in an effort to shelter me with his body and nurture me from falling. Guess I shouldnt have undone his seat belt earlier. Fortunately, the car didnt flip all the way over, and a moment later, it batmed back down on the side we were sitting on with a jaw-rattli ng crash.What the I began.In the dark, I could just barely discern Kiyos wide eyes staring beyond me, through the windshield. I think we should get out of the car, he said quietly, just as something heavy and solid slammed down on the hood behind me. I heard headlights smash. The entire car shook.I didnt need to be told twice. We shuddered open the drivers side door, and I scrambled out. A smell like rotting fish slammed into me. Kiyo started to follow me out, and then the car was lifted up from its breast end and slammed back down to the ground. Glass and metal crunched as the motion tossed Kiyo back in the car. The windshield cracked like a spiders web.Fear for him shot through me, but then I finally saw the culprit, and fear for me shot through me.It looked like one of the fuaths, I thought. A fachan, possibly. If so, he was far from home since they were native to Ireland and Scotland. Still, the Otherworld had become as global as the human world, and you never really knew wh at could pop up where.He looked like something you might get if Bigfoot had sex with a water flea and then their offspring moved to the Deep South and interbred for another century or so. He was almost eight feet tall and every part of his grossly muscled body was covered with hair matted and revolting hair that needed a thorough washing. One giant eye, its gloss indeterminable in the starlight, peered out at me. One extra hand extended weirdly from the right side of its chest, and an extra leg hung off of its hip. The leg didnt seem to help him walk I wondered if it and the extra arm did anything at all or were just used for effect.Seeing me, he left the car alone and started lumbering forward. Hopefully Kiyo would be able to get out now. I reached for my gun and discovered it was gone. Son of a bitch. It had slipped its holster either from grappling with Kiyo or when the car had tipped.Get my gun out I yelled back toward the car.Meanwhile, I took a few restrained steps back, a ssessing how to handle the fachan. Fachans, despite inhabiting the earth, originated in the Otherworld. They could therefore be banished back there. They also crossed to this world in a somatic form, which meant they could be killed. I had both athames in my belt. Silver would be more effective, but iron would probably do some damage too. Okay. I just had to manage one of those while honouring it from acquiring too snappy with me. No problem.He swung one of his long, almost awkward-looking arms at me, and I intercepted it, stabbing him in the hand with the silver athame. I pushed as hard as I could, shoving through tendons and bones. The creature shrieked and jerked his hand back. My hand was on the hilt, but he moved too quickly, too strongly. He took the athame with him. Shit.Kiyo I yelled.I took out the iron athame and darted over to his right side, reverse gear the car. The fachan was bigger, but I was smaller and therefore fasterright? My sword snaked out, digging deep int o the soft flesh of his stomach. This time I made sure to bring the athame back with me before he moved and took this one too. Blood, looking black in the dim lighting, gleamed where Id cut. I put some distance between us. I just needed to slow him so I could snag a few moments for the banishing.But he wasnt slowing. He hadnt seemed happy about the injuries, but he still kept coming for me. I kept the distance between us, wanting to injure him without getting within his range. It was kind of hard when it felt like his arms were as long as my body.He swung out his uninjured fist, and I ducked it, utilise the opportunity to draw blood again. As I did, something occurred to me. His blow, had it landed, would have done some serious damage. Very serious. It had had no purpose, save to inflict as much brute pain as possible. I could understand the tactical advantage of rendering me unconscious before sex, but being in a coma or dead might complicate the prophecy a bit.My blade bit into him again, and I followed with a sharp kick to his side, dodging at the last minute. We soon developed a little dance. His large, muscled arms would swing out at me, and I would sidestep and get in my slash or kick. Considering my fight with the mud elemental had been two days ago and I wasnt entirely in peak check into yet, I felt my performance here wasnt too shabby.At least until I moved too slowly, and he caught me with the edge of his hand his extra hand. Apparently it wasnt useless after all.It was a glancing blow, but I flew backward, into the car, up onto the roof, and into the windshield. The glass over already cracked and fractured shattered upon impact, and sharp, excruciating pain burn down through the side of my stomach as I hit. The undress there was still bare and uncovered from where Id stripped in the car. My head felt like a cartoon character had just dropped an anvil on it, and for a few seconds, I couldnt get my body to do the things I wanted it to do.The fachan lurched toward me, his limbs and their bulging muscles swinging, and I didnt have anywhere to go. He grabbed me by my shoulders and lifted me up high. I knew in those slow-motion seconds that he was going to slam me down and that I would be dead. As it was, the jerking, lifting motion alone made my addled brain scream.Suddenly, the fachans head tipped back, and a look of throe crossed his face. His hold on me released, and I dropped back to the hood. It was much less painful than what hed been about to do, but it still hurt. I frantically tried to sit up and see what had happened, but everything spun.Some wolf was assail the fachan. No, no wolf. The colors and shape werent quite right. The ears were more defined, the tail prideful and white-tipped. It was a fox. It was Kiyo. But he was bigger than Id ever seen him, which was why Id ill-advised him for a wolf. He was huge, muscled and powerful, and his dentition were tearing into the fachans back.The fachan turned and sw atted him away. Kiyo took it with grace hitting, rolling, and then getting right back up. I wished I could do that.I still felt like crap, but my vision had righted itself. Peering into the car, I could see where my gun had rolled across the passenger seat and lodged between it and the door. beyond me, I heard blows and yips as Kiyo and the fachan continued their fight.Gingerly, I started weirdo back into the car on all fours, careful to avoid the shards of glass ringing the gaping remains of the windshield. I didnt do a very good job and brushed sharp points in a few places. They stung my skin. Worse, I could do little to protect my hands when coerce to creep over the broken shards covering the dashboard.At last I made it inside and retrieved the gun. Grabbing it, I worked my way back to the drivers side seat and took aim at the fachan still grappling with Kiyo. Only, my hand could barely hold the gun up. That was no good. I shifted and held the Glock two-handed. My arms still sh ook, but I was steadier now.I watched them pace and attack each other, moving fast. Too fast, I worried. I was likely to shoot Kiyo in the process. But I had to try. nought was hurting this thing. It was unstoppable. I didnt want to try to banish it at full strength, particularly since Id never get close enough to put the dying symbol on him and speed his passage. I therefore needed him injure and easy to send over.Taking aim, I waited for a window of opportunity, for a broad target on the fachan. There. The bullet bit into his back, and he jerked in surprise. It slowed him just enough. I fired again. I kept firing until Id set down the entire clip into him. He made horrible noises and staggered slightly. I half-expected him to hold on coming, but then Kiyo the Giant Fox leaped at his chest and knocked him to the ground, teeth tearing into what appeared to be the fachans throat. Ew.My wand was in the car. I swapped it with the gun, and called upon Hecate, focusing on the snake wound around my arm. My mind slipped this world, opening the gates, and I aimed for the fachans spirit. My will, gushing through the wand, seized him and ripped a hole between the Otherworld and my world. It was harder than usual. Mind over subject might be the adage, but the mind was reluctant to obey when the body was so weakened and had had its head slammed into a windshield.My path to the Otherworld was clear. But then, sightedness him start to get up, despite Kiyos mauling, I decided I didnt want him potentially coming back. So I pushed my mind past the Otherworld, light touch the gates of the world of demise instead. I felt Persephones butterfly flare out on my arm as I connected with her domain. The fachan roared as it acknowledge the tug. He resisted me, his body and spirit presenting a formidable match for my own.I focused harder, pushing every ounce of me into forcing him through the black gates. I called on no, I begged Persephone to take him.At last he went thro ugh, his physical body disintegrating as the Underworld sucked his spirit through.Only it was force more than him through.Id pushed so hard that my spirit had touched more of the world of death than I normally allowed. In my weakened state, my focus wasnt as sharp about keeping me out. My mind felt like it was being sucked in by a whirlwind, and I had the impression of ghostly, skeletal hands pulling at me.No, no, no, no Whether the words were in my head or on my lips, I didnt know.I struggled against the hands, trying to gain a grip on the human world. I would have even settled for the Otherworld. There I could survive, but from the world of death, there was no return. Half of me prayed to Hecate to pull me back through the gates while the other half of me prayed to Persephone to block me out.At last I fell back with a snap, my spirit return firmly to my physical body. My physical and mental senses burned. Almost immediately, I slumped forward, unable(p) to support myself. Only my hand on the edge of the steering wheel caught me from falling out of the car.I felt nauseated and dizzy, with too many parts of me hurting to count. Kiyo, still as that giant fox, stood by me, glow eyes watching me with all seriousness.Hey, I said, reaching out a tentative hand. His fur was as soft as silk. I stroked it carefully, my locomote control still not all it could be. Those fine hairs touched my skin like the lightest of kisses. That was some trick. Howd you do it?He neither answered nor changed shape, merely nuzzling my hand with his nose. I smiled but then felt too tired to keep holding my arm up. I dropped the hand to my side, feeling something wet and sticky. pull my arm up, I saw blood covering my fingers, dark and glistening.Oh, man, I muttered. The world had started spinning again black spots danced in front of me. We need togosomewhere. Do something. Change back I cant drive.He kept watching me, eyes solemn and intent.I mean it. why arent you changing? Are you hurt?He rested his chin on my knees, and I petted him again, even though I got blood on that incandescence fur. I didnt get why he wasnt changing. Could he not hear me in this form? No, hed always understood before.Well, if he wasnt going to help, I needed someone who could. I had a cell phone in the car somewhere. I could call Roland or Tim. But where was the phone? I couldnt climb in the backseat, not in this shape. Could foxes fetch?Maybe I could summon a spirit for help. Not Volusian, not like this. But maybe Finn? What were the words? How did I call him? It was suddenly too hard to think.Help me I whispered to Kiyo. Why wont you help me?White spots now danced with the black ones. I closed my eyes, and it felt better.Im going to lie down, I told him, stretching back. Just for a minute, okay? I rested my head on the passenger seat, lying perpendicular to the seats.I heard a soft, almost doglike whine. He must have stood on his hind legs, because I next felt paws and a head resti ng near my knee.Why wont you help me? I asked again, feeling tears spill out of my eyes. I need you.I heard the whine again, mournful and contrite. My hand reached out, grasping for soft fur. I clutched the strands as though they alone could keep me alive. Then, my fingers lost their grip and slipped away as my hand dropped.