Chapter Thirteen
“Refill?”
I look up from my case files, studying who I think the next victim will be. Her name is Christina, and she has been found innocent of embezzlement charges in the past, but she is currently being investigated for the same crime, and I don’t think she’s innocent.
“Detective?”
I blink away my thoughts, rubbing my exhausted eyes that I can’t seem to keep open. I ache everywhere. My head hurts, my body, my legs, and especially between my legs. The pain is the only reminder that what I experienced was real.
It had to be right? No one just wakes up like they have been broken into pieces and put back together without a little pain.
Maybe it was a dream. When I try to remember, the details are a little fuzzy.
I can’t remember everything, truly; it’s as if it were a dream.
Shade trapped me against the wall, my body paralyzed and unmoving, yet I could feel certain things he did to me.
Like anything that brought me pleasure, I could feel.
And then, I think reality meshes with the dream I had. I saw Shade’s worst memories, the moments that give him nightmares, and it made me understand him a little more.
The way I acted, the way I didn’t care about how he is killing people, made me realize I would do anything for him. Even if it means committing crimes myself.
“Lula?” Demi sits down across from me, placing the fresh pot of coffee on the table. “Are you okay? You seem very distracted, a bit pale, and exhausted. I’ve never seen you like this before.”
I blink away my thoughts again, getting lost in the confusion of what has happened to me.
“I’m fine. Tired. Working overtime to catch this person who is killing all these people.” I don’t even feel guilty knowing that I know the person—monster—behind these crimes. Granted, the taxidermist wasn’t a bad person, from what I know so far, just someone who was in the way.
If I ever see Shade again, I’ll ask him.
I take a sip of my third cup of coffee, which is doing nothing for me. All I want to do is crawl back into bed, hopefully, with Shade wrapping his massive body around mine. I go back to reading the case files of Greta, wondering if she was the very first victim.
According to her coroner’s report, there were no bones left at the scene.
So what did Shade do with them?
“You’re lying.”
I swivel my gaze from hot pink-haired Demi to Caden, someone I hadn’t had a chance to meet yet.
He sets my plate down in front of me, right on top of my case files, and the scent of crispy bacon has my annoyance falling away. The hashbrowns are perfect, and the eggs are over-easy with fresh toast. Holt, the cook, makes the bread fresh every day, and it is worth it.
I’m addicted.
I bite into a piece of bacon, watching Caden take the spot next to Demi.
I’ve never seen a creature like him before.
I doubt anyone has been able to see his true form.
I think back to the book my mamita had while I was growing up.
Every night when I was a little girl, I would ask her to read me a bedtime story; instead, she would pull out this giant leather-bound book.
Inside were hundreds of old, discolored pages with sketches and explanations of every creature my ancestors had ever come across, because they could also see the unknown. Every page held a mystery, a curiosity that I had only begun to see in my young age in the real world.
I have that book at home, stuffed in my nightstand, and I’m trying to remember everything about Caden’s monster.
All of the thunderstorms make sense now. There’s a storm kitsune sitting directly in front of me. His eyes crackle with constant lightning. To regular humans, I’m sure they see someone normal, but not me. I can see everything he is trying to hide.
Kitsunes are fox spirits; the more tails they acquire, the older, wiser, and more powerful they are. They can have a max of nine tails, and when they reach that, their fox form will be at their most powerful.
I know, in general, kitsunes have a lot of power, but I can’t remember them all off the top of my head. I’ll have to look when I get home.
Caden, by the three tails he has, is young.
Probably around three hundred years old.
His fox is almost like a shadow emerging from him, but he glows a beautiful black with eyes the color of lightning, and a dark green hue surrounding him.
His ears are tall and pointed, the fox’s jaw defined and square, reminding me of a super soldier.
His tails fix behind him as his fox stares at me, tilting his head, knowing that I can see him for what he is.
“You can see me,” Caden states, folding his hands on top of the table.
Rain begins to pour outside, followed by a loud crack of lightning.
I lean against the booth, taking a sip of my coffee. Kitsunes are very intuitive creatures. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he caught onto my ability.
“I can,” I answer honestly.
Demi waves her hands in the air, then makes a ‘T’ with her hands. “Time-out. Wait. You can see”—she leans in and whispers—“you can see him? You know what he is?”
I mimic her position, placing my cup down first, then crossing my arms on the table. “I can. It’s a gift that has been passed down from generation to generation. My family calls the gift the ability to see The Unknown.”
“Gift? Or curse?” Caden asks, another strobe of lightning cracking so loud, the lights flicker.
“Caden,” Demi hisses his name, scolding him.
“No need to show off, Caden,” I say with a twinge of a smile, pushing through the pain my body is in.
I hope that over time, I will become used to Shade and his needs. I’m not sure if this amount of agony is something I can live with forever.
“I know how strong you are based on how many tails you have.”
“Tails?” Demi whips her head to him. “You have tails?”
“You know about the tails. I’ve told you. I just haven’t shown you. I find comfort in my human form.”
“Which isn’t uncommon for kitsunes,” I add, biting into a piece of bacon.
Caden taps his fingers on the table. “It isn’t.”
His skepticism makes me laugh.
“You can trust me with your form, Caden. I would never tell anyone or anything.”
Caden takes her hand, his eyes softening at her, the lightning in his irises bolting around his pupils.
“I know. It isn’t about not trusting you.
It’s about comfort. That’s all. I’m comfortable around you, but I’m not like that with everyone here, even if I’ve known them a long time.
A storm kitsune can only claim one region at a time, but it is possible for another kitsune to steal a region from another.
They would have to collect my tails to do that.
It’s more paranoia, I guess. I don’t want others to see my real form.
Trouble usually spreads when that happens. ”
He turns to me, the softening in his eyes gone, and the wind forces the rain to bullet against the window.
“So much rain lately,” I begin and add a bit of sugar to my coffee, stirring it with a spoon.
“Are you feeling okay, Caden? I know sometimes kitsunes can feel a lot of loneliness, especially with your long lives. I remember reading about the storm kitsunes that the more rain that pours, the more their heart aches.”
“And?” Caden’s jaw is tight, tense, and his fox is clearly unhappy with me by how his tails are flicking behind him.
“Caden,” Demi says his name with worry and sadness. “Does your heart ache?”
Caden grips the edge of the booth, and by the way his fox grows above him, his power is going to be directed at me any minute.
The skies darken with his rage, the inside of the diner cast in the storm’s shadow. Customers who were on their way out decide to stay, sitting down in their booths again to wait for the storm to pass.
“That’s none of your business,” he seethes at me, the lightning in his eyes becoming bolder as his power increases.
“I’m not trying to start a fight with you.
I’m only trying to have a conversation. You’re upset that I can see you, but I can’t help that, Caden.
I can’t help what I am, just like you can’t help what you are.
I wouldn’t tell anyone. I haven’t whispered anything to anyone about the creatures I have seen, except to my family, since they have the same…
affliction as I do. And if I did tell, a regular person would call me crazy. ”
Bolts of electricity begin to crackle across Caden’s fingertips, his veins lightning up with his power.
“Caden.” Demi reaches to touch his arm, and before I can tell her to stop, her fingers graze his bicep, shocking her instantly. “Damn it!” She sucks a finger into her mouth, bringing it away to see the damage.
It’s red but fading fast.
The fox must care for Demi because his ears lie flat, his eyes becoming wide with panic. Caden’s power recedes in an instant, and he snags Demi’s hand to inspect it.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t…I didn’t mean to hurt you. Oh my god, are you okay? Do you feel okay?” Caden checks her over, even going as far as to press two fingers against her throat to check for a pulse.
Which is funny, considering she is obviously alive.
“Caden. I’m fine. You shocked me. It isn’t a big deal. See? It’s gone already.”
Caden flips her hands over a dozen times to check for any sign of injury.
“Because you’re mated to Creed. That’s the only reason you’re alive right now,” I state, dipping the toast in the runny egg yolk. “That’s why he is freaking out. One shock from him can stop someone’s heart. He isn’t all rain, wind, thunder, and lightning like he puts on.”
“The storms help me keep my power in check.”
“Caden, that can’t be good for you. It storms here all the time. Every day, nearly all day.”
“Because his heart aches,” I add. “If it weren’t for the storms, he’d lose himself in power.”