A Fox's Family (41 page)

This
thing is dead.

Unlike
Chris, whose shift from human form to yōkai form took time,
Kiara’s was instantaneous. Her ears quickly sprouted fur and
grew longer and floppy as they moved up her head. Her face remained
unchanged, as did most of her body, but the nails on her hands and
feet grew exponentially longer and much sharper. A single bushy brown
tail sprouted from her business suit, jutting out of the small flap
in her pants.

With
a low growl and a snarl on her face, Kiara used her immense speed to
appear right underneath the thing wrecking her home. She placed her
hands on the ground, palms pressed firmly against cool tile, fingers
splayed. She lifted her legs into the air and tucked them in towards
her chest…

… And
then launched them forward with enough power to crush a car.

Like
the clapping of thunder, Kiara’s attack resounded throughout
the condo as her feet crashed into the thing’s jaw. Despite
clearly weighing quite a bit, it flew into the air, back out of the
hole it had made in her ceiling.

Kiara
followed, jumping through the hole and landing on the roof. She
looked up to see the thing still ascending. She must have put more
power into her kick than she’d originally thought.

Dark
eyes watched as the thing continued soaring. When it reached the apex
of its ascent, it began to descend. Seeing this, Kiara shot off her
roof like a missile, heading straight for the enemy. Before she
reached it, she twisted her body around, her feet swinging about in a
fast arc that cut through the air.

A
loud bang reminiscent of an explosion echoed across the valley when
the heel of Kiara’s foot met the back of the metallic being’s
head. The metal surface pulsated and it was sent flying towards the
ground at speed. Kiara’s eyes danced with satisfaction as the
foolish creature smashed into the street with force. The earth
shattered underneath it, the ground cratering as large chunks of road
and rubble were upheaved and sent flying.

Kiara
landed several feet away, her eyes narrowed as she watched the
machine clamber to its feet. This battle was making a lot of noise,
and since she lived in a condominium complex, that meant a lot of
people were hearing it. Already she could see lights turning on and
shouts sounding out. She needed to end this now.

I’ll
also have to talk with Davin and see if he can send members of the
Saint’s Brigade to erase the memories of everyone here.

Now
there was a fun conversation waiting to happen.

Not
wanting to give the mech any time to recover, Kiara shot forward. The
pavement cracking underneath her feet. She extended her left hand in
a swift punch, her entire forearm corkscrewing as it smashed against
the thing’s face. The power behind the twisting straight was
such that the area she hit splattered like a boulder being dropped
into a lake.

The
machine skidded backwards, though it didn’t go far. Digging its
feet into the road, the metal man gouged a trench along the blacktop
for several feet before stopping.

Before
it could so much as raise its guard, Kiara was there. She had assumed
a power stance. Her feet were spread wide, knees bent, arms tucked
into her torso. The machine’s processor barely had time to
register the heat source mere inches from its body before she struck.

Her
fists were a blur of impossibly fast motion, visible only as a streak
of earth tone colors. They slammed into the metal body like a
rampaging bull, pounding away at it. Each time one of the blurring
fists struck, large chunks of the creature’s body were blown
away, the odd metal becoming liquid as it splattered against the
ground like mercuric blood.

The
attacks became more vicious. Anger fueled movements intensified to
the point where each fist contained what seemed to be the power of an
entire pantheon of angry gods. Before long, nothing remained of the
machine except for silver puddles that glistened in the moonlight.

Kiara
eyed the splatters with disdain. Muttering obscenities under her
breath, she turned around and began to walk away.

She
didn’t get far before a most unusual noise reached her. Kiara
turned, her eyes narrowing into slits as she witnessed the splatters
of silver liquid crawling along the ground. The small pools began to
combine, congealing together and growing larger. It then started to
shift, its form bulging and expanding and contracting. A head
sprouted from the top, bullet-shaped and streamlined. A neck formed
underneath, followed by shoulders and then arms. Like a muck monster
rising from a swamp, the creature’s body emerged from within
the silver liquid, the last bit of which crawled along its legs to
form a pair of feet.

Kiara’s
eyes narrowed. “So, Kotohime wasn’t exaggerating when she
said you could regenerate from any and all forms of physical damage.
In that case, I’ll just have to annihilate you completely.”

Taking
a deep breath, Kiara shifted into a new stance. Her left foot slid
forward, the right moving back as she bent her knee. She brought her
hands together near her torso, her tail also curving around her body,
the tip moving into the gap between her hands.

Another
breath. The carefully placed locks on Kiara’s power were
released. The energy flowed out from her body, engulfing her in a red
flame of undeniable power. Youki gathered within her palms and the
tip of her tail, a tiny ball of bright red that grew larger with each
passing second. Rays shone from between curved fingers, a blinding
array of vermillion that grew in brilliance until it reached a
zenith.

Kiara’s
hands shot forward, fingers opening like a venus flytrap. However,
unlike the plant, these appendages were not meant to capture, but to
release. A bright red beam of conical energy shot from within her
hands. The compressed youki expanded the further it moved away from
her, until the beam was at least twice as tall as Kiara. It struck
the machine, its entire form becoming engulfed in bright red,
disappearing entirely as the youki washed over it.

The
energy put into the attack ran dry, the beam dispersing into
thousands of particles. Kiara nodded in satisfaction when she saw
that there was nothing left of the creature—or the road. All
that remained was a huge trench nearly sixteen meters long.
Glistening with refracted moonlight, the entire trench appeared to
have been glassed, the blacktop superheated to the point where it had
melted down to its base components.

She
felt a drop of sweat run down her face.

“Looks
like I put a little too much power into that attack.” She
scratched the back of her neck. “Davin’s really not gonna
like this…”

Chapter
9

Kidnapped

“It
looks like those creations of yours were all defeated. If I had known
you were going to send some of the science division’s prototype
experiments, I would have told you not to bother. Now you’ve
revealed how far along our technological weaponry has come
and
there
are several yōkai who now know about our organization, including
the big man running this place. I’ve got to tell you, that move
you just pulled--not very smart.”

“…”

“I’m
not being insubordinate. I’m merely stating the facts, and you
can give as many justifications as you want, but it won’t
change the fact that you screwed up royally. Now you’ll never
be able to silence Ms. Grant. She’ll be put under the
protection of Davin Monstrang and Kiara F. Kuyo, neither of whom are
pushovers.”

“…”

“Very
well, though if leaving her alone was going to be the end result of
your plan anyway, we should have just let her be from the start.”

“…”

“Right,
right. Silence those who could reveal our existence, blah, blah,
blah. Look, why don’t you just give me my orders now?”

“…”

“If
I am a smartass, then it’s because your people made me this
way. My orders?”

“…”

“Same
as always, eh? Fine. I’ll continue keeping an eye on the yōkai
going to Desert Cactus High, as well as the ones Kevin’s been
interacting with outside of school. Yes, yes. I understand. Justin
out.”

As
the conversation wound to a close, Justin pocketed his cell phone and
looked up at the morning sky. Reds and oranges and yellows mixed in
streaks and swirls of color. Radiant beams of light shone down from
parted clouds, casting patterns along the ground. School would be
starting soon.

Justin’s
lips curled into a smile. “I wonder what today will bring. I’m
sure it’ll be interesting.”

***

Ling
wandered the school courtyard, enjoying the brief respite from her
normal activities. While she had dedicated her life to Lord
Jiāoào,
that did not mean she didn’t appreciate the small moment of
freedom. All around her students and teachers walked. Classes started
in about twenty minutes, so she had enough time to get a feel for the
campus’ layout.

Gaining
entrance into the school had been depressingly easy. The man who
called himself this educational institute’s principal was a
pervert of the highest level. She didn’t even have to show off
any skin. Just appearing before him had turned the man into a
drooling sack of flesh. Had assassinating him been her mission, she
would have been able to kill him before he could have even registered
that something was wrong.

Truly,
perverts are a weak-willed group of people.

The
buses began arriving, and Ling found a nice place to sit down and
observe. She enjoyed watching people go about their daily lives. It
was something of a hobby for her.

Of
course, she was not just doing this to watch teenage boys and girls
do what teenage boys and girls were wont to do.

“A
sleep over, eh? Sounds interesting, but are you sure it’s
alright to invite me along? Won’t the tomboy and flatty get
angry?”

It
wasn’t hard to pick out Lilian, Kevin and Iris amongst the
crowd. Lilian’s hair, a vibrant red very few individuals
possessed, stood out starkly amongst the masses. Her sister was also
easily noticeable, especially because every male in the vicinity, and
even some of the females, would cease what they were doing to drool
over her. Even Kevin could be distinguished amongst the crowd; his
blond hair, blue eyes and the limp in his step, like someone had
repeatedly knifed him in the thigh, made spotting him quite simple.

“Lindsay’s
already given me permission to invite you along. The only reason I
didn’t you ask last night is because Kevin and I didn’t
come home until really late.”

“Right,
right. You were training with that… dog, right? I don’t
know how you can stand being around her.”

They
walked through the crowd. Whispers broke out. Ling, with her
youki-enhanced hearing, could make out everything being said. It
seemed that some of the men didn’t like Kevin for being so
close to the two kitsune. The poor fools didn’t even realize
how dangerous being intimate with Lilian and her sister was—and
if Ling had her way, they would never know.

“Kiara’s
not… okay, she is that bad. But, she’s helping Kevin get
stronger. If it’s to help my mate, I’ll gladly withstand
her presence.”

“Aren’t
you two being a little biased?”

Iris
and Lilian gave Kevin a deadpan stare. A drop of sweat rolled down
his face and neck before disappearing into his shirt.

“Right,
stupid question. Forget I asked.”

“So,
when is this sleepover?” Iris inquired.

“We’ll
be going over to Lindsay’s house this Saturday around noon.”

“Uh-huh,
and how will we get there?”

“Lindsay’s
mom is going to pick us up.”

“Urk!”

Ling
nearly chuckled in amusement when Kevin tripped over his own two feet
and face planted into the hard concrete.

“Kevin!”
Lilian cried out as she knelt next to her mate. Iris hung back and
snickered at the teen’s misfortune. The redhead tossed her
snickering sister a glare before helping her mate stand up. “A-are
you alright?”

“Y-yeah,”
Kevin held a hand to his nose, which Ling noticed was bleeding, “I’m
fine. So, Mrs. Diane is going to be…” he shuddered, “…
picking you up?”

“Um!”
Lilian nodded. “Is that a problem?”

“No,
no.” Kevin shuddered again. “There’s no problem.”

“Then
why do you look like a rat that’s been caught in a trap?”
asked an amused Iris.

Kevin
sent her a glare. “Hush, you.”

Ling
watched the group walk off, her mind going over everything she’d
learned. Lindsay and Iris would be traveling to a friend’s
house to spend the night this Saturday. This meant that, for at least
one night, the two-tails would not be in the presence of her
bodyguard.

It
was the perfect time to strike.

***

Kevin
and Lilian were lounging in the bath together. It was Saturday, and
this was the first time they’d done this since the disaster at
Eric’s house, in which the perverted teen had walked in on them
while they were getting hot and heavy.

Lilian
had asked Kevin if he would like to spend some intimate one-on-one
time together that morning, claiming she would miss him during the
sleepover and wanted to be with him for as long as possible.
Regardless of his thoughts on the issue of physical intimacy, he
could not deny his mate’s desire to be with him—part of
him would even admit that he was thrilled by the idea.

After
helping each other clean up in the shower, they filled the bathtub
with steaming hot water. Lilian even added some bath salts. Kevin
would have asked where she’d gotten those, but he already knew
the answer and therefore decided to save himself the headache.

With
his back against the tub, the water rising up to his chest, Kevin
found it impossible to feel anything but relaxed. Lilian rested
against him, laying on her left side between his legs, using his
right shoulder as a pillow. The tub was small, but that didn’t
bother either of them. Feeling a bit more adventurous that morning,
Kevin softly rubbed Lilian’s hips. The lyrical sounds she
produced and the warm breathing hitting his neck sent tingles down
Kevin’s spine.