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Without Kira and Curly to guard from danger, I slept in the bed. Assuming, that is, the hours of tossing and turning could really be called sleep. Eventually, though, the sun rose and I groggily sat up to greet the daylight...only to be met by an agonizing burning where the mate tether intersected with my gut.
“Stay away. Stay safe,” I whispered, barely able to speak over the spears of pain piercing my center. I knew I was too distant for my words to be captured by their intended recipient, but I had to try to keep Gunner in clan central. All it would take was one wave of Sakurako’s fingers and he’d turn into a blood donor fueling who knew what kitsune atrocities at her whim.
And perhaps my request made it through after all. More likely, my body simply couldn’t sustain that level of pain indefinitely. Whatever the reason, the throbbing receded to a dull ache after only a few seconds, and I sank back down into the soft mattress, pulling the comforter up over my head.
I lay there for minutes or hours, stroking the tendril of magic that connected me to my absent mate. The tether curled like a kitten around my fingers, warmed when I touched it...then surged back into piercing torment as the covers were ripped off from over my head.
“You’ve wallowed enough.”
My grandmother stood above me, fully dressed and redolent with magic. When had I started smelling and seeing the influx of power as it gently seeped into her wrinkled skin? Whatever the reason behind my newfound abilities, the old woman now appeared spider-like, the only difference being that she consumed rather than spun her own web.
“Are you sick of tormenting Oyo already?” I muttered, turning over and trying to bury my face in one of the half dozen pillows arrayed across the bed between us. Then that soft cushion was yanked out from under me and I found myself tumbling over to land on my butt on the cold, hard floor.
“Oyo is immaterial,” Sakurako answered. Then, raising one eyebrow, she offered information I hadn’t asked for. “A golden collar isn’t temporary, granddaughter. Oyo will remain a fox forever. I’ve sent her out into the forest to live as she wills.”
Harsh. But perhaps kinder than the fate I’d thought the redheaded kitsune would be faced with. How would Sakurako punish my sister if I similarly failed to obey her commands?
The reminder of why I was here had me on my feet before Sakurako could prod me further. “What did you have in mind for today?” I asked even though I didn’t really care how my apprenticeship started.
But Sakurako took my words at face value. “We are twenty years behind in your training, granddaughter,” the old woman answered. “Today we will begin to remedy that mistake.”
***
WE RECONVENED IN MY grandmother’s study, a room decorated with reds and yellows and further warmed by a raging fireplace. Despite the moderate temperatures, however, I couldn’t stop shivering as I huddled beneath a vast lap robe.
“Lighting a candle is the simplest example of pure magic,” Sakurako explained, creating flame on all ten wicks simultaneously without expending any apparent effort at all. The candles flickered out, then she turned to face me. “Now you try.”
I didn’t want to, but this was what I’d signed up for. Learning to harness my kitsune nature and becoming my grandmother’s mini-me. Ignoring the stab of complaint where my mate tether circled around my belly, I pulled up my star ball...then drew a blank.
Because—beyond blood magic, which was currently unavailable to me—the only thing I knew how to do was to physically toss my star ball at the candles and hope it sparked one of them on fire. But even I knew that was a terrible idea when loss of my magic made me droop and my hands were already shaking with a combination of exhaustion and cold.
Then Sakurako’s fingers covered mine, her flesh warmer than expected as she pushed the star ball back inside my skin. “Not like that, granddaughter. You can’t waste your own energy so flagrantly. You need to send out magic you’ve sucked in.”
My head was pounding so hard it was difficult to focus. But I squinted against the pain and forced myself to pay attention as my grandmother lit the candles a second time. Ah, now I saw what she was doing. Saw the surge of power flowing from elsewhere—from her honor guard?—into her chest then back out through her fingers, igniting into flame.
Yuck. My grandmother was an energy vampire. And Sakurako must have understood my thought processes because she narrowed her eyes as she spoke.
“This is your heritage, granddaughter. A kitsune mistress gains the admiration of her honor guard then she uses that freely given power to protect them in exchange. It’s an equal trade of energy, not so much different from what happens within a werewolf pack.”
It was different. It was a whole-nother-ballpark different. Even as I assured myself of that fact, I stroked the tiny mating tendril still twined around my waist.
“Don’t waste the werewolf for practice.” I hadn’t spoken a word since entering her study, but Sakurako carried on a conversation as if oblivious to that fact. “That bond is your most powerful source of energy. Save it for a rainy day.”
“I won’t use Gunner’s affection. Rainy day or any day.” My voice cracked as I spoke but I was no less adamant for the show of weakness.
“Then you’d better get to work on that honor guard, hadn’t you?” Sakurako countered. “The most expedient path is getting hot and sweaty together. Just remember what I told you about showing favoritism at such an early date.”