Page 25 of Nope, No Regrets
Rei
I’d only met two other Kitsunes so far. I didn’t know if we all ate that much naturally, or if I inherited that from my parents, because we sure put away some food. Everyone enjoyed eating, as it wasn’t shitty prison food, but the three Kitsunes at the table definitely ate the most.
I was finally getting a tour of the rest of this place. My bedroom and sitting room were pretty fucking epic. Stealing paid exceptionally well, but my apartment had to be modest not to draw attention to my real job. If I had to travel to steal something, I went as far out with my hotels as possible and pushed the limits of what someone could afford who ran a successful bath company.
I’d stayed at some lovely places, but my rooms here had all of them beat. We’d barely set foot out of my bedroom, and started walking down this stunning hallway, when an entire army of demons came running up to us. They bowed to my father and Sota, but they looked like they didn’t know what to make of me.
I basically didn’t need anyone bowing to me, and the entire idea of it just weirded me out. I was more interested in why they all looked so freaked out.
“The gates… they have been breached. Kudan showed up with the Yokai that follow him and an army of witches. They overpowered the guards and slaughtered them. They were able to call for backup, but by the time they got there, they had portalled away. All that was left in their wake was a mound of dead demons.”
Fuuuuck. They could be anywhere at this point. Sota snapped into action. My father was the emperor, but Sota was the one barking orders.
“Tighten the guard around the castle! He’s going to be bolder now that he’s got the Aether Circle with him, but no one is going to shelter him. I’ve cornered him there twice, but the only place he can go to have a roof over his head is Scorchwood.”
Dakarys and Rajack didn’t seem upset at the idea that their old prison was back on the table. They seemed excited by the prospect of jumping into a fight.
“We were both incarcerated there for a very long time. We know any potential place you could hide within those walls, and how to sneak around,” Dakarys said.
“I know exactly where they are,” Sota said. “Kudan is a spoiled brat, and he’s got the Aether Circle with him. Even if they are on a mission, they aren’t going to deal with the discomforts of Scorchwood, or risk being spotted by the contractors. They’ll be back in the guard quarters where we nearly got Kudan once. I still don’t know how he got the jump on a Fae guardian.”
“No one is going near Scorchwood, not until I’ve spoken to Bael,” my father said. “I need to be the one to tell him it was my blood that let the Aether Circle into Hell. He’ll want his own team on this. You’ll be included, of course, Sota.”
“He knows better than to bench me now, after all the arguing we did about me going to get Rei sooner. Kudan would never have left and would have been easier to draw out if he knew Rei was back in Hell.”
I should have been butt hurt that the fiancé I didn’t know about just mentioned using me as bait for my psychopath brother, but I wish someone had. I was pretty sure Hell could handle a slippery Kitsune, but he had to be a special kind of crazy to work with the Aether Circle.
Whatever they’d promised him would be null and void if they got their hands on me and figured out they were never getting that grimoire back. They didn’t do loose ends, and they didn’t honor deals. He’d be dead as soon as he was no longer of use to them.
My father opened a portal in the hallway.
“You all might as well come. Bael wanted to meet Rei, though ideally it would be under better circumstances, and he’ll be interested in the people you brought from Silverhold. He’ll be especially interested in you, Wren. Faust, there’s a wolf here and he’s going to want you to meet him as well. We’re all aware of how wolves feel about sharing. There’s a pretty famous one here who was an inmate in Scorchwood who can give you some clarity.”
Dakarys and Rajack lit up at the idea.
“I’ll bet it’s Skoll… he was the only cool wolf there. He disappeared right around the time everything imploded.”
“Lovely,” my mother said. “There won’t be any lingering prison drama between inmates if you are friends. You should get going, Kudan was always an impatient child. He’ll make his move soon.”
I was super nervous about meeting the king of Hell and his torture happy girlfriend. I hoped that when I did, it was during a famous Hell party when they were in a good mood and preferably a little drunk.
I jumped through the portal, knowing they would be in a foul mood, and that the whole Aether Circle thing was my damn fault for stealing from them.
