Page 49 of Nope, No Regrets
Sota
Ihad a blast at Amduscias’s place. Honestly, it was nice to take a night off. Yeah, I was trying to give Rei space, but I was also swamped. I wasn’t just engaged to his daughter, I was now also Takahiro's most trusted advisor. A lot of demons were against that, purely because I was young, but after some of the older demons Takahiro trusted betrayed him to follow Kudan, many sane demons knew older didn’t necessarily mean wiser.
Solron and Bael had called dibs on torturing the witches we took alive. Takahiro wouldn’t have minded an hour with them after they came here to kill Rei, and they would have helped Kudan kill him, too, but Bael outranked him. I would havelovedfive minutes with Sabrina, but if Takahiro wasn’t getting his torture on, I definitely wasn’t.
I spent a lot of time at Bael’s, trying to find out if any of them had spilled anything interesting. I may have been allowed to go to Silverhold for Rei, but Barbatos had always been the ambassador there. He probably picked up extra duties in the Underworld, since his daughter lived there now.
Barbatos had taken Autumn with him to Earth. She went to great lengths to make Sabrina pay for killing her mother, and she was spectacular at Scorchwood, but she wasn’t like us. She didn’t have the stomach for torture. Autumn thought she did, and wanted to watch, but Solron had barely gotten started when Autumn projectile vomited and scuttled out of the room. People from the Earth realm could be so squeamish about that kind of thing, even if they enjoyed watching the pretend stuff in their cinema.
She was still a little witchy trooper that wanted to take them down, even if she couldn’t handle watching Solron play. Barbatos was trying to deal with all the red tape that always came with politicians and law enforcement. Meanwhile, Autumn was off gathering evidence to beef up his arguments in case anyone was dumb enough to protect them still.
I was in constant contact with both of them. The Phoenix Fire coven was just as vast as the Aether Circle, they just weren’t evil. The Phoenix Fire coven helped a lot of people and saved a lot of lives. They started sending out little whispers worldwide, saying that it was them that paid the Silver Fox to steal the grimoire, and how they were now fighting back against them.
They promised all of Hell, the Underworld, and the Fae as allies. Every branch of Phoenix Fire had to set up an entire team of people to deal with all the shade coming in from the things the Aether Circle had been getting away with for so long. Some people were even bringing up war crimes from old wars they didn’t even teach about in school anymore.
Barbatos was getting pushback because the Aether Circle had people embedded everywhere. We all knew most of the people protecting them knew they were utter shit, and if everyone got together andstoppedprotecting them, they could rid society of their menacing presence. The problem was that the Aether Circle paid a lot more in than their day jobs did to look the other way.
I had to be apprised of that situation and keep Takahiro up to date. Still, the next morning over breakfast, when Rei’s gaze fell solely on me and not anyone else, I forgot about everything I needed to be doing. Takahiro flashed me this tiny smile of encouragement to tell me that, if she wanted time alone with me, I could definitely take some time off.
She barely knew me, and I knew she hadn’t been wild about the idea when she first found out about me. She licked her lips, and had this hungry expression whenever she looked at me, although it definitely wasn’t hunger for food. Kitsunes had high metabolisms, and Rei destroyed her breakfast in record time… was that for me?
“Care to go for a walk in the gardens?” I asked.
She hadn’t even seen them yet. She hadn’t seen the extent of her new home because her fox instincts were screaming to bite her chosen mates. Everyone here got that, including me. I just hoped she’d eventually want to bite me, too.
Rei was this tiny ball of energy when she jumped to her feet and took my arm. She was standing close enough to me I could smell her Sakura blossom.
“Can you point out some landmarks on the way there? This place is massive, and I got lost trying to find my room. I had to open a portal just to get back there with Wren!”
“Sure, so, this place was built ages ago, and everyone who has held the seat of Emperor has since expanded on it. I grew up here, and sometimes I still end up in places I didn’t know existed. If I’m too far from a toilet, I will totally portal to one rather than walk. We are demons, Rei. If you can open a portal anywhere, there’s no reason you shouldn’t abuse that when you are feeling lazy! I am still super fond of my car, though.”
“Let’s not be lazy right now. Let’s enjoy walking and talking. Ineededto bite the others, and I’m not sure I get all that, but I also kind of want to bite you, too. You’re pretty damn cool.”
That made me feel good, but Rei needed things explained to her. Demons hadn’t mingled on Earth for a very long time, so I doubted that she had found out much about being a Kitsune, at least not much that was accurate.
“Kitsunes have mates like shifters do, back on Earth. There are a few different demons that can turn into animals that do. The moon isn’t involved like it is with your Faust. It usually never happens until you gain tails, but your fox chooses your mates.”
“Boy, did she ever!”
“The wolves have it a little easier than Kitsunes do. If mates are fated, they both feel it. Sometimes, a Kitsune will love someone, but their fox disagrees with them. The person they love will eventually leave then, because they know there’s no consensus. Sometimes, your fox wants someone, and you don’t reciprocate. Even if you and your fox both want someone, there’s no guarantee they want you back. That’s whatmostdemons who get telepathy like your brother do with that gift… they become therapists.”
Rei threw back her head and laughed. She leaned into me even closer.
“You actually have demon therapists here?! I thought you tortured that kind of shit out of people!”
“We don’t resort to torture foreverything,Rei. We usually try therapists and doctors to straighten someone’s ass up first. It’s a last resort… that is, unless you do something epically fucked up, like try to take over Hell. We wouldn’t have tortured you for stealing, we’d have just made you give it back. We give some demons more leeway for mischief, because it’s just in their DNA. No one is going to get mad if you steal something from them, but you’re a princess, Rei. You can just ask for anything you want and get it.”
“I never stole because I didn’t have something. I liked the thrill of it, and when Hauser took me in, I just happened to be great at it. Youhaveto have a job in America, or you’ll starve. There are plenty of shitty jobs there with high turnover. I’d probably die working at one of those jobs. I found a job I liked that never got boring. I ended up in jail, but I regret nothing.”
I just wanted to grab her, then and there, and kiss that cute little nose. Her parents may have chosen to have her raised by humans, with no demon to guide her, and a wolf may have mentored her, but that was just such a Kitsune thing to say.
“The job market for Kitsunes is a little different here. They tend to have a lot more abilities than other demons, because of their tails. They are highly coveted, and people don’t just go to the parties when they earn a new tail for the free booze. It means they have a new power, and that’s exciting for everyone.”
“I think it’s a little weird,” Rei said. “It keeps happening to me.”
“Enjoy it, Rei. Your father is a highly respected, powerful Kitsune. He runs this entire region because he gained his nine tails at such a young age and has significant power. It took her longer, but your mother has nine tails as well, and is powerful in her own right. Your father has other wives, but she’s the empress. His fox chose all of his wives, and he loves them all equally, but the people wanted your mother to be the one who ruled next to him, because she’s the strongest of all his wives. She’s the one who sits next to him on the throne, but he doesn’t decide on anything without talking to all of them.”
“So, this whole group thing I’m doing… it has a chance of working?”
