Flame Shift_Kitsune and Shaman novel by J. L. Weil

Author:J. L. Weil [Weil, J. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dark Magick Publishing, LLC
Published: 2018-03-22T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

I was surprised to see Mom laying on the couch in front of the fireplace, the glow of the embers highlighting the yellow tint in her skin. The orange flames in the hearth were the only light in the otherwise dark room. I walked in, tossing my purse on the floor alongside the recliner and plopped onto the cranberry colored chair. The fire crackled and warmed my face. What a night.

“Devyn drive you home?” Mom asked. She had a knitted afghan my Grandma Lang had made draped over her legs, the same color as the recliner.

“Yeah. Why aren’t you upstairs in bed?” I countered, moving the topic away from my Shaman.

Mom gave me a sad little smile. “I think you and I both know that my sickness isn’t anything the doctors here can begin to understand, let alone treat. But it does ease your father’s worry, having the nurses and specialists poke me and run their tests.”

I slipped off my shoes and tucked my legs underneath me, realizing this was the time for Mom and I to have the conversation I’d been putting off. “Do you know why you’re sick?” I asked.

She pressed her lips together. “No, not precisely, but what I do know is it has something to do with my connection to Katsura. I felt it in my blood months ago.”

I nibbled on my bottom lip, struggling to find the words to tell her what I knew. She might look pale and weak, but Mom was neither. Underneath her failing body, she was the strongest woman I knew. She would stop at nothing to protect those she loved…including me. “Devyn told me Katsura is dying—the land, its people, and all things dependent on the region to live.”

Her dark brown eyes grew confused, firelight reflecting in the specks of her irises. “How could that be? Unless my father is sick? The land draws its power from him.”

“Devyn told me that, too. Katsura needs a Kitsune with the ability to commune with the land. Without one, everything in it will die, and one by one, the other regions will also fall.”

A gleam worked its way into her expression as she started to put together the puzzle. She stared intently at me. “Oh, my God. No. Not you. That’s why you shifted before your time. Something has happened.”

I nodded. “I didn’t know how to tell you, but you deserve the truth. Your father passed away. I don’t know what happened, only that he has passed on to the spirit world.”

Her eyes were glued onto the dancing flames. “We had our differences. He never understood me, nor I him, but I didn’t love him any less. I know it was extremely difficult to send me away. I had always hoped that one day we would meet again, and he would be able to see the beautiful daughter I raised.”

“I’m so sorry, Mom.”

A haunting look entered her eyes. This was hard for both of us. “Aw, honey, there is nothing either of us could have done.

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