Foxfire (An Other Novel) by Kincy Karen

Author:Kincy, Karen [Kincy, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: teen, teen fiction, young adult, magic, tokyo, ya, ya fiction, karen kincy, other, japan, animal spirits
Publisher: Llewellyn
Published: 2012-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

eleven

We’re not going to wait for those dogs.” Yukimi looks over her sunglasses at me, her eyes glowing amber. “Can’t you smell them coming?”

I can’t, actually, not over the incredible stink of Kabukicho.

Her hand tightens on my wrist, and she bolts. I run to keep up, half-dragged through the crowd. A muscular black-and-red motorcycle idles by a lamppost. Yukimi climbs on and revs the engine; it rumbles like a warning growl.

“Get on,” she says.

I hesitate. Over the hubbub, I hear barking.

The fox half of me takes over and I jump onto the motorcycle behind Yukimi. She guns the engine, and I hold onto her waist to keep myself from falling. We cut through the crowd, people shrinking back from us. Behind us, the barking grows louder, followed by startled shouts. I twist back to look.

A pack of dogs pounds down the street, bellowing and baying, their breath steaming the air, their noses trained on our scent. In the lead, a black dog—Katashi.

Yukimi takes a hard left, slush spraying behind the motorcycle’s tires. I tighten the muscles in my torso and thighs, straining against the force of the turn. The wind stings my eyes as we race beneath the electric glow of signs and lights. A drag queen in feathers and towering heels strays into our path, then leaps aside with a screamed insult.

“Hold on!” Yukimi shouts.

She swerves into a U-turn, dragging her heel along the pavement, clipping the edge of a booth. Kinky knickknacks tumble to the ground and roll onto the street.

We drive straight down the street toward the pack of inugami. Yukimi raises her right hand into the air, steering with her left. A white light leaks from her clenched fist. Foxfire. A thrill sweeps down my spine.

The dogs charge toward us, barking ferociously—but Katashi skids to a halt and stares at us, one paw raised. We hurtle close enough to see the whites of his eyes. Katashi flattens his ears against his skull and woofs.

Yukimi tosses the ball of foxfire. It arcs high above the inugami, like a meteor streaking across the sky, and the dogs turn their heads to follow its parabola above them. The foxfire trails white-hot sparks in its wake, sizzling through the air. It splatters in the middle of the pack and the dogs burst into flame.

The street erupts into screams and yelping.

Yukimi drives straight into the inferno as burning inugami stagger and flee around us. Heat lashes against my skin. I hold my breath, not wanting to singe my lungs or inhale the smell of burning fur and flesh. The flames whip over us, scorching hot, then close behind us as we break free.

Unharmed. I stare at Yukimi’s hair and clothes.

“Was that an illusion?” I shout over the noise.

“Yes,” Yukimi says, “but they feel the pain.”

I glance back and see Katashi rolling in the snow, trying and failing to extinguish imaginary flames. The rest of his pack doesn’t seem to be interested in following us. Yukimi accelerates smoothly away from the scene.

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