Stone-Cold Fox (Black Dog) by Hailey Edwards

Author:Hailey Edwards [Edwards, Hailey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-10-30T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Retreating to the patchwork tent gave me time to steel myself against what was to come. I had questions lined up and ready to fire, when Katsuo lifted the flap and guided me inside the main living area.

“Wow.” It was the only word to cover the scope of what they had done. The odd pattern of material on the exterior made sudden, perfect sense. They had incorporated one long tent as the center of their home then sewn multiple others to it in order to give the structure individual bedrooms and other amenities. Mismatched carpets covered the floors, and thin fabric tubes hid wires that ran from their few electronics out to one of the communal generators. I picked out spots that had been patched with precise handsewn slip stitches and made a guess. “This is your work.”

He glanced around, a faint smile lifting his mouth. “This is the real reason my Inuyasha has improved. I’ve had a lot of practice mending tears and expanding living quarters as our families grow. I’ve achieved transcendence with my sewing machine. I’m no slouch with hand sewing, either.”

“You’ve carved out a good life here,” I observed.

“For now.” He guided me down a narrow hall and into a sparse bedroom. “We’ve only been in the area for six weeks. Our previous address lasted longer than most. We managed six months before the local skulks chased us off the property.”

“I thought—” Apparently I had thought wrong. “You’ve been moving around this whole time?”

“Yes.” He dropped onto a cushion in a small seating area without waiting for me. I chose the one opposite him and sank into the plush material. “If things go poorly tomorrow, we’ll be looking to relocate again. Now that your skulk knows where we are, we won’t have a choice.”

I bristled. “You make it sound like this is my fault.”

“It isn’t your fault,” a deeper voice said. “I would like to speak with Mai alone.”

Katsuo pushed to his feet and left the tent through a slit in the wall separating the bedrooms. Ryuu claimed his brother’s position, their postures almost identical.

He regarded me through somber eyes, and I regretted that he had already tied back his hair. I wondered if the ends would brush the floor if he hadn’t. “Thank you for what you did tonight.”

Thanking a fae was never a good idea. It’s like giving someone a free pass they can cash in for the favor of their choosing. Not a smart situation for him to put himself into when the logical favor I would ask was to be set free.

“Helping was the right thing to do” seemed like a vague enough response.

“I see now that I should have gone about this differently.” He linked his fingers. “I was…angry…and not thinking clearly when I captured you.”

“Eight years is a long time to hold on to your anger.” I wasn’t sure I could write him a pass because he’d finally snapped almost a decade later.

“Six weeks.”

“Isn’t that how long you’ve been—” don’t say squatting, “—squatting here?”

“It is.

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