Hey, it's me, Manipulative Neko. This is the SEQUEL to Princess of Theives, so read that story first, other wise you'll be confused. Hope you enjoy it and please read and review. Later!
I watched him shiver at the cold air and smiled despite myself. He and I always met here, but he never got used to the below freezing temperature and wind chill. The Barrens was a place between his home, Adeline's castle, and my own, The Castle of the Arctic. The Barrens was a cold, lifeless, and bare place covered with snow and ice that stretched on forever until you came to two and only two entrances. One was a ice arch that led to my home and the other was a forest with white glowing trees that went on for two or so miles before coming to a lake and a deep green forest. From there you could go about anywhere in Demon World.
"Do you enjoy seeing me shiver?" he asked, his voice sharp.
I laughed and sat down next to him. "Sometimes."
"Maybe I just won't come here anymore," he threatened.
I smirked at him. "Please."
"What? You think I can't live without you?"
"No, I would just be very hard."
He snorted. "Spare me, Genevieve."
I punched him playfully. "Get over yourself, would you? God, you are worse than your father."
At that moment, he stiffened and I knew I had said something wrong. "I'm sorry," I started, but he cut me off.
"Don't, Genevieve."
"But-."
"I said don't."
I was about to argue even further when he snarled at me, his gold eyes ferocious and his ears flat against his head. I had never seen Kohan so angry and…fearful. Kohan and I had been friends ever since a reunion that my mother took me too. He and I met underneath the balcony, he was eight and counting his money that he had stolen for the guests while I was seven and wanted a chance to escape from my mother's grasp.
'Get out of here,' he ordered me, but I ignored me and hugged my legs to my chest. He stared at me for a moment and went back to counting his money. After a few silent minutes, it began to rain and the people on the balcony above us screamed and hustled there way back inside.
'You might as well leave before you get your hair wet,' he said nonchalantly, putting the coins into a leather bag.
I shook my head and hugged my knees tighter.
'Are you cold?' he asked me, stretching as well as he could.
I snorted at him. 'My homeland is ten times colder than this.'
'Oh really?' he wiggled his eyebrows. 'Where are you from?'
'The Arctic.'
He smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the rain. I squealed at the cold rain pelted my arms and hair.
'Are you afraid to get wet?' he taunted.
I punched him, but he caught my hand, his eyes wide and filled with mischief.
'You wouldn't hit me, would you?'
I kicked him in the leg. He cursed and released my hand from his. I laughed at he hopped around on one leg, holding the leg that I had kicked. He stopped and looked at me. 'You're different from the other girls.'
I curtsied. 'Thank you.'
He rolled his eyes.
'Wanna go see the birds eat the worms?' I proposed.
He wrinkled his nose. 'That's boring.'
I put my hands on my hips. 'Well what do you want to do then, Mr. Excitement?'
He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. 'Steal.'
Ever since then, ten years later, he and I have been the closet a pair of friends could be. We weren't supposed to be friends. Our families had forbid it, but we continued to be anyway. Kohan was a kitsune, like me, but he was silver while I was white. He was tall, about six feet two inches while I was pretty short, only five feet five inches. His hair was short, reaching down to his chin and it was silky and smooth. He wore a thieving outfit, passed down by his stepfather. That was the main reason why he and I couldn't be friends. He was a thief and a damn good one at that. He was swift, cunning, and cruel, like Youko Kurama, legendary fox bandit. Kohan looked up to him as a role model and some thieves had already agreed that he was better than Youko. Kohan wasn't good at accepting compliments and argued until everyone agreed with him that Youko was far better than him, but deep down, he knew they were right.
What he hated the most was the tumor that had spread like wildfire the past year. People were saying that Kohan was the son of Youko Kurama, but Youko died before Nika, Kohan's mother, could tell Youko. Nika and Kohan denied this rumor, but even my servants had their opinions. I felt sorry for Kohan, I really did, but I was also happy for him.
"Eve," Kohan said.
"Yeah?" I whispered, lying down in the snow.
"Do you think…that he's my father?"
I looked at Kohan, sitting up, his arms loosely around his legs. His back was hunched over and his muscles showed against the thin clothing. Kohan was the most muscular person I had ever seen. Muscles were everywhere on him. On his back, arms, chest, abs, and even legs. I couldn't even compare with him and I was athletic. He looked over his shoulder at me, his piercing gold eyes filled with confusion and darkness.
I shrugged. "I don't know. I never knew Youko."
"No one has," he said quickly.
"That's not true," I told him. "If no one knew him, then we wouldn't know about him."
"Why do you have to be so smart all the time?" he asked, his voice edgy, but his face was friendly.
I smiled at him and sat up, snow in my hair and on my back. "Just the way I was raised."
He smiled and put his arm around me. I leaned my head against him and smiled. His skin was cold and covered in goose bumps and pale. His body was hard and taunt, results from training everyday.
"Are you cold?" I asked.
"What do you think?" he snapped back.
"Want to go?"
"No."
I rolled my eyes. No matter how cold he was, he would only leave if I wanted too. We sat there for a long time, listening to each other's breathing and seeing each other's breath appear in front of our mouths. My clothing became soaked from the snow, but I didn't mind.
Suddenly, Kohan shot up to his feet, taking my hand with him. I winced at the sudden pain. "What the hell was that for?" I asked.
He smiled mischievously. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" I asked
He ran ahead of me, still holding my hand. I followed him without a fight, knowing that he wouldn't get us in any true danger. Kohan had these impulses. Impulses to do crazy things that were actually quite exhilarating and fun. We ran through Two Rock Path, a path littered with jagged rocks, but began with two boulders. We stopped within a few feet of a drop two hundred feet above Lake Heena. We grinned at each other. Lake Heena was the coldest, iciest, and deepest lake in the Arctic. I felt the adrenaline pumped within me and watched Kohan remove his clothes. I smirked at him as he left on his boxers.
"I had no idea you accepted mortal ways," I sneered, undressing myself.
He wiggled his eyebrows at me and tapped his right eyebrow and his lip.
I rolled my eyes. "How could I forget?" Kohan, on the road to total rebellion, pierced his eyebrow and lip, along with his tongue. True that these were mortal trends, but demons used them as well. Wearing mortal clothes, like "boxers" and a "bra", were not.
I stripped down into my corset and underwear, both black. Kohan eyes me with a smug smile and I punched him.
"Pervert," I muttered, walking to the edge. The drop was long and the water was choppy.
"Scared?" Kohan asked over my shoulder, looking down.
"You wish."
"Then go first," he teased.
I smiled wickedly at him. "My pleasure."
I backed away from the edge and Kohan smirked. I growled at him, but ran before he could respond. The jump was electrifying. The wind howled in my ear and whipped through my hair as I dove closer and closer to the inky waters. I saw that the waters were indeed rough, very rough. I gasped as the icy water hit me hard and pierced my skin. The pain was numbing and I struggled to reach the surface. I emerged gasping for breath and looked up. Kohan was looking over the cliff. I waved up to him and yelled. "This is great!"
Soon, he dived down into the water. The wait seemed to take forever, but he reached the water with a splash. I swam over to him, the water now clam. Kohan didn't emerge from the surface. I swam quicker to the spot where he dove into the icy waters, but he didn't emerge. I looked around wildly, suddenly feeling claustrophobic.
"Miss me?"
I whipped around to find him smiling at me, his head half emerged underwater. I wanted to slap him, but I smirked instead. "No."
He swam closer to me. "Uh-huh."
I rolled my eyes. "Can you stop thinking that every girl misses you when you're not around?"
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. Our noses touched as he whispered, "No."
I laughed lightly. "Jerk."
He shrugged. "Call me whatever you please, princess."
I shivered as his breath whispered against my ear. I pushed him, away.
He smiled at me, a mischievous gleam in his eye.
I swam away from him and floated on my back, looking up at the pearly white clouds and blue sky. His cold fingers gripped my waist and pulled him under. I fought him as best as I could, but considering I was choking on cold salt water, I had no strength. He pulled me up and I gasped for breath while he smiled at me. I slapped him.
"Bitch," he spat.
"Learn some manners," I coughed.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. I regarded him with a cold eye. He sighed. "I'm sorry, okay?"
"No you're not," I said,
He smiled. "You know me too well."
"Yeah, unfortunately."
He nipped my ear. I laughed at him.
"Hey!"
"Eve? Kohan!" yelled people from above. We both looked up and smiled. It was our good friends Neoma and Daemon. Neoma was a timid creature with gentle blue eyes and light brown wispy hair. She was quiet and could rarely ever get angry. Her brother was quite the opposite. Daemon, like Kohan, had rebelled against his parents. He died his hair a fiery red and tipped it black. His golden brown eyes were fierce and always looked for adventure. He was also a thief.
Kohan waved back. "Hey! Come on in! The fall's a bitch, but the water's great!"
I rolled my eyes at him. He could be such a drama king. Daemon entered the water with a splash while timid Neoma decided to climb down and just get her feet wet.
Daemon rested his arm on my shoulder. "So how's life?"
"It was good," I said.
"Until you showed up," Kohan finished, swimming around us like a shark. His eyes gleamed as he stared at Daemon.
Daemon snarled at Kohan, his ears flat against his head. Daemon was half kitsune and half hawk, which meant that he had kitsune ears, but no tail. Instead he had wings that would sprout out of his back whenever he needed them. I envied him.
Kohan, sensing a challenge, snarled back and snapped a few times as well. Neoma giggled at the edge of the water. As gentle as she was, she enjoyed seeing her brother and Kohan fight. I did too, but in the fight, I was in the middle. They both circled around me, snarling and snapping at one another. Daemon even screeched like a hawk. I hated this. Somehow, I was always in between Daemon and Kohan.
How did you like that? Might be confusing at first, but i'll make it clear. Hope you enjoyed it and please review. I always read them, whether they are good or bad reviews, so please do so. Please and thank you's.
M. Neko
