Part Four
I have to tell you I've come to burn your kingdom down
Once a week, Kurogane had told him, Chitose and Sayaka got together at Chitose's house to have coffee and chat. Sayaka's husband took the twin girls and his baby boy and watched them for a few hours so the sisters could spend quality time together.
Humans did such simple and lovely things, was all Fai could think. He was one of the undead, who could live forever, and he took strength and power from drinking the lifeblood of his brother—and yet, didn't the humans have the very best magic? Coffee once a week. Perfect.
And it was their destination now. Fai, Yuui, and Kurogane, walking through the neighbourhood at a pace slow enough for Yuui to keep up. They were leaving in mere hours. They were going to fetch Kimihiro. Shizuka Doumeki and Himawari Kunogi would travel with them. Yuuko had not even had to request it. They had simply stated they would come with the utter conviction possessed by the saints of the faith.
But first Kurogane wanted to say goodbye to his family. And he had asked, with an embarrassment that Yuui clearly found adorable, if they would come with him. So here they were, because it was the least they could do at this point. Fai still didn't know what to make of things. Kurogane had every reason to hate him, but he was practical enough to keep it to himself for now. He supposed it was still a possibility that after this was all over, he would leave them.
Yuui was holding Kurogane's hand while they walked. He didn't seem to think so. There was no hesitation in Fai's twin. Not for the first time, Fai felt his brother's happiness as a heavy weight on his shoulders. Yuui would not be this man if Fai was not here. He would be the drug addict Fai had found a hundred years ago, dying of something nameless and free for the taking to any heartless soul who would have him.
But now Kurogane was here, and it seemed that Fai could easily fade into the background. It seemed he could disappear altogether. Kurogane would care for Yuui, and Fai did not think this child of his would mind the burden. Though he grappled with jealousy, Fai felt a curious relief at knowing Kurogane existed and Yuui would never be that dying man again.
Now that he so clearly remembered the night of Kurogane's making, Fai almost wished to make that a reality. He was overdue the punishment for what he'd done. If he requested exile, then Kurogane and Yuui could freely have what they liked from each other and not take him into account.
How Kurogane must hate him. Fai wondered sickly if Yuui would, as well.
"Fai is moping terribly, Kurogane," Yuui suddenly said, lifting their joined hands and gesturing at Fai with them. "You thought you'd wait to deal with this after our confrontation is over, but I'm not sure it can wait. You two should talk."
"This is hardly the time," Fai huffed.
Kurogane was looking at him. His eyes were calm.
"I hate what happened that night," he said. "But you already served your sentence for it. You don't need to serve it again. You made me against my will, but if you hadn't . . . maybe Tomoyo wouldn't have lived. Maybe you wouldn't have been so desperate to accept Ashura's offer. Maybe Yuui would have died in Africa. Maybe Tomoyo's family wouldn't be here. And we definitely wouldn't be here now to go bring down a tyrant and rescue your brother. I can't regret that."
Each word felt like a blow from his hand. Fai's eyes still ached from rupturing, and he pressed his hands over them.
"It's hard to even look at you and know you're the same person from that night. That's not who you are now. And I guess I'd rather believe in the man who hasn't killed in a hundred years than in somebody who doesn't exist."
Fai couldn't even walk now. He stood on the pavement and tried to find some words he could say. There were none.
Yuui's hand drew Fai's hand away from his eyes, so that he could bend close and kiss him. Fai left his eyes closed, and so he didn't realize at first that Kurogane had also come forward, not until Kurogane's lips replaced Yuui's. Fai stumbled backward and was caught by four hands.
"I'm not saying it's gonna be easy for me, or you, or even Yuui. But we'll figure it out."
"If we even survive this assault we are planning!" Yuui added cheerfully, clasping Fai's hand and dragging him along. "Come on, stop brooding, we must go say our farewells to Kurogane's other family and then rush headlong into certain death!"
Fai didn't want to smile, but he couldn't help it. They resumed walking, and soon they were at a sweet little blue house and Kurogane was knocking on the door. It was broad daylight, and the three of them weren't even concerned today about how they might stand out. They had far greater concerns.
The woman who answered the door was lovely, and so was her sister peering over her shoulder. They both had lines of care around their mouths and eyes, but it only served to make them seem even lovelier. They both had long, dark hair, and they bent their mouths into puzzled frowns in the exact same way. It was easy to see that they were family.
"Kurogane, I didn't know you . . ." The woman trailed off when she saw the other two behind him. "Come in, all three of you. What's happening?"
"Chitose," Kurogane said, nodding his head to indicate the woman who opened the door, "Sayaka," the slightly younger one, "this is Fai, and this is Yuui. They are . . . Well, they're my other family."
"You have other . . .?"
"Fai is the vampire who made me, and Yuui is his brother. Yuui's not a vampire, by the way, but he's prey and he's just as ridiculously old as one."
"I . . . see," Sayaka said awkwardly.
Chitose smiled at them. "Would you like to come inside and sit down? It's very nice to meet you."
"Enchantee," Yuui said, while Fai was still stricken dumb by her graciousness.
They moved into the room where two cups of lukewarm coffee were sitting on a side table.
"I wanted you guys to meet," Kurogane explained. "I've told them a lot about you and the kids."
"But you haven't told us a thing about them!" Sayaka laughed, but it was half-hearted. Fai had suspected, and now he knew. They had long believed that Kurogane's maker was a heartless killer who had abandoned him.
They were correct, technically. And here he was sitting in their home.
"I only just met them a few days ago," Kurogane shrugged. "They're not what I thought, and I'm glad we found each other. Um, there's more though. It's . . . there's a lot of politics that you guys don't know about, among our kind. And their family—my family—is right in the thick of it. There's something going on right now, there's about to be a, uh . . ."
"We're heading off to war," Fai said, when Kurogane seemed to be at a loss. "An enemy who abuses his power and treats humans badly needs to be taken to task. It is our responsibility to do this."
"Your responsibility? Are you some kind of law enforcement?" Chitose asked.
"In a sense," Fai agreed, grateful to have a simple way to explain. "Our enemy is incredibly powerful, and my family the only ones who are capable of standing up to him. My brother is already within his territory, risking his life to get us information. We are going to put an end to this man's cruelties for good."
"I might not come back," Kurogane said. He was restless. "I know I said I'd always be here for you guys, but this is going to be dangerous, and we don't know yet how many people we'll have on our side. So this might be the last time I see you. I just wanted to tell you that I . . . I wanted to say thank you. For letting me be part of your family. I probably would have gone crazy a long time ago if you hadn't."
Sayaka suddenly burst into tears. Kurogane looked completely terrified, so Yuui was the one who wound up going to her and putting an arm around her to soothe her.
"No," Chitose said. Her voice was soft in measure, but there was so much strength in her. "Kurogane, no, you will come back. You will, and I don't care what you have to do to make sure of it. You're our family. You're our— you're one of my best friends."
Kurogane looked incredibly startled by that, and Fai ached for him.
"Don't you know that?" she asked, playing with the hair that fell over her shoulder. "You played with me when I was small, and you listened to all my prattle when I was a bratty little girl. Do you remember when I was in high school and I went to a party and drank too much and got scared? And I called you because I was scared to call Mom and Dad? And you came for me, and took me home and kept watch over me all night while I threw up. And when I went off to college and I was lonely and scared that I was failing my classes, I called you and you talked to me and listened. You're a hundred years old and putting up with desperate phone calls from angst-ridden teenagers. You were always there when I needed you."
"And you kept us so safe," Sayaka said, her voice shuddering. She leaned against Yuui gratefully as she spoke. "I was never afraid of anything because I knew you would be there. I knew that someone would help me get rid of that boy who couldn't take no for an answer. I knew I could walk across campus to my car after my night class and not be afraid. I knew you were watching over me. You always were."
"I was just trying to, I mean, it wasn't a big deal," Kurogane blurted out. "It's not like I had anything better to do!"
"One of the other mothers in a parent group I'm part of was talking last week about how often she worries about her kids. She said this world is a terrifying place, it's full of death and rapists and overdue bills and car accidents . . . All the other mothers were saying that they understood. They were telling her that you had to just not think about it so much, that you did your best to prepare your child for the future and then trusted the universe to take care of them. And you know what? I didn't say a word. I couldn't. Because I don't understand that. I don't worry about my son. I never have. He's going to have you. My family has a guardian angel."
"That's how I feel about the girls," Chitose said. "I just never worry that they'll get hurt, because you always kept me and Sayaka safe. Oh, Kurogane, don't say you won't come back. Don't say you won't be there to protect our kids the way you did for us. I know these men are your family, but so are we."
"You have to come back," Sayaka whispered. "You have to. I couldn't bear to think of a world without you."
Kurogane cleared his throat. "I didn't say I wouldn't try or anything," he said, sounding painfully embarrassed.
Fai had no hand in teaching his child, but then he'd been only a child himself when he made him. He should have been humbled to witness this, but instead he was so proud he thought his chest would burst.
Sayaka and Chitose were looking at each other, and it was the type of expression that Fai recognized. He and Yuui could do that. It was a sibling thing. The two women got up at almost the same moment and presented themselves to Kurogane, who looked up at them with a scowl.
"What are you doing?"
"Something Nana Tomoyo told us about," Sayaka replied.
"What did she tell you?"
"That after all the time, all the loyalty our family has shared with you, all this closeness . . . Our blood is probably specially attuned to you. I don't know how she knw, but she said it's something that happens with prey after a long time. Their blood starts to change to make itself better for the vampire. And our blood might have been changing to be what you need, all this time."
"You are not asking me to— Do you really think I'd— you want me to drink from you?" Kurogane jumped to his feet and backed away from them. "No."
It was an interesting idea. Certainly Yuui's blood did more for Fai that anyone else, but he had always believed it was because they were twins. In some ways, Fai was not well-educated, despite his mother's efforts. He didn't know if it was true , but he was intrigued by the idea.
Kurogane, it seemed, was merely offended.
"There is no way in hell I would do that!"
Yuui put a hand on his arm to quell him. "Why not?"
"You're not serious!"
"I am," Yuui answered, just as both women also said, "Yes, we are."
"We need every advantage we can get in the fight ahead of us," Fai pointed out. "Especially you, Kurogane."
"We're not asking you to bed us, you know," Chitose said, with a sudden hint of teasing in her tone. "We just want to give you our blood, stop making it sound like we're propositioning you."
"I didn't think you were propositioning me," Kurogane muttered. "I just don't think . . ."
"He will do it," Yuui told them decisively.
From the little he'd seen of Tomoyo in Kurogane's memories, Fai was not surprised in the least that daughters of her line were capable of taking out a penknife and slashing their own palms open without a qualm. Steadfast, brave women, all of them.
Kurogane still didn't seem convinced, but he was helpless to protest when Sayaka thrust her hand with blood dripping from her fingers into his face. Fai smelled it and marveled. They smelled of hearth fire and polished wood. Home. They smelled "home." Kurogane kept his eyes on the ground and drank of their blood only sparingly.
Fai was shocked when the two women moved to stand in front of him. Their hands and delicate wrists were smeared and fingerprinted with blood.
"You, too," Chitose said. "I don't know how similar you might be to Kurogane, but if you're part of his family then I think it might help you, too. I know we've only just met, but I want the chance to get to know you. I want you to return home with him. Drink."
It was not very often that a human offered up their blood so freely or with such pure intentions. Fai couldn't argue. He just humbly put his tongue to the gash in her palm and honored the request.
Yuui took up the knife and slashed open his own palm when the women went off to wash and bandage their cuts. He knelt down in front of Fai and brushed a bloodied thumb over his lips before offering up the gash on his hand.
"Take from me, too. Not much, because I'm still not well and I know that Kurogane so shut up, but a little. For luck."
"Luck?" Kurogane snorted.
"We'll need all of it we can get."
"What we'll need is Yuuko's court to be on our side and some allies fighting with us," Kurogane pointed out. "Luck's got nothing to do with it."
"For love, then," Yuui said softly, and pulled his hand away from Fai to put it before Kurogane.
Fai watched closely. This would be the first time Kurogane had tasted the blood he said smelled so alluring to him.
One swipe of his tongue, and Kurogane's eyes fluttered closed and he grunted like he'd been punched in the gut. "Ungh."
"What do I taste like, then?" Yuui asked in amusement.
"Honey mead," Kurogane muttered.
Fai would not have put it that way, but he could see why Kurogane said it. Yuui's blood was sweet and golden and warm. And intoxicating. The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. Honey mead.
When the women came back into the room, all three men stood up.
"We have to go now," Kurogane said. "But I . . . I'll come back. I swear it. I'll come home."
"I'll be right behind you, I swear it."
Just like he'd promised Tomoyo. And so Fai did not doubt for a minute that even if all the rest of them should perish in this fight, Kurogane would still return to his family. Kurogane kept his promises.
Twenty vampires ranged out behind them as they skirted the edge of Fei Wang Reed's lands, those who had come at Yuuko's urgent summons and had seen the notebook where Kimihiro had written down what he'd discovered. It was easy enough to check a few of the facts, and the note itself was clearly in Fei Wang Reed's hand, they all agreed. It was addressed to Yue and asked him to meet Reed alone. Yue had gone to the meeting and never returned, and it was obvious that Reed, at least, had not been alone.
"He always did have too much faith in our brother," Yuuko had whispered in grief, before she'd nearly destroyed the note and Suu had been forced to prise it from her grip.
From the notes Kimihiro had written, it seemed that Sakura had been following Yue, whom she still believed was a harmless nobody called Yukito, simply out of curiosity. She'd seen Reed and his children attack Yue. Yue had fought fiercely and had killed two of Reed's children before he fell. Sakura had run directly to Syaoran, not knowing that they had her scent. She had been followed by Freya, and the two of them were taken by Reed. Syaoran's disappearance was what had caused Kimihiro to realize Reed had a hand in Yue's death. He had offered his service to Reed in exchange for the promise of safety for Syaoran and Sakura, and he'd gone there hoping to quickly prove what he'd done and leave again.
He hadn't counted on the power of Reed's influence over him.
Some of his notes barely made sense. It was clear he was fighting a hard battle just to collect his rebellious thoughts and write them down. Reed kept him under tight control. Syaoran and Sakura were thralls, with little left of the charming young couple they'd once been. But Kimihiro did what he could. He claimed the two of them as his own and wouldn't allow any other vampires to touch them. Once he'd finally discovered that Sakura was a witness to the death, he'd kept her even more tightly under his control and protection. From the dates he'd scribbled down, it seemed he had gotten enough evidence not just days, nor even weeks, but years ago. It had taken him this long to gather enough of his own self-will together to make the effort to contact them.
Kimihiro, going by the notebook, had only decided to risk Syaoran's life a few weeks ago, when he and Kyle had put together their plan. It was suicide for Kyle, but it was what Kyle had wanted. Not a quiet and dignified death for him, no, he wanted to go out releasing all the pent-up rage he was never allowed. He wanted to die angry and defiant. But he'd still agreed to help Kimihiro, to ensure his sire's destruction. He'd delivered them the notebook, in the end.
Yuuko's grief when she realized that Kimihiro had trapped himself in a prison showed itself as anger. White-hot rage.
"He always thinks he shouldn't burden anyone else," she had hissed, with Suu and Ora doing their best to soothe her with cool hands and soft voices. "He always thinks he should do everything on his own. And we have spent all this time believing he wanted to be there!"
The only thing keeping her from knocking them all out with the pulsing power building up in her was the promise of unleashing it on their enemy instead. She was a snarling roil of energy stalking along the edge of Reed's territory.
Fai was some distance away from the rest of them, for the moment. His group had driven here in a car rather than run, much as it clearly chafed Kurogane. There hadn't been a choice since Yuui, Shizuka, and Himawari were with them. And the moment had at last arrived, and Yuui was looking at Fai in a way that had him suspecting what Yuui wanted before he even opened his mouth to speak.
"Fai. Enthrall me."
"No," he said flatly.
"Fai, you must be reasonable. I'm waiting here with the car, but you have powerful enemies and they can take me from you as I am now. You know this."
"Je m'en fou. No."
"You can release me when it's over, Fai, you know you can. Please do it. Enthrall me. It will be no time at all, and I will be safe that way. Please, Fai. Please do this for me." Then he grabbed Kurogane's hand. "It's for all of us. If Fai will not do it, then Kurogane must."
Kurogane looked sickened at the very thought, just as Fai was. "Is it really going to protect you?"
"I can be enthralled by any vampire . . . Unless I already belong to one. If I am enthralled to one of you, then it is not possible for another to do undo it. Not without killing you first. And if you were dead, I would not care what they did to me afterward," he added darkly.
Kurogane reached out a hand and smacked him on the back of the head, hard.
"Ouch!"
"Don't you ever say that," Kurogane said fiercely. "Even if we both die today, you had better care about what happens to you. Whatever happens today, you try to live."
Yuui gaped at him, and then his face broke open and the two of them fell into a kiss.
Shizuka and Himawari were suspiciously silent in the front seats. Shizuka's hands were white-knuckled on the wheel.
"I will do it, Yuui," Fai said at last. Even now, even with as much as he'd accepted how this family was going to work, he was still not quite willing to allow Kurogane to be the one to enthrall Yuui to him. "Look at me," he said, once the kiss had ended. Yuui turned to him, and there was no doubt in his eyes. He trusted Fai, and Yuui's trust had always been his salvation.
He bared his fangs and bit his own thumb, letting a bright bead of blood well up. Yuui obediently sucked the finger into his mouth. Fai looked into his eyes and dove deep and pulled on the taste of himself on Yuui's tongue, pulling it deep into Yuui, into his mind, taking him over, clouding his vision . . .
"Yuui, can you hear me?"
"Yes."
"Yuui, I would like you to kiss Shizuka."
Yuui immediately started to clamber over the console, and Shizuka let out a small yelp as he tried to defend himself from Yuui's questing lips.
"Never mind, Yuui," Fai said. Then he covered his face with his hand so they wouldn't see how it twisted in grief. It had worked. Yuui's mind was gone away, buried under Fai's will. It would keep him safe, but Fai could not stand it for a moment longer than necessary. He would break this power as soon as the fighting was done.
"Kurogane?"
It was Himawari, speaking from the front seat. She and Shizuka were holding hands, clutched together so tightly that Fai could smell their palms sweating.
"What is it?"
"Kurogane, we . . . You need to do it to us. What Fai just did. You need to make us thralls."
"Not a chance in hell. No."
Shizuka turned his head away from Himawari to look at Kurogane. "Really? You're going to take us in there and leave us undefended? I'm your prey, and Himawari's technically yours, too. We're your responsibility. We're not about to come this far just to get snatched up by someone else before we even get to meet the one we're here for. We need to be protected, and it's your job."
A long silence followed.
"You are a dirty cheater,' Kurogane growled. "Fuck you, Shizuka."
A grim smile crossed his lips.
"I think it will be easier if we get out of the car now," Fai suggested. "You have to be able to see their eyes."
Kurogane had no problem with tearing a hole in his own skin, but he hesitated when it came time to put his blood on Himawari's tongue. "Fuck," he muttered shakily as she sucked his finger into her mouth before he could protest.
"Do it," Fai urged him, even going so far as to press a little influence on him. Kurogane did it, and then moved on to Shizuka, and then he stood there practically twitching with discomfort.
"Okay. We're ready," Fai declared, turning away from the blank looks that their human friends and lovers were wearing. "Yuui, you will stay here in the car. You will wait for us to return. If someone comes with the two thralls named Sakura and Syaoran, you are to leave us behind and drive them to the nearest hospital and await us there. If Shizuka and Himawari return alone, you will leave with them immediately and return to our home and await us there. Do you understand?"
"I do."
"Okay. Kurogane, you will have to command these two. We will be ranging ahead of them, but they are to follow us as closely as they can without endangering their lives, and they are to stick close to us until we locate Kimihiro."
Kurogane dutifully repeated the orders, and his two new thralls agreed to do as he said. Then they walked over to where Yuuko paced restlessly. Suu, Ora, and Kazuhiko were waiting together there.
"Are you sure it's a good idea for Kazuhiko to be here?" Fai asked doubtfully.
Kazuhiko turned to him and twirled a sharpened stake of bamboo in his hands like it was a stave. It was still green and full of life. There was a collection of such stakes waiting for them. "Haven't you noticed yet, fool?"
Fai blinked. "You've been turned."
"Suu did it this morning," he confirmed, baring his fangs.
"I see. Why?"
"We are three, not two and one," Ora said. "We have found a great deal of pleasure in Kazuhiko remaining human, but our bond is more important than mere pleasure. This is the greatest threat we've ever faced, and we would face it together."
Suu fit between her two taller companions so neatly. For a moment, Fai thought about Yuui, chained to his will and waiting in their rented car. He could have turned Yuui, had thought of it many times in the past hundred years. But he would not do it, and he knew Kurogane would not do it. Yuui was meant to be human, just as much as Suu, Kazuhiko, and Ora were meant to be together in all things.
"Fai," Yuuko called out sharply, gesturing him over to her. Kurogane had been asking Kazuhiko where to get a stake, and now he followed Fai with his newly chosen weapon, and an extra for Fai, in hand. "Fai, I made you to be my hunter. Will you serve me now?"
Fai felt a little thrill roll over his spine, and he saw the gleam of Kurogane's fangs even as his own grew long. "I have made a hunter of my own, Mother. We will."
"Find your brother, and find mine. We are behind you."
"Mistress," Fai murmured.
And then the hunt began.
They crashed into the room in a confusion of screams and curses and pounding footsteps. It had been easy to get inside, unexpected as they were. It hadn't been easy for long. Reed's guards and retainers swarmed them. The two hunters were sharper and quicker than any of them, but they'd still had to fight for their path. They'd run like coursing hounds on a scent and made it halfway into Reed's very manor, but then they were forced to stop and fight. They tore at their enemies with tooth and claw and stabbed with their living weapons. They battled their way upstairs.
They crashed into the room, and they were covered in blood and ashes. Their clothes were tattered and shredded, along with their skin. But they were alive and their enemies were not. They were victorious. They had tracked the scent to this room, and they had found their quarry.
Kimihiro was seated beside the bed where a young man lay pale and silent between white sheets. He was bandaged and his face was peaceful. Kimihiro scrambled to his feet when they came in, snatching up the poker from the fireplace.
Fai!
Suu's voice. It always called him back. Fai groaned, and scrubbed his hands across his face. He grabbed at Kurogane's arm, but it wasn't necessary. Kurogane didn't lose himself the way Fai did. He was still alert. Smeared with the crumbling remains of the vampires he'd killed to get here, but aware of himself.
"Kimihiro," Fai sighed, overcome with relief to find his brother in one piece. He held his arms open and hurried forward to embrace him. "I told you we'd come."
Kimihiro ducked away, swinging his weapon. "Fool," he sneered.
"What?"
"You've walked right into the manor and all but handed yourself over to me. What deranged plan could possibly involve trapping yourself in the heart of your enemy's kingdom?"
"Like hell we're trapped," Kurogane answered, twirling his bloodied stake with satisfaction. "I'll get us out of here. Can you carry that one? We need our hands free to fight."
"You talk as though I am coming with you. As though I should cooperate."
"Why wouldn't you . . .?" Fai began to ask faintly, and then he realized. Syaoran's blood had been two days ago already. He'd lost his ability to resist. He was under Fei Wang Reed's control again, and Kimihiro was not their ally just now. "You're not even really here, are you? Oh, my brother," he whispered when he received only a snarl in reply. "He has his claws sunk into so deeply you don't even feel them anymore."
He couldn't get at Kimihiro's mind, not even standing here in front of him. Reed's influence was like a heavy blanket draped around it. Fai couldn't find a way underneath.
"Look at Syaoran," he urged, for this was certainly Syaoran. Fai had never met him, but he'd seen him in Kurogane's memories. He'd been so bright and happy, with a bright and happy girl beside him. Physically he was still but twenty, but the stillness of his body and gray pallor to his skin took away that youthful countenance. "He gave you as much power as he could, don't you remember? You called me. Try to remember, Kimihiro. Try, please."
Kimihiro's influence slammed into him. "Don't tell me what to do."
"I am not. I am only begging you to come home with me. Come see our mother and our sister. Take Syaoran to safety. That's what you want, isn't it?"
More power, like wave after wave breaking on his head. It bore him down to his knees. Fai looked up at Kimihiro in despair.
"If we don't leave now, we'll be caught. The others aren't here to defend us yet. Is that what you want?"
"It is," he confirmed.
Kurogane snorted, and Fai looked over to him with surprise. He was still on his feet.
"This skinny little— I'm not bowing to you, twerp."
Kimihiro hissed, baring his fangs, and the weight of his will pushed Kurogane down to his knees.
Kurogane braced his hand against the floor. "I'm not dying here. I'm going home." He shoved himself back to his feet. Fai found the strength to do the same.
Kimihiro brandished the fire poker and grinned like a madman. "You will bow to me or I will call down our hunters on you."
Fai's eyes widened even as Kurogane's narrowed. Kurogane had no knowledge of Reed's pair of hunters.
That was when Ora and Kazuhiko came tearing into the room with Shizuka and Himawari carried in their arms.
"These two said you had urgent need of them," Kazuhiko said, setting his burden down. "So we got a little ahead of the others."
The screams in the hallway sounded terrified. That would be Suu and her illusions. She looked sweet and childlike, but she could dream up visions that could haunt you forever and make you think you were living in them. Fai pitied her victims.
"Thank you," Fai said gratefully. He ought to have guessed they wouldn't be able to do this without the two humans.
"Well, love, let's not leave her alone," Ora said, and Kazuhiko gestured for her to go back out the door first. They were gone just as quickly as they'd come. Fai caught from the corner of his eye the movement of Kazuhiko lifting a vampire by its throat and throwing it into the wall.
Fai turned toward Kimihiro once more, with trepidation. He was standing completely still, his fists clenched and his pupils blown. He was fixated on Shizuka and Himawari. He trembled.
"They smell great, don't they?" Kurogane drawled. "They taste even better. Too bad for you that they're mine."
"I want them," Kimihiro said immediately.
"Tough shit." Kurogane sounded almost cheerful. "I said they belong to me."
"You will give them to me."
The power of Kimihiro's influence, his gift from their mother, put Kurogane on his knees again.
"I want these humans. Give them to me now."
Kurogane was heaving, struggling not to do it. He groaned horribly.
"Fai," he muttered. His hand crept over the floor. 'I can't think. I can't."
Fai put his hand atop Kurogane's. He closed his eyes and remembered the tears streaking Sayaka's face when she begged him to come home. Remembered a thing he hadn't even seen, Himawari's bright face as she said she trusted him.
Kurogane shook like an animal shaking off water. "No," he said to Kimihiro. "No." Then he did a reckless, foolish thing. He staggered to his feet and went to the two humans and broke the spell he'd cast on them. Freed their minds. Right there in the heart of Fei Wang Reed's home, he let them go.
Himawari cried out and went to her knees. Shizuka pulled her back up. She looked at Kimihiro.
"Finally," she murmured. "I've finally met you. I've been waiting such a long time, Kimihiro. Waiting such a long time to be able to love you."
Kimihiro trembled.
"You know my voice," she said with assurance. "You know I've been calling and calling. You've heard me. Did you think I wasn't coming?"
Kimihiro tried to speak and choked on it.
"Shizuka," she urged, drawing him forward.
Shizuka never had been much for speaking when action would do. He reached out his hand, and it looked just like the dream. Fai spent a moment paralyzed by double vision, the dream and the reality at once. Shizuka's hand hovered there.
"Take it," he said to Kimihiro. "Come on, take it."
Kimihiro's eyes were glazing over. He wasn't looking at Shizuka's hand. They were losing him.
"I'll give them to you," Kurogane said suddenly. "They're still mine, they're my prey and I'll fight for them if anyone tries to poach them. But I'll give them to you. I want only one thing in exchange."
"Name your price," Kimihiro said. His fangs were dripping saliva. He wanted these two so terribly, terribly badly.
"You have to come with us. We're leaving right now, and you have to come with us. That's it. If you follow us back to our car, you can have them."
The war behind Kimihiro's eyes was painful to watch. Fai sent every scrap of affection he possessed toward Kimihiro's mind, hoping to soften the hold Reed had on him. Hoping Kimihiro could follow it out of the prison Reed had made for him.
"I . . . I want . . ."
Shizuka grabbed up Fai's bamboo stake. He slashed open the palm of his hand. His blood dripped thick onto the floor. He really did smell like pure water, Fai thought, a moment before he became horrified. What was he doing?
Shizuka didn't hesitate. He thrust his hand into Kimihiro's face, and let Kimihiro fall onto him with a gasp of desire, fastening his mouth over the wound desperately.
"I've got him," Shizuka said. "Now get us out of here."
Kurogane picked up the unconscious Syaraon off the bed while Fai was still gaping in disbelief. "We have to find Sakura."
That part was easy. Sakura was in the hall outside the room, pressed up against one wall and watching as Ora and Kazuhiko tore one of Reed's vampires to shreds. She looked like she'd been trying to get to them. There was an ornate silver tray at her feet, upended and detritus scattered on the floor. She'd dropped something she'd been carrying, no doubt having been sent by Kimihiro to fetch supplies to treat Syaoran or something similar. When she spotted them, she hurried right over, ignoring the ashes hanging thick on the air. Suu and her children had been busy out here.
"Master," she said, curtsying to Kimihiro. "Please forgive me for asking where you are taking Syaoran."
Kimihiro still had his mouth attached to Shizuka's hand.
"We're leaving," Fai answered for him. "Come with us, dear, we need you to help us take care of Syaoran." It seemed likely that they were going to kill Syaoran trying to get him out of here no matter how delicately Kurogane tried to be with him, but Sakura would be fine if they could get her past the fighting. And brutal as it was to consider, it was Sakura they needed more anyway.
Kimihiro must have somehow pressed his agreement to this whole thing on her, because she followed them obediently.
"Shizuka, we have to get him off of you. He's going to drain you," Fai said, worried that they were walking down the stairs and Kimihiro was still drinking.
"It's the only thing keeping him from going back under," Shizuka answered. "If he stops, we lose him."
"If he doesn't, we lose you," Fai snapped. "Kimihiro, please, can you not hear me?"
Kimihiro looked up at him and his eyes were broken open with anguish. He was with them, but only just. And Shizuka was becoming more white and woozy with every second. They weren't going to make it.
Himawari made a gasping noise of pain, and Fai whirled around expecting to see an enemy attacking her. But it was only that she'd snatched a knife from somewhere and she'd drawn it over her hand. "My turn."
"No," Shizuka said, but she was already elbowing him out of the way and he was too dizzy with blood loss to stop her. She offered her bleeding palm to Kimihiro, and without hesitation he let go of Shizuka and took her in his place. "Shit," Shizuka said as they exited the door of the manor house, and collapsed in a heap on the ground outside.
Fai wasted no time in scooping Shizuka up and carrying him. They just had to get far enough away for Kimihiro to get his mind back. It wasn't far. They could do this. If they could just get Kimihiro to remember who he was, he'd have every attacker on their knees calling him Master and he could pick up Himawari and carry her when the blood loss got to her.
She was stumbling as she led Kimihiro forward, but she did not stop. They went as fast as they could, and they kept on until she stumbled hard enough to fall, and then she didn't get back up.
That was it, then. Kimihiro would drain her and then turn on them, and Fai wasn't sure he or Kurogane had the strength left to resist, not when he was newly fed and full of power.
Something else happened first. A steady pounding of running footsteps was behind them, and Fai realized at once that someone had followed them out of the house.
"Merde."
He set Shizuka on the ground, saw that Kurogane was doing the same with Syaoran. Himawari had Kimihiro clutched to her chest, murmuring softly in his ear and trying to keep him distracted. Fai couldn't help a brief smile. She was far stronger than he'd first given her credit for.
He wasn't distracted for long. He and Kurogane both still had their bamboo stakes, and they took them up and whirled around to face the threat, which came crashing through a wall of shrubs with a snarl. Fai let go of anything human, anything like breathing or speaking or trying to push blood into his face to retain a normal pallor. He had to focus now. Had to let himself go cold, turn to death. It was the only way they'd get through this.
Hunter faced hunter. Kurogane and Seishirou snarled at each other, but the quality of Seishirou's growl and the curl of his lips made Kurogane's mind lick against Fai's with startled concern. But Fai didn't need to explain, because the smell of it washed over Kurogane only a second later. Dog. He smelled like old decay and blood and wet dog.
"Fucking werewolves? Are you fucking kidding me?" Kurogane asked flatly.
Seishirou's sharp golden eyes were amused. His companion, more slender but no less deadly, fixed his own eyes of gold on Fai.
"Hello, Fai," he said softly.
He'd always been the more soft-spoken of the two. Fai had much preferred to deal with Subaru when they were aiding Kamui and Fuuma in their escape from Reed's coven.
"It's good to see you again," he answered. Showing his confusion was disadvantageous and by vampire standards just plain impolite, so he tried to keep his face calm and easy. He was confused, though. It seemed odd for Reed's werewolf hunter to offer a kind greeting before getting down to the business of ripping him apart with his teeth.
"I'm guessing these things won't work on them," Kurogane said, twirling his staff a little before jamming the blood-stained butt of it into the ground for safekeeping. Both ends were bloodied and smeared with ash. Kurogane had been surprisingly adept with the weapon. He had his claws at the ready, shifting restlessly.
"We're not here to fight you," Subaru said, lifting his hands up in a surrendering gesture.
"Then what do you want?" Fai asked sharply. "If you're going to let us go, then let us go, and I'll figure out why on earth you're allowing it later. These boys need medical attention quickly."
"Allowing it?" Seishirou repeated. His voice was smooth, melodic. He always looked and sounded so incongruously put-together for such a violent and monstrous man. If you could call him a man. "We're under orders."
And suddenly Fai understood. "They're here?"
"Who's here? What the hell is going on?" Kurogane snapped, his impatience causing him to cut his lip on his fangs. Blood dripped from his chin.
"Reed's children. Kamui and Fuuma. They came to us and asked for help getting out from their sire's influence, hiding from him. They never wanted to be turned, and afterward they wanted to be left alone. And these two . . . These two escorted them out of Reed's territory. They aren't vampires, they can't be influenced by his power in the same way. They can disobey him if they choose. Werewolves have a harder time surviving the human world. They usually swear fealty to a coven, but they can leave if they choose."
"So what the fuck are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that Kamui and Fuuma are here. And for whatever reason, they've ordered these two to let us pass. You're sworn to them, then?"
Seishirou's lip curled in disgust at that, but Subaru had a small smile on his lips. "Yes, we've sworn."
"We did nothing—" Seishirou began to mutter, but Subaru slinked up to him with his animal grace, and laid a hand over his mouth.
"Of course we did," he said firmly. And Seishirou went belly up like a pup with his alpha, lowering his eyes and acquiescing.
"Can you think of no reason?" a cheerful voice called out, and crunching loud footsteps approached them for the second time. Fuuma was a disgrace to vampire kin everywhere, the way he tramped along and shouted.
"Your mistress and her household have been our allies since our making," Kamui said more formally, coursing ahead of Fuuma with much quieter tread, and approaching Fai immediately. They clasped their forearms together in brief greeting. Kurogane had too many possible enemies to look out for, and he bristled with nerves when Kamui touched Fai. Fai took pity on him, beckoned him over to his side, and touched his arm. He dampened Kurogane's fear and pressed his own sense of calm onto him.
"We're among friends, Kurogane," he murmured.
Kurogane was eyeing Seishirou doubtfully, but he allowed Fai to hold onto him.
"Do you know our purpose here?" Fai asked Kamui.
"Not exactly, no. We are still somewhat in contact with your coven, and we noticed that you mobilized and headed this direction. We assumed it was war."
"You know us," Fuuma said, still cheerful. "Always up for a good war between covens."
"With any luck, no war will be necessary," Fai said. "We have evidence now that your sire murdered his brother Yue. We are here to formally try and execute him."
"What evidence?" Kamui asked in interest.
Fai hesitated before nodding to Sakura. "We have her memories. She was there. And Yuuko is carrying the note that Fei Wang sent to Yue mere hours before his death, asking to meet with him urgently."
"It's good enough for me," Kamui said brusquely. "We'll go in and help Yuuko. Who has she got with her?"
"Several of our allies. My sister and her children are fiercest, but we have about twenty, the Warashi sisters amongst them."
"Let's go," Kamui said to Fuuma, beckoning him sharply. "They'll need us."
"Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, to kill dear old dad we go," Fuuma sang, and winked at the suspicious Kurogane.
Kamui rolled his eyes. Then they set off, streaking quickly out of sight. After half a moment, the two werewolves whirled to follow. They made a formidable sight, the four of them. Fai would not wish to be the vampire who got in their way.
"No love lost there, huh?" Kurogane said, still sounding bewildered.
"No, likely not," Fai chuckled. "Well, I feel enormously better. They will be able to cow whatever resistance remains, with their status and blood power. If Yuuko has not already reached her brother, she will with their help. And with them standing witness over his execution in addition to our coven, there will be no disputes. Perfect. But we'll need to keep Sakura safe, as insurance. And we really do need to get to a hospital. Urgently."
Kurogane immediately turned back to Syaoran and scooped him up again. He tried to brace his head, to keep the wound in his neck from tearing open, but he still winced in worry as he lifted him up. Sakura hovered at his side, hands fluttering over Syaoran's hair and face.
Fai turned to retrieve Shizuka. He'd kept Himawari and Kimihiro in his peripheral vision during the encounter with the others, and they'd remained quite still. Still enough that he was beginning to worry that Kimihiro had drained Himawari and killed her.
But Kimihiro was standing, and helping Himawari back to her feet. His eyes were lost, darting around, frightened, but they were clear. He nuzzled his mouth against her bloody hand, but didn't drink anymore.
"Fai, I don't— I don't remember— where are we—?"
"We need to go that way," Fai nodded in the direction of the car, arms occupied with Shizuka.
Kimihiro nodded, and looked at Himawari again. "Just talk to me, please." He picked her up in his arms, and began to carry her in the direction Fai had indicated. "Keep talking to me. I've dreamed of your voice. I think I can make it if you'll talk to me."
"My name is Himawari," she said, and laid her head weakly on his shoulder. "And that is Shizuka. We were born for you."
Fai would have cried if he could have. Kimihiro was going to be okay, wasn't he? He was back. His brother was safe, and if they could just get out of here, these two brave and lovely humans would be safe as well. The man in Kurogane's arms, he was less sure about. And then there was Sakura, dazed and trailing behind them silently, but that was something they'd have to deal with later.
"I first dreamed about you when I was only thirteen," Himawari said. "I didn't know it was you, of course. We only learned it was you a few days ago. We came as soon as we could. We knew you needed us. You've done such a brave thing, Kimihiro. You did such a wonderful, brave thing, coming here on your own and trying to help your family. I wish you hadn't done it alone. Your family would have helped you. You're not going to be alone anymore, because Shizuka and I will be with you."
Himawari kept up a steady stream of chatter all the way to the car where Yuui waited. Fai wanted to break the enthrallment the second he saw his face, accepting their return without showing any signs of actually caring. But the expedient thing had to outweigh what he wanted right now.
"Yuui, drive us to the nearest hospital. Please travel as fast as you can while still remaining within the parameters of local traffic laws."
They all piled into the car, bloodied and dirty and smearing ash all over the car's upholstery. Yuui obeyed his orders and gunned the engine.
"Why aren't we helping them with Reed?" Kurogane spoke up, sounding exhausted.
"They can do without us," Fai said. Yuuko would give him hell for it later, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. "I imagine my mother is eating his heart right out of his chest by now, if she didn't let Kamui have the honor. She has Suu with her and all those allies. Let's just get these poor brave fools some medical treatment and go home."
"Home?" Kimihiro said in a brittle voice. "I don't have one."
Himawari had passed out in his lap. Shizuka was half-conscious in Fai's, but he was listless and unable to speak. Sakura was wedged between him and Kurogane, and all her concern was for Syaoran. Wasn't this Kimihiro's family, just as much as Yuuko and Suu and the courtiers?
"You will come home with us, for now," Fai answered. "You still have a place at Mother's side anytime you want it, of that I am sure. But you are also welcome, always welcome, with us. I imagine that seems safer to you for now."
Kimihiro ducked his head, and Fai knew there would be a long road ahead of them, coaxing him out of whatever dark recess of his own mind he'd been shoved into. But they would take him home and make him safe first. He would be with family. He would be with these two humans who already loved him so. And they could take their time. They had all the time in the world.
