Chapter 12

Sesshoumaru had finally freed himself from the group of men that had trapped him. Sharp golden eyes scanning the crown for his mate, she should've been here by now. Not finding any sign of her he growled, grabbing the nearest woman pulling her away from the crowd. He glared down at the little demoness, she had been one of Kagome's wedding party, she would know where the woman was. "You will tell me what is holding my mate up." The woman was obviously afraid of him, pathetic little creature that she was. He could smell the fear radiating from her, as it did whenever he was speaking to any other woman then Kagome.

"I'm not sure milord, she mentioned a surprise outfit, specially for you then hurried off with her maid"

He grunted, releasing the woman who immediately scurried off. Something wasn't right here. He'd read through the expenses this morning and there was no mention of a garment being purchased, nor any fabric. Even the best seamstress would've been unable to make a garment in the short time Kagome had to plan the wedding. Slipping from the room he saw someone darting into hiding. Suspicious as ever he crept over, reaching into the hiding place to yank a very startled Sango into view. The woman didn't make a sound, even though he was holding her hard enough to bruise. She also was deliberately not meeting his eyes. A habit she'd picked up while in his service, it meant she had something to hide and didn't want him to know. Snarling he shook her hard, startling her into looking up at him. "Where is Kagome?"

Kagome checked everything one last time before jumping lightly out the window, landing easily in the tree's. She'd jumped again as soon as she'd steadied herself, nose practically burning with the scent she was tracking. She was new into her demon abilities but this stench was strong enough for the weakest to follow, and she was by no means weak. She didn't have very far to go but every leap felt like forever, speed was what she needed now, if she as going to succeed. Speed and luck, if Sesshoumaru caught her she'd have to go to plan B, and she really did not want to resort to that, he was going to be angry enough when he found out, no reason to push him to furious.

The woman was defiantly hiding something, as soon as he'd asked about Kagome her fear-scent intensified, but it was mixed with determination. Determined not to tell him what he wanted to know. She had grown some courage in her time with his mate, it was most annoying when he wanted her to tell him something. He dragged her down the hall, away from his "allies" who might overhear. Once they were far enough away he nonchalantly threw the human against the nearest wall, a hand around her neck, poison claws pressing hard enough to hurt. Any harder and the skin would break, that would kill the woman. She knew this of course, which is precisely why he'd done it, he needed to know where his mate w as and she wasn't going to tell him without persuasion.

Her hands flew up, gripping his hands as if to pull them away from her, her breath hitched, eyes squeezing shut. She had tried to help Kagome, she knew he'd seek her out as soon as he noticed Kagome was missing, but hadn't expected it this soon. Neither had her friend, they'd been sure that he would be kept busy by the demons in the room around the corner. Kagome had told her to tell him what he wanted to know should he try to force it out of her, and she would, but she felt horrible about betraying her friends trust even though she knew Kagome wanted her to. She looked up at her lord, his gaze was hard as ice, any trace of the warmth that had recently come into them was gone. This was the old Sesshoumaru, the dangerous one, not the one tamed by his love for Kagome. Taking a careful breath, not wanting to press his claws deeper into her neck, "She left"

As soon as the words left the woman he saw red, snarling he thrust her away from himself, not wanting to hurt her in his anger. "JAKEN!" He was breathing hard, as if from a long run, when the little imp scurried around the corner toward him. The toad threw himself at Sesshoumaru's feet. He kicked it away from him, "Find Kikyo and Kouga. Bring them here immediately." The toad ran off and he turned his cold eyes back to Sango who had been trying to creep away unnoticed. "You will stay here woman." He watched her shudder and huddle in a corner, trying to make herself small. He wasn't really angry with her, but with Kagome. The woman had promised she wouldn't try to go after Naraku, and she'd broken that promise. He would not be trusting her for a long time yet, when he found her he was going to drag her back and lock her in his rooms!

He heard running feet approaching and turned as the two he'd sent for arrived. They both dropped to their knees after one glance at him. He forced his features to return to their usually coolness. It had been a long time before he had to force himself not to show emotions. Kagome was getting under his skin. When he was clam enough he addressed the huddled forms in front of him. "Kagome has left the grounds. I told you to watch her Kouga." The wolf-demon flinched but didn't look up, he had no desire to die. "I am going to get her. If she returns before me Kouga you are to lock her up in the dungeon. She needs to learn her place." The demon bowed his head acknowledging the command. "You may go" Sesshoumaru watched him run off to alert the other guards. "Kikyo, take Sango and lock her up in Kagome's rooms. Then I want you to get Rin and keep an eye on her, I don't want her to be hurt." His brother's wench stood up grabbing Sango's arm dragging her up from the floor. They hurried off, a look of pure murder on Kikyo's face. He wouldn't be surprised if she took some of her anger out on Sango, but he didn't care, the woman deserved it for helping his wench defy him. There was nothing left to do but go after his woman, and bring her back before she killed herself.

Kagome finally came to a stop, in a thick-branched tree within sight of Naraku's manor. The demon had not attended their wedding, and she knew he'd left early. Thoughts of the wedding brought back her fear that Sesshoumaru would not be pleased with her, but she viciously pushed those thoughts aside, they were worries for another time, now she needed to focus on getting her Jewel. There was a guard below her, some lower level demon. She could sense his demonic aura, just as she'd been able to before becoming a demon herself but it was more finely tuned now then it had been. She found that she had a vicious joy in her new abilities, it scared her a little to think about that, she didn't want to become a monster like the man she'd mated to.

Finally the guard turned his back to her, and she knew it was time to strike. She reached back, pulling a poisoned blade from it's sheath. Clutching the dagger in her hand with a death grip, she leapt lightly from the tree, landing on the guard's back. In one quick movement she jerked his head back, slashing his throat open. The blood spurted farther then she'd thought, it made her a little queasy but she fought it down, there would be a lot more blood soon if her plan worked. There was a rustle behind her and she spun around, lifting her dagger up in barely enough time to block another guard's attack. Snarling she backed away from him, so much for getting in quietly. The demon smirked at her, opening his mouth to call for backup when his eyes suddenly rolled back in his head, he gurgled once before falling. Kagome gasped, standing there, talon's covered in the fallen guard's blood, was Sesshoumaru.

"Fool" Sesshoumaru muttered, wrapping an arm around her before jumping, easily carrying her with him. Two more great leaps and he set her down, she stayed where she was, not about to show him fear, it's what he wanted. His eyes were red, not a good sign. He crushed her against him, making it hard to breath, she wrapped her arms around him, returning the embrace as he whispered into her hair. "You scared me woman. When I found out you were gone I thought you'd been killed. We are returning home, you are not ready for this." She looked up at him, ice blue eyes gazing into his angry gold-red ones. She lifted a hand, gently cupping his face, fingers curved over his temple where his silky hair started. "I'm sorry" she whispered, before pressing her claw lightly against his temple, he only had time to widen his eyes in surprise before she sent a tiny bolt of energy into his head, catching him as he fell. She had not wanted to resort to this, using her miko powers like this was not exactly forbidden but it was looked down on. But rescuing the Jewel was more important then all of that. She dragged her husband into the nearby cover, making sure he was completely concealed, she even set a powerful barrier around him to keep anyone who wished him ill away. With one last look at her peacefully sleeping husband she leapt, back toward Naraku, and her Shikon Jewel.