Author's Note: Thank you for the lovely reviews! I am so happy that everyone seems to be enjoying the story so far. I hope I do this sequence justice; I'm ridiculously excited with executing something I have been building up to for fifty-some chapters.
Sesshomaru traced Mina's scent back to a little red tent. He moved the curtains aside to find a little room littered with pillows around a low table. He found Minako slumped over onto her side, unconscious in the mess of pillows. She was alone and Sesshomaru could only catch the scent of some strong perfume or incense lingering in the air.
He picked Mina up, checked her neck. The mark was still there, clear as day, so why couldn't he access the connection? He would worry about it later. For now, he just felt overwhelmingly relieved that she was alive.
They had only recently left the castle, so Sesshomaru instead took Minako to her home. It did not bode well that the barrier sent small electric flickers as they passed through. He felt a bit of resistance, something he was not expecting with Minako in his arms.
"Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken appeared at the door as Sesshomaru made his way toward the little cabin. "I did not expect you to return so soon."
He noticed Mina's limp body and let out a cry, hurrying to clear the doorway as Sesshomaru passed through. Rin had been tending the fire and quickly got up to follow the demons into the bedroom.
"What happened?" she asked, "Did someone hurt Lady Minako again?"
"She doesn't look injured," Jaken said, but sniffed the air a bit obnoxiously. "She smells different, though."
Sesshomaru hadn't noticed it before. That other smell, the incense or perfume—whatever it had been—had confused his nose. He gently set Minako down on the bed and leaned in, his nose brushing against the mark on her neck. Jaken was right. Mina's scent had changed. It wasn't hers, not the one he was used to, not the one she had had ever since they mated.
But it wasn't quite the one she had before, either.
Jaken shooed Rin from the room and closed the door. "What happened, m'lord?"
"I am not sure." The words almost left a bad taste in his mouth.
"You were not with her?" the little imp asked, immediately flinching at the furious look that flashed in his lord's eyes. "I mean, of course, you had business to attend to! But do you know who is responsible, if anyone?"
"I found her alone in a tent. There was another smell, however…"
A sudden thought struck him. That smell from the forest, the one that had clouded his senses when the bottom-feeder had attacked Minako. It was almost like a strong perfume, an incense of sorts. A cloaking scent, just like the one from the tent. Whoever had been behind the first attack had been with Minako in that tent, and Sesshomaru had not been there. The attacker was with his mate while he was out searching for information on their identity or whereabouts.
What sick irony.
Minako's head pounded mercilessly. She ached all over and felt oddly uncomfortable in her own body. It took a moment for her to find the strength to open her eyes. She had expected to see the curtained walls of the red tent, the crystal ball, and the pillows. However, Minako instead found herself lying in a bed.
However, she did not recognize her surroundings. It was a very large bed and she was nestled beneath rich fabrics. The room itself was also very spacious, as though she had awoken in a castle. A beautiful black and purple kimono hung over what appeared to be a full length mirror on the far wall. Mina looked down to find herself wearing simple white underclothes. Where were her old clothes? Who had changed her?
Her heart raced, alarms going off in her head as she tried to identify her surroundings. Where was she? She struggled against the panicked breathing that had set in, overwhelmed by her fear and confusion. She was struck with a loneliness that went deeper than just being by herself in this strange room.
She could not sense Sesshomaru. The connection was broken.
No, she was just jumping to conclusions. After all, Masami had once managed to hide the connection temporarily. This could be similar.
"Calm down," she whispered to herself. "Okay, just calm down."
She wiggled her toes and fingers beneath the sheets, trying to get rid of that strange out-of-place feeling before getting up out of bed. Before she could figure anything out, she would need to get dressed. She pulled the kimono from the mirror without giving her reflection a second glance, quickly dressing as she sensed someone approaching the room. She was surprised by the light knock on the other side.
"Yes?" she called out, stomach tightening as she waited for the person to enter. The scent was familiar, but what normally would have been a comfort startled her in this place.
The door opened and a man stepped into the room. His long black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, red eyes set on Mina. There were black markings on his cheeks, the markings of a true taiyoukai. Although she could not see them, she knew that the black design continued on down his arms beneath his large sleeves. She knew because she had seen this man before, a long time ago.
She gripped the post of the bed, her legs weak and shaking as she choked, "Father?"
"Oh, Mina," he sighed. "Didn't I ever teach you not to trust a wyrm?"
