Chapter 15.
When I'd packed up everything
and stepped out, Jason and Kannon were making a small pile of everyone's bags
and suitcases. The trucks were Asher's.
"Blake-san," Kannon
called, carrying a gym bag, "to spare seeking another hotel and putting it
under threat, I insist you come and stay with my family."
"Isn't that imposing?"
I asked.
"My mother will not mind.
It means I am home with her. And it is safer for all involved." He nodded
vigorously as if he hoped I'd copy him.
"You're sure?"
"Anita." Jason's
cornflower blue eyes peered over a trunk as he carried it out of the bedroom.
"He said he insisted. So go with it."
I had to smile and sighed,
nodding. "Okay, Kannon, thank you. Do you have a phone there?"
"Hai!" He nodded and
almost bounced back into the bedroom. Ahh, shape shifters. Why didn't I have
that kind of energy?
We left the packing to Jason as
Kannon helped me explain there was damage to the rooms and figure out how much
I owed to cover it. I didn't blame the guy for sounding shocked when the damage
was described. And he was sure glad we were leaving. Kannon and Jason sniffed
over the taxi that came to help transport the bags, and the Nissan for anything
dangerous. I couldn't help but smile when I thought of the taxi driver's
reaction to getting a sniff down.
I looked briefly around for any
sign of Aya before I climbed into the Nissan with Kannon. There was none.
Either he was going to end up surprising me later, or I'd have to save him.
Either way, I was sure we'd run across him again.
The trip took us out of the city
and into mountainous country. We ended up on a dirt road winding through the
trees. A mist sat low in the trees even in midday, darkening the area and
making it all the more mysterious. It was quite beautiful, actually. Then
again, considering the day I had just had, a stroll through the restroom of a
high security prison would be quaint in comparison.
"There." Kannon
pointed out the windshield. "See the temple?"
I strained my eyes to catch the
roof edges through the misted out trees. As we pulled closer, I saw the walls
and rooftops of the temple. Then we turned a bend and crossed a bridge that was
simply planks laid a cross a small stream. I didn't think the planks would hold
the weight of the cars, but we scooted across safely. In front of us was the
open yard of the temple.
It was maybe one and a half
stories tall, with wooden planking between faded, red and green painted runners
on each bend of the roof that curled back on themselves like squirrel tails.
Large sliding doors in that lattice box style and backed with what I supposed
was rice paper, was the first thing you noticed on the front of the temple. A
raised patio seemed to run around the whole of it, a small set of steps leading
up to patio level. In general, it seemed ancient and mystical, like stepping
back into history.
A couple of tiny chickens
hurried back into the yard of the temple as we pulled up. I realized with a
little smirk that if those chickens turned out to be werechickens, I would not
be very surprised at all. Kannon pulled to a stop just as both cars reached the
other side of the bridge.
"Wait here," he told
me before helping the taxi unload our luggage and Jason. I waited in the car. I
just knew if I stepped out before he said, I'd step in and ruin some ancient,
mystical dirt or something.
Finally, after the taxi had
departed, Kannon let me out of the car. I stepped out carefully, looking at the
temple. No one seemed to be home. It was just us, the stream, and the call of
mountain birds. This was the kind of place you visualized if you were trying to
meditate. I guess Kannon was trying to tempt fate, or perhaps he was trying to
see if there really was a higher being organizing things up there and things
didn't happen just by pure accident, because after all that's happened he
should have realized that Anita Blake plus peaceful, quiet vacation equals
weresquirrels running amuck and food that slides off of your chopstick when you
try to pick it up.
"Leave the luggage here, my
family will help us later," Kannon instructed, and stepped for the yard.
Jason grabbed my hand and I let him hold onto it as we walked into the yard
after the werefox. Later, if I behaved myself and was a good world-class vampire
hunter, he might even let me cut my food all by myself!
Kannon called to the temple and
hurried to the bottom of the steps. One of the sliding doors opened, and I
blinked rapidly, trying to take in what I was seeing. Something that seemed to
glow white stood in the doorway of the temple. It had a human shape, and I
could see it was wearing baggy clothing that looked traditional. Something
white draped from the head of the figure and hung nearly to the floor.
It stepped out into more direct
light and I just stared. I was staring at a vampire. It had to be. The white
draping stuff was hair that hung down to about knee level, tied off in several
places down its length, but it foamed around the head, framing the face. The
face was angular with a square jaw, which was one of the only clues it was
male. He could have been the pale version of Jean Claude. His traditional
clothes were in light grays and blues, swishing as he moved, stopping just
short of the ground, where I could see his sandaled feet and white socks.
Jason was sniffing as the
stranger approached the edge of the patio. I guess it was wider than I had
originally thought.
"Dominant," Jason
whispered.
"Vampire?" I asked.
"Werefox." He squeezed
my hand and I squeezed back. The dominant stepped down the steps to Kannon's
level and the two embraced, rubbing cheeks.
I heard them converse, then
Kannon turned out of the embrace to wave us forward.
"Blake-san, Jason-san, this
is my 'nii-san'. My older brother." Kannon introduced. "No ritual or
formalities."
Brother?! They looked nothing
alike! I bit my tongue and tried to bow politely.
Kannon introduced us to his
brother in their language, and before I could defend myself, I was clasped to a
werefox's chest and cheek rubbed. Slapping him and shrieking was really
uncalled for, so I tolerated it. Jason was molested after I was released, and
we seemed to have been accepted. Who said Japanese society was unfriendly
towards strangers? A grope here, a squeeze there and you're practically family.
The dominant turned and called
to the temple. I nudged Kannon, whispering: "What do I call him?"
"Seishi."
"That's his first
name?"
"Yes. Our last name is
Kagegami. My sisters are Satomi and Sanaya. My mother is Rumiko."
"So what do I call your
father?"
Kannon lowered his eyes before
answering. "He's dead."
Shit. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
Kannon flashed me a smile. "You can call my mother 'Okaa-san'."
"Okaa-san?"
"It means 'mother'."
He smiled wider. "She is mother to all here, so visitors call her 'mother'
too."
Oh. Okay. I didn't know if I was
going to like this. I didn't even call my stepmother 'Mother'. My mother had
died when I was eight years old in a car crash. And Judith was not a
replacement. My mother had been small, Hispanic, and dark. Judith was a Nordic
ice princess. When Judith entered the family, I had been the one that didn't
seem to fit in. Everyone else was tall and blonde. I'd hated when people had
asked Judith if I had been adopted. It hurt. I remember my father hugging my
real mother and calling her the most beautiful woman in he world. If he thought
that way, why didn't he marry another small, dark woman like her?
I heard a yip that startled me
out of my musing and a black fox the size of a cocker spaniel hopped down the
steps, sniffing my leg. This was Kannon's version of Lassie, I'm guessing.
"Yoshio!" Kannon
laughed and grabbed the fox, scooping it up into his arms. He held it like a
baby, legs up in the air, and it licked his face eagerly.
"This is Yoshio."
Kannon turned his head away to discourage the licking. "This is little
brother."
I looked at the fox in his arms
and it blinked golden eyes at me. Then the jaws parted and showed me pink
tongue as it panted like a dog.
"Nice to meet you,
Yoshio," I said uncertainly, shaking a paw. It leaned over and tried to
lick my face. I stepped back quickly. A face treatment of drying fox slobber
was not on the agenda today.
Kannon dumped the fox out of his
arms and it landed with a yelp, then started to gnaw on his leg.
"Yoshio is ten years
old," Kannon whispered to me. "He's still not good with his
manners."
"Ahh..." I started to
nod and froze. Ten years old? I felt suddenly very uncomfortable.
"It's not what you
think." Kannon must have smelt my unease. "We kitsune are not like
your werewolves. We do not become kitsune if we are scratched or bitten. You
are born kitsune, or not at all."
A breeding line of shape shifters.
This was something never mentioned in my preternatural biology class. I
suddenly had a Jacques Costeau moment.
"I'll explain more later,
come inside." Kannon waved us to follow him as he started up the steps,
dragging a black fox that still had its teeth embedded in his pants leg.
The main room we stepped into
was spacious and lit by candles and lanterns. I saw that they had light
fixtures with bulbs in them, but I guess they felt more comfortable going old
fashioned.
"Shoes off." Kannon
motioned to our feet as he slipped his own off around a snarling werefox cub.
We were working on obeying when Kannon suddenly yelled "Hanase!" and
sent the werefox cub sliding across the smooth wood floor.
I blinked at the treatment, but
the cub seemed no worse for wear, despite whimpering like a beaten puppy, so I
kicked my second sneaker off. A woman I hadn't noticed standing near the wall
picked up the cub, dressed in a kimono in soft shades of topaz. Her hair was
red as Kannon's, hanging free to her waist. Finally, a family member that
resembled him. She smiled shyly at us, bowing her head and hugging the cub to
her stomach.
"This is Sanaya, younger
sister," Kannon introduced us. Being closer, I could see that she was
pregnant. I had to smile at her, sharing a 'woman's moment'. She blushed
prettily, bowed, then slid open a door and disappeared through it.
Kannon's brother had already sat
down on a cushion in the room, and I saw there were more cushions, probably for
us. We sat down at Kannon's urgings, and another woman appeared, dressed in
muted greens and short black hair that barely reached to her shoulders. In her
hands was a tray and what I guessed correctly was tea. She knelt on a cushion,
then poured and handed us all tea. This, I guessed was Satomi, since she didn't
look old enough to be Kannon's mother.
"You call this no
formalities?" I asked Kannon quietly.
"Hai, no dominance rituals.
This is just because you are our guests," Kannon explained, smiling. The
orgies don't start until you're part of the family, I guess.
"This is really
awkward." I looked to Jason, who was holding his cup in one hand, and
using a small fan from the tray in his other hand, trying to fan cool his tea.
I had to look away before I sprayed my mouthful of tea on Kannon's brother from
laughter.
"Where's your mother?"
"Sanaya has gone to fetch
her." He nodded reassuringly to me.
I blew on my tea as Jason tested
his and fanned it some more. Satomi seemed amused by his antics.
The rear door slid open and I
looked up to see Sanaya stepping through, followed by an older woman. I stared.
She had snowy white hair, dressed in a pale and lavender kimono, long skirts
flowing around her feet and behind her. Her hair was so long it reached nearly
to her feet, becoming lost among the folds of pale cloth. Kannon's family must
buy shampoo in bulk.
She had to get just a few feet
away from me before I could see her face, because of the dimness and her pale
coloring seemed to make her features blur. Her face was becoming lined with
age, and yet, still lovely. What was it with Asian women?
She walked towards me with great
'swooshes' of material, and I looked up at her, at her face softly framed in
flowing white hair. Soft, warm palms touched either side of my face and her
power seem to flutter across my skin like millions of butterfly kisses.
Trickles of cool water seeming to flow across my skin, calming, reassuring. Not
hot and set to explode like some of the other powerful shape shifters.
I closed my eyes. My own power
rose in answer to hers, and I still felt calm. Almost like when a cool wind
dries the sweat on your body on a hot day. My power the sweat, and hers the
wind. Then her hands moved away from my face, leaving me with what was almost
like a minty aftertaste.
I opened my eyes to see her
kneel and sit down on a cushion beside Seishi. "I am Mother," Kannon
translated.
I nodded and smiled to her.
"I am Anita Blake, and this is Jason, a pleasure to meet you."
Kannon translated and she nodded
to Jason, then turned her golden eyes back to me. "My son brings you as
guests to the Forest Mist earth."
I nodded and thought on how
appropriate the name was. "Kannon has been very helpful."
She smiled at her son gently and
he scooted forward to speak to her. I sipped the tea as he explained the
situation to her, probably.
"She looks pretty good for
a mom," Jason whispered to me. I closed my eyes as if in pain. Jason
needed to get his libido under control.
"Your people are prisoners
of the Saru." Mother looked disturbed. "We must get your people back
quickly. The Saru are barbarians. They will hurt your people."
My pulse sped up. "Can you
help me find the Saru?"
"You are welcome to stay at
the Forest Mist earth until you are safe," she said. "I will call
upon my brethren to help you."
I wasn't sure what else to do,
and in a surge of emotions, I bowed and thanked her. Jason immediately copied
me, following my lead like a well-trained lackey.
"Until I can gather kitsune
to accompany you, I ask that you eat and rest," she suggested. "My
children will help you."
I tried to compose myself and
thanked her again. I don't know what was coming over me. I felt like I wanted
to cry. I was probably tired.
"May I use a phone?" I
asked, glad to hear my voice was steady.
"I'll show you where it
is," Kannon promised.
"Do you have any questions
for me?" Mother asked.
I blinked and tried to think of
some. "What are the chances of getting my people back intact?"
Mother considered. "The
Saru do not conduct such large kidnappings on impulse. They are holding your
people for someone. They have most likely not been harmed beyond repair."
I felt a weight lift off my
chest. "Who else besides Sanesuke could they be working for?"
"It would have to be
someone as powerful as the Vampire Master," Mother said, thinking.
"And I cannot think of who it might be."
Neither could I. We were in deep
shit. No matter how many times that thought has crossed my mind before, it
never loses its full effect.
