Page 93

“I. . .forced a mating between the two bloodlines without them knowing. Not the happiest marriage, but. . .I was tired of them being all over the damn place. This way, I could keep my eye on both of them. And that worked for a while. The couple had two sons, but unfortunately. . .when the mother died. . .and the oldest son. . .and now. . .the father. . .recently. . .well. . .that placed both parts of the key in the youngest son.”

“Oh fuck.”

“So. . .this generation is providing much more stress than usual. Especially since Kenji Sato has a penchant for fighting and starting goddamn wars all the time. I’m going to need him to have a child soon.”

“War?”

“He rules the criminal organizations throughout Japan and parts of Asia, and he’s too stubborn to calm his temper.”

I grinned. “It’s like you’re talking about your kid.”

“It’s hard to see these bloodlines as anything less than my family. I’ve been with them for so long.”

I considered that and realized that a kitsune wouldn’t truly have a family until they mated and had kids on their own. And that realization helped me understand why his female form had been so pissed and felt alone.

His tails returned to slipping along my skin. “So. . .as you see. . .this is not the sort of curse that will go away.”

“Unless you can figure out another way to keep the keys protected.”

“My mate is very smart indeed.” He beamed. “The Silent Ones and I are working on that, but no solution has come up in all these centuries. Perhaps, my mate will think of something in the centuries to come.”

“Perhaps.” I raised my hands and set my palms flat over the black hands along his arm.

They heated and shivered along his flesh.

Sighing, he closed his eyes. “No one has ever been able to make them move like this.”

I smiled. “Dauphine.”

He opened his eyes. “Dauphine?”

“That’s the female form’s name.”

He studied me. “Why that name?”

“She wasn’t evil. She was grieving, jealous, and lonely. You all were.”

His throat moved as he swallowed.

“Dauphine Street runs right through the French Quarter. And the word means a royal woman. A princess.” I smiled. “And you know what. . .she fucked up majorly. . .and you all have been paying the price, but. . .she also made a shogun kneel. She’s glamorous. She’s dangerous. She’s royalty. That’s a Quarter girl.”

He went silent for a moment. Then warmth rippled across his face, and he smirked. “She likes that.”

And beneath my palm, one of the black hands loosened. Just one finger. It lifted from his skin and then dropped back down.

My heart stopped.

Yoichi didn’t notice. He was still smiling.

One day. . .or century. . .I’ll find a cure.

Suddenly, the tender spot at the back of my neck throbbed so hard I gasped. Heat surged through me, rolling up from my core and flooding every inch of my skin.

Oh, no.

The water felt like fire.

My nipples ached.