Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,89

between us had shattered, and could never be put back together. “I’m asking you to trust me,” she said in a soft voice. “Not as Yumeko the peasant girl, but as a kitsune who swore she wouldn’t let the demon win. Hakaimono is strong, but strength does not automatically win battles, and there are a few tricks he hasn’t seen. I’m not giving up. I just need you to wait for me a little longer.”

“What are you planning to do?” I whispered.

For a moment, she looked troubled, almost embarrassed. Her gaze dropped, and the tip of her tail beat an agitated rhythm against the floor. “I need your permission, Tatsumi-san,” she said, to my confusion. “Everyone has told me that a normal exorcism won’t work on the First Oni, that he’s too strong for anything to work from the outside. So, when we reach Hakaimono, I plan to face him…from within.”

It took only a moment to realize what she was saying. “Kitsune-tsuki,” I murmured, and she nodded, wincing. “Yumeko,” I said gently, “Hakaimono won’t be any easier to defeat inside me. If anything, his soul will be even more powerful.”

“I know,” she whispered, and her ears flattened in open fear. “But I’m going to do it. I just…want you to know that I’m coming, Tatsumi-san. And that I’ll fight for you, as hard as I can. I’ll free your soul from Hakaimono, one way or another.”

My chest felt tight. No one in my seventeen years of existence had cared so much to try to save me. I was nothing; a weapon of the Kage, trained to kill and to obey. If I died on a mission, the only loss to the Shadow Clan was that they would have to find a new demonslayer. No one would remember me. No one would mourn my passing. To give my life in service to the clan was an honor, and the price of failure was death. That was how it had always been.

Looking into Yumeko’s fierce, determined face, seeing the promise burning in her eyes, made my stomach churn with emotions I couldn’t even place. That this girl would face a demon lord, the strongest oni in Jigoku, to save the worthless, tainted soul of an assassin…“And if you can’t drive him out?” I asked. “If Hakaimono is in danger of stealing the scroll and killing everyone who stands between it and him?”

Her eyes closed. “If there is no other way,” she whispered, and her voice was a little choked. “If I cannot stop him, then I…I will honor your request, Tatsumi. If I must…I will end your life, and Hakaimono’s. The First Oni will not reach the scroll, I promise.”

I bowed my head, fisting my hands on my knees. “Arigatou,” I murmured. “If this is what you’ve decided, Yumeko, then I’ll wait for you. And…I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“For what you’re going to have to face to reach me.”

“I’m not afraid.” She shifted closer, placing her hands over mine. I looked up and found her face a breath away, golden eyes shining as they met my own. “If it means I’ll see you again, I’ll fight a dozen Hakaimonos.” She blinked, and atop her head, her ears twitched nervously. “There’s only one, right?”

My heart pounded, and I drew in a slow breath to calm it. “As far as I know.”

“Oh, good,” Yumeko whispered, and slumped a bit in relief. “Because more would be terrifying, now that I think about it.”

A tremor went through me. Unbidden, my hand rose and brushed the hair from her cheek, my fingers trailing across her skin. Yumeko didn’t move, holding my gaze, and the trust I saw in those golden fox eyes made my breath catch. She smiled at me, just the smallest curve of her lips, answering my unspoken question, and the last of my resolve crumbled to dust. Almost without thinking, I leaned forward.

But as soon as I moved, the girl flickered, like a candle caught in a strong breeze. Frowning, I drew back, seeing her sputter again, her presence gone and reappearing in a blink. “Yumeko? What’s happening?”

Yumeko looked equal parts stricken and apologetic. “Gomen, Tatsumi-san,” she said, grimacing as she flickered once more. “I told you we were in the dream world, right? I’m sorry, but I think I’m about to wake—”

And she was gone.

I knelt, alone, in the halls of an abandoned castle, staring at the spot where a kitsune girl had been moments before. I could feel myself fading, as well, the reality around