Foxfire (An Other Novel) by Karen Kincy Page A

not like to be adversely affected.”
    “What do you mean by ‘adversely affected’?”
    “The Sisters are a gang of nogitsune who operate in the underworld. They engage in practices and behaviors that tarnish the reputation of kitsune as a whole.” She says this very primly, then sits with her lips pursed as if her tea is sour.
    I pick up my cup again, so that my hands have something to do. My fingers are shaking slightly. “The Sisters are yakuza?”
    Shizuka laughs without humor. “No. Yakuza do not allow women among their ranks. They consider females only good for childbearing and for pleasure. The Sisters, however, make themselves out to be champions of downtrodden women. Unsurprisingly, the two factions have been bitter enemies for decades now.”
    I let some tea slide down my throat. “What else can you tell me about Yukimi?”
    “That she is considered one of the more dangerous Sisters.”
    “And?”
    “That is all.”
    “Do you know where to find her?”
    Shizuka’s eyes gleam amber. “No.”
    I bite the inside of my cheek. “But I need to find her.”
    “Yes.” She refills her teacup. “You do.”
    I narrow my eyes. “You know more than you’re telling me.”
    “Tea?” Shizuka still holds the teapot aloft.
    I shake my head.
    She sighs and sets the teapot down. “Octavian, you may try your best to control your foxfire, but there is only so much that can be done while you are nameless. You need to be named. Only then can you save yourself.”
    “How?” I rub my forehead, my head starting to ache. “I don’t know very much about it—nobody ever told me much, or wrote anything down—but I thought I needed my parents to name me. My biological parents, which is a long shot.”
    Shizuka lowers her voice. “You need only their names, and their blood.”
    I’m silent for a moment. “From both of my biological parents?”
    “Yes.”
    “But I don’t know who my father is. Or was. He might not even be alive.”
    “Ah,” she says, her voice even softer. “Without his blood, you may use his bones.”
    A shiver crawls down my spine and my stomach feels icy despite all the tea I drank. “And then I will be named?”
    “Yes.”
    “By who?”
    A shadow of a smile touches her lips. “Me.”

nine
    I take the metro home in a daze, Shizuka’s words swarming around my head. The Sisters. My true name. The blood of my mother, the blood—or bones—of my father. If I find Yukimi, she can tell me about my father. And then I can be named.
    Only then can you save yourself.
    My phone buzzes in my pocket. A text from Gwen:
    Come home now.
    That’s it.
    Dread pulses through my veins. Why didn’t she call me?
    At the stop for Akasaka, I wedge myself through the crowds on the platform and take the stairs two at a time. I jog down the street, slowing to a brisk walk when I reach my grandparents’ building. The doorman narrows his eyes when he sees me puffing, and I try not to skid on the marble floors in the lobby.
    The elevator, predictably, takes several eternities to make it to the thirty-eighth floor. Finally, I burst out and sprint the last distance to the apartment. My hands sweaty, I fumble with the keys, then unlock the door and burst inside.
    The living room is empty.
    “Hello?” I kick off my shoes. “Is anybody home?”
    Then, from the bathroom, I hear Gwen call, “Tavian?”
    I force myself to walk at a normal pace and to keep my face somewhat calm, just in case I’m grossly overreacting. Gwen meets me in the doorway, her face pinched. There’s a little blood on her hands. My stomach ties itself into a tight knot.
    “Come in here,” she says, “and talk to your grandmother.”
    “It’s nothing to worry about!” Michiko says.
    Gwen steps aside so I can see into the bathroom. Michiko is standing by the sink, the medicine cabinet open, her arm under the faucet. Red water swirls down the drain. She’s washing a wound on her arm, deep red holes in a crescent on her soft old skin—a