tell you we’ll talk about something later. For now, Bordertown. I’ve told you about the history, at least as far as I know it, and now we should talk about the kind of people who live in a place like this.”
“People like me,” she said bitterly. “People nobody else wants. People who have no place else to go.”
Something in his chest twisted a little, both at her words and at the way her body had slumped when she said them. Somebody—or lots of somebodies—had hurt this woman.
Someday soon, Luke would see about tracking those people down.
He started to speak, wondering what in the hell he could say to that, when her eyes widened and her head lifted. Her head whipped to the side and she stared at the fox, who’d woken up and was watching them.
“Kit is really hungry. Starving, in fact. Would it be okay if I gave her the rest of my omelet? I seem to have lost my appetite.” She made an apologetic face at her plate, which still held most of her breakfast. “It really is delicious, though, and I can’t remember the last time anybody ever made breakfast for me. Thank you again.”
Her wistful expression gutted him. How was it possible nobody cooked for this woman? And, hard on the heels of that thought, savage satisfaction that nobody else cooked for this woman.
He took the plate, cut the eggs into bite-sized pieces, and walked over to the fire. Anything to calm down from the conflicting, unexpected emotions that kept buffeting him where Rio was concerned.
Crouching in front of the fox, he set the plate down and nodded to the creature.
“You say her name is Kit? And you know this how?”
The fox tilted her head in an uncanny imitation of Rio’s gesture, and stared at him, making no move to touch the food.
Rio shrugged and walked over to join them. “She told me. She asked me to accept her as my ‘guilt gift’ from Dalriata, and she said we were meant to be together.”
“She told you this how, again?”
“Mentally. It was a kind of telepathic conversation, which shouldn’t be all that surprising considering my . . . ability.”
Rio nudged the plate closer to the fox. “Please eat. It will help you get your strength back, and then we can decide what to do. I think we need to find a veterinarian for your leg.”
The fox daintily began to eat the eggs, ignoring Luke completely.
“Is she talking to you now? Commenting on the deliciousness of my eggs, for example?”
Rio smiled, and Luke thought he would be happy to talk about silly things like eggs for the rest of the day, if she would keep smiling.
“No. I don’t think the communication is easy for her. I got the impression that she was extending an enormous amount of effort to talk to me in Dalriata’s office.”
The fox glanced up at Rio and then continued to eat.
“Kit? But you called her something else in the car.” Luke continued to study the small animal, who probably had barely weighed forty pounds soaking wet. She was beautiful, in spite of being thin and starved-looking. Probably young. The magic, though—that was something he needed to figure out.
“She said her name was Kitsune, actually. Like
Kit-soon-eh
.” Rio gently ran her hand down the fox’s flank, apparently not worried at all that the animal would bite her.
Of course, she’d just given Kit a bath, so evidently the biting danger was over. Most wild animals appreciated baths about as much as your average teenage boy did.
Rio moved to the couch and curled up on one end, so Luke took his cue from her and sat down on the other end.
“You know
Kitsune
just means ‘fox’ in Japanese, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “Sorry. My Japanese is a little rusty.”
Kit opened her mouth and let her tongue loll out to the side a little, as if she were laughing.
“Okay, fine,” Luke said. “We have a long list of things to figure out before we get to your magical, sometimes-talking, Japanese fox.”
“Like the origins of Bordertown, apparently,” Rio said,
“People like me,” she said bitterly. “People nobody else wants. People who have no place else to go.”
Something in his chest twisted a little, both at her words and at the way her body had slumped when she said them. Somebody—or lots of somebodies—had hurt this woman.
Someday soon, Luke would see about tracking those people down.
He started to speak, wondering what in the hell he could say to that, when her eyes widened and her head lifted. Her head whipped to the side and she stared at the fox, who’d woken up and was watching them.
“Kit is really hungry. Starving, in fact. Would it be okay if I gave her the rest of my omelet? I seem to have lost my appetite.” She made an apologetic face at her plate, which still held most of her breakfast. “It really is delicious, though, and I can’t remember the last time anybody ever made breakfast for me. Thank you again.”
Her wistful expression gutted him. How was it possible nobody cooked for this woman? And, hard on the heels of that thought, savage satisfaction that nobody else cooked for this woman.
He took the plate, cut the eggs into bite-sized pieces, and walked over to the fire. Anything to calm down from the conflicting, unexpected emotions that kept buffeting him where Rio was concerned.
Crouching in front of the fox, he set the plate down and nodded to the creature.
“You say her name is Kit? And you know this how?”
The fox tilted her head in an uncanny imitation of Rio’s gesture, and stared at him, making no move to touch the food.
Rio shrugged and walked over to join them. “She told me. She asked me to accept her as my ‘guilt gift’ from Dalriata, and she said we were meant to be together.”
“She told you this how, again?”
“Mentally. It was a kind of telepathic conversation, which shouldn’t be all that surprising considering my . . . ability.”
Rio nudged the plate closer to the fox. “Please eat. It will help you get your strength back, and then we can decide what to do. I think we need to find a veterinarian for your leg.”
The fox daintily began to eat the eggs, ignoring Luke completely.
“Is she talking to you now? Commenting on the deliciousness of my eggs, for example?”
Rio smiled, and Luke thought he would be happy to talk about silly things like eggs for the rest of the day, if she would keep smiling.
“No. I don’t think the communication is easy for her. I got the impression that she was extending an enormous amount of effort to talk to me in Dalriata’s office.”
The fox glanced up at Rio and then continued to eat.
“Kit? But you called her something else in the car.” Luke continued to study the small animal, who probably had barely weighed forty pounds soaking wet. She was beautiful, in spite of being thin and starved-looking. Probably young. The magic, though—that was something he needed to figure out.
“She said her name was Kitsune, actually. Like
Kit-soon-eh
.” Rio gently ran her hand down the fox’s flank, apparently not worried at all that the animal would bite her.
Of course, she’d just given Kit a bath, so evidently the biting danger was over. Most wild animals appreciated baths about as much as your average teenage boy did.
Rio moved to the couch and curled up on one end, so Luke took his cue from her and sat down on the other end.
“You know
Kitsune
just means ‘fox’ in Japanese, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “Sorry. My Japanese is a little rusty.”
Kit opened her mouth and let her tongue loll out to the side a little, as if she were laughing.
“Okay, fine,” Luke said. “We have a long list of things to figure out before we get to your magical, sometimes-talking, Japanese fox.”
“Like the origins of Bordertown, apparently,” Rio said,
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