“He’s probably eating. He does that a lot.” No joke. Kenji was almost certainly in the cafeteria kitchen, helping himself to sliced meat. The kitchen staff had tried locking the refrigerators to keep him out, but it hadn’t worked.
One day soon, I knew the headmaster would charge me for all the food Kenji stole, but it was pointless telling Kenji to keep his paws to himself. He never listened.
Oakman nodded. “Ah, yes. Kitsunes are known for their mischievous natures.” That was a polite way of putting it.
“Rude.”
“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d be most grateful if I could ask your familiar some questions. Nothing too onerous, I assure you!”
“Um, I guess?”
“Oakman wants to ask you some questions.”The professor clapped his hands together in excitement.
Kenji didn’t reply for a few seconds, but just as I was about to tell Oakman he’d gone AWOL, he popped into view on the professor’s desk.
Angelica flew off the bookcase with an almighty hiss. She leaped onto a nearby filing cabinet, her tail puffed up in outrage at my kitsune’s arrival. Kenji eyed her with excitement, but aside from some vigorous twitching, he thankfully stayed put.
“Wonderful! Oh, Miss Blackstone, I can’t thank you enough!”
The feral gleam in the professor’s rheumy eyes concerned me. He seemed way too interested in my familiar.
“Um, what did you want to know?” I edged back toward the door, praying for a distraction so I could flee.
“Oh, yes.” Oakman opened a dusty book and flicked through a few pages. “In this account on kitsunes, which was written by my dear great-uncle, goddess rest his soul, it says kitsunes can compel other less powerful beings to do their bidding. Is this something you have observed in your familiar?”
“Do not answer that,”Kenji barked in my head. He flicked his two tails while pretending to groom himself.
I shuffled my feet while Professor Oakman grinned expectantly. “Err, no?”
“You don’t sound too sure, my dear.”Damn it. Did he have mind-reading abilities? I tested my mental shield, but for once, it remained solid. I couldn’t even hear my mates, which was a blessing because if Zane knew Oakman had cornered me, he’d be raising hell by now.
And none of us needed any more demons on the rampage.
“I’m sure! No magical persuasion or forcing nasty witches to do bad things whatsoever,” I babbled. Goddess save me if I ever got arrested for crimes against magicals or humans. I’d spill everything in the first minute of an interrogation, no truth spells necessary.
“Well, that’s disappointing.” Oakman turned the page. “Another trait observed in kitsunes studied was that they can pass throughimpregnable protective wards. Can your kitsune do this?” His gaze slid over to Kenji.
“Plead the fifth.”
I pulled a sad frown. “He’s good at breaking into refrigerators to steal food, but that’s it.”
From Oakman’s frustration, this wasn’t going the way he hoped.
“My dear great-uncle studied several kitsunes and observed these traits in all of them. How surprising that your kitsune is lacking, but I suppose all creatures evolve, and there are almost no kitsunes left now.”
“Ask him why.”
“Huh? You told me there was a kitsune convention every year, which implies there are lots of kitsunes!”
“There are a few of us, but we stay under the radar.”
“Really? While partying with hookers?”I was beginning to suspect my familiar had a talent for exaggeration and storytelling. Much of what he’d told me about kitsunes didn’t add up given what Oakman had just said.
Kenji turned his back on me and began washing his butt. I huffed and focused on Professor Oakman since having a three-way conversation while trying not to give away anything important was exhausting.
My head throbbed from the effort. A nap in front of the fire was in my future.
Since I was also curious about Oakman’s claim there were few kitsunes left, I repeated Kenji’s question to the professor.
