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I nod, frantically. “With my cell phone and my wallet with my ID, and my fucking laptop. They’ll know exactly who I am. They’ll have my address, know I go to Seven Stars. Shit! They’ll find out about Desi.”
Cohen’s gaze flicks up to the kitsune behind me. “Can you get it?”
I shake my head. “He can’t go back in there. They’ll be waiting. They’ll hurt him.”
Kohaku gently turns me toward him, cups my face in both his big palms and brushes his nose on mine. “I can’t get hurt while in my shadow form. I will be okay, little warrior.” And before I can argue with him, before I can tell him it’s not worth it, his hands turn to cool vapor on my skin and he darts away, impossibly fast.
“Dammit. I will never forgive myself if he gets hurt.”
Cohen tugs me into his chest so he can wrap his arms around me. His nose buries itself in my hair and he breathes in deep. “He can’t get hurt, wildcard. He’ll be okay.”
I want to argue that he said he can’t get hurt while in shadow form, but once he has my bag, he’ll need to not be in shadow form. He’ll be in his foxy or manly form and he never said he can’t get hurt like that.
Cohen’s hand strokes down the back of my head, soothing me, trying to make me feel okay with this, but I can tell from the tense set of his muscles that he’s still on edge, that he’s just waiting for someone to come bursting out of the trees to attack us.
I feel something slither along my leg and jerk in surprise, looking down to find Betty the Basilisk curling her way down our bodies to the ground. Once she’s fully down, she lifts her head, her long tongue darting out to taste the air and then she slithers away in the direction that Kohaku went.
“She’ll watch out for him, and let us know if anyone comes this way,” Cohen explains.
I nod and press my forehead into his chest, ignoring how it makes my face ache. God, I really need a magic healing potion or something.
Cohen hums in his chest, hands stroking carefully through my hair. “I wish there was a magical healing potion, but alas, we don’t have that ability yet. There are things that can help ease aches and help healing to go faster, but nothing that will be instant.”
I sigh and turn my head so I can stare in the direction Kohaku is coming from, my ear pressed between his pecs. I can hear the rapid beat of his heart. “If you had one that could heal me in an instant, I’d be pissed. Magic like that would need to be shared with the world.”
He chuckles. “Fair enough.”
A low slithering sound reaches our ears, the sound of scales on the forest floor, rustling through fallen leaves and over branches. Betty comes into view, and she seems unhurried, so I don’t panic. A moment later, Kohaku appears as well, looking a little rumpled, but unharmed. Clutched in his hand is my messenger bag.
He holds it out to me, and I release Cohen to grab it. “I believe everything was already in it,” he says. “It didn’t look like they had disturbed it, but I can’t be certain.”
I nod and put the strap over my head before hugging my Kitsune as tight as I can. “Thank you. Thank you for going back for it.”
“I’ll do anything you need, little warrior.”
My cheeks flush. Having these two incredibly sexy males tell me they’ll do anything for me in the space of an hour is… a little much. But not in a bad way, just like… a lot.
The sound of pounding footsteps reaches us and my heart leaps into my throat, trying to strangle me with its intensive thumping.
Cohen holds his hand out to me. “Time to go, wildcard.”
I lace my fingers with his, and keep hold of Kohaku. No time to worry about where we’ll end up. No time to consider if this is a bad idea. I stride straight toward the gold, glittery air and step through.
Chapter 13
It spits us out exactly where we should be, or at least I assume it’s exactly where we should be, since Cohen doesn’t seem concerned. I blink and look around.
We’re in a backyard of a two story wood and metal modern house. Trees surround us, offering some privacy, but in the distance I can see a roof of a neighboring house. The yard around us is manicured, but not too much, like someone takes care of it, but doesn’t want to totally contain the wilderness.
There’s a garden to one side, full of herbs and vegetables, a trellis with raspberries and what looks like a blueberry bush. It’s absolutely beautiful.
“What do you think?” I’ve never heard Cohen’s voice sound so unnaturally uncertain.
My grip tightens on him. “Its beautiful.”
While I’m busy looking around, the back door opens and four figures rush toward us, eager to hold me now that I’m out of danger, but where the hell were they when I wasindanger?
I back away from them and slap a hand over my mouth, because I’m pretty sure I’m still under the effects of that stupid potion, and I’ll just blurt out everything I’m feeling and thinking in front of them. Kohaku and Cohen slip smoothly in front of me, blocking them from getting too close.
