A Storm of Blossoms

Chapter Nineteen

Andrew left, at that point. He was currently a very busy wolf; now that they had a clear scent sample from these mages, it was going to be much more likely that they could follow the trail, and they had a lot of sites to check. Honestly, the fact that he’d taken time to keep watch and give me a status update was kind of surprising.

I sat in the parking lot of the Blackbird Cabaret for a few minutes with Saori. We didn’t really say much, but it still felt very soothing, somehow. The air was cool enough that the partial sunlight actually felt nice, and I had a lot of stuff to absorb. So much had happened while I was unconscious. It was strange to think about the fact that I was most of the reason for that when I didn’t know anything about it.…

Chapter Eighteen

Waking up the next time was much more pleasant. I didn’t appear to have been moved, though the room was a little different. Capinera had laid a blanket on the floor in the corner, and was lying down asleep. I felt a little bad about putting her out of her bed, but she did seem to be able to sleep like that. A fox was curled up in that bed next to me, also asleep. Kitsune seemed to be unlike werewolves in this, and unlike me for that matter. Saori looked exactly like an ordinary red fox, with red-orange fur, a white tip on her tail, nothing unusual at all. She only had the one tail, too, suggesting she was young and fairly limited in her power; kitsune grew more as they aged. It was only context that told me who this was, that and the feeling of smoke-laughter-fox-spice in her aura.

More surprising to me was the person sitting in the chair. There were a lot of people whom I could have imagined that being, under the circumstances, but Andrew would have been a ways down the list. The werewolf was doing something on his phone, and he still seemed tense, but it was a different tension now, hungry and eager.…

Chapter Seventeen

Waking up was slow. It was hard. Normally I woke up quickly, and neither a deep sleep nor a nightmare was enough to change that. This…was like trying to force my way through a thick fluid. It was hard, it was somehow painful. When I did snap back to awareness, I still felt dazed, my thoughts blunted by a thick fog.

I was in a bed, I thought. It was soft. The sheets felt like satin. I could smell something sweet and floral. It took a little bit to work my way up to opening my eyes, but when I did I found the lighting was soft as well, and there were some rugs breaking up the monotony of the concrete floor. I was in a twin-size bed, and the room also had a simple wooden chair, a small refrigerator, and a camp stove; not a lot else.

Capinera was sitting on the chair, across the room from me. Not a large room, but it meant there was enough space to not feel threatening. She was quietly reading a book. I wasn’t entirely sure how I recognized her immediately, given that I’d only seen her once, for a few seconds. Maybe just because those seconds had been so intensely burned into my brain. She looked calm, peaceful even, though there was a sheathed rapier leaning against the wall next to her.…

Chapter Sixteen

I wasn’t entirely sure where I had expected the Blackbird Cabaret to be. Definitely was not a largely-disused warehouse complex in Braddock, though. It was deep in the heart of the old industrial district, and had largely died when the steel mills did. Some modestly successful attempts had been made to breathe new life into the borough, but there were still large areas that were practically deserted. We were in one of those, and apparently so was the Blackbird.

I glanced over at Saori. “You’re sure this is the address?”

She shrugged. “I mean. I don’t know this city worth shit. But it’s where Google sent us.”…

Chapter Fifteen

It wasn’t quite that simple, of course. Going back to my house at the moment was such an obviously stupid idea that even Saori couldn’t justify it. And that complicated things. I could have offered to pay for a hotel room, but my resources were not infinite. And the reality was that while Saori obviously did not care for her living arrangements, avoiding the topic was a temporary solution at best.

So I didn’t offer, and she didn’t ask. She was reluctant to invite me home, but she did. I agreed without comment. She put on some really surreal electronica on the way, a minimalist trance song with repetitive vocals discussing the value of checking one’s tie in the mirror.

I liked it. The sound was only okay, but the tactile synesthesia was fantastic, like having someone petting me while lightning was crawling through my fur. I was getting the impression that spending time with Saori was going to rapidly be increasing the strangeness of my music library.…