Page 4

Enko

Kairos, Seven, and I walked at a faster pace than normal as we rushed back to the dorm after physical training. A twang of pain itched at the threads of our Fated bond to Dove. Pain. And the closer we got, the worse the torment became.

As the door opened just a crack, her whimpers met my ears. I barreled past Kairos and Seven, knocking them out of the way like bowling pins.

Rhys had not moved from his position that morning with Dove’s bare back now exposed to him. Her sobs rang out, a big wet circle on the pillow beneath her, collecting her tears.

“What the fuck have you been doing to her?”

Kairos demanded.

I knew I shouldn’t have left him alone with her.

My rage prevented me from speaking, each breath came out as a growl. Her back was covered with blood and char, a towel sopping up the excess. The only thing that held me back from attacking the Archfox was his magical strings shooting from his fingertips into Dove’s back. Once she was released from his magical hold, however…

As the green magic retreated back into him, the Archfox glanced our direction. He leaned forward, kissing the side of Dove’s head. “We’ll stop there for the day.”

Before I could attack, Seven beat me to it, slamming the Archfox into the dresser and scattering the medical stockpile to the floor.

“Did you not recognize her tears, brother? Hear her cries?”

“Why the fuck isn’t she medicated?”

Kairos demanded, stomping to the bedside.

I charged forward, ready to kill.

“Stop,”

came Dove’s weak whisper. “Let him go, Seven.”

“The process is painful, if she’s on pain meds, I can’t feel where the damage is,”

the Archfox said as he bristled free from Seven’s hold and scrubbed the bloody evidence from his hands. He grabbed a fresh cloth as he reached for Dove. “Stay still, let me get this cleaned up a bit.”

He patted the cloth against her back, cleaning away the mess of blood and char and expertly bandaging it. Dove flinched as he moved over certain parts and I rushed to the other side of the bed, kneeling down and holding her hand. “I’ve got you, little fox.”

She clung to my hand tightly, taking a long slow breath, nodding as she met my eyes.

“Take your pain medicine now. We’ll have to do one more session to make sure I got it all,”

the Archfox announced as he moved toward the door, ready to avoid paying his penance for his crimes against our Fated. Seven and Kairos took his place by the bed, touching her shoulder gingerly and adjusting her sheets around her. “You three should stay with her. I’ll excuse your absences for your academic classes today.”

“I want you to stay with us,”

Dove whispered. Her voice was so quiet, so grated, like every word hurt her to speak. It filled me with more rage. I wanted to beat the crap out of someone, but Dove’s need for me kept me in place. As the rage built, I knew I’d need even more exercise today to blow off the steam.

“I’m sorry, Dove. I have things to do—”

“You just spent the last two hours torturing her, Rhys. Maybe you should stay and earn some good faith back,”

Seven growled as his hand stroked her bare shoulder with his thumb.

“Fine,”

the Archfox responded as though it were a tedious inconvenience to be around my little fox. He was one wrong word away from my fist meeting his face.

But Dove visibly relaxed at the word.

Kairos grabbed the pill bottle and filled a glass with water, kneeling on the floor next to me and holding the items out to Dove. “Here, take this.”

The three of us helped her to sit up, Seven taking the most care at her back, Kairos cupping the back of her head. She deposited the pill into her mouth and grasped the glass of water to swig it down. With her gulp, we lowered her back down.

“Let’s begin that mind training,”

she demanded, scrunching her eyebrows and tightening her little hands into fists, tugging the offered shirt over her head—Seven’s, black. The color made her feel the most comfortable.

“Dove, you’ve been through enough today, you need to relax,”

the Archfox said sternly, as if that asshole had any room for leverage.

“No, I’m done relaxing. I’ve been bedridden for days now and I’m bored.”

Dove’s eyes stretched open, her hand covering her mouth as she stifled another cry. Her mind rang out to us, Something to get my mind off the pain, “Your Holiness—”

“Rhys,”

the Archfox corrected with a grumpy frown that rivaled Seven’s. “And don’t apologize. But we’re not going to put you through any further training today.”

Dove’s gaze narrowed, her lips pursed. “I need a distraction. It’s my body that needs rest, not my brain. Let’s start the mind shield training.”

With that one simple request, she broke the grandiose man. I’d known him since before he had become the Archfox, and he’d always had an overambitious silver-tongue. Never taking orders from anyone, always getting his way.

Not anymore. Not with Dove.

“Okay.”

He cleared his throat, scanning each of us. “But you need to take it easy. Kairos, get her something to eat. Enko, get her onto a fresh bed. Seven, change her sheets.”

Nobody moved. Seven and I looked at Kairos, waiting for his orders.

“Enko, move her. Seven, order some lunch for us, the steakhouse she likes and put it on my tab. I’ll get the linens.”

Dove watched us curiously as we sparked into motion. I gave her hand a small squeeze before letting go and wrapping one arm under her leg and the other under her arms. A shaky breath escaped her as she closed her eyes. I lifted her gently, placing her onto Kairos’ bed—the closest one. The Archfox appeared, adjusting the pillows behind Dove as I placed her.

The Archfox glared at Kairos. “You don’t need to have a power-trip, Kairos. I’m just doing what’s best for our Fated.”

I shook my head, letting a laugh loose, it sounded like a growl. “It’s pretty clear who should be in charge here, and it’s neither of you.”

“I’m the Archfox, obviously I’m in charge.”

The Archfox opened the linen cabinet and passed the sheets to Kairos before sitting at the end of the bed.

“Goddess, not another discussion on where we stand in the hierarchy,”

Seven groaned as he began to push Dove’s bed against Kairos’ bed. The two small twin mattresses formed a larger bed for all of us to convene.

“You’ve only spent hours with her. I’m better equipped to take charge,”

Kairos argued as he finished, barely moving his fingers in time before Seven smashed them in between the beds.

Seven rounded the beds and pushed my bed to meet up with the others, forming a large king size bed in the room, leaving only Seven’s twin mattress off in the corner. He gently moved Dove back to the center and curled next to her on Kairos’ bed.

“No, Dove is,”

I explained as I crawled into my bed next to her, placing my nose against her hair as I tried to absorb her scent from the mere hours apart.

“Are you sure you want to do training today? You know you can just watch TV and eat junk food, right?”

Kairos stood, watching the three of us get comfortable and Rhys get increasingly more uncomfortable.

Dove nodded, enjoying the new arrangement of the room, the beds smashed together to stay close to her.

“Ready?”

Seven asked. “Hiding thoughts is half about not thinking them, and half about feeling when someone is listening. With a Mind kitsune, it won’t be exactly the same as with us. We have a connection from our Fated bond. The Lord of Nightmares views the mindspace as his playground. Free to come and go as he chooses, but you will feel his presence there, the same way you feel ours.”