A veil of enchanted mist closed behind them as Saitou and his brother soared away from the secluded valley. Perched to one side of the youki cloud, Touma gazed back, watching until their mother’s ridge-top home faded fully from view. The yearning on his face was starkly apparent, his tempestuous emotions proving too difficult for
Series: The Rebel Anthology [Indefinite]
Understanding (Explicit)
As Saitou and his younger brother ascended to the High Tower, a sense of foreboding pervaded the air. Emerging onto the weathered top of the ancient stone monolith, Saitou glanced around at the assembled demons, a warning look from his grandmother confirming the young daiyoukai’s premonitions. In ages past, the High Tower had been constructed
Love (Explicit)
“What can I do with my happiness? How can I keep it, conceal it, bury it where I may never lose it? I want to kneel as it falls over me like rain, gather it up with lace and silk, and press it over myself again.” — Anaïs Nin, Henry and June Kagome
Hindsight (Explicit)
The Lady of Edo knelt before the weathered grave. Her weary joints protested the motion. Her head hung heavy as she bowed it to pray, her hair shot through with more silver than she warranted it should. She wasn’t quite yet forty, but it seemed to her that she had lived twice as long as
Mothers and Fathers
From the valley floor, Inukimi gazed up, toward the spot in the sheer rock face where Touga’s severed fang had once speared the usurper Ryuukotsusei through. For centuries, the Inu no Taishou’s power had pinned him there in stalemate. Interred beneath stony scales and petrified flesh, Ryuukotsusei’s malevolence had been sealed safely away. How many
Bridging the Divide (Explicit)
On the eve of the omiai, Himamori was in hysterics. Not only had she refused to dress for the occasion, she’d refused to leave her silken bed altogether. When the harried servants had tried to cajole her to the purpose, she’d shrilled at them and started hurling things. This was when Hirokin had been forced
Redemption Road (Explicit)
From across the long hall, Hirokin met Kagome’s baleful eye. In the most perverse turn of events, the frigid stalemate between them had broken. The brief glance they shared was edged as ever, but a simmering heat now underscored it instead of the frost from before. It seemed she could not forget any more than