Page 41 of Curses & Kitsune

I shake my head. “My boyfriend’s father.”

“Ah! He doesn’t happen to be here, does he?”

Ren says, having composed herself, “No, but I brought this.” She unfurls a balled-up tissue from her pocket. There’s drops of dried blood on it and a faint citrusy scent. Raiden’s blood. I tense.

“How did you get that?” I ask. My kitsune stirs with a low growl.

Alarm flashes in Ren’s eyes. “He gave it voluntarily.”

What’s with me? I make myself relax. “Right. Of course.” My kitsune seriously needs to chill.

“Perfect! That will do just fine.” Charlie dashes forward and gingerly accepts the tissue. “Right this way, please.” He heads toward a locked door across the room. “Which key is it? This one? Ugh. I can never remember!” He yanks a ring full of keys from his belt and flips through several, muttering, until he unlocks one lock, then another, and another.

Seriously, what’s behind that door? Oh! Maybe his alchemy lab or something.

I brush past Ren, eager for a look as Charlie holds the door for us.

I gasp, mouth falling ajar because now we’re talking! “This is so cool!” I practically squeal. There’s a shelf full of leather-bound books, bundles of herbs, various wild mushrooms growing in pots around the room, and an array of substances in glass jars. There’s even an alchemy lab in the corner with beakers, mortar and pestle, among other things.

“Thank you!” Charlie’s face goes red again. “It’s my pride and joy.”

Ren elbows me. “Hey. Where was this enthusiasm for werewolves?”

“I mean, werewolves are cute.”

Ren gawks. “Cute? We’re fearsome predators!”

Shit. Was that offensive? “Yeah! Yes, totally! But also, one time Raiden got drunk and shifted when he got home and demanded that I rub his belly for an hour. It was so—” I cough. “Anyway, Charlie, what do you need his blood for?”

Charlie’s already bustling around, picking plants, sorting through bundles of herbs, and dumping whatever he needs on the alchemy table. “A person’s blood reveals everything I need to know about them, including their lineage. In this instance, if people share DNA, I can combine blood magic with a locator spell.”

“A locator spell?” I ask, wondering if it means what I think it does.

Pestle in hand, Charlie mashes up some herbs. “Yes. Using Raiden’s blood, I can cast a spell to locate anyone he’s related to.”

“Wow, that’s incredible!” We could find Raiden’s father within hours.

“Where’s his father?”

“Somewhere in Osaka,” I say.

“All right. If he’s still there, then I should be able to track his exact location. And what’s his name? I need the name of who I’m locating for the spell to be as accurate as possible.” Once I’ve told him Raiden’s dad’s name, Charlie rubs his hands together. “Got it. Here we go…” He adds the bloody tissue to the mixture in the mortar, grinds it up with the other ingredients at lightning speed, until it resembles a thick, nasty-looking paste.

My stomach churns. “You’re not going to—”

Charlie tips the bowl and the paste plops wetly into his hand, then he crams the mixture in his mouth.

I almost gag. “Oh god. Yes, you did.”

Grimacing, Charlie swallows the thick paste. Charlie dashes to a wooden box, which he searches through. “Come,” he barks, rushing to a nearby table and unfurling a piece of parchment. It’s a map of Osaka. He unfurls another map, one of Japan.

Charlie flicks open a switchblade, speaks in rapid Latin, then slices the palm of his hand. I wince as blood pours from the gash, dribbling over the parchment. The blood starts to move, trailing over the parchment like a slug. Charlie chants in Latin, and the only words I catch are “Kenta Noboru.”

The blood spreads toward Osaka, getting closer and closer, until Charlie suddenly yelps in pain and clutches his head.

“Charlie?” I ask, reaching for him.

Groaning, he doubles over. “I’m… I’m okay,” he grunts.

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