Page 7 of Curses & Kitsune

An odd pumping fills my ears. It’s rhythmic. Soothing. Almost like a heartbeat. Where’s it coming from? I peer around the car, but I don’t see anything to explain the source of the sound. More beats fill the train car, some pumping fast, others slow.

Am I… am I hearing the heartbeats of the other passengers? That’s creepy. Since I became a kitsune, my hearing has become a lot more sensitive. Ren assured me once that I’d learn to filter out unimportant sounds and even control what specific sounds I take in.

Tension makes my teeth ache as the heartbeats get louder. It’s maddening. I fumble in my pockets for my noise-canceling earbuds, cursing as I drop one into the sea of shoes.

“I’ve got it,” a pretty young woman says, and she bends down and picks my fallen earbud up. With a smile, she offers it to me.

“Thank… you…” The words trail off as my eyes latch onto the pulse fluttering in her throat, moving in perfect sync to one of the heartbeats I’m hearing. Saliva floods my mouth, and suddenly, I’m starving. The pain in my stomach is enough to double me over.

“Are you okay?” the woman asks.

She smells so good.

My fangs cut into my lip, and strings of drool dangle from my mouth.

Can you hear it, human? Her plump little heart pumping lifeblood through her young, supple body?

Oh, god. It’s Tamano.

It would be so easy. They’re all trapped in here like hens in the chicken coop.

My nails lengthen to claws. No. No, no! Horror turns the sweat to ice on my body. I drive my claws into my side, hissing when they puncture through my clothes and drive into my flesh.

I’m hungry, human. So hungry. I know you are, too. What are you waiting for? Take a bite. Drink her dry. You’ll feel so much better once you’ve bathed in all of their blood, gorged yourself until you bloat.

I clam my eyes shut. Hunger pains cramp my stomach. My knees quake, and I collapse onto the floor. Passengers cry out in alarm and concern. I curl in on myself, desperately trying to make myself small and unthreatening.

God. I’m so hungry, and the smell of their sweaty flesh and the roar of their meaty hearts is going to drive me crazy.

What would it hurt?

“Just a bite, just a tiny sip of blood. Okay? That’s all, that would be enough, wouldn’t it?” I whisper.

Exactly, the kitsune purrs, just a taste. You’ll feel so much better, human. Stronger. You’ll even be able to help your mate.

Is that true? Hope blooms within me, but it’s spattered with the blood of innocent men, women, and children.

I peer up at the woman holding out her hand to me, and whatever she sees in my face makes her complexion blanch.

Just take off her finger. Just one. You’ll love it. They’re small, but crunchy. It will give you strength.

My tongue moistens my lower lip. One bite and I could be stronger. I’d never burden my pack again. I… I…

“Jinta? Ren, he’s waking up!”

The citrusy aroma of yuzu caresses my nose.

Raiden… he’s here. Thank god. But where am I?

My throat is painfully dry. Sweat coats my skin and makes the sheets stick to me. Wherever I am, it’s both too hot and freezing cold all at once. As I ease open one eye crusted with gunk, Raiden comes into focus above me. A relieved smile softens his tense jaw, and the furrow in his brow disappears.

“Hey, Sunshine.”

“Where…?” What’s wrong with me? I’m too tired to even lift my hand to touch him.

“You’re in a hospital.”

Alarm flares in me. “A… hospital? Why?”

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