Page 15 of Foxes of Legend

I emerged from the shower, dressing in some black jeans and a t-shirt under my black jacket. Enko and Kairos waited on the other side of the bathroom door.

“We were looking everywhere for you,” Kairos said, his voice authoritative. “Do you know how worried we were?”

“I took a shower—”

“You need to tell us where you’re going to be,” Kairos demanded, acting a bit too bossy for my taste. “What’s your phone number?”

I passed my phone over to Kairos so he could put in his number, turning to Enko, the kindest of my roommates. “What’s this about?”

He smiled sympathetically. “It’s not safe around here, Dove. Especially now that people know you’re Fated to us. In the past couple years, we’ve made some enemies. The last thing we want is for you to come between us and them.”

“Not just at school, but off campus too. Don’t forget the Lord of Nightmares is prowling in the city. You need to be careful, Dove,” Kairos said.

The Lord of Nightmares?There was that name again. As though everyone feared the rogue kitsune, a mob kingpin that ruled over the nearby city of Lethe.

“You can’t trust anyone but Enko, Seven, and me,” Kairos said as he pressed my phone into my palm.

I held back a laugh. “You want me to trust Seven? Someone who has never even spoken a word directly to me? And who has gone out of his way to insult me at every turn? He’s an ass.”

“Yeah, he is. But Seven’s the kind of ass you want on your side,” Enko said.

Kairos and Enko escorted me to my next class, Demonology. I invited their company. Having two experienced students to guide my way to my classes was helpful. And...something else I could barely place, a sizzle of excitement, a stream of bliss. Something about being with them provided me with an indescribable comfort, one I’d never felt before.

Like we belonged together.

9

Dove

The Demonology professor, Ms. Jensen, stood at the front of the classroom, gray curls encasing her heart-shaped face as she scanned the room in a birdlike way. Brynn clicked away on her laptop at my side, pushing her glasses up her nose.

Across the room, Caleb sported a split lip and what looked like a blossoming black eye. He glanced over at me and when our eyes met, quickly turned back to the teacher, as though terrified to look at me.

Kairos beat him up…for sparring with me?

I’d seen him punch Vince that morning. A bubble of guilt swelled in me, as though it was my fault Kairos had gone rogue, attacking a fellow fox and student.

Ms. Jensen cleared her throat several times, the chatter continuing as she spoke.

“Welcome to Demonology I. You will be taught about every type of demon, where to find it, and how to kill it.” She paused, sizing up the classroom, picking off certain students with a frown. Her eyes landed on my bruised cheek, among others. “Demons will not show pity if you are weak and small. Most of you have never even seen a demon ranked higher than a Tier II. And that was only yesterday for the entrance exam.”

Ms. Jensen laughed at her own joke before continuing, “The elements will determine how you may serve best in the fight. Water and Storm kitsune can douse the demon flame. Mind kitsune, to see their plans. Shadow for ambushes. Fire, earth, and air to fight them. And Life kitsune can heal their damage. Each of us has a role in the fight against Hell.”

The wisp of a woman jumped, gripping a string and pulling at the rolled white screen. She flipped on a projector image and dimmed the lights. The screen showed Forneus, Tier V, Marquis of Hell, tens of thousands of demons under his command. A snake tail covered the bottom half of his body, his skin green with sharp fangs like a vampire, wings like a bat.

“This is a Tier V Archdemon. They are rare—one in a million. They command all lesser demons. Pray to the goddess you never come across one. Few live to tell the tale.”

She launched into a long monologue about Forneus, the students taking notes. Acid spike on tail, venomous teeth, quick to strike, observes his legions from the air. Prefers ambush attacks.

“The lesser demons, anything Tier III and below, are what we will be focusing on this year. Tier I demons are incredibly easy to defeat. Take imps, for example, they’re more likely to get themselves killed than to pose any real threat. Fire wasps are known for setting fires, we presume accidentally, as the process kills them.”

“Tier II demons are slightly more intelligent than their lesser counterparts, but still small in size and easily overpowered…” Even though I already had memorized everything the professor said, I wrote it down again. “...Tier IV, demons with strong magic, such as vampires, banshees, oni, and the tengu.”

By the end of class, my hand was as cramped as the rest of my body.

I waved to Caleb to catch his attention, losing him in the molasses stream of students filtering out the exit.

“Want to get lunch?” Brynn asked, clutching her books against her chest. I found a fast friend in Brynn, who was much of a nerd as I was.

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