Page 48 of The Tainted and the Tamed
“And I’m semi-retired. Or at least I have been.” Teeth gritted, Haruki sat up. Alarm struck his features as he saw Murasaki, lying down almost beside him. “Murasaki! What happened?”
“That was her blood you tasted,” the fox-masked chairman said.
A healthy flush returned to Haruki’s cheeks. “You shouldn’t have asked that of her. She’s ill.”
“I’ve thought of that,” said Dr. Setouchi. “Lie down, Chairman. Your body has been through a great deal.”
With an uneasy look on his face, Haruki lowered himself back onto the matting. “Are you alright, Murasaki?”
“Just a little dizzy,” she said. “Nothing new.”
“I doubt that very much.” Haruki sighed. “I’m sorry, Murasaki—for this. For how wrong our night went.”
Dr. Setouchi rose, pointedly looking away as he shuffled into his office.
Seconds after, the fox-masked chairman followed.
“I couldn’t be ‘Haru’ for even one night. I’m truly sorry. I’ll make it up to you,” Haruki said. “I swear it.”
“You already have.” She smiled weakly. “They told me—about the medicine. I still don’t understand, but I know now that it came from you.”
“The herbal medicine was from Setouchi,” Haruki said, shifting uncomfortably. Yet from the way he moved, it was as if the burns didn’t hurt him any longer. “I just added to it.”
“Your blood.”
“Yes.”
“And now I’ve given you mine.” She wrinkled her nose. “What does it all mean?”
“I’ll explain it to you,” Haruki said, reaching across the mats to stroke her hair, “when we both are well.” His touch was light as he swept strands from her forehead.
“This all feels unreal,” Murasaki said.
“We’re real. Just remember that.”
She would. Because she could tell how much he meant it.
Chapter 22
Haruki
They were meant to be going on a date, not an expedition to the Arctic.
Murasaki’s figure was so swathed in furs and layers that she was barely recognizable. Haruki stifled a laugh as Momoko brought her yet another layer of clothing.
“Don’t you think you’ve gone a little too far?” he asked the inari.
“Humans are fragile,” Momoko said crisply, and tied a scarf around Murasaki’s head. Only Murasaki’s face peered out now, her cheeks a little flushed.
“Did you even agree to all this?” he asked Murasaki as they stepped out into Fusae Castle’s grounds, careful not to speak while still in Momoko’s fox-shifter earshot.
Momoko sighed, already loosening one of the knots. “Itiscold.”
“Notthatcold.”
“I didn’t have the heart to refuse her.” Murasaki chuckled. “She’s been so worried over me these last few days.”
“It’s a lucky person who can charm a fox.”
