Page 95 of Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox
“No.”
“No?” His grasp remained light, but his eyes narrowed. “That is difficult to believe.”
And Naroo-soh’s thumb slid up her palm to the pulse point at her wrist. Her heart leapt when he grazed the beads binding her power.
Immediately, a pale hand locked around the wolf’s wrist. “Down, boy,” Argent said softly.
Naroo-soh’s expression registered little, but his tail puffed and his canine companions began to growl. Had they only now noticed Argent’s presence?
“My bodyguard,” Tsumiko said.
“A strong ward and a wily fox.” Naroo-soh withdrew his hand and slowly stood. His tail had developed a twitch. “My I ask your name, Kindred?”
“I would rather you did not.” Argent flicked a speck from his sleeve, as if the wolf had him outweighed and outnumbered, but not outclassed. “I am nobody.”
. . .
Upon learning that visiting the crime scene would require a long tramp through the rough, Cedric volunteered to remain with the driver.
“I’d like to see for myself,” Stewart said. “I haven’t been before this.”
Naroo-soh studied the low clouds, the deep snow, and the man before him. “Would your dignity permit my carrying you? It would speed things along.”
Stewart smiled crookedly. “I know enough to be honored by the offer. By all means.”
Tsumiko half expected their guide to scoop him up; she was already tucked in Argent’s arms. But power rushed, and Stewart gawked at the towering form of a wolf. The animal crouched beside him; when the man didn’t move, Naroo-soh used his muzzle to prod Stewart to his side.
“Climb on, boy,” Argent said. “He is offering you a ride.”
Stewart clambered up, and the wolf loped away, gradually increased his speed until he bounded across an increasingly empty landscape. Tsumiko could feel his delight, as if she was catching his mood. Was this, too, part of being a reaver?
Argent kept pace with Naroo-soh as if streaking across snowfields and vaulting gullies was a leisurely stroll. Tsumiko asked, “What do you think we’ll find?”
“Nothing.” He scowled faintly. “This trail is long cold. Hardly worth the time of the Elderbough clan’s best tracker.”
“Then why bother?”
“When wolves take an interest in someone, they will often bring them in. Consider them packmates. If Naroo-soh rescued Kyoko, he would help Stewie for her sake.”
“That’s nice of him.”
“Not necessarily.” Argent’s gaze never strayed from their leader. “He is a wolf, but he is also an emissary of the In-between. If he is acting on orders, potential motives multiply.”
“Aren’t they all trying to stop the kidnapper?”
“Certainly.”
Tsumiko tried to put herself in a reaver’s place. Yes, these crimes threatened the peace. Catching the rogue had to be their first priority. But why cater to Lord Cedric’s whims? To hush up the affair? To protect a witness so she could testify? Maybe. But why was Adoona-soh’s eldest son the one keeping an eye on things?
“It has to be personal,” she whispered.
Argent quietly said, “That would be best.”
Before Tsumiko could ask what would be worst, Naroo-soh drew up before a jumble of stones surrounding the black maw of a pit. Stewart slid awkwardly to the ground, and Naroo-soh transformed.
“She was in this den,” the wolf said. “Along with two others. There is nothing left to see, but this is the place.”
“Can I look inside?” Stewart asked.
