Page 36 of Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox
“Is it bad news?”
Silvery ears flicked forward and back a few times before flattening to each side. “It’s definitely not good news. Even if they’re gone, they were here.”
“But the wards are holding?”
“Seems so.” Gingko’s ears snapped upright, and he swiveled toward the window. “Someone’son the prowl.”
“I asked him to help Sansa with the patrols.”
“Can’t hurt. Dad’s senses are a hundred times keener than mine, and he might actually recognize something. But most of the evidence is past the property lines.”
“That won’t be a problem. I lifted the restrictions.”
Gingko blinked. “Which ones?”
“Everything he asked for.”
“Does that mean you take requests? Because all that tramping around sure does work up an appetite.”
Tsumiko leaned back as he rolled to his knees and prowled forward.
“Just a tiny taste?” he begged.
“You don’t need it.”
Gingko’s gaze slid to the side. “Doesn’t stop me from craving it.”
“What’s it like?” Tsumiko asked. “I mean, do souls have a flavor or something? How do you even know you’re taking something in?”
“Help a guy out, and I’ll try to find words.”
Giving in to curiosity, Tsumiko reached for her bracelet’s clasp, but Gingko caught her hand.
“Don’t! He’ll know if you go full bore.” Scooting even closer, he laid his head against her knee. “To be sneaky, I’ll have to take it slow.”
“For a little while.”
As the trickle washed over him, he sighed contentedly, and when she turned her attention to his ears, scratching and stroking, he groaned appreciatively.
“Elation,” Gingko mumbled.
“What?”
“What this is like,” he said. “Your presence makes me giddy. It swells up inside of me, warm and fluttery. It feels like falling in love.”
Love? Yes, there was a certain sense to Gingko’s comparison. Shouldn’t sharing a piece of your soul have the same feeling as giving someone your heart? Tsumiko hummed thoughtfully. “Have you been in love?”
“Lots of times. But it never lasts.” He turned his head to look up at her, proving a fox could pull off puppy dog eyes. “Even knowing it’ll hurt later, I can’t help wanting more.”
He wheedled like a boy for treats, craving the largeness of her soul. And Tsumiko saw no reason to withhold something she’d been blessed with in abundance. Tending wasn’t love, but couldn’t she tend lovingly? As a child of Saint Midori’s, that was the kind of life she’d learned to treasure.
“Say it’s okay.” He searched her face. “I’m not part of the contract, but I’m here. Say it’s okay for me to be here.”
Why did it sound as if Gingko needed someone’s permission to exist? Every life was precious, no matter their parentage. “We don’t need a contract to be friends. You’re as free to choose me as I am to choose you.”
“Friends, then.” Gingko rose up on his knees and bussed her cheek. “Just don’t go falling in love. I’d only break your heart, and then you’d break mine. Unless Dad killed me first. He’s pretty touchy about what’s his.”
“I thought he was mine.”
