Page 94 of Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox
When the car finally bumped to a stop alongside an empty stretch of land, Argent stiffened. This time, there was menace underlying the rumble that vibrated through the car.
“What?” whispered Tsumiko.
Argent muttered several oaths before pinning Stewart with an accusatory glare. “Nobody mentioned there would bewolves.”
FORTY EIGHT
Cold Case
Tsumiko leaned forward, trying to see. Would an Amaranthine from the wolf clans be very different from Argent? But her curiosity wavered toward concern when she remembered some of the things Gingko had said. About his dad being mocked for his dutiful role. Reaching for Argent, she firmly said, “You’re still in charge.”
He quickly leaned across and flicked Stewart’s nose. “If he questions my presence, I am employed as Miss Hajime’s bodyguard. Understood?”
“Yes, Argent.” Stewart exited the vehicle and joined Cedric.
“Follow my lead.” Argent’s hand closed around her wrist. “Hold your power close, and keep these hidden. And for pity’s sake, donotoffer to tend anyone.”
“He has a tail!” she whispered.
Argent rolled his eyes and preceded her out of the vehicle.
Three Amaranthine stood in the snow by the roadside. One wore knee-length pants and a fur-trimmed vest; the other two were actual wolves. Kith, she supposed, for intelligence glinted in their yellow eyes.
Argent scanned their surroundings with an attitude of supreme boredom, but she was fascinated. This clansman was nothing like Argent—in dress, in build, or in manner. He stood with one big hand propped at his hip, listening attentively to Lord Cedric, and he didn’t appear to mind the cold. His tanned chest was bare under the open vest, as were his feet. She could see a string of beads decorating one ankle. Or were they bones?
The tail she’d noted earlier hung so still, Tsumiko began to think it was part of the Amaranthine’s attire. But then Cedric gestured their way, and the wolf’s tail wagged.
“Miss Hajime,” he said, his voice deep and rough. “You must be brave to range so far. I am sorry your cousin was wronged. May she find better peace among her packmates.”
It took a moment for Tsumiko to realize that he’d addressed her in her own language. She stepped forward. “If it weren’t for your skill in tracking, she’d still be far from home.”
His tail swept back and forth in a wider arc.
Remembering Michael’s lessons in diplomacy, she found the crest he wore on an armband and gasped. “You’re an Elderbough?”
“True, lady. I am called Naroo-soh.”
“May I ask about your name?”
He loomed over her, but then he dropped into a crouch and offered his palms. Giving her hands a gentle squeeze, he said, “You are kind to ask. In our language, Naroo-soh means ‘winter beams.’”
“As in … strong timber?” she asked.
He gave a rasp-edged chuckle. “Moonbeams, lady. Most wolves are given names that honor the moon. Mother says I was born on a bitter night, under the slanting beams of a waxing moon.”
Tsumiko found herself smiling back. Now that he was so close, she could tell that his short, dark hair was tipped by silver, just like the fur of his wolf companions.
“Your clan is famous,” she ventured.
“Not by my doing. Mother upholds the prestige of our pack.” Confirming her suspicion, he added, “I am Adoona-soh’s firstborn.”
Adoona-soh Elderbough, one of the Five. And her son was speaking her language. She quietly asked, “You are from my homeland?”
“Not originally.” Naroo-soh didn’t release her hands as he sat—rather unceremoniously—in the snow at her feet. “But we have made a second home for ourselves there, to be near Mother. Where did you say you were from?”
“I grew up in Keishi.”
“At Ingress, then?”
