Page 98 of Twinning and Sinning

"Mom?" I whispered. "You both look similar, the hair, the freckles you both share… are you?" Gods, please don't be brother and sister or cousin or something; my poor heart can't take it. Folen chuckled softly, looking into my mother's eyes. The glow in both of their skins was obviously apparent even with mother a bit ill.

"Folen has taken his blood and put it into me to rid me of the poison; the blood has healing properties to heal him and now to take care of me. Once he marks me, I'll become more like him in his species. Elven. Since I am his mate, Clara says it is my body's way of slowly accepting him, and it's working." Mom looked sincerely happy, and that was all that I could ask for. She would be Elven, but what would that make me?

"You will be part Wolf and Elven," Folen spoke, answering my question. "How it will work, we aren't sure; there haven't been many interspecies mixes with Elves. Not to mention her getting pregnant before I had marked your mother. You are your own phenomenon right now."

I sighed. So much to take in.

"Anyway, I ran because your stepfather would have killed Folen, I knew Dario’s power, and I couldn't bear for Folen to be tortured and killed, so I ran. Which was dumb. Don't ever do that." I bit my lip, nodding exasperatedly. Well, good thing my mates figured me out quick.

"He tortured me, experimented on me. He's known about supernaturals for a long time. He's working for this Fox." The room grew silent; Clara gripped the hot cup of coffee beside her, her ears intently listening.

"He isn't just any Fox; he has many tails! He's white with bits of red. I wasn't supposed to see him, but he was sitting in your stepfather's chair in his office. I poked my head in to bring him tea, and this Fox sat there, like a human. It could have had a human body and just a Fox face with tails; it's been too many years. I was abruptly pulled away and told to leave and not return until called. After that meeting, he said you were getting married when you turned eighteen. That was when I made preparations for us to run."

Everyone’s mouth was open. It sounded too weird to be real, just as it was Werewolves, Bears, and so forth to be real. A Fox with six tails was almost obscured! And why would a Fox want me?!

A woman, the size of Clara, walked through the curtain; her face looked to Clara, who only nodded at her to sit in the chair next to her.

"A Kitsune," the woman spoke. "Sorry, I'm Melody, second daughter of Clara and Kane." I went to stand up to bow, courtesy or something, but Melody only waved me down. "We are sisters; stop that shit." I sat nicely in my chair, waiting for her to continue.

"I haven't heard of them in a long time," Melody whispered. "I thought they were extinct, but maybe they only reside on Earth. It would make sense," Melody took her finger to her cheek, tapping it. "Many humans are greedy, vanity driven. It would make sense for them to stay here." We all looked at each other, waiting for more for her to say, but she remained silent, staring at the floor.

Clara bumped Melody's shoulder. "Today, honey, your father is on his way back, and there is a lot to get done once they open the doors." Melody pulled a book from her cloak, flipping the pages quickly. One page held a Fox with nine different tails of varying in white and red colors.

"Did the Fox resemble these colors?" The book hovered over my mom's bed. Mom nodded. "Yes, except he was in a white suit, using a pen between his paws, almost laughing." Melody hummed at my mom's words.

"Sounds like a Nogitsune, a type of Kitsune and not a good one either. These are known for being the demons of the country of Japan. They trick people in all manners of life. They are cruel and take on terrible traits humans have. They hunt those humans who have pride and greed and do anything to get it. These Foxes could even make a priest commit the ultimate sin. They don't attack women, however, but they like to possess them. Your life isn't in danger, but he would like to put you up on a pedestal. Who knows how many women he has already or any at all. Some Nogitsune's are picky, and with your fire red hair, that of an Elf might have stirred his interest."

"Then I'll dye it!" I interjected.

"Doesn't matter; the older the Kitsune, the stronger their power. They could have that ink fall right out of your hair in an instant. Even the most powerful Witches can be compared to an old Kitsune. This one must be male since it wants Seraphina so bad, and he must have offered a lot of money to take her away. Not only that, once he has her, he will destroy your stepfather and take his money in the process."

"What, what do we do?" I was at a loss; sure, I accepted Werewolves, Vampires, Bears, Witches, and the sort were alive, and now some animal-human Fox hybrid that has extra tails wanted me to put on some sort of shelf was not going to fly. In fact, my mates were going to have a field day.

"How do you kill it?" I demanded. No one was answering my questions about what we were going to do; by gods, I was going to kill the damn thing. Melody's short, curvy body swiveled in her chair to meet me.

"Kill it?" She almost laughed. "It is complicated to kill one; in fact, I'm not sure if it is written anywhere!" Melody said, frustrated. Flipping through her notes, there was only a half of a page of the rare creature.

"Well, how are there not many!? They had to be killed off somehow!?" I argued.

"The Nogitsune's are finicky! They only want the best to breed their heirs," Melody yelled back. "If he really has six tails, he could be over four hundred years old; if he was that patient to wait for the perfect genetic make-up he was looking for, he will find you if we don't do something."

"Well, he can't do shit because I'm infertile!" I yelled loudly. The entire bunker was at a standstill. The only sound that was heard was the timer of the several casseroles coming out of the oven. Zoey sat with Tua, gripping ahold of her hand. Nothing but tragic faces stared back at me. Some with a few tears, some children didn't understand, but the solemn room showed the seriousness of my statement.

"I'm infertile," I whispered. The cement door at the top of the stairs opened slowly. My body took no time; my legs ran as fast as they could carry me as yells of my name told me to return to the safety of the bunker.

Pushing through the Wolves opening the door, I ran to the woods, ran to the nearest stream.

The dry leaves collected on my boots, the mud clogged the treads of my footing. The deep stream came up to my hips as I ducked under the water.

Many believed in a legend that once you dunk your head under clear water, you could rid of your sins of the world. Every bad thing you had done in your life could wash away like the dead leaves of the stream. If I dunked my body in just enough, maybe everything wrong I had ever done could cleanse me, make me pure to give my mates the children they had always dreamed of having with their mate.

They said it didn't matter, but from the looks of every woman in that bunker proved not having a child, especially to two princes, meant something. I dunked my head lower and lower into the cold water. Tiny bits of snow began to drop into the moisture.

Again and again, I sat lower and lower into the sludge.

Finally standing up, I screamed as loud as I could. I was no breeder to some damn Fox; if he even tried, he would come up with nothing.

"Seraphina," a whisper tickled my ear. "Seraphina," I looked around, drenched in the cold, frost building on the tips of my clothes.

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