And in response I paled, dropping Kira’s bread on top of a display of candy bars as my fingers abruptly lost their hold on the potential purchase. My instinct had been right and my pursuer hadn’t given up. Which presented an even worse situation than I’d previously been in. Because I was now standing beside an eagle-eyed werewolf, unable to use my inherent abilities to gnaw my way out of the trap before it could close around my leg.

  I bit my lip as I began lowering the jug of milk to the floor in instinctive disburdenment. But the liquid would rot there if the clerk didn’t notice in time to slide the jug back into the case. And upcoming evasive maneuvers would be less obvious if I hung onto one potential purchase at least.

  So I clutched the cold handle, fingers digging into plastic as I spoke to the werewolf who’d delayed me—purposefully? accidentally?—long enough for the whistler to catch up. “Hold that thought,” I told him, offering Kira’s full-blast-sunshine smile and hoping the expression was as heart-stopping on me as it was on her. After all, I needed every advantage I could muster if I intended to slide out the 7-Eleven’s window right under a werewolf’s nose.

  Then, without further explanation, I padded into the filthy bathroom, twirled the lock to solidify the barrier...and hoisted myself plus my purloined jug of milk through the tiny opening set too high in the wall for an average human to clamber in or out.

  “I’ll pay you back tomorrow,” I whispered into the night air, knowing the clerk would understand the delay in cash flow. Still, the debt squeezed at my star ball, dragging at my footsteps as I beat a hasty retreat.

  Chapter 6

  “Oof. Get off me!” I woke to fur in my face along with my sister’s smug grin peering through the small gap between covers and red tail fluff.

  Oh, and did I mention Kira was in fox form? I could feel the year’s seventh tardy slip falling into my hands already.

  “You need to shift and shower and eat and...did you finish your homework last night while I was fighting?”

  The fox who was my sister leapt off my pillow a millisecond before my fingers would have closed around her snow-white belly. Soft feet landed on top of the tiny dorm-style refrigerator three feet away from my pull-out sofa-bed, and I decided to take that as a yes to the breakfast and a no to the shifting, showering, and homework. At least we’d get the bare necessities done today.

  “Kira, I’m serious,” I grumbled, even as I pulled out the wide cereal bowl that was easy for a snout to scoop food out of. Half a box of off-brand cheerios, a healthy glug of last night’s stolen milk, and my sister was at least eating her breakfast...even if she was still perched on top of the fridge while doing so.

  Of course, Kira was also a fox, so nothing came easily. Three bites later, my young charge lost interest in food and hummed a request instead, drawing our mother’s star ball toward us out of the only bedroom our apartment boasted. The golden glow was the reason my sister was able to shift before coming of age, but it was also the last remnant of our dead mother’s spirit. So I didn’t argue as Kira leapt away from her half-finished meal and used the solidified magic as a platform, allowing her to dance across the room without touching the ground. Instead, I smiled fondly...then froze as I remembered the jolt of understanding that had run through my head as I succumbed to slumber the night before.

  The whistle in the dark alley hadn’t been just an eerily unfamiliar melody. Instead, it had matched the tinny sound made by our mother’s nearly forgotten music box. Or so I thought. I’d need to rustle up long-packed-away possessions to be sure....

  “I’m serious about that shower, Kira,” I told my sister absently, turning away as my own star ball joined the circus without any explicit request to do so on my part. “And you know you have a test today in...” I racked my brain, gave up “...in something. So, please, at least bring the relevant book to school.”

  Kira hadn’t done her homework and had forgotten her test—I could see the guilt in her beady eyes. But she was a fox who was snatching bites of a filling breakfast in between her capers, so she’d land—both literally and metaphorically—on her feet.

  Confident that my sister was taken care of, I took the five steps to her bedroom in a rush. Clothes covered every available surface and it took longer than it should have to pick my way through to the rather empty closet. I’d need to find an hour this afternoon to tidy up just in case Social Services dropped by for a surprise inspection....

  For now, though, I was more interested in the boxes on the closet’s top shelf than in the clothes all over the floor. It had been so long since I’d been up there that dust bunnies gave even Kira’s slovenly ways a run for their money.

  And yet...the box I was looking for was swept as smooth as if it held a daily necessity. And when I pulled down the battered cardboard container, the item in my hands wasn’t nearly as heavy as it should have been.

  Inside, a few photos and childhood drawings fluttered against my fumbling fingers. But the music box, the jewelry, Mama’s cherished possessions—every single one of them was gone without a trace.

  “I’M SORRY,” KIRA WHISPERED as her class poured into the gym for third-period PE. She’d clearly been working on this apology for the entirety of her first two classes, because the rest of it came out in a rush. “I should have talked to you first. But selling Mama’s belongings was the only way I could think of to pay the water and electric bills. And it wasn’t as if we were using any of that stuff.”

  “It’s okay,” I told my sister, even though it really wasn’t. But I was disappointed in myself more than in Kira. Disappointed that my thirteen-years-younger sister had taken household expenses upon herself without me noticing...and, I’ll admit it, disappointed that I’d never see our dead mother’s possessions again. Just because Dad—and then I—had hidden the items away in a dusty box while avoiding all mention of our shadowed heritage didn’t mean I was willing to sell the items on Ebay.

  Still, my day brightened a little when Kira accepted my words at face value. She shot me a sunny smile before bouncing over to the opposite side of the room where three girls waited. And even though they were entirely human and dressed far better than I’d ever managed to deck out my ward, they still welcomed her into their midst with cheery greetings and sparkling eyes.

  “Wanna see a magic trick?” my sister asked as she joined them, pulling out three scarves and a deck of cards before her companions could reply. And I’ll admit it—I let the pre-class bustle linger longer than usual so Kira could enjoy her moment in the limelight. Gave everyone three long minutes to gab and gossip and make objects disappear.

  But, finally, I could drag my heels no longer. “Line up in two rows. We’re going to start with drills parrying four and six,” I bellowed in a voice guaranteed to garner even argumentative sixth graders’ attention.

  The girls obeyed as sluggishly as Kira had caved to the necessity of her morning shower. But, eventually, clanging practice swords proved that nineteen over-indulged princesses—and my orphaned sister—would go to math class with hearts racing and endorphin levels elevated.

  Which should have been good enough. But my skin itched and my eyes kept being drawn to the three students in front of and beside my kid sister. So I drifted closer to hear what kind of muttered secrets were being exchanged along with sword blows.

  “Keep the tip of your blade pointed at your opponent’s chest while you parry,” I murmured to a rather over-excited redhead as I worked my way closer to the girls in question. “Hand parallel to the floor,” I corrected another student, angling toward the girls upon whom the entirety of my attention now rested.

  And then I could hear their chatter above the din...at which point I finally realized that Kira had been lying when she told me everything was just peachy at school. “Maybe you can use your magic tricks to get Jared’s attention,” Kira’s current opponent sneered, eyeballing my sister’s body in a way that made the shorter girl’s cheeks flush crimson.

  “Or maybe you could make yourself disappear. That’d be a good one.” The girl on Kira’s right was barely moving her sword while she indulged in a verbal offensive of her own.

  “I don’t know why they let gooks into our school,” the third student interjected contemplatively. “Asian kids are supposed to be smart, but we can all tell from Kira’s uniform that she’s a scholarship student. She can’t even pay her own way.”

  At which point, I stopped even pretending to pay attention to the rest of the class. Started sprinting toward my sister...even though I knew any intervention would come far too late.

  Because Kira might have been abjectly apologetic at the beginning of class, but all foxes have a temper and Kira was no exception. Unlike me, however, she tended to save words for later and to dive straight into the physical when cornered and outmatched.

  So I wasn’t surprised when my nose caught the faintest hint of fur as Kira unleashed a tiny fraction of the vulpine agility she’d been holding back earlier in the session. I wasn’t surprised when she knocked off each girl’s face mask with a quick dip and jerk of her blunt-tipped sword. One, two, three helmets clanged onto the floor then one, two, three sets of manicured fingertips rose to feminine throats in unintentional unison.

  Behind me, air pushed against my back as someone opened the door leading to the hallway. But I ignored whoever was coming or going, channeling all of my attention upon my sister as I turned my sprint into something a little faster. Because I’d learned the hard way that an angry Kira was unable to think through the consequences of her actions. And, like the rest of her family, my kid sister was remarkably good with a sword.

  Sure enough, before I could interpose myself between the four battling students, my sister’s practice blade rose for a fourth time. Thankfully, the swords I’d handed out to these children boasted unsharpened edges and a soft rubber ball protecting each tip. Still, any hunk of metal can do real damage if wielded by a pro.

  Kira was well on her way to becoming such an expert.

  “Don’t!” I demanded, sending one curt word where my feet had failed to carry me.

  But my sister’s lashes didn’t even flicker in response to my order. Instead, she slapped those bitchy girls with the flat of her blade so fast the first wasn’t even crying before the third was being similarly assaulted. Within seconds, three red welts stood out against perfectly moisturized skin...then the floodgates opened up.

  “I...I...I....” the leader of the posse stuttered, spinning to take in her damaged face in the mirror that covered one entire wall. “My face is ruuuiiiinnned!” another girl wailed. For her part, the third student was too overwhelmed to even emote verbally. Instead, she collapsed into a silent heap, cradling her injured cheek in both hands.

  “Maybe you should grow up and shut up,” Kira whispered in a voice blazing with passion. “Maybe you shouldn’t talk about things you don’t understand.”

  Meanwhile, behind me, an equally familiar tone cut through the room’s hushed silence. “Mai, Kira, I’ll see you both in my office immediately,” the headmistress informed us. “Injured parties report to the nurse’s station. And the rest of you, it’s time to go to math.”

  Chapter 7

  “I’ve been concerned for some time about the levels of violence in your classes,” Ms. Underhill informed me as I sank into one of the two seats in front of her desk. The armchairs were obscenely comfortable...but they were also considerably lower to the floor than average. Given my already short stature, I felt like a child peering up at an adult from my present vantage point, precisely the effect the headmistress was going for.

  “Fencing isn’t about violence,” Kira countered from the perch she’d taken on the edge of her seat, her chin level with the desk rather than hidden beneath it like mine was. “It’s about control and restraint and...”

  I could repeat our father’s words just as glibly as my sister was currently doing, but something told me Ms. Underhill wasn’t going to be impressed by the well-rehearsed refrain. Not when Kira had recently used her so-called control and restraint to mark the daughters of three major donors to the academy.

  “We apologize,” I said instead. “Kira was out of line and I should have been able to stop her.” I swallowed, knowing the school had a zero-tolerance policy toward physical aggression. This wasn’t my sister’s first offense, so she would definitely be suspended. The question was—for how long? And when the suspension was over, would she be allowed to return to class?

  As if sensing my distress, Kira rushed in to back me up as she always did. “Yes, I’m so sorry Ms. Underhill. I take complete responsibility for my actions. I’ll apologize to Missy and Callie and Veronica too. I swear, nothing like this will ever happen again.”

  Her face was so open and candid, her tone so gushing. And the effect would have been believable too...if all three of us hadn’t remembered the other incidents in vivid technicolor.

  There was that time in the cafeteria when my sister had grown bored and started a food fight so severe the entire place had to be shut down for the rest of the afternoon for cleanup. The time she’d gotten tossed out of class after correcting her Latin teacher’s pronunciation then reciting a very bawdy ballad in a language only she and he understood. And how could we forget the way my tiny sister had beaten up three over-sized football players who were trying to take advantage of a slip of a girl behind the bleachers?

  Kira’s heart was in the right place...but sometimes her brain didn’t come along for the ride.

  So my relief was palpable when the faintest hint of a smile pulled up the corners of Ms. Underhill’s thin lips. “You will be spending one week thinking through your choices during an out-of-school suspension,” the headmistress told my sister firmly before returning her attention to me.

  “I appreciate your generosity.” Only when my lungs expanded to their full extent for the first time in several minutes did I realize that oxygen hadn’t been making its way to my lungs quite right ever since the headmistress’s voice had shown up in my class at exactly the wrong moment. Kira needed structure in her life and someone other than me pushing her academically. She’d been bored out of her skull at the public school, and a bored Kira was like a grenade with the pin removed. Bystanders had better brace themselves and wait for the detonation.

  The academy was our family’s haz-mat suit. Being able to maintain that protection in light of Kira’s recent actions was more than I’d dared to expect.

  So I struggled up out of the depths of the armchair and met Ms. Underhill’s eyes as best I could from two feet lower. Did she sit on a pillow back there to elevate her height? “I promise you that Kira will come back to school on her best behavior and ready to learn....”

  “I’m sure she will be,” the headmistress interjected. “But that’s not the reason I brought you here today. As I mentioned earlier, I’m concerned that swordplay is an inappropriate activity for impressionable young minds. Control and restraint can be learned just as admirably at a gentler sport. Something like ballet.”

  I cringed, imagining myself in a pink leotard barking orders at a roomful of tutu-clad kindergartners. But this was what I’d signed on for when I promised my dying father that I’d raise Kira myself rather than losing her to the foster-care system. So I merely nodded, keeping my clenched fists hidden beneath the overhang of the desk. “I understand,” I agreed. “I can do that.”

  “No, I don’t think you do understand,” Ms. Underhill contradicted. Her head tilted, her mouth pursed, and for a split second I thought the old battle ax felt sorry for me. “I’m afraid I’ve found someone else to fill your position. Your final paycheck will go out in the mail tomorrow...along with a bill for the rest of Kira’s tuition at the normal rate.”

  “I’LL BE BETTER OFF without that school anyway.” Kira was back on top of the cemetery wall, but she wasn’t dancing through our walk home this time around. Instead, she was skulking, shoulders hunched and feet kicking out at every pebble that dared stray into her path.

  Her words, in contrast, remained perfectly controlled as she laid out a plan that would have made our father weep if he wasn’t rotting in his grave. “At the public school, I can land an A without any effort. Which means I can get a job. We’ll be a two-breadwinner family. We can buy a TV and a better sofa. We can eat salami. That’s how it should be. Really, Mrs. Underhill is doing us a favor. I’ll write her a thank-you note as soon as we get home.”

  Despite the evenness of Kira’s monologue, she clearly lamented the lost opportunity as much as I did. Because rocks went spraying out in every direction beneath a particularly virulent kick, and this time I had to dodge to prevent being struck.

  “How about a milkshake?” I countered. “Or a candy bar? We can talk about school later.”

  After all, I’d learned the hard way that it was a recipe for failure trying to out-argue my sister once she’d dug her heels in. Kira was going back to the academy, but I wouldn’t press the issue until I figured out how to pay the full-price tuition. Until then, I might as well keep us both calm so our fox natures didn’t make us say things we’d later regret.

  Kira, on the other hand, had no such compunction about speaking before thinking. “You said I needed to steer clear of sugar. You said it made me volatile.”

  I had to laugh at my sister’s rebuttal...because, really, how much more volatile could Kira get after being kicked out of school for bitch-slapping three classmates? “I think just this once you can handle a sugar high,” I started...

  ...then yelped as hard hands grabbed onto my shoulders while the sidewalk spun away from beneath my feet. There were male figures all around me now, the emergence of lanky legs and leering faces proving that I’d been too focused upon my sister’s hurt feelings and not focused enough upon potential dangers impinging from the outside world.

  But Kira was perched on top of a wall in a place of momentary safety. “Run!” I told her seconds before a hand landed atop my open mouth, strangling all further sound.

 

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