Freaking humans.
That's how bad things had gotten between me and my own people.
With a mental sigh, I slipped into the tunnel and crawled through several feet of dark, claustrophobic, wet earth before emerging into a larger cavern, one with soaring rock walls and stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
The distant drip, drip, drip of water followed me as I headed deeper into the cave, shifting back into human form as soon as I had the headspace for it. I felt better with my knife in my hand. I'd have felt even better if I had my guns and my leather Armani bag, but hey, the kitsune could be a tad old-fashioned sometimes.
The cavern expanded into an empty, echoing space the size of a warehouse before narrowing again, becoming a long, dark hallway that I lit with a palmful of foxfire. I might've had killer night vision, but there was zero light down here. Not even my foxy sight was enough to see through the gloom.
"I should've called Fae-Bitch and told him I was gonna be late," I whispered aloud, just to hear myself talk. My best friend, Chris, was putting on a drag show tonight and I was supposed to be there. After all, he was not only the most fabulous queen in town, he was also a faerie with a serious sense of style and an attitude that more than earned him his spectacular little nickname.
But … there was also no fucking way I was wandering around with an unbound ninth tail. That was just asking for trouble.
That, and Finley was right: I actually did have places to go and people to kill. As an assassin, that was kind of my job.
Around the next curve of rocky wall, I found a gold and white kimono waiting and I knew without being told that I was expected to put it on.
With a sigh, I slipped out of my boots and bodysuit, and into the silken folds of the robe, letting it drape over my arms in streamers of cherry blossom-patterned fabric. It pooled around my ankles as I wrapped the obi around my waist to secure it.
There was a slit in the back for my tails, which was nice except … there was a bit of a draft. Fortunately, the heavy fabric weighted the kimono down and hid most of my ass from view.
Wrapping my long braids around my head in a rough semblance of what was considered appropriate, I turned the next corner and I saw them. They took my fucking breath away.
I felt all the snark and sass knocked right out of me as I stood facing three kitsune women in kimonos, a mess of golden tails behind them as they sat like gods, staring down at me with vulpine masks on their faces.
And the tails … oh fuck, the tails.
They didn't have nine each: they had hundreds.
Gracefully, I sank to my knees and touched my head to the floor, as was the required sign of respect for these ancient kitsune. It was a posture I should have taken the second I entered the great hall, but I never had been one for following rules of obedience and submission.
"Very good, Thea," one of the women mocked, "this time you were only borderline disrespectful in how long you stared. I think we're finally getting through to you."
The elaborate red and white masks gave all three of them some anonymity, but I knew it was Giselle on the left.
Bitch.
My teeth sunk into my lower lip to keep from snapping back at her with a sarcastic response. She was over a thousand years old, yet acted like a damn teenager sometimes, and it took all of my self-control not to take the bait. The last thing I needed was to get stuck in another endless lecture on etiquette and manners when I was already late for Chris' show.
Keep your head down, your mouth shut, and get your ninth tail bound.
I repeated this over and over in my head, as if it would keep me from offending any of these ancient kitsune. But really, it was hardly my fault they were so damn sensitive.
"We see you've acquired a new tail." The golden kitsune on the right, Nadege, spoke this time. Her dark hair billowed in an unnatural breeze behind her, silhouetted against the sloping cavern walls by the flames of the burning torches. It was so damn showy. "We presume you have come to request it be bound?"
Nadege always spoke in plural, like she was the damn Queen of England or something. My ability to pick who was speaking from behind their masks constantly infuriated them, but I couldn't see why no one else picked up on their distinctive speech patterns. They always followed a pattern.
Left, right, center. Giselle, Nadege, Trina.
My head stayed bowed, and I refrained from responding. Despite her question, I had not yet been given permission to speak, and the punishment for speaking out of turn was far greater than simply staring at their tails a moment too long.
"I find it unusual, that a kitsune of so few years has ascended to the Nine already." Trina finally spoke after a seriously uncomfortable amount of time, and I breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't dragging it out this time. "You may address us, Thea Hunt. Share with us how you have achieved this most impressive feat, and perhaps Trina will feel so inclined as to bind it for you."
Trina was the worst of the three, and sporadically spoke about herself in third person, in an attempt to confuse. It was a stupid power game, and not one that worked on me. My job as an assassin required I be smarter than that.
Sitting back up to face them, I tucked my feet under my bum in a picture of demure grace. My mama did manage to teach me a couple of things before she died, so I could follow the rules when I wanted to.
This whole subservient behavior rubbed my fur the wrong way though. For a matriarchal society, as the kitsune were, it just sat wrong. Surely as women we were better than this? Then again, the Ancients were exactly that. Ancient.
"Respectfully, Ancients, there is no story to tell. One minute I had eight, and the next, nine. It took another day or so for my fur to fade." I kept my answer short and stuck to the facts. These old vixens were not above taking offense just because they were bored. "I humbly request that Trina bind my tail, so that I can resume my duties." Aka, I have a fucking job to do, bitches.
Kitsune with unbound tails were not permitted to act in any official capacity. Not just for the Earth, but for any supernatural organization, period. The wild magic was too dangerous, too unpredictable. Only the Ancients were permitted their multitude of tails to be left unbound, as only they were deemed strong enough to control the magic.
"Your duties?" Giselle scoffed. "Don't play us for fools. Your loyalty is to the assassins’ guild and its barbaric nonsense and bloodshed, hardly a worthy cause."
"And now you’re one of the Nine. You make a formidable weapon for the guild's arsenal. Why would we want to strengthen them anymore than they already are?" Nadege, the snarky bitch, commented and I ground my teeth together hard.
"My work for RADOPA has always been to the benefit of the Earth," I snapped, trying to get a handle on my anger. My employment was a large contributing factor as to why I was mostly unwelcome within the Vail Valley Earth, and it stung.
RADOPA, aka the Recruitment and Defense of Personal Assets, was just a fancy title for what our organization really was: a guild of assassins. Killers. Murderers.
"So far, yes." Trina took her turn speaking. "But what happens when the guild turns on us? Will they send you to slaughter your own people? Trina need not remind you that we are an endangered species."
"No, she need not," I muttered, desperately trying not to roll my eyes as my hands curled to fists in my lap. "It is my utmost belief that RADOPA has no interest in turning on the Earth. Indeed, they seem unconcerned by the kitsune people, considering the size of our population."