The Imperial Elite Guards were supposed to be the most terrifying warriors in the capital. They were handpicked by the Emperor, trained in the deadliest disciplines, and armed with weapons forged by master onmyoji.
But watching them try to fight Kurogane Akira was like watching children try to fight an avalanche.
"Kill him!" Prince Jin shrieked, his voice muffled because Yuki's fluffy white belly was currently suctioned entirely over his nose and mouth. The nekomata had all four paws wrapped around Jin's head, furiously rabbit-kicking the Prince's expensive silk collar.
The two massive guards snapped out of their shock. They raised their iron-tipped spears and charged at Akira, their battle cries echoing across the dark koi pond.
Akira did not draw a weapon. He did not even take a step.
He simply raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
A shockwave of pure, freezing blue spirit-energy burst from his body.
The temperature in the garden did not merely drop. It shattered. The water in the koi pond flash-froze in a single instant, the poor fish suspended like carved figures in solid ice. A thick sheet of frost raced across the weeping willow trees, turning every trailing leaf into something sharp and glittering.
The two guards struck the wall of freezing energy and were thrown backward like ragdolls. Their spears shattered into dozens of icy splinters before they even hit the ground. They landed hard on the frozen grass, groaning in pain, their armor sealed beneath a thick layer of frost.
"Rin!" I did not waste a second. The moment the guards went down, I sprinted across the frozen gravel and dropped to my knees beside the tiny bundle wrapped in the brown blanket.
My hands were shaking violently as I pulled the rough fabric back.
Rin was pale, her breathing shallow, but she was alive. Jin's healers must have actually given her a stabilizing draught so she would not die before the exchange. I pulled her small, freezing body against my chest, wrapping my arms around her as tightly as I could.
I have you, I thought, hot tears stinging my eyes. I finally have you.
"Get this demon off me! Guards!" Jin was still flailing blindly on the arched bridge, trying to pry Yuki's claws out of his scalp.
"Yuki," Akira said, his voice a low, vibrating rumble that made my teeth ache. "That is enough. Come."
Yuki gave Jin one final, vicious swipe across the forehead, then gracefully flipped away from the Prince's face. The cat landed lightly on the frozen edge of the pond, gave his right paw a fastidious shake, and trotted over to sit beside me and Rin.
Jin staggered backward, gasping for air. His pristine pale green robes were shredded. His elegant topknot was completely ruined, his hair sticking up in wild, damp clumps. He had three neat, parallel claw marks right across his nose.
He did not look like a smug fox anymore. He looked like something that had been dragged off the road.
Jin blinked, trying to focus his watering eyes. When he finally saw Akira standing at the foot of the bridge, all the blood drained from his face.
Akira walked slowly up the wooden steps. His pink hair flowed behind him like a war banner in a storm. The blue spirit-fire wreathing his hands cast an eerie light over the terrifying, utterly lifeless expression in his amber eyes.
"Akira," Jin sputtered, taking a clumsy step back until his body struck the wooden railing. "You... you cannot do this! I am the Second Prince! If you touch me, the Emperor will..."
In a blur of motion too fast for my human eyes to follow, Akira crossed the bridge.
He did not strike his cousin. He did not use a spell. He simply reached out, seized Jin by the front of his torn robes, and effortlessly lifted the grown man clear off his feet.
Jin choked, his hands clawing desperately at Akira's iron grip.
Akira held him out over the railing. Below them, the frozen koi pond waited like a field of broken crystal.
"The Emperor," Akira whispered, his voice so cold it made the frost on the bridge crack beneath his feet, "is seated comfortably in his gilded hall. He is not here. Your guards are broken. And you made the fatal mistake of threatening my family."
"I... I am your family!" Jin wheezed, his legs kicking uselessly in the air.
"You are a serpent," Akira corrected smoothly. "And I am considering whether I should break your neck now and let the ice claim the rest of you."
I held my breath. I honestly did not know what he was going to do. The Demon Prince was not a nickname. It was a warning. And Jin had just threatened the only two people Akira cared about.
"Akira," I called out softly.
He did not look back at me, but his grip on Jin's robes paused.
"Do not do it," I said, keeping my voice as calm as I could, even though my heart was hammering. "If you drop him, we do not get to go home. Rin needs a warm bed, not a war."
Akira was silent for a long, terrible moment. The blue fire around his hands flared, then slowly began to recede.
He leaned in, pulling Jin close until they were nearly nose to nose.
"Listen to me very carefully, Second Prince," Akira murmured, his tone promising absolute ruin. "My wife is far more merciful than I am. She is the only reason you are breathing tonight."
Jin whimpered, a pathetic, high-pitched sound.
"If you ever go near her again," Akira continued, "if you ever send your hounds to her family, or if you ever try to slip another cursed object into my home... I will not wait for the Emperor's permission. I will freeze your blood in your veins while you sleep."
Akira opened his hand.
Jin screamed as he fell.
He did not strike the jagged ice. At the final instant, Akira snapped his fingers again. A pocket of water thawed beneath Jin, and the Prince plunged straight into the freezing, muddy koi pond with a massive SPLASH.
Jin broke the surface immediately, gasping and sputtering, thrashing wildly among the terrified fish.
Akira did not spare him a second glance. He turned his back on the Prince and walked down the bridge toward us.
The terrifying, murderous aura vanished the moment his amber eyes landed on me. He dropped to one knee on the frozen grass, his large hands reaching out to gently cup my face.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice rough with worry. He scanned my plain gray robes for any sign of blood.
"I'm fine," I promised, leaning into his warm touch. "You got here in time. Yuki is a very good shadow courier."
Jingle. Yuki puffed out his chest, looking extremely pleased with himself.
Akira's gaze dropped to the small bundle in my arms. "And the child?"
Right on cue, Rin groaned. The freezing air must have finally worn through the stabilizing draught Jin's healers had given her. She shifted in my arms, her small face scrunching up in confusion.
Slowly, her big, dark purple eyes fluttered open.
"Kitsune?" Rin whispered, her voice raspy. She blinked at the frost-covered garden, the frozen guards groaning in the distance, and the faraway sound of Prince Jin sobbing in the koi pond. "Are we... are we ghosts now?"
"No, sweetie," I laughed, a wet, relieved sound slipping out of me. I hugged her tighter. "We're not ghosts. We're safe. We're going to a real home now."
Rin turned her head slightly. Her eyes landed on Akira.
He was kneeling right beside us, a giant of a man with striking pink hair, wearing loose yukata robes, and surrounded by a courtyard he had just shattered with ice magic. He looked like a terrifying god of war stepped down from an old painted screen.
Akira froze. For the first time all night, the Demon Prince actually looked nervous. He clearly had no idea how to speak to a tiny, sick child.
Rin stared at him. She stared at the pink hair. She stared at his broad shoulders. Then she looked down at Yuki, who was currently rubbing his head against Akira's knee.
Rin looked back up at the terrifying northern prince.
"Are you the cat thief's husband?" she asked, her voice completely deadpan.
I choked on my own spit. "Rin!"
Akira blinked, completely taken aback. Then a slow, genuine smile broke across his handsome face. It was so bright and so relieved that it made my stomach do a ridiculous flip.
"I... yes," Akira answered, his deep voice filled with undeniable warmth.
"She's very bad at stealing," Rin informed him seriously, coughing weakly into her sleeve. "She took three hours to plan it and forgot an escape route. Uncle Kenji said she's clumsy."
"Rin, please," I begged, mortified. "I am right here!"
Akira let out a low, rumbling laugh. He reached out, his massive hand hovering over Rin's head for a moment before he carefully, tentatively patted her hair.
"She has improved," Akira told my little sister, his amber eyes flicking up to meet mine. "She stole my heart much more efficiently."
My face erupted in flames. "I am going to die of embarrassment. Can we please just go home?"
"Of course, my wife," Akira said with a smile, every dangerous edge gone from his face.
He stood up and effortlessly scooped both Rin and me into his arms, blanket and all. Yuki leaped up, taking his usual place draped across Akira's broad shoulders.
I rested my head against his chest, listening to the steady, powerful beat of his heart. Rin was already dozing off again, completely safe in the arms of the most feared man in the empire.
We left Prince Jin shivering in the mud and walked out of the Imperial Gardens.
For the first time in my entire life, I was not afraid of tomorrow. The court could scheme. The Emperor could plot. But they had made one enormous miscalculation.
They thought they had cornered a rat. They did not realize they had just given a fiercely protective northern prince a real family to fight for.
Let the court try to tear us apart. We would freeze them all.