CHAPTER 384: UNITED IN CELEBRATION, PART TWELVE

{Raven}

Three days remained before the Lunar Festival.

Raven stood in the guest quarters, watching Melisa pace back and forth like a caged animal.

"I need you two to do something for me," Melisa said, gesturing at Raven and Isabella.

Isabella perked up from where she’d been lounging on a couch, one leg thrown over the armrest.

"Ooh, is it sexy?"

"No."

"Damn it!"

"I need you to go into the city and see what people are saying about nim. Get a feel for the tensions, see if the assassination reveal helped or made things worse." Melisa ran a hand through her hair. "I’d do it myself, but..."

"But you’re a nim and would probably get lynched," Isabella finished cheerfully.

"Not how I’d put it, but yeah."

Raven nodded. It made tactical sense. She and Isabella could blend in better, gather intelligence without drawing attention.

[Though Isabella draws attention wherever she goes.]

"We can do that," Raven said.

"Great! Try the market district first, then maybe some taverns. People talk more when they’re drunk."

"On it!" Isabella bounced to her feet, grabbing Raven’s arm. "Come on, partner. Let’s go be spies!"

"We’re not spies. We’re gathering information."

"That’s literally what spies do."

---

The streets of Yalmir’s capital were crowded with kitsune going about their daily business. Merchants hawked their wares, children ran between the stalls, and the smell of street food mixed with incense in the air.

Raven tried to focus on their mission, but Isabella kept getting distracted.

"Oh my god, look at those!" She pointed at a stall selling what appeared to be crystallized fruit shaped like... well, like penises. "We should get some for Melisa!"

"We’re supposed to be listening for rumors."

"We can multitask!" Isabella dragged her over to the stall. "How much for the big purple one?"

The merchant eyed them suspiciously.

"You’re with the Syux delegation."

"Maybe," Isabella said with a grin. "Is that a problem?"

"Depends. You with that nim?"

Raven tensed, ready for trouble, but Isabella just laughed.

"Which one? There’s like fifty nim in the delegation."

"The Blackflame girl. The one who claims she can do magic."

"Claims?" Isabella’s voice took on a dangerous edge. "She doesn’t claim anything. She just does it."

The merchant snorted.

"Sure she does. Just like she ’saved’ the Matriarch from an assassin that was coincidentally also a nim."

"That assassin was a kitsune Shadow Mage," Raven said flatly.

"That’s what they want you to think." The merchant leaned in conspiratorially. "But I heard from my cousin’s friend’s sister that it was all staged. The Matriarch’s in on it, trying to give the nim more power. Cause one of them took over her mind."

Raven blinked.

[That is stunningly idiotic.]

"Your cousin’s friend’s sister sounds like she needs better hobbies," Isabella said sweetly. "Now, about that purple dick?"

"Not selling to nim sympathizers."

"Your loss!" Isabella chirped, pulling Raven away. Once they were out of earshot, she muttered, "Asshole."

They continued through the market, catching fragments of conversation. Most of it was the same paranoid nonsense. Nim were planning something. The assassination attempt was fake. Melisa was here to seduce the Matriarch with her pheromones and rule over the innocent, weak kitsune with her sex magic.

Isabella suddenly pressed close to her, pretending to examine a display of scarves.

"We’re being followed," she breathed in Raven’s ear. "Blue dress, three stalls back. She’s been tailing us since we left the palace."

Raven resisted the urge to look immediately. Instead, she picked up a scarf, using the motion to glance behind them.

Isabella was right. A kitsune in a blue dress was trying very hard to look interested in vegetables while clearly watching them.

[How did I not notice? I was trained for this.]

"Want to have some fun?" Isabella asked, her lips brushing Raven’s ear.

Before Raven could answer, Isabella grabbed her hand and pulled her into the crowd. They wove between stalls, ducked through a narrow alley, and doubled back. Their tail struggled to keep up without being obvious.

"There," Raven pointed to another alley. "We can ambush her there."

They slipped into the shadows and waited. Sure enough, the kitsune in blue hurried past, looking for them.

Raven moved fast, grabbing the woman and slamming her against the wall. Her knife was at the kitsune’s throat before she could scream.

"Why are you following us?"

"I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!"

Isabella stepped into view, casually examining her nails.

"You’re really bad at this, you know. Like, embarrassingly bad. Did the Shadow Mages not train you properly?"

The kitsune’s eyes widened.

"I’m not—"

"Oh please," Isabella interrupted. "You’ve got ’assassin’ written all over you. Well, more like ’incompetent assassin,’ but still."

"Talk," Raven pressed the knife closer. "Or I start cutting."

"Okay! Okay!" The woman’s facade crumbled. "I was supposed to watch you! Report back on what the nim’s allies were doing!"

"To who?"

"I don’t know! I get orders through dead drops! I swear!"

"Where’s the next dead drop?"

"Behind the Golden Tail bathhouse. Tomorrow morning."

Raven considered killing her. It would be cleaner, safer. But they were in Yalmir, not Syux. Different rules.

"Guards!" Isabella called out suddenly. "This woman tried to rob us!"

Two kitsune guards appeared almost immediately. They took one look at the situation and grabbed the would-be assassin.

"We’ll handle this," one said. "Are you hurt?"

"We’re fine," Isabella said with a bright smile. "Just a bit shaken."

As the guards dragged the woman away, Raven turned to Isabella.

"You should have let me kill her."

"And cause an international incident? Melisa would murder us." Isabella grabbed Raven’s arm again. "Come on, we should tell the others about the dead drop."

She pulled Raven into a different alley, this one more secluded.

"Also," Isabella continued, pressing Raven against the wall, "we need to talk about how you didn’t notice we were being followed."

"I was distracted."

"By what?" Isabella’s grin was wicked. "Or should I say who?"

"That’s not—"

Isabella kissed her, cutting off the protest.

Her tongue invaded Raven’s mouth, tasting like the candied ginger she’d been eating earlier. One hand tangled in Raven’s hair while the other grabbed her ass.

[This is inappropriate. We’re on a mission. We should—]

Raven’s thoughts scattered as Isabella ground against her, their breasts pressing together. She could feel Isabella’s cock hardening through her pants.

"You were watching me," Isabella murmured against her lips, grinning. "All through the market. Watching my ass, my tits, the way my tail moves."

"I wasn’t—"

"Don’t lie." Isabella bit Raven’s lower lip. "You’re terrible at it."

She was wrong.

Or, was she? Come to think of it, Raven did remember a few moments where her eyes drifted to Isabella. She hardly even noticed her own gawking. The way Isabella moved through crowds like water, how she smiled at everyone, the little bounce in her step that made everything jiggle.

[When did I start fixating on these things?]

"You’re changing," Isabella said, as if reading her mind.

"I’m still—"

"Human?" Isabella laughed. "Barely. But you’re becoming something better. Someone who actually feels things."

She kissed Raven again, deeper this time. Raven found herself responding, her hands grabbing Isabella’s hips and pulling her closer.

"See?" Isabella panted when they broke apart. "The old you would never make out in an alley during a mission."

"This is still inappropriate."

"Everything I do is inappropriate. That’s what makes it fun." Isabella stepped back, straightening her clothes. "Come on, let’s go report to Melisa. She’ll want to know about the dead drop."