Sora weaved through the buzzing crowd, her copper hair catching the morning light as she made her way toward the small hill where Wendy and the others waited. The magical holograms for Kari’s match flickered overhead, crystal-clear projections showing the contestants who she’d be facing.

  Hot take, it wouldn’t matter who they were.

  Though Sora had offered encouragement before leaving Kari, something twisted in her chest—a small flame of exasperation.

  Why are you so…difficult?! You’re so guarded and prickly that you might as well be a porcupine instead of a wolf! No, breathe… Breathe. Deep breaths. She’s working on herself… There’s progress. Probably.

  She thought she’d seen it in Kari’s eyes before she’d left.

  Baby steps, she reminded herself. We’re miles from where we started, even if she still pushes me away. Sure, she can be a real…hammer, at times, but at least she’s not bashing me over the head with it…that much.

  A flicker of movement caught her eye. Looking back toward the wolf, she spotted Jin approaching Kari, her golden eyes and chilling aura intense even from this distance. The dragon’s small frame belied the power radiating from her as she leaned in to speak with the wolf.

  Sora’s ears twitched, attempting to catch even a fragment of their conversation over the thunderous crowd, but it was impossible at this distance.

  What in the world would Jin be doing talking to Kari? Sora wondered, her tail swishing with curiosity. And where’s Eyia? I thought she was going to see Jin about some disagreement.

  Her magic pulsed softly as she reached out with her senses, searching for the Valkyrie’s distinct aura. She’d expected her to be with Wendy by now, but when her searching pulse located her friend’s group on the hillside, the tall blonde was nowhere among them.

  Weird. Jin sort of put this whole thing together for Eyia. It’s her bread and butter, so…where is she?

  Not finding an answer magically, at least at an acceptable output, she made her way to Wendy and the others.

  “Sora!” Wendy called out as she neared. Her sister waved energetically from the grassy slope, having claimed a spot with a perfect view of both the arena and the magical projections. “Everything turn out well?”

  With one last glance at Kari and Jin, Sora saw the dragon break away. A small frown touched her lips as she put a hand on her hip and shook her head.

  Don’t be nosy. Respect boundaries.

  She jogged over to join Wendy and the others, her shoes sinking slightly into the soft earth as she climbed. “What was that? And hey, any of you seen Eyia after she left?”

  “No idea,” Wendy shrugged, ears twitching slightly. “Since she left, she hasn’t been by, so probably off with Jin. Speaking of disappearing…”

  Nilly nodded emphatically, sitting cross-legged on the ground and bobbing back and forth. “Yeah, Nerida slipped away somewhere. She said she needed to find a plastic bag but I…don’t know if that’s a good way to go about going number two out in public. I mean, if I were in my cat form, sure, but I’d be embarrassed as a spooked kitten!”

  Sora mirrored Wendy’s snort of laughter at the Cat Mother’s joke, her bright grin giving it away. “Yeah, no. I think that’s siren code for I need to puke since they don’t really have paper bags underwater. Good one, though.”

  “I don’t think she’d like it,” Nilly mused. “Was Kari okay? She’s seemed…a little off lately. A little tense in the tail.”

  “Yeah, I think she’s—”

  “Hey, hold up!” Wendy’s eyes narrowed as they darted to the projection, her puffy tail bristling. “And nevermind that… Look who’s in the arena.”

  Sora’s gaze snapped up to the magical display, and her breath caught. There, sitting calmly on a chair on one of the floating platforms, book in her lap, was Diane. The SCC representative looked utterly bored, as if being in a magical tournament was nothing more than an inconvenience interrupting her reading.

  “What the hell?” Sora whispered, her fur standing on end as the whole conversation was derailed. “What’s she doing here?”

  Nilly hummed, the bell on her ankle ringing as she stretched out her legs. “Jin did say there would be surprises, and anyone could join. Big twist.”

  A cold weight settled in her stomach as she remembered her promise to Kari—to help her contact Diane about bringing Eric to Avalon. Days had passed since that conversation, and despite her good intentions, she’d put it off, letting it slip to the back of her mind with everything else happening around them.

  Kari asked me to help with this, and I completely forgot, she internally groaned, guilt squeezing her chest. Even though it’s only been a few days, it was important to her. I should have made a better effort… Knowing Kari, she’s going to confront—

  “Mhm. Diane being here is definitely not a coincidence,” Wendy muttered, interrupting Sora’s thoughts. Her voice dropped to ensure nearby students couldn’t overhear as she generated a weak noise suppression spell around them. “Jin must have arranged it. The way she and Kari were talking just now. And yes, I was keeping an eye on you from a distance,” her sister stated defensively. “Someone has to watch you. Buddy system, you know.”

  Not how I’d label it but I like the framing, Sora internally sighed. You have a hard time trusting me, which is kind of fair, I guess. I can get myself into trouble.

  Sora nodded slowly, her thoughts racing. “Yeah, no way this is random. The numbers over their heads—Kari is seven and Diane is six. They’re positioned next to each other by design. Is this Jin, though? I mean, the numbers are done by someone else, right? I…don’t know.”

  “So, umm, what happened?” Nerida asked timidly, jogging up to them with a big plant-like bag instead of plastic and there was another one under her armpit. “I got another one in case anyone needs it. Apparently, they eat waste! Pretty cool. Mom had something similar to it from—is…everyone okay? Why does it feel like a big villain just popped up?”

  “Maybe ‘big villain’ is a bit much,” Sora mumbled in return, crossing her arms and glaring daggers at the woman as the match began. Kari ignored the other contestants and went straight for Diane. “Great… Kari’s talking to her.”

  “Is that a bad thing?” Wendy questioned, placing a hand on her hip and glancing around as the murmurs of the crowd began to question what the giant wolf was doing, talking to the human. “And is it just me, or has Kari gotten bigger since the last time we saw her in this form?”

  “Quite a bit bigger. Oh, and a big deal, Wendy,” Nilly stated matter-of-factly, a knowing gleam in her eyes. “They struck a deal.”

  Wendy turned to the cat, ears perked up. “Oh? How would you know that, super kitty?”

  “Well, I am the super kitty, right?” Nilly just grinned mysteriously and toyed with a strand of her dark hair. “Ooooh. I know things. The cat sees what others miss—real but also exaggerating,” she snickered. “As the future me might say, Nilly sees all the things!”

  “Nice one…” Sora pushed away her lingering guilt and focused on the arena below, where the next group of contestants was already assaulting one another. “Things are heating up.”

  She couldn’t even focus on the match as she scrutinized her irritable wolf friend. Without even knowing it, half of the contestants were eliminated without Kari or Diane so much as glancing at the battles.

  Then, she went stiff as Kari suddenly made a move to utterly rip Diane apart, only for her to vanish into smoke. Moments later, pandemonium erupted on the field, and Kari didn’t just win, she completely dominated her opponents.

  As soon as she entered the battle, it was over. At first, stunned silence met her. Shortly after that, a roar of praise.

  Wendy grunted. “That’s more like the Kari we knew back in high school… Totally overpowering the competition without breaking a sweat.”

  Nerida looked like she wanted to faint on the spot, using the second plant bag to breathe into to calm down. Nilly was trying to support her.

  Kari exited the stage, and more were called up to do battle. None of the faces triggered any recognition as their numbers flashed overhead. Her attention, however, remained fixed on the path where Kari had exited, watching as the tall wolf girl made her way toward them through the crowd.

  She’s coming to us. Did she learn anything about Diane? Is she mad Diane didn’t know she was trying to get ahold of her? What should I do?

  People parted before the teen like water around a boulder—some with respect, others with fear. The transformation in Kari over the past months struck Sora anew as she observed her approach. The girl who had once been her tormentor now walked with a different kind of purpose, her amber eyes focused and clear rather than filled with cruelty.

  So much has changed in such a short time, Sora thought, memories flooding back unbidden. Kari was a literal villain, then a shattered, suicidal teenage girl…and now she looks like a hunter. Something’s changed.

  It had been barely over a month since she’d discovered her heritage, since Kari had allowed Lori to force Wendy to cut her hair and made her walk home practically naked. A little over a month since Jin and Eyia had entered her life, since she’d grown her ears and tail. A month of chaos, discovery, trauma, and growth—and somehow, against all odds, here they were at a magic academy together.

  Is this Aiden’s doing…or Mom’s? I don’t know.

  As Kari reached the base of their hill, Sora felt Wendy stiffen beside her. Despite her sister’s efforts to be more accepting of Kari, three years of being targeted as a way to hurt her had left deep scars. Trust would take time to rebuild—if it ever could be. Sora recognized that.

  However, to Sora’s surprise, as Kari climbed the slope, something seemed…different about her. Her usual confident stride faltered slightly. Her hands fidgeted with the hem of her black tank top, and though her face remained carefully neutral, her ears flicked nervously, and her thick black hair seemed to bristle, which was impressive looking.

  Kari stopped a few feet away from their group, her amber eyes scanning each of them before settling on Sora. She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling visibly as she squared her shoulders.

  “I need to say something,” she started, her voice uncharacteristically tentative.

  “Okay?” Sora muttered, trying not to fidget. “What did Diane say?”

  Nilly immediately sat up, her playful demeanor shifting to rapt attention. Nerida shrank back, clearly intimidated by the wolf’s agitated demeanor. Wendy crossed her arms, her emerald eyes narrowing with suspicion.

  “It’s just…” Kari’s hands dropped to her sides, her fingers curling and uncurling as she struggled visibly with whatever she wanted to say. When she spoke again, her voice was steadier, though still tinged with an unfamiliar hesitation. “Look, I… I’ve been listening to these motivational videos for a bit. There's this one about…”

  She paused, shoved her hands into her pockets, then pulled them out again. “ ‘Emotional accountability through recognizing impact, regardless of intent.’ And it made me think, mmm…”

  Sora stared, speechless. In all the time she’d known Kari—as a bully or as an uneasy ally—she hadn’t seen the wolf this uncomfortable since she’d broken down in Miami. This wasn’t nearly that bad, but obviously, she was struggling with something.

  “I just want to say…” Kari continued, the words seeming to physically pain her. “I’m sorry. To both of you.”

  Her gaze moved from her to Wendy, sending Sora’s ears to the moon. Did she actually apologize to Wendy?! What did Diane say to her?!

  “I’m sorry for everything I did. For bullying you, Sora. For targeting you, Wendy, to get to her—well, to you, Sora,” she mumbled, gripping her elbow and breathing out a hot stream of air through her nose. “I know Jenny was manipulating me, but that doesn’t change that I did those things.”

  The silence that followed felt heavier than gravity. Sora’s lips parted in shock, her ears perked forward as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. Wendy’s mouth had fallen open, her tail frozen mid-swish.

  “I…” Kari’s ears flattened slightly as the silence stretched on, Wendy’s noise bubble leaving the area feeling isolated, despite the thousands of creatures around them. “I’m going to do better… Yeah. I’ll do better. That’s all.”

  She shifted uncomfortably, then spun on her heel and strode away without waiting for a response, her shoulders rigid and her pace quickening with each step.

  For several heartbeats, no one spoke.

  Then Nilly broke the silence with a soft, “Well, that was really sweet. Her grandpa would like her confronting that, I think… The Fenrir I knew was…kind of a jerk, but I know he changed, just like Kari, I guess. Right?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Sora slowly shook her head, unable to fully process what the wolf had just done.

  This is huge… Kari, you actually apologized directly to Wendy. Yes, you used me as a bouncing board, but how did she take it?

  Glancing to her left, she tentatively studied her sister’s face as her brow shifted between confusion, anger, and back to confusion.

  “Did that…” Wendy began, her voice faint with disbelief. “Did that actually just happen? She just beat the snot out of everyone, talked to that bitch of a witch, and then just…walks up and says sorry? I… What the hell?”

  “I mean…”

  “No, don’t say it,” Wendy grumbled, growling and running her fingers through her hair before flaring it out. “I get it. She apologized,” she said, as if testing the reality of the words. “Kari apologized. To us… To me. And then just…walked away.”

  “That took guts,” Nilly whispered, her previous mischievous expression replaced by something more contemplative. “I think she may be opening the door to, you know, maybe be a little more friendly. Fenrir wasn’t exactly well mannered, too when we were sixteen—well, I am sort of sixteen again, but yeah.”

  Sora’s brow furrowed as one of her previous questions popped back into her mind. “You do remember some of the early Founders? Fenrir? Kari’s grandfather?”

  A fleeting shadow passed over Nilly’s face, there and gone so quickly Sora almost thought she’d imagined it. “Some things… It’s fragmented,” she replied cryptically, as if saying she didn’t want to get into it. “I know he tried to eat me when we first met and I scratched his nose… He didn’t cry, but I could tell he was holding back. Fenris wolves have a lot of pride…”

  Wendy scoffed lightly, though there was less venom in it than Sora expected. “Pride? She says all that and then just runs off. I guess that’s typical of her now, huh?”

  “Wendy…” Sora began.

  But her sister’s ears drooped slightly, an embarrassed flush coloring her cheeks. “I mean, to be fair, I’d probably do the same. I don’t know if I could face someone after apologizing for years of… You know.” She sighed, shoulders slumping. “Maybe she is changing. I just don’t know if I’m ready to accept what that means.”

  Sora bumped shoulders with her, understanding how complex the dynamic between all of them was but saw development happening. “We’ve all got our demons, Big Sis. We’ll get through it.”

  “Yeah…”

  Her attention drifted back to the arena, where the next battle was already underway. Nerida seemed to be trying to melt into the grass and Nilly appeared to be contemplating something about her past. Sora found herself getting lost in all the moments that had happened over the past several weeks.

  Sure, things were a little hectic between everyone but they were mending. Jin’s tournament seemed to be a good place to expand a little, too. Maybe they could even have a little fun. It wasn’t long before Wendy reverted her sound bubble and was running away from Kari’s apology as much as the wolf had.

  She found herself smiling while settling into the rhythm of Jian’s brief commentary or the fae’s discussions between the free-for-all matches. The contestants blurred into a frenzy of motion and magic, but her mind remained stuck on Kari’s unexpected apology and how much she was growing. After a while, though, a certain blonde’s absence nudged her brain.

  “There’s still no sign of Eyia, is there,” she noted, scanning the crowds once more. A short searching spell told her the Valkyrie wasn’t anywhere on their side of the field. “And Jin’s nowhere to be seen either.”

  “Meh. Eyia’s a combat nut and Jin knows it, I assume. Maybe they’re having one of their intense ‘contests’ like a drinking competition,” Wendy suggested with a shrug. “One thing I know is that nobody is messing with Eyia. So, she’s doing her own thing, probably.”

  That’s…kind of what I’m afraid of, Sora internally worried, turning back to the battles. Eyia is a lot more vulnerable than people seem to think. Sure, in combat, she’s a monster. But socially… Eyia’s going through her own struggles.

  The matches continued in rapid succession, and Sora found herself distantly noting the different styles and abilities on display to distract herself. A graceful elf with silver hair wielded ice magic with lethal precision. A burly dwarf used earth-shifting spells to trap his opponents in the ground while being shockingly nimble and showing crazy physical strength. A young dragon in humanoid form unleashed controlled bursts of flame that scorched but never seriously injured, showing high levels of control.

  Through it all, Jian maintained order with calm efficiency, a tablet of wood in his hands that intrigued Sora a little as he organized the proceedings. But of Jin, there was no sign. Nilly and Nerida appeared to have gotten into their own conversation about how she could not get slaughtered off the jump in the arena.

  “Do you think Kari and Diane made some kind of deal regarding Eric?” Sora wondered aloud, circling back to the earlier exchange. “Kari’s not stupid. I just worry when we’re talking about Diane.”

  Wendy’s face instantly soured on the topic of the witch; if there was one person Wendy hated more than Kari, it was Diane, and possibly Jane, but those feelings were far more complicated. “Diane’s a snake who only does anything for herself. I wouldn’t doubt it.”

  Sora nodded slowly. “I promised to help her with that, but with everything happening… I never got around to it.” Guilt pinched at her again. “Do you think…Jin was trying to help me or twist my tail because—”

  A collective gasp from the crowd drew their attention back to the arena and dashed the topic from Sora’s mind. Professor Kurosaki had entered the ring, his nine tails swaying elegantly behind him as he took his position. As soon as the match officially began, all of his opponents suddenly found themselves outside the boundaries in a swirl of cosmic light, earning confused murmurs from most of the spectators as Jian called the battle.

  “What just happened?” Nerida exclaimed, jumping back into the conversation and looking alarmed. “I didn’t think actual professors would be entering the competition! Where’s my bag… I shouldn’t have eaten anything. I feel sick. Maybe I should just quit… No, I can’t after Eyia put so much effort into training me. Blah!”

  Hang in there! Sora internally encouraged, trying to pay attention to the White Tiger’s response to the elegant fox man’s abrupt action.

  Jian’s amplified voice echoed through the stadium. “The contestants never made it onto the stage and forfeited by default. The attack began before the match started—which is allowed, as long as it targets only your specified contestants.”

  A wave of excited and impressed whispers swept through the crowd.

  Professor Kurosaki merely smiled, his expression serene as his voice projected through the whole gathering. “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. True victory comes not from engagement, but from ensuring the battle is won before it even begins.”

  “Smooth,” Wendy muttered. “I can see why he has a fan club.”

  Even more surprising was the next contestant to appear—Mistress Katie Milla, her nine tails elegant and controlled as she ascended to the platform. She passed Kurosaki on her way up, and they exchanged brief words that made the woman giggle before she took her position.

  Tension heightened when the next number flashed, and some poor, single-tailed vulpes named Yeon-ah bounced energetically onto the stage. Sora wouldn’t have given the cheerful, single-tailed vulpes a second thought, but beside her, Wendy suddenly sat straight up, her eyes narrowing and tail bristling.

  “What’s wrong?” Sora asked, watching her actual hair start to quiver, like Kari’s did when really agitated. “Do you know her?”

  “Uh, yeah. That’s the Kumiho that Diane warned us about,” Wendy whispered. “The nine-tailed one.”

  “What? How do you know that?” Sora blinked, studying the seemingly innocent fox on the platform. “But she only has one tail. Then again, if she was at the level of a nine-tailed fox, then that wasn’t surprising. “An illusion?”

  “Yeah, no, that has to be her. Jin had to have known. I mean, wouldn’t she? Why would she put those two against each other?” Wendy mumbled conspiratorially. “I can’t even see through it, though. Can you?”

  “No?”

  “I mean, uh…I guess the Kumiho could have stolen this girl’s identity when she talked to me, but…”

  Sora’s ears went on high alert but not from the foxes. “Wait, you talked to the Kumiho Diane warned us about and didn’t tell me? What the crap?!”

  “Mmgm. We’ll talk about it later,” she mumbled.

  “Oh, yes we will!”

  “Look, they’re ignoring each other,” Nerida noted, fidgeting with her shorts. “You think they know about each other, right? They’d have to at their level. I mean, wouldn’t Professor Katie be the likely one to win since she’s, you know, an instructor?”

  “I don’t know,” Wendy growled. “Yeon-ah escaped from the Foundation. So… She’s no slouch.”

  As the other contestants took their positions, Sora tried to focus her magic, attempting to penetrate whatever concealment Yeon-ah might be using. To her frustration, each time her magic began to weave a pattern, the pattern would suddenly shift, forcing her to adapt and using more of her power than anticipated.

  “I can’t see anything,” she admitted, her brow furrowing in concentration while trying to reference back to what Sela was doing to see through her own illusion. “She’s constantly changing her type of illusion, I think, which is screwing with my weave? That’s…tricky. I’ll have to remember that. It feels like she’s changing her magical signature faster than I can track it, which seems super advanced—they vanished?”

  The match started and the moment it did, both Yeon-ah and Katie shimmered, and faded into nothingness. Jian didn’t call them out, which meant they were still there.

  Wendy was already rubbed her temples after only a few seconds. “I’m getting a headache just trying to find where the two vulpes went. It’s requiring so much of my power, and you’re right, they keep swapping things up. The other contestants seem more focused on each other than them, too, not that they could probably find them.”

  “There has to be something we can do.”

  “What if you desire to save your magic even if it collapses or they change the weave?” Wendy suggested. “I can see a faint outline of something on the right side of the arena, but I’m pretty sure it’s a decoy—or that’s how it feels.”

  “Good idea,” Nerida whispered, still looking sick. “How am I supposed to compete? I think that’s what a lot of the others who are chosen to compete feel.”

  Sora nodded. Yet still, her vision struggled to focus, the magical energy unstable and constantly shifting. “Mmm. Not working.”

  “I can see them,” Nilly suddenly announced, her golden eyes fixed on the arena. “They’re standing side by side, talking. Katie is masking Yeon-ah’s presence. Yeon-ah is only maintaining her illusions. They’re fluctuating their magical resonance together, though, which means they’re really comfortable with each other and understand the other’s spiritual signature. Uh… What?”

  They all stared at the Cat Mother, who shrank a little.

  “Sometimes I forget how powerful you really are, Nilly,” Sora chuckled.

  “I’ve heard a few rumors in the dorms that suggest this isn’t the first time Professor Katie and Yeon-ah have met,” Nerida ventured timidly, surprising Nilly now.

  “Oh? How so? They do have a very similar wavelength.”

  “The rumors make sense then,” the siren whispered. “Some girls in the dorm think they have some kind of connection. There’s gossip that they might even be related, since they’re both Kumiho.” She immediately flushed. “Not that all Kumiho are related! Or the same! I’m not racist or anything!”

  Despite the tension, Sora couldn’t help a small smile at the siren’s flustered clarification. Her attention returned to the arena, where the other contestants were now engaged in combat, magical energy flashing between them like lightning.

  “Wendy, can you see past illusions better than me?” she asked, still struggling to penetrate the illusion.

  “I mean, a little bit but I’m not that skilled yet,” Wendy confirmed. “I can’t hear what they’re saying and that’s what we need.”

  “I can try to link us to Nilly’s senses,” Sora offered, though she hesitated while glancing at the Cat Mother. “I did something similar to Lori at one point. But…I’ve already used about twenty-five percent of my magic just trying to see through their illusions and I don’t know if I’ll be next.”

  “I can try to link with you?: Wendy said, her focus sharpening. “Maybe united, we can minimize the effort. I can see through most of the illusions naturally.”

  A flicker of insecurity passed through Sora. One day of training and she’s already better than me at this? Am I really that bad at it? Or is she just naturally gifted because tanuki specialize in illusions?

  She pushed the thought aside and focused on her magic, attempting to create a sensory link between herself, Wendy, Nilly, and Nerida. The connection with Wendy proved challenging, requiring her to adapt her spells repeatedly to accommodate her sister’s null-void nature.

  Another eight percent gone, she grumbled internally. I don’t even know if I’m supposed to fight in the tournament today. You suck, Jin! You have my tail twisted.

  “Oh—got it! Nilly, it’s actually pretty easy to link to you.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s a little uncomfortable,” she mumbled, cheeks burning and glancing to the side. “You’re linking all four of our spirits in a way that usually is… Nevermind. You can’t feel it since it’s a bit, eh, deeper than you’re used to so you’re oblivious. Uh, I’m glad I’m stable because if I wasn’t right now, you’d be kind of split throughout all of time and space.”

  “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Finally, the link stabilized, and sound filtered through—Katie and Yeon-ah’s conversation already in progress. Forget the display, Nilly practically had a front row seat with how sharp her senses were, which punched Sora in the nose.

  “…not going to warn you again,” Katie was saying, her tone sharp despite her elegant posture. “I’m knocking you out of the ring now. Stop getting in my way, little sister.”

  Yeon-ah’s response came with a sweet smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Be careful, big sister. There are prying ears looking our way and we wouldn’t want your perfect image tainted by my indiscretions.”

  She gestured vaguely in their direction. “I don’t mean to step on your tails. You and Kurosaki can keep playing your little game—I’m not interested in that. I just hope we won’t end up coming to another…disagreement. I would hate for things to end as they did last time. Anyway, have a wonderful day, Sister.”

  With that cryptic warning, she turned and walked off the platform, disappearing into a shimmer of teleportation magic.

  The link between them collapsed as the conversation ended, Sora’s concentration breaking under the strain of maintaining it.

  “Sisters?” she exclaimed, turning to Wendy and Nerida. “You were right, they’re actually sisters?”

  “And she knew we were listening,” Wendy added, her expression troubled. “What did she mean about Kurosaki’s game? And what happened last time? Something tells me all three of them are actually plotting with us in the center.”

  Nilly yawned, stretching her arms above her head. “Wow. That made me suddenly super tired… Politics also makes me tired,” she declared with disdain. “Boring, complicated, fox politics. Cats are much more straightforward. We smack you with our paw if we want you to go or nuzzle when we want love.”

  The magical projection showed Katie now engaging with the remaining contestants, her nine tails weaving patterns of light that entranced and confused her opponents without an ounce of effort. Her movements were graceful, efficient, and utterly devastating.

  She’s taking her time compared to Kurosaki. A difference in approach, I guess.

  “Something’s going on,” Sora murmured, her mind racing through the implications. “If Yeon-ah is the Kumiho Diane warned us about then that changes things. Plus, Katie and Kurosaki playing a game? Maybe there is more going on…and Jin’s throwing it in my face.”

  “Nothing is ever simple in our lives, is it?” Wendy sighed, her tail drooping slightly.

  “Uh, that’s more of a Founder thing,” Nilly replied, her golden eyes reflecting an ancient wisdom that momentarily shattered her teenage fa?ade. “But that’s why being us is so fun.”

  “If you say so,” Sora grumbled. “I just wanted a normal, magical fox girl school block at least, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Wonderful… And I can’t believe you kept that from me!”

  Wendy’s ears fell back, guilt creasing her nose. “No, you’re right. I should have told you…and what I confronted Aiden about.”

  “W-What?! Wendy!”

  “I’ll tell you! Chill… I’m still figuring things out, too,” she groaned, pulling her tail around the fidget with it. “Just give me a second to get my thoughts straight, okay?”

  As the crowd roared in response to Katie’s victory, Sora couldn’t keep up with it all.

  What the hell, she thought, watching Katie bow elegantly to the audience before turning her glare to her sister. There’s so much more happening here than we understand and now Wendy’s keeping these kinds of secrets from me? C’mon!

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  Undying Empire

  Book 1 - Foundation

  Novellas (Stand Alone; Same Universe)