Mob Sorcery 5 - Ch52 (END)

Momo dropped down from the air, breaking her illusion. She produced a cloth covered in glowing Japanese script. With it, she scooped up Daji’s egg and tucked it away in a bag.

She shot Vince a glance, then turned away and vanished again.

He shrugged off the disquiet her actions gave him. After briefly disappearing while Mei was consumed by fire, Daji’s presence had returned. The ancient trickster fox remained quiet, and almost distant, but he felt her power and that familiar bond in his mind and magical senses. Her emotions appeared muted. Perhaps Momo’s cloth did something to the connection.

Regardless, he felt confident Daji’s egg would return to him. It had even after Mei stole it at the start of the fight.

“Vince!” Nina nearly bowled him over as she skidded in the dust and crashed into him.

Her arms wrapped around him, along with a certain other pair of bouncy assets. A ragged, blonde mane of hair blocked his view.

“I thought you’d gone insane when you walked into those flames,” she said, choking up. “Did you have a death wish?”

“I had trust.” He wrapped his fingers around Nina’s arms and tilted his head up to press his lips against her.

They held each other for several long moments. Nina slowly calmed down, and her grip loosened.

She stood, and then pulled Vince up. His legs ached. Scratch that, his entire body ached in a way that spoke of deep exhaustion more than muscle pain. A roaring headache reared its head as the amount of magic and infusions he’d used came back to haunt him. Nina held him steady.

“Yeah, you look like death.” Nina half-smiled. “I guess you were death. You kicked her ass, even after I thought we’d blown it.”

Her fist gently nudged his shoulder. Very gently.

As the lioness led him out of the battle-scarred field, Vince surveyed the stadium. Half the stands had been mangled or crushed beyond recognition. One section of the stadium exterior had been split open. Countless craters dotted the field while chasms and mounds of dirt surrounded them.

Everyone would know what had taken place here. Beyond the huge barrier, which remained firmly in place, they’d used spells that created an obscene spectacle. Vince’s tornado and Kiyoko’s virtuoso-tier cannon strike would have been visible from space.

The flashing lights of police birds flickered in the sky, but kept their distance. He suspected newsbirds accompanied them and were taking long-distance photos of the stadium even as Vince left.

How much amateur footage of the battle would leak onto social media? He hoped none.

Nina followed his gaze. “Worried about the paparazzi?”

“Ha. Ha.” He sighed. “Some of them might have captured the fight.”

“Nah. Fia mentioned one of their wards blurred cameras and generally fucked with electromagnetic imaging,” Nina said. “Rule one of a battle like this is ensuring everyone feels safe using their big, secret spells. A secret agent like Kiyoko only whips out a sure-kill death spell like that rarely.”

“Maybe I should get a sure-kill death spell,” he mused. “Including the cool chant about my victims thinking about how badly they fucked up to become its target.”

“Wow. You already have two badass meister-tier spells and want to go bigger.” Nina stared ahead. “Maybe not the worst idea, but something of that scale is unusable in battle unless you’re an immortal who can cast it in a reasonable length of time. If even Mei needed a meister-tier spell to cover for her virtuoso-tier spell, what hope do we have?”

His hopes of leveling city blocks with a volcano dashed, he exited the field with Nina.

The moment they stepped off the field, a pair of five-tail purifier foxes greeted them, alongside Fia. The wolfgirl shot the foxes an annoyed look as they stepped forward and bowed.

“Our apologies, but we must check for taint from the soul egg,” one purifier said. “While it is beyond our remit to question how and why you possessed it, given the blessing of our clan head and the guardians of two clans, we must ascertain any evidence of possession. Even short contact with a soul egg can leave a path for the inhabitant to escape.”

Nina’s grip on Vince tightened, while Fia’s eyes narrowed. Her pale face suggested she’d known this was happening.

But the lack of reaction from Daji, and the specific words used by the purifiers left Vince with an odd sense of confidence.

“Go ahead,” he said. “The Inaba twins and Kiyoko verified for themselves before the fight, and I’m doubtful anything has changed.”

Both foxes visibly relaxed, although he had chalked up their demeanors to their job. One began casting diagnostic spells, her tails twitching constantly as she cast. The other drew a magic circle around him using elementalism before activating it.

After roughly two minutes, the two foxes looked at each other and nodded.

“There are no signs of possession,” the purifier said. “I will trust that the clan guardians and the Knightsgate agent understand their actions, as ineffable as they seem.” The frown playing on his lips told Vince that this fox did not approve of using the soul egg at all.

Once free from the purifiers, Fia tackled him in a hug. “Merda, I was worried sick. The shaking of the stadium, massive outpouring of magic, and what little we could see terrified me.”

“You couldn’t watch?” he asked.

She shook her head, rubbing her ears against his chest. “The wards interfered with scrying spells, plus your ring, and Hyuga was insistent we don’t set up any cameras.”

“Good,” Nina grunted. “That means the Miuras don’t have footage of everything that went down. Curious choice, though. Seems like Houou to want every advantage they can get.”

“They’re oddly honorable,” Fia said, and appeared annoyed at herself for saying it. “Still arrogant, but I get less of a racial superiority angle and more of a ‘we know what we’re doing’ feeling. Hyuga mentioned they’ve always worked with humans quite closely due to their proximity to Tokyo, or maybe all the assholes got left behind.”

“Fia,” Vince chided her.

She winced. “Sorry. But they’re different to the foxes I’m used to. I, uh, think we can talk business later, though.”

Talking here wasn’t safe. No amount of wards they used to speak privately would protect them from the sheer number of foxes, who possessed magic far superior to theirs.

Vince nodded and hugged Fia back. “Thank you for staying out of the fight. I know you don’t want to hear that, but—”

Her fingers dug into his back and she stared up at him, eyes wet with tears. “V, I’ve been watching everyone come out covered in wounds or exhausted. When fucking Anzu Inaba gets dragged out with a hole in her chest, I know damn well I had no place out there. Not until I get my ass in gear and train hard, instead of shuffle paperwork for Alessia and the mob.”

He rubbed her back, and after a brief moment together, they separated. Fia began to lead him through the makeshift field station set up inside the half-finished stadium.

Foxes and Lionetti enforcers rushed about. Many packed up gear or salvaged catalysts, but many foxes dedicated themselves to work Vince hadn’t thought about.

Healing. Numerous stretcher beds sat beneath a dome barrier, and half the combatants from the fight with Mei lay on one. Several other people accompanied them on the beds. Vince guessed them to be casualties of spells breaching the stadium interior.

Foxes in the same purifier uniforms tended to the wounded, their tails almost persistently glowing green. Magic circles surrounded the stretchers and monitoring equipment had been attached to some of the worst.

Goro, Cora, and Ashley all lay on beds. Cora appeared lightly wounded, and Vince suspected her presence was to keep Goro in line. By contrast, Ashley lay unmoving and two foxes tended to her full-time, while magic circles flared with light beneath her. Vicious burns covered her skin from head-to-toe.

When Vince saw Kiyoko lying on a bed with no-one by her side, her arms crossed neatly over her stomach and eyes closed, his breath caught in his throat.

Had she…

“You can go in,” Fia said softly. “Probably avoid Goro, or Cora will put her boot up your ass for riling him up.”

“I’ll thank him later, then,” he said. “Where’s Anzu?”

“She should be…” Fia looked around, then frowned. “She was here when we sent Nina back out.”

“How come Gaby never ended up here?” Nina whined.

“Because I’m tired, not wounded.” Gaby appeared from behind them and slapped Nina on the back. “The benefit of being an immortal tied to healing magic is that you have to kick me when I’m down or else I get back up. I am going to nap for a fucking week, though.”

“You sure about that?” Vince reached over and prodded Gaby’s side, and she giggled. “Okay, I guess you are.”

The unicorn hugged him in retribution, pressing her chin atop his head and reminding him of their height difference. “The thing about getting fucked up in a fight like that, and pushing myself that hard, is that it makes shit real clear. I’d go through it again a hundred times for you, Vince.”

He gripped her arms and let her hug him for a while.

But he needed to see Kiyoko’s body, so he let go and stepped away. A fox outside the infirmary barrier looked him over, then cast a spell, before gesturing him to walk through it.

Before Vince attempted to walk through what looked like a solid barrier, he overheard Nina teasing Gaby.

“So are you the light of Albion, or the light of Vince?” Nina asked.

“I can be both,” Gaby protested.

“Uh huh. What was it you said when you healed Pola? That you could only do it thanks to her love for Vince? Is that what powered you in the fight?”

Gaby glowered at Nina, and Vince stepped through the barrier before he had to mediate for them. Somehow, he walked right through it.

The healers ignored him as he walked up to Kiyoko. A soft green sheen illuminated her skin, and he saw a bright light beneath her eyelids.

Multiple magic circles shined below her bed, and he felt they looked familiar. He knew he’d seen them very recently.

Kiyoko’s eyes opened when he got close. “Do not disrupt the magic circles. You will fall unconscious instantly, given their intensity.”

A wave of relief washed over Vince. He sighed and smiled at her, ignoring the way her eyes glowed.

“You were worried for me,” Kiyoko said. The edges of her lips turned upward. “Thank you. It has been some time since I’ve met somebody who has cared for my vessel.”

“I care about you, Kiyoko,” he insisted. “Even if you’d… died here or whatever losing your vessel counts as, I’d still want to see you again, no matter how you came back. But, yes, I am glad you’ve made it through like this.”

She blinked several times, and he saw the visible confusion in her eyes.

“You’re still you, Kiyoko,” he said. “And I hope even now Mei’s gone, you’ll have the time to see more of Aulfair than what your work has let you.”

“… thank you. I’d like that,” she said, voice soft and quiet. “I will see you tomorrow, Vince. For now, I need to rest and let the excess magic bleed out.”

So that was what the magic circles were. Ally had used the same ones on Pola, albeit less intense ones.

Vince resisted the urge to reach out and touch Kiyoko

“Tomorrow,” he said.

As he left, Goro caught his eye from where he lay on a bed. The fox raised a fist, and Vince raised his in return. Cora grimaced at Goro, before shooting Vince a small smile and mouthing, “Thank you.”

Vince didn’t make it far beyond the infirmary before another fox accosted him.

Hyuga bowed to him at a perfect ninety-degree angle that Vince had begun to associate with the older foxes. The clan guardian’s seven white tails fanned out along the ground behind him.

“Congratulations on completing one of the greatest hunts I’ve witnessed for eighty years,” Hyuga said. A sanguine smile crossed his face. “I nearly intervened. Watching you execute a daring but exceptional plan to wear Mei down, only to falter at the end as she drew on every trick up her sleeve. But ancient foes always have numerous contingencies, and learning to deal with them is part of becoming a hunter.”

“Would you have intervened if Vince had fallen?” Gaby asked, her expression neutral but eyes hard as rocks.

Hyuga’s lips thinned. “With the soul egg of a kyuubi at stake, yes. I wish Anzu and Momo had told us in advance that you intended to draw Mei out with the real one, instead of another convincing fake.”

“There wasn’t enough time,” Vince said. “And Mei was already suspicious.”

“But also greedy,” Hyuga said. His eyes locked onto Vince, but showed little of his thoughts. “The old man’s mentioned tales of a kyuubi with black and red tails who once terrorized Edo. She possessed a powerful Hojo purifier in the early days of the Tokugawa Shogunate.”

Vince frowned. “I assumed you knew more about the egg.”

“Please.” The fox shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. “We knew Houou held a soul egg, and that it was powerful, but Saito limited information on it. The fact it was connected to China misled most of us into believing it contained something other than a kyuubi. It doesn’t help that it’s one of the few eggs to be kept out of the public eye, thanks to being locked away by the old ninja clans.”

“Do you know who’s in it?”

“I can speculate, but there’s no point.” Hyuga’s smile vanished for a moment. “I’ll leave it up to the old man to make that call, especially as the purifiers cleared you and Momo has the egg.” Then his smile returned. “In brighter news, we recovered one of the missing Muramasa blades from the 19th century sword hunt.”

“You recovered?” Fia crossed her arms.

“One of?” Nina asked. “I’m usually up to speed on this stuff, but that seemed like an extra-special sword.”

“It is,” Hyuga said. “Sengo Muramasa made hundreds of swords, but only a small number were forged using spirits. They were used by Meiji forces during the Boshin War, and then Knightsgate gathered them all up and destroyed them. Except for the handful that escaped.”

“Mei said I was cursed just for touching it,” Vince said.

Hyuga threw his head back and laughed. “Ordinarily, perhaps. But you also handled a soul egg without trouble. Goro mentioned something about your essence confused him, so I’m assuming you’re spirit-touched. Can’t guess how else you handle that dragon of yours.”

Before Vince could ask about what spirit-touched meant, Gaby leaned on him. He rubbed her side as she blinked away tiredness.

“I won’t hold you up,” Hyuga said. “And no, we’re not claiming the sword, but it is a cursed blade. The Inaba twins went missing and you don’t have the equipment to handle it. Talk with the old man about it after you rest up.” He smiled. “The best part about modern-day hunts is that you don’t have to trek for days to get home.”

“Thank fuck for that,” Nina said. “And don’t you dare say we’re spoiled.”

“Nah. The whole point of progress is so that we live better lives in the future. What’s the point otherwise?” Hyuga looked over at Goro as he spoke. “I know this sounds patronizing, but thank you. Regardless of what happens, I hope you can become his friend. His actual friend. He needs one.”

Recalling Goro’s words during the fight, Vince nodded. Perhaps a night at the Prefect’s Bar with Ronin was in order.

But not tonight.

They finally walked past most of the activity and found Nicki and Hamelin beside several Lionetti SUVs and black vans. The mousegirl necromancer excitedly played with her phone while sitting on a crate, while Nicki stared over her shoulder.

“Check out this part,” Hamelin said. “You can see his arm breaking even as he stabs her. Fucking movie shit.”

Vince ran up to her and saw low-res footage of his battle with Mei. Including her tits hanging out.

“You recorded this?” Fia hissed.

She snatched up Hamelin’s phone and played keep-away. Vince stared at them for several seconds before breaking into hysterical laughter.

When he finally stopped, he found the girls staring at him.

“Sorry, it’s just…” He brushed tears from his eyes. “I just fought the most grueling fight of my life, and now I’m watching this. It’s surreal.”

“The fight’s over,” Hamelin said, then mimed his pose when he blew a hole in Mei’s head. “Bitch is dead and it’s time to celebrate. Grim shit is over. I’d ask to drink like fish at your place, but that requires you to let me in your house and for you to not crash the moment you get home.”

“Drinking later, sleeping soon,” he said.

Gaby nodded. “Fuck yeah to that.”

“I’m holding you to that. I nearly iced a fucking eight-tail fox with zombie IEDs, and I want to down a few bottles of vodka to celebrate.” Hamelin grinned from ear-to-ear. “That whole fight was fucking amazing. Of course I fucking recorded it. If I died, it wouldn’t matter. If we lived, it’s a testament to the craziest shit I’ve been part of.”

“It’s also dangerous to have and exactly what we were told not to do,” Fia said. “I’d delete this, but I bet you have it backed up.”

“Uh, sure. Backed up to my cloud, NAS, five other phones—”

Fia stared at Hamelin, then tapped the phone a few times. Hamelin screamed at the wolfgirl and leaped up in an attempt to get her phone back.

Nicki crept up to Vince. “You’re safe, right? In one piece and just tired?”

He nodded at her. “Exhausted, but whole. Everyone made it through. No bisections or trips to the hospital necessary.”

Well, they kind of had a hospital here, but he left that unsaid.

Nicki tackled him in a hug. Her harpy strength threatened to crush his lungs before she loosened her grip.

“Fuck, I was scared as hell for you,” she murmured into his chest. “Last time was different. I wasn’t there. This time… Don’t fucking die, Vince.”

He patted her back. “I don’t plan on it.”

Nina and Gaby pressed against their sides, as if sensing Nicki’s insecurity, and rubbed her back.

But just as he thought it was time to finally leave and let the night end, golden tails called out to him from a gold Aston Martin nearby. He didn’t see the occupant of the vehicle, but didn’t have to.

The girls followed his gaze, and Nina nodded at him.

“Go deal with her,” the lioness said. “We owe her a lot, given how hard she fought. We’ll be here and ready to head home once you’re done.”

Vince walked up to the Aston Martin and the tails vanished inside. A hand patted the passenger seat. He slipped in and the doors closed automatically. Magic thrummed around him and he felt wards activate.

“Sorry, but it’s hard to find a safe place to talk,” Anzu said. Her tails rubbed against him even as she leaned against the driver’s side door and smiled at him. “How does it feel to be a great warrior and defeat a villain like Mei?”

She still wore her bodysuit, including the hole through the chest. Blood caked on the edges of the suit and several other areas she’d been wounded in, yet Anzu looked dangerously erotic in the car’s bright inside lighting. Her luscious curves were on full display, with her underwear easily visible beneath the bodysuit up close, and the blood only accentuated her nature as a dangerous but alluring woman.

“Exhausted,” he said. “Part of me wants to feel like I made a difference, but I mostly feel tired. She can’t come back and mess with us, but I don’t feel anything has changed. Nobody she killed comes back.”

“Revenge is rarely, if ever, cathartic.” Anzu’s smile slipped. “I lost family to her schemes. Lost my homeland and everything I once valued and cherished. Watching you blow a hole through her head felt thrilling, yet empty. It’s a dangerous high to chase.”

“Who has that many people they can get revenge against?”

Her smile turned sharp and she winked, then produced something from behind her, as if from within her tails.

A small white cloth exactly like Momo’s. She unwrapped it to reveal Daji’s egg, then picked it up with her gloved hands.

Vince blinked. “You took it off your sister?”

“No. Momo doesn’t realize it, but I switched out the egg with a fake.” Anzu giggled. “I saw that you weren’t using the fake egg you took off Kaziern and illusioned it to look like the real one. It has your magic all over it, which should be enough to fool Momo until she gets into her atelier and tries to probe for a way to separate you from Daji.”

Cold seeped into Vince. “You knew Momo would take the egg.”

“Leaving the egg in your possession is dangerous and we haven’t come to complete agreement over you. In case she tried to force the issue, I produced a fake to fool her with.” Anzu met his gaze, then leaned forward until her face was only inches from his. “After tonight, I’m utterly convinced it’s a mistake to waste you.”

“Waste me?” Vince balled his fists reflexively.

“You aren’t some foolish human flailing about with Daji’s power who will burn out from it. Twice, you’ve bested Mei. The second time you helped us kill her. Daji won’t even possess you. You’re the exact sort of man I enjoy working with, and who is far too rare for my liking.” She stroked his cheek with her free hand, then her expression turned grim. “But it’s not this simple.”

Anzu leaned back and toyed with the egg in her hand. It rolled around in her palm. Daji still said nothing to him, and he wondered what was going on.

“I can tell she doesn’t like me,” Anzu said abruptly. “We’re trained to avoid touching the eggs directly, but it’s often a risk we have to take. Even when I tried reaching into the egg to scoop up some of her excess power, Daji actively repels me. The inhabitants are supposed to try to encourage those holding them. Surely I can be tempted?”

“I don’t think Daji wants your body,” Vince said slowly.

As if he’d triggered her trap, Anzu smirked at him. “But she does want somebody’s body. I had assumed it would be Mei’s, but she turned that bitch into ash. Then again, I can only imagine how difficult it would be to secure her body with us and the Miuras around, then possess her in secret. Daji’s known for changing the appearance of the women she possesses, but she’d still need time to claim an eight-tail purifier as strong as Mei.”

Shit. Vince had truly fucked up. “It’s complicated.”

“You say that too much.” Anzu gave him an upturned look. “My entire existence is complicated, including my everyday life. Forcing my involvement in this battle was complicated. Justifying how hard I fought, especially with a wound like this”—she pointed at the hole in her chest—“will be complicated. I can handle whatever reasoning you have to let the most famous and dangerous huli jing in history out of her egg.”

“I spoke with Wagner—”

Anzu’s eyebrows shot up. “In person? Did he handle the egg? Alessia Lionetti let him know about Daji?”

He scowled at her, and she smiled apologetically.

“Yes to all three,” he said. “He wanted to confirm Daji wasn’t a danger to… Well, I’m not sure it was just to Alessia. I think he was scared of Daji herself.”

“Lovely. You’re reassuring me already.”

He grimaced. “He went on. Wagner doesn’t think the current Daji is the… true Daji, I suppose. The seals are mostly intact, and he thinks the spirit I’m dealing with lacks the most dangerous elements of Daji.”

“That’s nonsense. Spirits change bodies all the time,” Anzu said. “My former clan had records on Kiyoko that predate its founding, and she’s stayed largely the same, save for the behaviors she gains from indulging her vessel. Evil spirits like Daji consume their vessels.”

“Yes, but how many times has Daji partially slipped out of her egg, only unsealed part of her power, or possessed someone in passing?” he asked. “The egg breaks when she escapes at all, but it doesn’t just trap her power in there, right? It traps parts of Daji.”

Anzu froze. Then loosed a deep breath. “This is Wagner’s theory, right?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck.” She cursed in Japanese and ran a hand through her golden locks. Then she stared at him with wide eyes. “That’s why you want to give Daji a body suddenly. She’s softer now. Still a bitch, given her opinion of me, but nothing compared to the evil she’s described as.”

Anzu winced and glared at the egg. Vince snorted.

“I take it she disapproved of being called a bitch,” he said.

“I got a mixed vibe,” Anzu admitted. “Almost like when my old mentors and seniors chided me. Exasperated and annoyed with me. I can tell she’s an old crone.” The fox smirked, and Vince knew she’d taunted Daji intentionally. “Without Mei, do you have a body in mind?”

He hesitated, and Anzu raised a hand.

“You need training in how to keep secrets,” she said. “That’s a yes, but you don’t trust me to say. I can likely guess who, but I’ll spare you the embarrassment.”

Surprisingly, Anzu held the egg out. Vince tentatively took it.

The moment he touched it, Daji’s voice rushed back into his head. “Be careful. She’s acting dangerously. Don’t trust her.”

While he would normally trust Daji, after recent events, he hesitated. Anzu hadn’t given him a reason to distrust her.

Daji sighed. “I’m not saying to blow a hole through her head, master. She’s scheming, and you’re her target.”

He nodded, which caused Anzu to raise an eyebrow. With Daji’s return, he sent feelings of thanks and positivity toward her. She cocooned his mind in her tails, and slipped into a partial slumber, with one ear open toward Anzu.

“So you did lose your connection with her,” Anzu said. “You acted strangely the second you touched the egg. Curious.” She shook her head. “No matter. I should discourage this, but that would run counter to my goals.”

“Which are?” he asked.

“So wary suddenly.” Her tails wiggled at him, and she held a curled finger to her lips while smiling. “Before tonight, I came to an agreement with Momo about our involvement with you. That meant I’d keep my mouth shut about what I truly wanted. Tonight, I’ve seen enough. I’ll deal with Momo later, but it’s time to tell you what I truly want.”

Vince gulped. “This is what you were going to say before Momo dragged you off in your penthouse, right?”

Anzu nodded slowly. She languorously stretched out one leg and placed it across his lap. He resisted the urge to do anything.

“We mentioned that our plan for Houou’s civil war is to appoint a puppet to control it, much like the Emperors during the Shogunate,” Anzu said. “The crucial element of that plan is there needs to be a shogun, as any organization needs a leader. A naïve person would assume a cross-clan council could take his place, but Houou would be unable to react fast enough to stop other conglomerates.”

“By shogun, you mean a shadow leader,” Vince clarified. “Wouldn’t that be you or Momo?”

Anzu licked her lips and glanced away. “Perhaps. But I don’t think it’s the best idea. You’ve dealt with a few foxes by now. Surely you’ve noticed how… erratic and unusual we can be. Houou consists of clans that once served as warriors and agents for an empire, and our politics was constrained within that sphere. Not to mention most of the politicians died without escaping Japan. This civil war is the result of that nonsense.”

Kiho’s comments about foxes losing themselves to their personal lives came to mind.

“A… fox I know said that a lot of Houou’s foxes are finding their new personal lives are more interesting than their life of duty,” he said.

“Kiho, I bet.” Anzu’s smile showed visible frustration. “Even with an extra tail, she still left me in her dust and explained the issue so succinctly. Yes. We’re losing our purpose. Those foxes vying for power tend to be the foxes who should have it the least. A guiding principle of the clans has always been that the elders with the most influence need to be experienced warriors, agents, or purifiers, which our tail numbers reinforce, but the American corporate system runs counter to that. Plus many of us are tired, and want to relax.”

“I think you want to relax,” he said. “You enjoy being an influencer.”

She shrugged. “To be honest, I can think of things I’d enjoy more.” She bit her lip and looked at his crotch. “But that’s not important… right now. Houou needs a shogun. An external shogun to give us direction and purpose, like we had under Knightsgate. One who doesn’t aspire to great power and to control us, but who understands battle, is willing to act, and is full of conviction.”

Part of Vince knew where this was going.

The other part of him thought he was insane to even think that. His ego needed limits.

So he sat there, dumbfounded and confused.

Anzu pouted at him. “This is the part where you say, ‘You mean me?’”

“… Anzu, until four months ago, I struggled to pay rent as a lowly enforcer doing shitty jobs for Immanuel,” he said. “You’re talking about taking over a fucking conglomerate.”

“You’ve proven you can handle it, and the fact you struggled only proves Quintus Hierum is excellent at keeping secrets.” She ran a finger along his jaw. “Tonight has proven you’re a warrior capable of carrying an aspiring conglomerate to greatness. I need a shogun. Think about it. Perhaps it won’t come to be, but I needed to be honest with you. Lay my cards on the table so you stop questioning my every move.”

Vince bit his lip, and Daji tittered.

“Normally I’d love for a bitch to hand herself and an empire over,” Daji said. “But this is dangerous. Part of me wants to tell you to claim it and add her and so many other foxes to your harem. The rest of me screams that this will end just like my time in China.”

Death, in other words.

“I don’t think trust is the problem anymore,” Vince said, and Anzu perked up. Her tails danced, rubbing noisily against the car interior. “You risked a lot tonight, even after saying you’d hold back—”

“I did hold back,” Anzu said drily. “Nearly regretted it when I got stabbed. Momo and I know more spells, but using them would cause trouble. We also tend toward the assassination side of things.”

“I noticed.”

She giggled.

“I don’t know if I want to run a whole conglomerate,” Vince said. “That’s so far beyond my dreams it’s still hard to deal with. But…”

Anzu waited patiently for him to continue.

“But I’m glad you at least told me,” he said. “When I’m less tired, I think we need to talk about it properly. With Momo in the same room.”

“Ideally with her tied up and ready for cock,” Daji added.

“I’ll try tying her up,” Anzu said.

Vince nearly cleaned his ears out, concerned he got his wires crossed.

“Get some sleep, Vince. I’ll make sure nobody troubles you tonight,” Anzu whispered.

She leaned over and pressed her lips against his cheek, then slid over and brushed them across his own lips. Her tongue flicked out before she retreated, a slight blush on her cheeks.

“And thank you for protecting me with your dragon. It was sweet,” she said.

He tried to say something and actually lost his voice. After coughing, he managed to say, “I’ll see you… whenever you drop in to say hello.”

“Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the day after. I like to keep you guessing.”

Anzu’s mischievous golden eyes followed him as he got out of her car. Her tails waved him goodbye.

The girls waited by an SUV. Nina narrowed her eyes at him and she gave him a good sniff.

“I don’t think you fucked her,” she said. “But that dopey look tells me she kissed you. You’ve always found her hot, and now she wants to fuck you. So damn annoying.”

“She is hot,” he protested.

Nina shoved him inside the SUV, which was the special Diplomat model with the spatially enlarged interior. Fia and Gaby joined them, while Nicki flew alongside the convoy. Hamelin presumably found her own way back to her underground lair.

“Yeah, but this is like a celebrity trying to join in on the fun.” Nina prodded his chest. “It’s unfair competition.”

“I’m pretty sure you can still hold her down while Vince fucks her,” Fia said.

“Bullshit. She could crack Mei’s barrier with a single punch. I’d be the one getting held down and—” Nina said.

Vince tuned them out and leaned back in his recliner seat. At some point, Gaby poured him a drink. The trip back became a blur. He barely even remembered going into his own home. If there hadn’t been a bunch of Lionetti enforcers hanging around his home, he’d probably have forgotten.

“Home sweet home,” he said as he walked through the front door.

A strange sensation washed over him as he stumbled inside, with Nina, Nicki, Fia, and Gaby behind him. Pola squealed from the living room, and rushed out to greet them. Ally crept out as well and stole a hug. No sign of Alessia or Lucia, but he suspected they had messaged him.

The past month had been somewhere between a fever dream and hell. Tonight concluded it.

Mei was dead. Truly dead, without any way to return. Daji remained his, with Juliet’s body ripe for the taking once he dealt with Ceresviel. Houou stood on the brink of civil war, but Vince had allies and knew his position in it.

Problems remained for another day, despite tonight’s hard conclusion. His girls hugged him, cheered for him, and dragged him into his bedroom. Not for sex, but to cuddle.

“Is the bed big enough?” Fia mused.

“I’m more worried about how we all share Vince,” Gaby said.

“I don’t care,” Vince said. “Work something out.”

He collapsed on his bed and ignored the exasperated glare.

Staring back up at them, he stood his ground. Even if he was on his back. “When we talked about solidifying this arrangement, I made it clear that I still wanted a choice. My choice tonight is to sleep and let you girls work everything else out.”

Ally broke down in giggles, while the others sighed.

“That is a choice, yeah.” Fia rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Pola pressed her fingers together. “Um, I think others deserve the bed. You fought and—”

Nina shoved Pola onto the bed, causing her to bark. “Don’t be stupid. Especially as I bet Gaby runs away.”

“Maybe.” Gaby looked away, then shook her head. “No. After tonight… I’ll do it.”

Vince smiled as he watched them argue. Argue over him, of all things. There wasn’t much to complain about, despite how rough tonight had been.

More than anything else, he loved sleeping in a bed he called his own, in his own place. Tails and arms wrapped around him.

Tonight’s sleep would be buffeted by the feeling of a battle well-fought and the loved ones around him. The specter of Mei and even the constant threat of Houou vanished, leaving him more secure than ever.

Tomorrow… Well, Vince planned to celebrate. The future could wait a few more days. He’d enjoy this moment while it lasted.

END OF BOOK 5

- - - - -

Commentary: And that's a wrap. A lot of the aftermath of killing Mei, and the fallout from the night will have to be handled in Book 6. But I wanted to wrap up unanswered questions from the stadium, break the tension, let you know the fate of everyone, and end with a big floofpile.

Also, Anzu needed to finally establish her true desires. There's been hints as to what she wants, but now they've been said.

This has been an arduous book to write. I hope you've enjoyed it. Maybe it's good enough to get a reread, whether it be from a pre-order or through KU. There will also be some changes to the first two chapters in particular, as well as numerous smaller edits to the first 15 chapters that happened during the break I took (plus the sex scenes will be in the book).

It will be a while before I post any new chapters or stories as I take my break, so thank you for the support and all the comments everyone's left along the way.