InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 5: Phantasm ❯ Righteous Indignation ( Chapter 18 )

~~Chapter 18~~

~Righteous Indignation~

 

Sydnie's back stiffened at the softly uttered words. Fighting down the surge of pain that welled inside her, she swallowed hard, staring out at the expanse of water before her. She'd stopped beside the picturesque lake to gather her thoughts, or so she'd told herself. She certainly hadn't been waiting for Bas. `That's absurd,' she insisted. `As if I'd do something as stupid as that . . .'

 

“It's getting dark,” Bas said gently. “You . . . you should come back to the hotel.”

 

“I don't think so,” she murmured stiffly.

 

She heard him take a few steps toward her. She leaned forward enough to let him know that she would bolt if he even tried to touch her. He stopped and heaved a sigh. “Where were you going?” he asked.

 

Sydnie shrugged offhandedly. “I was waiting for the bus, puppy.”

 

“Waiting for the . . . bus,” he intoned. “I see.” She saw him shuffle forward into the line of her peripheral vision. She lifted her chin stubbornly and refused to meet his wary gaze. “Tell me, Sydnie . . . wouldn't it be better to wait for the bus at a . . . bus station?”

 

“Maybe,” she agreed, her nostrils flaring slightly as she tried in vain to curb her rising irritation. “But since the next bus isn't coming through until midnight, I had a few hours to kill.”

 

“I can't let you leave,” he told her, his tone almost apologetic.

 

“I don't remember asking for your permission, pretty boy.”

 

“Good, because I don't remember giving it.”

 

“You're such a bastard, did you know? A real jackass.”

 

He nodded slowly. “We've all got our own burdens to bear. Now come on, will you? You can yell at me later if you want.”

 

She rolled her eyes and shifted her weight, tucking her legs under her as she finally deigned to look at him. “You're a liar, Bas—Sebastian—whoever the hell you are. You're a liar and a jerk, and I'm not going anywhere with you!”

 

“Sydnie—”

 

“Go to hell, puppy! I don't know which was worse: thinking that you were whoring around on your bitch with me or knowing that the only reason you kissed me is because you're no different from every other guy I've ever met!”

 

Did he have to look like she'd just slapped him? Did he have to flinch and blush? She hadn't missed the flash of acute embarrassment that he hadn't been able to mask fast enough before he hid behind the emotion behind a calm façade that hid everything that he was thinking. He drew himself up proudly, his expression blank, stoic. Sydnie steeled her resolve, reminding herself that he had been the one who had lied; that he had deliberately tried to hurt her.

 

Bas stepped toward her, grasping her arm and pulling her to her feet. “I'm not going to stand around and argue with you, cat. Move it, will you? Come on.”

 

Narrowing her gaze, she jerked on her arm in a futile effort to free herself. Bas held onto her, tightly but firmly. “I'd rather swim naked in a lake of molten lava. I'd rather eat a million maggots. I'd rather die a million times than to go anywhere with you ever again! Leave me alone, damn you! Just leave me alone!”

 

“I can't, Sydnie,” he explained. “You know I can't.”

 

She uttered a low hiss, a sing-song little growl. He tugged on her arm, and she leaned back, using her weight as leverage in her struggle to keep from being dragged back to the hotel.

 

“Don't make me toss you over my shoulder,” Bas warned.

 

“As if you could, you swine. You're still hurt, remember?”

 

If the look on his face meant anything at all, the man really had forgotten that he was hurt, and he was also quite seriously considering hefting her over his shoulder as he'd threatened to do. Golden eyes flashing dangerously, he looked more irritated than he ever had. Bas tightened his grip on her arm and yanked. She stumbled, catching herself before she fell. Glaring up at him, she dug the heel of her stiletto into his foot until he let go with a grimace and a grunt of pain.

 

She didn't wait for him to recover. Darting around him, she broke for the trees again, intent on escaping the hunter before he could try to make good on his threats. She could hear him barreling after her, and she didn't dare spare a moment to glance back. If he hadn't been upset with her already, she didn't have to be stupid to know that he had to be now. The trees provided a modicum of cover, and she dodged in and out of the shadows in an effort to elude Bas the Hunter.

 

`Damn him . . . how can he run so fast when he's hurt?' she grumbled, sprinting faster as the sound of his heavy footfalls grew steadily nearer. Determination, maybe? The all-important `job' he'd been hired to do? She snorted, covering her face with her hands to keep from being struck by the low hanging branches of so many cypress trees. The earth tried to mire her down, the spongy ground still saturated from rain seemed determined to thwart her. Careful to keep her weight on the balls of her feet as she ran, she gasped and stumbled when her heel caught in the tangled tree root. Her scream was cut short by Bas' considerable weight as he tackled her. His arms wrapped around her, his body rolling to the side to break the fall. He landed on his left shoulder, grunting as the impact rumbled through his body. They rolled a few times and finally stopped. Sydnie gasped and shoved futilely at Bas' shoulders as the hunter slowly rose on his elbows, shifting some of his weight off her in the process.

 

“Get off me, you oaf!” she yelled, grimacing as clammy moisture seeped through the thin material of her clothes.

 

“If you're smart, Sydnie, you'll shut the hell up,” he ground out.

 

“And if you're smart you'll move,” she countered, “or I swear I'll knee you in the balls.”

 

His already impatient expression darkened even more, and Sydnie gasped when Bas thrust his knee between her legs, effectively blocking any attempt she might have made to carry out her threat. “Knock it off or I'll lock you up until we reach Maine.”

 

She pounded on his shoulders. He didn't even flinch. “Lock me up, bastard! See if I care!”

 

“Damn it, Sydnie, stop it! You're coming with me, and that's final.”

 

“The hell I am,” she spat, jerking her arm free and swinging her hand to scratch his cheek.

 

He caught her wrist and slammed her arm against the ground beside her head. She bucked her hips to dislodge him. Bas gritted his teeth and leaned to the side, cutting the bandage that she'd wrapped around his chest earlier. Catching the first strip between his teeth, Bas jerked her arm toward him, deftly looping the fabric around her wrist before catching her free hand and repeating the process, overcoming her resistance without any real trouble. “No!” she hissed as he pushed himself off her and jerked her to her feet.

 

“I'd shut it now if I were you, Sydnie,” he bit out, tucking the loose end of the makeshift bandage under the other layers. “Now move it.”

 

She tried to pull her hands free, but he'd tied them much too securely. Scowling at his handiwork, Sydnie made a face and stifled a frustrated growl. “Thought I told you, Bas-tard, I'm not going anywhere with you.”

 

“And I thought I told you, bitch, you're coming with me whether you like it or not.”

 

She jerked her arm away when he reached out to grab it then stopped suddenly, her gaze shifting from him to the surrounding trees.

 

“Sydnie, will you just—”

 

“What's that?”

 

Bas sighed and shook his head, shifting his weight to his right leg and draping his hands on his lean hips. “That's my idiot cousin, Sydnie. Now will you move?”

 

She scowled at him for a moment and stubbornly shook her head. “It's not Gunnar, Sebastian. I think I can tell the difference between him and someone I don't know.”

 

Bas shot her a suspicious glance but slowly turned to peruse the area, drawing his sword as he took a limping step toward the trees.

 

Sydnie pursed her lips, taking a quick step toward him.

 

“There's no one there, just like I said,” he informed her as he swung around to scowl at her. Sydnie bent over, slipping her hands under Triumvirate's blade and neatly severing the cloth that held her tight. “Damn it!” he roared as she pushed off the ground and darted away again.

 

She didn't get far, though. Her gasp as he threw himself at her again veered into a groan as she took the brunt of the hit, smashed between him and the ground once more. He levered himself off her before she'd managed to catch her breath, hauling her to her feet and stooping so that his face was mere inches away from hers. Eyes blazing, every line of his countenance seething with rage so powerful that she could feel it singing the edges of her aura, he grimaced angrily, his fangs glinting in the rapidly waning light of day.

 

She swallowed hard, hating him for intimidating her; hating herself for feeling afraid of him, even if only for the moment. He bent down, jerking her foot off the ground to pull off her shoe before repeating the process with the other one before straightening up again, dropping Triumvirate into the scabbard hanging on his hip. Grabbing her arm roughly and tucking the shoes under his elbow, he grunted to tell her that she'd better start walking.

 

Unable to think of another means of escape, she went with him, consoling herself envisioning a million different painful demises for Bas the Hunter.

 

 

-OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO-

 

 

“You're not really going to leave her like that all night, are you?” Gunnar asked quietly.

 

Bas snorted and shrugged. “That was the plan, yes.”

 

Gunnar sighed. “Bas . . .”

 

“Shut up, Gunnar. She's a menace.”

 

“A menace? Oh, please! You shouldn't have lied to her.”

 

Bas glared at his cousin as he reached for a slice of pizza. “Drop it.”

 

“At least take the cuffs off her so she can eat.”

 

Bas rolled his eyes and sighed. “You hungry, cat?”

 

She straightened her back but didn't bother to look over her shoulder at him. Sitting ramrod straight in the center of the bed, she didn't make any moves to indicate that she'd heard him. “I'm never hungry, puppy,” she reminded him.

 

Bas waved his pizza at her. “Told you.”

 

Gunnar made a face. “Come on. I doubt she'll try to run away again tonight, don't you?”

 

Bas snorted. “You going to try it again, cat?”

 

“Absolutely,” she replied.

 

Bas rolled his eyes.

 

“She can't even drink anything that way,” Gunnar pointed out.

 

Bas grunted. “You want some milk, Sydnie?”

 

She didn't even bother to answer him, and Bas shot his cousin a meaningful look.

 

Gunnar wasn't ready to admit defeat. “Okay, but you know, her arms will be hurting by morning—if she can feel them at all by then.”

 

“You want them off, Sydnie?” Bas asked.

 

“Go to hell, hunter,” she tossed back.

 

Gunnar sighed. “I'll take responsibility for her tonight,” he offered. “Just give me the keys, Bas.”

 

“Forget it,” Bas growled, giving up on the pretense of eating as he dropped the untouched slice of pizza onto the table with a dull thump. “You've already underestimated her once.”

 

“Give me a break . . . I didn't realize she'd take off out the window.”

 

“I have to use the little kitty's room,” Sydnie declared loudly.

 

Bas ground his teeth together. Gunnar sat back, crossing his arms over his chest, and watched as Bas stood up slowly, hobbling over to pull Sydnie off the bed and roughly propel her toward the bathroom.

 

“Are you going to pull my panties down for me?” she asked, tossing a scathing glare over her shoulder.

 

Bas blushed but shook his head. “Gunnar, go outside and stand under the window.”

 

“I think you're being a little ridiculous,” Gunnar grumbled.

 

“I didn't ask you, did I?” Bas shot back.

 

Gunnar stared at him for a long moment before slowly heaving himself out of the chair and stalking toward the door.

 

Bas waited until he heard Gunnar's voice outside before unlocking one of the cuffs and letting it drop free. Sydnie spared him a fulminating glower before slamming the door in his face. He tapped his claws on the wall while he waited, deciding that if she took even one second longer than he thought was necessary that he was going to break down the God-forsaken door.

 

She opened the door and turned around, holding her hands behind her back to make it easier for him to refasten the handcuff. After the last click, she stomped away from him, chin held high as she crawled back onto the bed, facing the wall once more.

 

The smallest twinge of guilt made him sigh as he shuffled back over to the table and sank down. He was tired; he hurt; and his head ached. All in all, he figured it couldn't be much worse.

 

Sydnie curled her legs beside her and rolled her shoulders. For some reason, the very real memory of her, cuddled against him in the morning, flashed through his head, and he winced.

 

Then again, maybe it could.

 

 

-OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO-

 

 

“How's everything going?”

 

Gunnar rubbed his forehead as he slumped against the wall outside the hotel room, contemplating the first question that Cain Zelig had asked the moment Gunnar had answered his cell phone. “It's . . . going,” he allowed.

 

Cain paused for a moment. “. . . Going? Sounds cryptic, don't you think?”

 

Gunnar sighed, trying to decide what, if anything, he ought to tell Cain regarding Bas' disagreement with Sydnie. Bas knew Sydnie better than he did, sure, but Gunnar hadn't ever seen his cousin quite so irritated, either. Granted, it couldn't have been good on his already battered body to have to chase her down, and then to watch as she ground her heel into Bas' foot . . . He couldn't say he blamed his cousin, but he also had to admit that he thought that Bas was being a little extreme. “Bas and Sydnie aren't getting along very well at the moment,” he hedged.

 

“Oh?” Cain asked.

 

“I don't think it's a huge deal,” Gunnar admitted. “Bas is just overacting a little.”

 

“Overreacting? How?”

 

He winced. Ordinarily, he would leave it alone since technically, this was Bas' job, and he really did know Sydnie better than Gunnar did, but . . .

 

But he couldn't shake the image, either, of Bas, towering over the girl, glaring down at her with a look on his face that would have made grown men stand down. Sydnie hadn't, though she had finally come back to the hotel with Bas. The thing was, she was so tiny, so fragile looking . . . and the entirely too-real knowledge that, while the girl might be strong enough to weather Bas' tirade, she wasn't nearly experienced enough with Bas to know that he might bark and bluster, but he really didn't have it in him to harm anyone he considered to be his responsibility. Then to see Bas jerk the girl around as though she were no more than a little rag doll while he forced the handcuffs onto her slender wrists . . . Gunnar trusted Bas, of course, but even he had to wonder just what his cousin was thinking . . .

 

“Sydnie found out that Bas lied to her, and she . . . well, she tried to run off. He tracked her down and brought her back, but . . .”

 

“But?”

 

Gunnar rubbed his forehead. “But . . . he's got her handcuffed and swears she can stay that way for the rest of their trip back to Maine.”

 

“He's just blowing,” Cain remarked, more to himself than to his nephew.

 

“That's the thing,” Gunnar admitted. “I . . . well, I don't think I've ever seen him look more serious than he was when he said he was going to do it.”

 

Cain sighed. “Let me talk to him.”

 

“Cain . . .”

 

“Just let me talk to him.”

 

Gunnar let out his breath in a whoosh. “All right.” Opening the hotel room door, he peered inside. Sydnie was settled on the bed once more, and Bas was leaning back in a thick recliner. “Bas.”

 

Bas opened his eyes and leveled a dark look at his cousin. “What?”

 

Gunnar held out his cell phone, and Bas grimaced but planted his hands on the arms of the chair to heft himself out of it. He stomped past Gunnar, snatching the phone out of his hand as he narrowed his eyes and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, `fucking tattle-tale'.

 

“Hello?”

 

Gunnar pulled the door closed again and slouched against the wall, hands jammed into his pockets as he heaved a sigh and tried not to eavesdrop.

 

“Gunnar says you've had some trouble with Sydnie today,” Cain began in a carefully neutral tone.

 

“Oh, did he?” Bas asked, shooting Gunnar a menacing glance. His cousin was staring at the ceiling, obviously trying not to draw attention. Bas sidled closer and slugged Gunnar's shoulder. Gunnar grimaced and scooted over, furiously rubbing the spot.

 

“Want to tell me about it?”

 

“No.”

 

“Humor me?”

 

“Rather not.”

 

Cain sighed. “Do it anyway.”

 

“Not much to tell,” Bas growled. “She took off; I chased her; she tried to maim me, so I brought her back and put her in handcuffs.”

 

“Bas . . . you know, right? Sydnie's life depends on whether or not someone can get her to talk about why she killed Cal Richardson.”

 

He grimaced. “I know.”

 

“Are you sure that you can get her to do that? I mean, if you have a conflict in personalities . . .”

 

“It's fine, Dad. Just fine.”

 

Bas could hear Cain's claws drumming against the desk blotter and braced himself for whatever it was his father was thinking. “Maybe you should let Gunnar take over,” he finally said.

 

“Wh—? No. Absolutely not. No. Fuck, no!”

 

“Bas, there's nothing wrong with that. It doesn't mean you failed. Certain people just can't really get along, you know? Like you and Evan, for example . . .”

 

“Sydnie and I get along just fine,” Bas growled. “I'm not leaving her.”

 

Cain sighed. “I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. I know you're doing the best you can, but—”

 

“No, Dad. Hell, no.”

 

“Just hear me out, Bas. Right now Sydnie is the most important thing. Getting her to trust you; getting her to talk . . . Do you want to save her?”

 

Bas stifled a growl and raked a hand over his face in exasperation. “Yeah, I do.”

 

“Then you need to think about what's best for her, don't you?”

 

Bas ground his teeth together so hard that his jaw ached. “Yes, sir.”

 

“Just consider it.”

 

“. . . Yes, sir.”

 

“All right,” Cain relented. “Get some rest. You sound exhausted.”

 

Bas clicked the phone off and slapped it into Gunnar's hand as he leveled a glare at his cousin. “Thanks, Gunnar, you bastard.”

 

Gunnar shrugged and grimaced. “I'm sorry. He called and wanted to know about you and Sydnie . . .” He lifted his hand as though he were trying to explain something, only to drop it against his leg again. “Bas . . . that kitty is tiny, you know? She's tough, but . . . but she's still just a little kitten.”

 

“Stop calling her that,” Bas gnashed out. “She's not your kitten, damn it.”

 

“I never said she was. Thing is, you want her to be your kitten, don't you?”

 

Bas blushed but grunted. “Don't be an ass.”

 

“Well, you do, right?”

 

He grunted again.

 

“Are you really going to leave her in those handcuffs?”

 

“. . . No.”

 

Gunnar nodded. “Look . . . is there anything else you need to tell me so that I don't say something that you haven't told her?”

 

“No, I . . . yes.”

 

“Okay . . .”

 

“One thing . . . I haven't told her who I am.”

 

“Who you are?”

 

Bas nodded. “She, uh . . . she hates the tai-youkai.”

 

“No one hates your dad.”

 

He glared at Gunnar. Gunnar grimaced but held his hands up in silent surrender. “Okay, I'm listening.”

 

“I don't know why she does, but trust me: she does.”

 

“All right, but you know you'll probably have to tell her eventually. You're your father's successor, right.”

 

He nodded. “I know.”

 

Gunnar slipped the cell phone into his pocket again and opened the hotel room door, set to leave Bas alone with his thoughts. He disappeared into the room. Bas scratched the back of his neck and shook his head.

 

`Your father's right, Bas . . . if Sydnie doesn't feel like she can trust you, she's not going to tell you squat.'

 

`I know . . . I know . . .'

 

`Maybe . . . maybe you should consider leaving her with Gunnar then.'

 

Bas snorted. `Never. Gunnar isn't a fighter; not really.'

 

`He can do it if he had to. You know he can.'

 

`But he doesn't like to. He's always been that way, and even if he were . . .'

 

His youkai sighed. `Even if he could, the idea of leaving Sydnie . . .'

 

Bas made a face. `Yeah.'

 

“Bas?”

 

Bas snapped out of his reverie and glanced at Gunnar, who was leaning around the door with a strange sort of expression on his face. “She's gone.”

 

Pushing himself away from the wall, Bas shot Gunnar a dark look as he pushed him aside and strode into the hotel room. The moment of panic that gripped him subsided. He could feel Sydnie's youki close, and with a grimace, he realized where she had hidden herself. Taking the few long steps that separated him from her chosen place of seclusion, Bas let out a deep breath as he pushed the closet doors open.

 

Sydnie didn't even spare him a glance. Sitting with her back toward him facing the rear corner of the darkened closet, she sat on her knees.

 

Bas sighed and hunkered down behind her, trying not to think about why finding her in the closet could dispel all his irritation. “Give me your hands,” he told her, his tone gentle, coaxing.

 

She ignored him. He'd figured she would.

 

“Come on, kitty. Don't be so stubborn.”

 

She snorted.

 

“You don't want to stay in those all night, do you?” he tried again.

 

She didn't answer, but after a moment of deliberation, she did lift her hands behind her back, extending them to him just enough to show that she wanted him to remove them after all. It was enough for him, and he carefully dug the keys out of his pocket to unlock the errant cat. The handcuffs fell away with a loud clatter on the tile floor. Sydnie folded her hands together, pressing them to her chest, slumping her shoulders as she leaned forward enough to shield them, should Bas change his mind about letting her loose.

 

He grimaced and stuffed the key back into his pocket before retrieving the handcuffs and pushing himself to his feet. Dropping the cuffs into the deep pocket of his duster, he grabbed the telephone and dialed the number for room service, ordering a gallon of whole milk and ignoring Gunnar's questioning gaze before he shuffled back to the closet once more.

 

“You going to stay in here all night?” he asked in what he hoped was a neutral tone of voice.

 

Sydnie shrugged, rubbing her wrists and not deigning to as much as glance at him.

 

“Okay,” he agreed, sitting with a grimace and leaning back against the wall. His legs stuck out of the closet in a somewhat farcical show of exaggerated size, but he didn't comment on it. Sydnie shifted her weight to the side, untucking her legs and wrapping her arms around her raised knees. “If' you're going to sleep in here, then I can, too,” he declared.

 

Sydnie laid her cheek on her knees. He could feel her gaze on him though he didn't look to confirm it. “You can't sleep in here,” she whispered.

 

He sighed. “Listen, Sydnie . . . I'm sorry.”

 

“You should be.”

 

Bas touched her shoulder. She stiffened, but she didn't pull away. “I'm really, really sorry.”

 

“If you didn't like me,” she began in a tone barely more than a whisper, “you could have just said so.”

 

He grimaced. “It isn't about liking you . . . I—”

 

“Then what was it about?”

 

Bas let his head fall back against the wall, tamping down the acute embarrassment at being forced to admit things that he hadn't really wanted to face at all. “It's just . . . you . . . I . . .” He sighed and clutched his head between his hands as he struggled with what he was trying to say. “It was for your own good,” he grumbled.

 

“My own good? Of course it was . . .”

 

He wanted to reach out to her, but he couldn't do it. Seemingly paralyzed by the misery that radiated from her aura, he couldn't do much more than shake his head, opening and closing his mouth as words failed him completely. “It's better this way,” he finally said with a wry grin that felt more like a grimace. “Do you understand?”

 

Peering over her shoulder, her eyes glowing in the semi-darkness, she gazed at him in silence.

 

Bas could feel heat filter into his face, but he stubbornly refused to look away. “You've got to be safe, Sydnie. I have to keep you safe.” He dragged his hands over his face and let his head thump against the wall. “Do you . . . do you want me to leave you with Gunnar?” he asked, praying that she refused, but entirely unsure what she'd actually think of the offer. Of course, even if she did choose Gunnar, there was no way that Bas was just packing it in and walking away. He'd follow along behind them, if he had to, but there was no way in hell he was going to leave her with Gunnar Inutaisho, either . . .

 

She shot him a quick glance, a scared sort of look, eyes flaring wide as she quickly shook her head. “Just think about it, Sydnie . . . If it would make you happier . . .”

 

She still didn't answer, but he couldn't shake the strange feeling that maybe she really did understand after all. She scooted toward him just a little, letting her back rest against his shoulder.

 

A knock on the door announced the arrival of the bellhop. Bas sighed and pushed himself off the floor and out of the closet, striding past Gunnar to answer the knock. He tipped the boy and set the milk on the table after filling a glass. Gunnar cleared his throat.

 

Bas ignored him as he returned to the closet and set the glass of milk beside the obstinate cat. She eyed it suspiciously but finally, hesitantly, reached toward it. Snatching it off the floor, she spared him a warning glance but downed the milk in a series of gulps. She set the glass down and carefully slid it toward him. He tried not to smile as he nodded, retrieving the glass and pushing himself to his feet again.

 

“Are you hungry?”

 

She didn't answer.

 

“If I ordered something, would you help me eat it?”

 

She shot him a look.

 

“Think about it while I get you more milk, okay?”

 

He strode back to the table and refilled her glass. She blinked at the drink when he set it beside her.

 

“How about I order something for you, and if you don't want it, you don't have to eat it. Come out, if you want.”

 

Sydnie shrugged, and he nodded. That was as close to a `yes' as he was likely to get. It was enough. Wincing as his foot twinged in reminder that he'd do well to buy Sydnie some soft soled flat shoes, he shuffled over, grabbing the laminated menu tucked neatly under the phone on the dresser and ignoring the odd look gracing Gunnar's face. “You want steak tips, Sydnie?” he called, glancing up long enough to see her peeking around the accordion-style closet door. She narrowed her eyes, and he finally grinned slightly. “I'll eat your mushrooms, okay?”

 

She offered him a barely perceptible nod. He nodded back and picked up the phone as the soft scrape of Sydnie's glass on the floor told him that she also wanted another refill. After ordering food, he dropped the receiver back into the cradle, turning just in time to see Sydnie's chagrined expression as Gunnar picked up the empty glass and headed for the table. “I'll get it,” he said, neatly swiping the glass from his cousin's hand and choking back the irritation that Gunnar would try to do something that he perceived as something that he, alone, did for Sydnie. Gunnar looked like he wanted to ask a question but wisely remained silent while Bas refilled the glass and returned it to Sydnie once more.

 

`It's going to be a long night,' he predicted with. Gazing at the cat-youkai who was still lingering near the open closet and looked like she might be ready to retreat at the slightest provocation, he sighed. `A really, really long night . . .'

 

 

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A/N:

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Reviewers

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MMorg

Rawben (Oh, yes, I have TONS of words I'd love to use but can't … jailbait … boobies … heinie … words that I've gotten to use every once in awhile, to my own vast amusement … LOL) ------ nymphminxgoddess ------ angelfire777 ------ inuyashaloverr ------ OROsan0677 ------ floopyloopyoopy ------ katgirlofthenight ------ WhisperingWolf ------ Darkflameangel ------ Simonkal of Inuy ------ serendith

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Final Thought fromGunnar:

What the hell was all that stuff?

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Phantasm): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~