InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity Redux: Metempsychosis ❯ Restless ( Chapter 33 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

"And I rode the roller coaster until I puked!"

Ashur made a face and slowly shook his head as Kells bounced around, telling him all about his trip to the many amusement parks in and around New England—and apparently a little outside of New England, since they’d even gone so far as to venture into Ohio to Kings Island.  "Puked, huh?"

Kells nodded happily.  "But Bailey puked more!"

Ashur grimaced.  Manami giggled.  "That is truly the way to measure how good a time they had," she mused.

Ashur wasn't inclined to agree, but he shrugged, digging his hands into his pockets as he retained his silence on the matter.

"Where's Jessa?" the boy demanded.  Ashur pressed his lips together since they'd actually slept longer than he'd intended, and the woman in question was very likely finishing up her shower at the moment.  Given just how late he'd kept her up last night, though, it wasn't really surprising.  Of course, if left to his own devices, he wouldn't have let her sleep at all, but she'd fallen into an exhausted slumber just after their fourth round of lovemaking, and he hadn't had the heart to wake her . . .

"She'll be down in a bit," he assured the boy.  "Why don't you get the rest of your things and put them away?"

Kells wrinkled his nose, but darted off toward the front door.

Manami laughed as she watched him go.  "I hope you don't mind that I volunteered to bring him home," she said.  "Ben was sidetracked by some sort of message from Steve Vasquez, so Charity was going to bring him, but her twin had an urgent issue—that's what Charity said—and I wasn't busy, so . . ."

"It's fine," he told her, managing a vague smile.  "Will you be staying for a day or two?"

Manami sighed.  "Hmm . . . if you're sure I won't be an imposition . . ."

"You're never an imposition, Nami," he assured her.

She laughed, leaning over to kiss his cheek.  "Then I'd love to!"

Kells burst through the front door with his little suitcase and a bigger plastic bag that looked to be packed with stuffed animals and other toys, and he headed for the stairs.  "Good God," Ashur muttered, shaking his head as he stared at the bag.

Manami giggled.  "That's just the bag from me," she pointed out.

He heaved a sigh.  "I should have known."

She nodded.  "So . . . Tell me, how's the girl?  Jessa?"

"What do you mean?"

She linked her arm through his as he started toward the door to get the rest of Kells' things out of her car.  "Have you had any success in getting Ian to release her holdings?"

Ashur snorted.  "Nope, but Cain said that he sent Bas over to . . . have a talk with him."

Manami nodded.  "I knew about that . . . I don't know how much good it will do, though . . . Ian is nothing if not adamant that those of . . . mixed heritage . . . are not worth his time or trouble . . ."

"Yes, well, if he follows protocol, he'll have to relinquish his hold on her estate since she's being granted amnesty here."

"And about her mother?  Or is she willing to let it go as long as she gains control of her estate?"

"She might be willing," Ashur allowed.  "I'm not, though.  If he's behind her mother's death, then it's entirely unconscionable . . ."

"There's nothing anyone can do about it, short of Sesshoumaru issuing a directive on it, and you know that he won't, not over something like this."

Ashur nodded.  He hated the truth of her words, but there it was.

"Oh, Jesus," Ashur groaned when Manami popped the trunk of her car.  "Is all this for Kells?"

Manami laughed.  "Yes, it is.  I mean, he had to get souvenirs from everywhere they went, didn't he?"

"No," Ashur snorted indelicately.  "He didn't . . ."

Her laughter escalated as he shook his head and grabbed the nearest bags.

Jessa appeared in the doorway, her braided hair, pulled over her shoulder and secured by a pretty white ribbon where it ended in a long, curling tail.  Kells was cuddled against her shoulder, eyes closed, looking like he was about as close to heaven as he could possibly get, and, given that Ashur tended to feel much the same when he snuggled with that particular woman?  He couldn't rightfully blame the boy; not in the least.  "Kells, come here and get some of this crap, will you?" he called.

Kells popped an eye open to pin his father with a very sad look.  "But Daddy, I'm filling my cuddles wif Jessa!" he complained.

Ashur heaved a sigh since he really couldn’t argue with that.  "All right, but once it's full, you're taking all this junk up to your room—right?"

Kells giggled, burrowing closer against Jessa's shoulder.  She, however, hurried over to the car to grab a bag in one hand while she held Kells with her other.  "Hey, Kells, tell me something. . . "

"Hmm?"  His voice was muffled by her neck.

"Do I snore?"

The boy giggled and sat up straight.  "Yeah!  Like a piggy!"

Snapping her mouth closed, her cheeks pinking in a very becoming blush, she let out a deep sigh and pinned Ashur with a foreboding look when he started to chuckle.

He reached over and plucked Kells out of her arms.  "Never tell a woman that she snores, Kells," he warned, "even when it's true."

"But she does!" Kells insisted, blue eyes wide, innocent, which really wouldn't save him from Jessa's wrath, much to Ashur's undisguised amusement.

Jessa uttered a terse grunt, narrowing her gaze on the two of them.

Ashur shrugged.  "Come on, Kells.  Let's go pick up your school uniforms."


"What is it you want, Jessa?"

Breathing harsh, shallow, staring up at him through heavily-lidded eyes, she couldn't breathe, couldn't think, could only whimper as he leaned away, as he stared at her with such intensity that she couldn't even remember her own name . . . "You," she whispered, reaching out, slipping her arms around his neck as he leaned down to kiss her, as he slid into her in such a maddeningly slow way that it made her want to scream . . .

"Thank you for agreeing to go running with me," Manami said as they jogged down the road, away from Ashur's estate.

Blinking away the rest of the memory of the night before, she managed a wan smile as she concentrated on planting one foot in front of the other.  "It's fine," she insisted, telling herself she really didn't need to blush, that there was no way that the swan-youkai could really read her mind . . .

"Do you want to slow down a little?" Manami asked, casting Jessa a questioning glance.  "Your face is all red . . ."

"Uh, no, I-I'm good," she insisted, refusing to meet Manami's gaze as she sped up just a little.

"If you're sure . . ."

She nodded.

"Ashur says you like horses," Manami continued, thankfully letting the subject drop.

Jessa nodded.  "Yes . . ."

"Have you given any thought as to what you'd like to do once your estate is settled?"

For some reason, that question was like a dousing of cold water, and Jessa stumbled over her own feet, very nearly falling on the pavement, but she managed to right herself again as Manami stopped abruptly and reached out to catch her arm.

"Are you all right?"

"Fine," Jessa gritted out, gently but firmly pulling her arm away from Manami.  "Just a little clumsy this morning, I guess . . ."

Manami didn't look convinced.  "We could walk, if you'd rather . . ."

"It's fine," she insisted again, stubbornly breaking into a jog once more.

She hadn't thought about that, had she?  Once her estate was settled . . .

She grimaced inwardly as Manami fell into step beside her again.

Once her estate was settled, then there'd be no need for her to remain here with Ashur and Kells . . . That thought was enough to make her chest constrict painfully, to send a white-hot surge of sheer panic through her—just the thought of returning home, of being there in that place alone . . . the childhood memories of wandering the land, of exploring high and low until she knew the area like the back of her hand, and it was always a comforting memory, wasn't it?  The isolation, the ability to be who she wanted to be and not to be forced to conform to the constraints of her station, of her title . . . So, why didn't those same memories offer her the comfort that they once had?

And a moment later, the thought of Kells' laughing face—so sweet, so trusting and innocent . . . the thought of Ashur, of the hours she'd spent, lost in his arms, that feeling that, during those moments, those hours, nothing in the world could hurt her, could touch her . . .

"I met your parents a time or two," Manami went on, oblivious to Jessa's dark thoughts, "lovely people, they were . . . I'm so sorry about what happened . . ."

"Thank you," she murmured.  "It's . . . It's kind of you to say so . . ."

Manami laughed.  "You and Ashur seem to be getting along well, though, which is wonderful.  He can be a bit prickly sometimes, as I'm sure you've noticed . . . But he's a good man.  I'm glad."   She made a face.  "I confess, I was a little afraid that he was going to scare you off to start with . . . But, after everything he's had to deal with . . ." She sighed and shook her head, trailing off, much to Jessa's chagrin.

She didn't know what to say to that, so she said nothing at all, biting her lip as she wondered, not for the first time, just where she fit into the equation of Ashur's world, of his life, and yet, the thought that answered her was harsh and not at all something that she wanted to dwell upon . . . The whispers in her head told her that she was little more than a convenience for him, and that . . . that stung . . .

Drawing near to Devlin's estate, she stared at Fletch and Flicker as the horses ran the length of the paddock as they passed.  Calling to her, they seemed to fall into stride with her.  She smiled at the thought, despite the bleakness of her own musings.

"Would you mind if we stopped here for a minute?" Jessa asked as they neared the long and winding driveway.  "He's a friend, and he found an injured eagle a few days ago . . . I wanted to see how it's doing . . ."

"Sure," Manami agreed, falling in beside Jessa as the two turned down the driveway.  "Is he one of Ashur's friends?"

"Uh, not really," she allowed.  "I met him one day when I was reading by the pond . . ."

Manami nodded, as though what she said made perfect sense, but she smiled brightly at Jessa.  "What was wrong with the eagle?"

Jessa shrugged, brushing aside an errant lock of hair that had escaped her braid.  "I think it had a broken wing," she remarked as she dropped to a brisk walk.  "He texted me yesterday with a picture.  He set it and hopes that it'll heal . . ."

"Wings are hard to repair," she remarked, a certain darkness entering her gaze.  "Maybe he'll be lucky . . ."

Jessa waved at one of the stable hands that she recognized.  "Hello!" she called, stopping the man in his tracks.  He was heading toward the stable, but he smiled when he saw Jessa.  "Good morning . . . Is Devlin in?"

The man—Mark, his name was—nodded at her and Manami.  "Yeah, I think he's around back . . . Set up a cage-thing for that bird he brought home."

"Thank you," Jessa replied.  She led the way around the huge house and spotted what Mark must have been talking about: it was a little more than a simple cage, more like a shed, complete with a metal roof, but instead of walls, it was enclosed in metal screening.  "How is it?" she called as they approached.

Devlin looked up from the bird as he gently checked the wing, only to do a double take, eyes wide, staring past Jessa with an almost shell-shocked expression on his face.  "Uh, Irish . . ." he said.  "Hi . . ."

"Oh, this is one of Ashur's friends, Manami.  Manami, this is Devlin Broughton."

"Hello," she said as they stopped just outside the cage.  "Nice to meet you."  She laughed.  "I'd shake your hand, but you're a bit busy at the moment, aren't you?  What a gorgeous eagle . . ."

Jessa frowned when Devlin just stood there for a long moment, nodding slowly, mouth hanging slightly agape.  "Dev?  Are you all right?" she asked slowly, cautiously, wondering exactly what had gotten into him.

"What?  Oh!" he exclaimed, cheeks reddening as he quickly stepped over and unlatched the door from the inside.  "Would you . . .?  You want to see him?  Uh, the eagle, I mean."

Manami giggled and pulled the door open, stepping inside the cage.  "He's beautiful," she said.

"He?" Jessa asked, raising her eyebrows as she pulled the cage door closed behind her and latched it.

Manami nodded.  "The males are a bit smaller than the females of the species, and since he's obviously an adult, then that's that."

"You know your birds," Devlin remarked with an almost shy, lopsided kind of grin that made Jessa narrow her eyes suspiciously.

"Just a few," she replied, smiling at the Englishman.  "How's his wing?"

Jessa had to clear her throat to snap Devlin out of his momentary idle.  He uttered a terse chuckle and carefully stretched out the bird's wing.  "It's doing a lot better," he said.  "Almost healed."

Jessa frowned since it was a lot more healed than she'd have thought he should be, given his condition when they'd found him.

"I can probably release him in a couple days, as long as he doesn't injure it again between now and then . . ."

"Are you a veterinarian?" Manami asked without taking her eyes off the magnificent animal.

"Oh, uh, no," he replied.  "Just, um . . . I-I-I like eagles . . ."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Jessa leaned against the closed door and arched an eyebrow at Devlin, who intercepted the expression and reddened just a little more before he quickly looked away from her.

"It's too bad I can't stay to see that," Manami mused.

Devlin cleared his throat.  "Well, if you . . . I mean, if you gave me your . . . your number, I could record it for you . . . If you wanted to see me release him, that is . . ."

Manami nodded.  "I'd love that," she said.

Jessa rolled her eyes since the woman had yet to actually look away from the bird—and Devlin had yet to look away from Manami . . .

Manami laughed softly.  "Can I touch him?"

"Touch . . .?  Oh, um, sure, just . . . just don't make any sudden movements, and watch his beak . . . He tends to nip at people . . ." He uttered a strangely strangled and almost nervous laugh.  "I mean, he . . . He could probably take your finger off if you're not careful . . ."

Manami reached out slowly, let the bird see her hand as she carefully touched the back of his head.  "He's lovely . . ." she said.  "Is it just eagles or do you like all birds?" she asked, finally looking up at him as she pulled her hand away.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times.  "I, uh . . . I like them all—uh, love them, you might say," he said.  "I . . . I really like swans . . ."

Even that was a little too much for Jessa, and she covered her forehead and eyes with her hand, slowly shaking her head.  It was painful to watch, wasn't it?  Kind of like a slow-motion train derailment . . .

Manami laughed.  "I'm a swan!" she exclaimed.

He laughed.  Jessa sighed.  "Y-You are," he agreed.

'Oh, he won't . . .' Jessa thought.

"I-I guess that means I, uh, like you, too . . ."

'Oh, he did . . .'  She heaved a sigh and reached for Manami's arm.  "Well, we should probably be getting back now," she said before Devlin could make it any worse.

"Oh, right," Manami agreed as Jessa pretty well dragged her out of the cage again.  "I'll have Jessa give you my number.  It was wonderful, meeting you!" she called, hurrying to catch up since Jessa had already broken into a sprint to rush the woman away from Devlin before he managed to completely self-destruct.


Jessa sat on the edge of the sofa cushion, rubbing her temples with her fingertips as she uttered a low groan.  "It was awful," she lamented, making a face since she'd just finished recounting the God-awful meeting between Devlin and Manami.

Ashur chuckled.  "So, your friend's a moron," he concluded.  "Did Nami laugh in his face?"

"No, she didn’t," Jessa said, letting her hands drop between her knees.  "I don't know how she kept from doing that, though . . . It was a bloody nightmare . . ."

"Oh, it wasn't that bad . . . He was rather cute, actually," Manami said as she breezed into the living room.  "Did he like those pictures you sent him, Jessa?"

Jessa didn't laugh, but she did smile since they'd decided to go swimming when they got back, and Jessa had decided to be 'nice' and send Devlin a few pictures of, what she called, 'Swan in the Natural Habitat' . . . "He didn't actually say," she admitted.  "He did send a few emoticons, though . . ."

Manami laughed, taking a glass of wine that Ashur had poured for her.  "He's very adorable," she concluded.

"Sounds like he’s an idiot," Ashur replied.  Manami smacked him lightly with the back of her hand against his chest.  He chuckled and stepped over to hand Jessa a glass of wine, too.

Kells ran into the room, bypassing his father entirely, and squirmed his way onto Jessa's lap.  He'd just finished taking a shower to clean off all the chlorine from the pool, and he smelled fresh, like baby shampoo, as he snuggled against her in his clean pajamas, obviously content just to be held and cuddled, which was fine, in her estimation.  "I missed you so much, Jessa!" he exclaimed, voice muffled by the front of the light sweater she'd put on after her own shower.  Then he sighed happily.

"I missed you, too, Kells," she assured him, settling back against the sofa, adjusting him so that he was more comfortable.

"Didn't miss Daddy at all, I see," Ashur muttered, slowly shaking his head.

Kells waved a hand at Ashur as his eyes drifted closed.  Ashur smiled just a little.

Manami sat down next to Jessa, slowly sipping the wine.  "So, tell me.  How do you like Canada so far?"

"It's fine," he replied.  He'd skipped over the wine and went straight for the brandy.  "Seems fairly quiet at the moment."

"Quiet is good," Manami decided.  "I could do with some quiet myself . . ."

"I thought you liked your job?"

"'Like,' is a bit of a stretch," Manami replied.  "It's necessary, and I enjoy the peace of mind in knowing that those people cannot harm anyone, ever again."

"What do you do?" Jessa asked, idly smoothing Kells' hair.

She shot Ashur a meaningful look before pasting on a tepid smile for Jessa's benefit.  "I'm a hunter," she said in an entirely matter-of-fact tone.

Jessa blinked, her hand stilling mid-stroke.  "A hunter?  As in . . .?"

Manami slowly nodded.  "Mhmm . . . I take care of those things that go bump in the night," she quipped with an underlying seriousness.  "It's not a glamorous job, but . . . but I have the satisfaction of knowing that there are a few less nightmares in the world."

Jessa frowned, gaze falling on Kells' adorable face, looking so sweet, so angelic, as he slept.  The sense of well-being, as fleeting as it could be, wasn't wasted on her as she held the toddler close.  Maybe it wasn't meant to be something that would be hers for always, but for now, just for now, she savored it, reveled in the feel of his little body, so trustingly snuggled against her.  From the first night when he'd crept into her room, when she'd held him close, even as she'd cried over the family she'd lost, something about the child had comforted her far more than she could credit . . .

Ashur and Manami's discussion turned toward youkai politics—something that Jessa had very little interest in, but that was fine, in her estimation.  She was still pondering what Manami had said . . . A few less nightmares in the world?  That's how Manami looked at her job?  She supposed that it made sense.  Even so, it seemed like a lonely kind of thing . . . Lonely, and a little sad . . .