Free A Fox's Maid by Brandon Varnell Page B

someone like her to use me? She doesn’t care about me. She just wants someone she can train to become the perfect little doll in her power plays. I’d sooner mate with an inu than whatever pompous jerk she sets me up with!”
    “ You do not have a choice in the matter.” Kotohime’s voice grew colder than a breeze created by a yuki-onna’s ice powers. Kevin shivered. Lilian did not appear to be affected. She continued glaring at the woman, her dangerously narrowed eyes and bared teeth reminding Kevin that she was not human despite her appearance.
    “ Very well then,” the redhead said, her voice now grave. “If this is how you want to play, then you leave me with only one choice.”
    Lilian stood up, back straight, ears pointed toward the ceiling and her tails unwavering and still. She looked at Kotohime with a surprisingly formal gaze. Kevin wondered what she was doing.
    Kotohime’s eyes widened.
    “ You wouldn’t―”
    “ I am Lilian Pnév̱ma, daughter of Camellia. My Crest is that of the Lily!”
    “ L-Lilian-sama!” Kotohime was actually starting to look panicked. Her eyes had grown wide and round, and her voice had become slightly shrill. “Stop this at once! You don’t―”
    “ With my Crest as my witness,” Lilian continued, ignoring Kotohime completely, “and before the eyes and ears of one who serves as a vassal to my clan, and will now serve as witness and messenger to my declaration.”
    “ Lilian-sama! Stop!”
    “ I declare that I am no longer―”
    “ All right!” Kotohime shouted, her high-pitched voice making Kevin wince. “You’ve made your point! Please stop!”
    “ Are you going to keep disrespecting my mate if I stop?” Lilian asked, her eyes narrowed and a serious frown marring her lips.
    Kotohime grimaced, but shook her head.
    “ No. You have made your point quite clear.”
    “ Are you going to try and take me away from him?”
    “ After a performance like that?” Kotohime rubbed her face, which looked haggard and worn, defeated in every way imaginable. “No, I know that such an option is no longer feasible. Not anymore. Not after you’ve made your intentions to me so irrevocably clear.”
    “ Good.” With that, all of Lilian’s strength seemed to ebb and the young, gorgeous redhead dropped gracelessly into her seat. Her shoulders slumped and her head fell back as she closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.
    Silence permeated the room once again, a stillness so complete that Kevin feared breathing too heavily would break it and cause some irreversible catastrophe to occur.
    “ Um.” But break it he did, because Kevin still felt utterly clueless, and his ignorance was giving him a headache. “Can someone please explain what that was all about?”
    ***
    After the intense conversation at the kitchen table, the group adjourned to the living room, where it was much more comfortable. Kevin and Lilian sat on the couch. For reasons that were beyond him, Kotohime had opted to sit on the floor. She sat in seiza , the traditional Japanese way of sitting that involved kneeling on the floor with one’s legs folded underneath their thighs. It looked very uncomfortable.
    “ How much has Lilian-sama told you about kitsune?” Kotohime didn’t want to bother beating around the bush, it seemed.
    “ Not much,” Kevin answered, his eyes squinting and nose wrinkling as he tried to remember what Lilian had told him about kitsune in general. “She mostly told me about kitsune powers, but I also know a little about her family. I know that they live in Greece, and that her family has several mansions located around the world. She mentioned the matriarch, and some of her other family members, too, like her sister and one of her aunts, but that’s about it.”
    While Kevin spoke, Lilian quietly sat by his side. She still seemed exhausted by her actions in the kitchen, for her posture was slumped. She also had yet to chime in, which struck him as odd. Lilian was a very talkative