Kinslayer Read Online Free PDF

selfless as always. His own safety ever a distant second. Her thoughts were all a-tumble, emotions jostling for position in her chest; joy they’d found him, guilt it had taken so long, genuine fear at how close he’d come to death. Underscoring it all, the feel of his body pressed against hers, his hand about her waist, the tumult of confusion and adrenaline and Buruu’s fading bloodlust thudding in time with her own racing pulse.
    She drew one shuddering breath, let it out slow.
    “Try to get some rest, Kin-san. You’re safe now.”
    They flew on toward the Kagé village, the smoke of the ironclads they’d torn from the sky still hanging in their wake. Kin rested his head against her back and closed his eyes, his breath slowing, exhaustion getting the better of him. Buruu’s muscles seethed beneath them, his eyes narrowed, amber and gold, glittering like embers in a forge’s belly. Sleek feathers and thick fur, the color of melting snow on the Iishi’s highest peaks, his hindquarters wrapped in long, snaking bands of deepest jet. Thunder tiger. Arashitora. The last of his kind in all of Shima.
    His thoughts were intertwined with hers, images echoing in each other’s skulls, the pair of them linked by a bond deeper than blood. Yukiko and Buruu. Buruu and Yukiko. Harder and harder to tell where one ended and the other began these days. The ability to speak to the minds of beasts was called the Kenning in old folklore, but to even give it a name seemed to lessen it now. The truth was, it was more than a thing of weak and clumsy words. It was her father’s legacy, his gift to her, forging a friendship that had defied a Shōgun, ended an empire.
    It was a reminder. A birthright. A blessing.
    A curse?
    THE BOY IS LUCKY WE FOUND HIM BEFORE ANY DEMONS DID.
    She winced as Buruu’s thoughts filled her own, just a touch louder than they’d ever been before. The sky seemed a little too bright. Her skull a fraction too small.
    I know. The western slopes are crawling with them lately.
    FOOLISH OF HIM. STILL, I AM GLAD HE IS SAFE.
    You must be. You didn’t even call him “monkey-child.”
    WELL, DO NOT TELL HIM THAT. I HAVE A GRUFF DEMEANOR TO MAINTAIN.
    Laughter died on her lips almost as soon as it had begun. Yukiko pushed up her goggles, pressed her fingers into her eyes. Pain throbbed at the base of her skull, the echoes of Buruu’s thoughts sending barbed tendrils up and across her temples. Ice-cold and burning.
    YOUR HEAD STILL HURTS?
    Only a little.
    YOU ARE A TERRIBLE LIAR, GIRL.
    There are worse character flaws. All things considered.
    THIS PAIN HAS LINGERED FOR WEEKS. THIS IS NOT NORMAL.
    I have more important things to worry about than headaches, Buruu.
    FORTUNATE THEN, THAT I DO NOT.
    You fret too much.
    AND YOU NEVER ENOUGH.
    You know what they say. Kitsune looks after his own.
    Yukiko pressed against the mighty beast beneath her, felt the blood-red percussion of his pulse, the smooth motion of his flight. She ran her hands through the arashitora’s feathers, following the glass-smooth lines down his shoulders until her fingertips brushed the metal framing his crippled wings. The feathers clipped by a madman, barely a month in his grave.
    At least now Kin is back and he can adjust your wings for you. This contraption looks ready to fall apart. How long until you molt?
    YOU CHANGE THE SUBJECT AS ARTFULLY AS YOU LIE.
    You’re becoming quite the master at avoiding questions, though.
    The thunder tiger growled in the back of his throat.
    I WILL HAVE NO NEW PLUMAGE FOR MONTHS. NOT UNTIL MY WINTER COAT GROWS IN.
    Yukiko curled her fingers through sleek feathers, right where neck and shoulder met. His favorite spot.
    And then what?
    I DO NOT TAKE YOUR MEANING.
    I mean what will you do after you can fly again under your own power?
    WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?
    I don’t know. Go home, maybe? Leave this place behind.
    LEAVE YOU, IS YOUR MEANING.
    … Yes.
    AFTER ALL WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH?
    This isn’t your fight.