Sunderance: Chapter 14 - Kitsunetsuki (Part 3, Final) (Patreon)

    She had almost made a bumbling fool of herself by rushing into his arms when she’d seen him alive and well again. It had been his cool and on edge demeanor that had stopped her, and the fact that he seemed distant and thoughtful even as he’d taken her back to the car through the side entrance they’d originally entered from. In some ways, even now sitting in the car on their way back to the office, she felt the desire to make a bumbling fool of herself by admitting how afraid she’d been. The silence in the bunker had felt like an eternity, even as she’d filled it with everything from pleas and demands to bribes and threats in her attempt to get Flash to let her go help him. He hadn’t budged, of course. Not until the screens had suddenly cleared to show Nick standing alone with the bodies of the wolves, almost exactly how he’d been standing before picture had been lost.

    She expected to be angry later, but after he had used the panel by the door to tell Flash to send her, she had been so relieved to see him unhurt that anger simply hadn’t come. Now it was starting to slip through the cracks, however. Her fear, his silence, and the fact that three mammals had been killed by someone he hadn’t even identified…

    “It was Yurei,” he said, startling her with the sudden break in the silence that seemed to read her thoughts. “He’s a bunny. His name is Jack. He was sent by the Administrator to invite me to meet with her.”

    The sudden rush of information left her stunned to silence for a full five seconds before she found her voice. “Okay. Wait, what?” she corrected herself, turning in her seat to face him with a look that mix disbelief and simple shock. “Everything you just said is insane, Nick.”

    “The fact that he is a bunny named Jack is slightly insane,” he admitted, sparing her a sidelong glance as he took a turn.

    “And being invited to see the Administrator in person isn’t?” she questioned, finding herself not at all happy with how well he seemed to be taking all of it. Of course, she had also seen him kill an assassin, order around a crazy weasel, and walk among three dead wolves as if those things were normal so she wasn’t entirely sure why she was surprised.

    “Do you want to come?”

    “To meet the Administrator?” She was quite sure that the open-mouthed shock on her face wasn’t entirely visible. “Was I invited?”

    “I was invited,” he said easily, flashing a little grin in her direction that made her heart quicken. “I go where you go, and visa versa. So unless you want to spend a day in Flash’s bunker, you’re free to join me. If she won’t let you in, we’ll just find something else to do.”

    Long ears lifted as a smile spread quickly over her muzzle. “Yes,” she said, unable to keep the delight out of her voice as she settled back into her seat. “I would like that.”

    The now comfortable silence that stretched between them was filled with thoughts of questions, ideas, their recent encounter, and…

    “Nick,” she began, glancing over to look at the cut on the side of his face. “if he was sent to deliver a message, why are you hurt?”

    “I wouldn’t exactly call this hurt, Carrots,” he replied, his tone echoing amusement. When her expression didn’t change to match his amusement, he released a slow sigh. “We’ll call it a... Challenge. A test of skill.”

    “So Yurei is an assassin,” she muttered under her breath, frowning slightly at the idea that the Administrator employed killers for hire.

    “No, nothing so simple,” he replied, drawing her gaze as his expression hardened along with his tone. “He’s much more dangerous.”