Page 90 of Caught in the Devil’s Hand

“V-Vallen, what do we do now?” she whispered, watching as Rosuke and the young man conversed, bringing them up to speed on where they’d been before now and where they’d come from. Mai spoke to an older woman standing at the front of the group.

“We train to do battle with the Damned One. It is your destiny,” Vallen said. Her stomach cramped with anxiety. “But you have me, Shumei. You have Rosuke and Mai. You have all of these people behind you, and more are coming.”

She felt the weight of the world settle on her shoulders, and the words of the Divine One came back to her.

“You have one year, Shumei. Use it well.

Your greatest challenge is yet to come.”

Chapter Twenty

Ikuro’s husband and two of her children had been slain when demons had attacked the village. Only the oldest and the youngest children still lived, not including the baby yet to be born. Master Takebe had lifted his wife into his arms and had carried her all the way to the medicine fields. His missus still praised his strength.

The only other survivor was Ryoushi, the village huntsman, whom Shumei later found in the crowd. He had led the handful of survivors from the attack on Shumei’s village to safety when the sun rose, and when the pilgrimage of crows had come upon them, his tale of Shumei and Majo’s abrupt departures had been her followers’ best lead.

Everyone spent the night preparing the estate for all who had come, which used up all the bedrooms and sitting rooms in the main building and the secondary buildings meant for servants. Shumei knew they would need to either build more shelter or find another place to call home, for there was no doubt more would arrive soon and all would need a place to sleep.

She had been eager, however exhausted she felt, to talk with all who had come, and to start organizing a new court, but her subjects had insisted she rest, an opinion wholeheartedly supported by Vallen, who had taken her gently to her room. Somehow, everyone had known where she was sleeping, and by the number of gifts sitting about the room, she wondered if anyone hadn’t brought her a present.

The eastern sky was folding back into day when she lay on her bed. She snuggled into Vallen’s arms, having bathed in the manmade pools that pumped in water from the hot springs farther up the closest foothill. The bath had been made even better with a pair of masculine hands and a bar of Kaisuian soap. Her skin still tingled from its spicy suds.

“I can’t believe you didn’t pass out in the bath,” Vallen murmured against her damp head.

She squeezed him close. “Why’s that?”

“You vaporized a hundred demons with one spell, defeated the Damned One’s champion, resurrected the man holding you—who is more grateful than you could ever know—and you greeted, housed, and fed the first two hundred of your subjects, all in one night.”

“All the excitement kept me going, but it’s fading fast.” She smiled lazily, rubbing her cheek against his chest.

“Then sleep, my love. I shall hold you until we both wake,” he said, sounding as though he needed the sleep as well. Relaxing into his embrace, she inhaled deeply. Then, a thought occurring to her, she opened her eyes.

“Vallen?”

“Mm?”

“This is a strange question,” she said slowly, fidgeting with the edge of the blanket. “Fifteen years ago, when you were here with Rosuke for the last time, did you…come upon anything strange or noteworthy? In this area, I mean.”

Vallen was silent a long while as he dug through his memories. Many things had been lost to time, but his last few days with Rosuke before they’d decided to part ways had stuck with him.

“I did, actually. A little girl had become lost in the forest at night and was being terrorized by a demon. I took her back to her family after I slew the creature. Thinking back on it, he must have been breaking the— My love, what’s wrong?” He tried to look at her face. She was shaking, and he heard the telltale sounds of weeping.

“Vallen… Oh, Vallen, I love you so much,” she sobbed, pulling herself up to press her face against his shoulder. He held her close, uncertain what had changed.

“I love you as well. You know this. Did I say something wrong?” He stroked her naked back, enjoying her soft skin but wishing she wasn’t quaking with sadness. “Or are you impressed by my valor?” he then asked, laughing. She choked up even more, and he realized she was trying to say something clearly enough for him to understand her through her tears.

“That l-little girl,” she said, hiccupping twice, “was m-me.”

His hands on her back paused. Heart pounding, he swiftly banded his arms around her, crushing her to his chest as if he would pull her into himself.

“Shumei,” he whispered into her ear. “Oh, my love.” He kissed her shoulder, her neck, her cheek, and her lips, as if needing to know she was still here with him. She sobbed again, but he comforted her with gentle kisses and loving hands.

They didn’t speak again after that, at least not with their mouths. They searched out the places they knew, the places that reduced them to gasps and choked sighs. Exhaustion made the room swirl, but love and passion made their hearts race as Vallen covered her with his body and fit his hips between her thighs. Neither closed their eyes as he moved over her. Then, shuddering and writhing, they softly groaned as pleasure overtook them.

They fell asleep flushed from sex and tangled together, their cheeks damp with tears of happiness and relief. The morning sun slowly spilled into their room, lighting upon the dark highlights in their raven hair and bringing a glow to their skin.

And when Shumei dreamed, it was only of Vallen.