Twenty-One

Kuro

Kuro followed Marie back into her apartment, considering the way she toed off her shoes with a sigh and gave up her jacket to him without a fuss. By the time he'd hung both their jackets in the hallway closet, she'd migrated to the kitchen and set mugs out on the counter. One for her, one for him, and an extra-wide one for Joe.

She didn't pull out tea bags this time. Instead, she pulled fresh ginger root out of her shopping bag and cut off a chunk about the length of her thumb. Then she gave it a quick wash and sliced it lengthwise. She dropped the slices into a glass teapot and filled it with hot water from her dispenser. That was it.

Joe joined them, walking to a position behind and to one side of Marie. His nine tails waved gently as he reared up on his hind legs and placed his paws on Marie's thigh. Then Joe looked at Kuro, head tilted in inquiry.

This was new. How could he talk to Joe without making Marie feel as if Kuro was talking about her while she was standing right there? Kuro had been chewing on his thoughts on the walk back from Pike Place Market, because he didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"The uses of herbalism in magic don't seem to be as well-documented as I thought they would be," Kuro said finally. He let the statement float out there, so it could be directed at Marie or Joe.

"There are reference books," Marie answered quietly.

Joe sneezed.

Marie huffed out a laugh. "I'm not going to say whether the reference books are accurate or not."

The tightness in Kuro's chest eased somewhat. Leave it to Joe to know how to lighten the mood without saying the wrong thing. Kuro had been able to accompany Marie, provide some support, but he needed Joe to help balance their mood.

She pulled a jar out of her shopping bag. It had been acquired in a last-minute stop before they'd headed home. Opening it, she dipped a teaspoon in and drizzled golden honey into the teapot with the ginger slices.

After she closed the jar again, she continued thoughtfully, "It's hard to sift through what's useful and what's not when it comes specifically to witchcraft. It depends on intent, the kind of witch you are, and other things. It's not straightforward."

"The responses you received from the acupuncturist and the herbalist were definitely not straightforward." Kuro had resisted grinding his teeth as he'd stood by Marie during those conversations. Both business owners had been human.

Marie sighed. "They were nice enough."

"You asked about the properties of certain herbs. They jumped to conclusions and started prescribing what they decided you needed instead of just giving you the answers." Kuro suppressed a growl of frustration.

Marie poured the ginger tea into the mugs and handed one to Kuro, then she took hers and the one for Joe over to the chaise and set them on the side table. She sat in the middle, leaving room for them on either side of her, if they chose. Kuro joined her and Joe hopped up on her other side.

"Honestly, I didn't expect a lot." Marie blew softly on her mug, then took a sip. "It's pretty easy to find out the properties of various herbs. Different parts of the lotus are used in Asian medicines and cuisine. The flower, the rhizome, the leaves, the stems, the seeds, the root. Just about every part has its distinct uses."

Joe sniffed his mug and cautiously dipped the tip of his tongue in for a taste. Kuro waited. Maybe it wasn't about saying the right thing. After the frustrating conversations where the humans had made assumptions and told her what they thought she ought to know, maybe she actually wanted space to speak…and be heard. Hesitantly, he placed his palm on her back and started to rub in light circles.

"The blue lotus, however, is a different plant. In fact, the samples I saw at Socrates Industries were mislabeled as the type from Asia." Marie leaned back into his touch. "But I'm familiar with those and could tell the difference right away. I thought I could get hints as to how the ancient Egyptians might have used the blue lotus in their rituals. All I learned from my research so far is that it's used somehow to help journey to the afterlife and back."

Joe leaned in, his ears twitching.

"Exactly," Marie said to him. "Seems like maybe our dead guy walking was a part of an experiment. Maybe they were intentionally trying to visit the afterlife and come back. There've been theories that one could bring back knowledge that way."

"Wasn't there a movie about medical students experimenting with near-death experiments where they took turns actually dying and being revived?" Kuro asked.

He and Joe had stayed in and watched a lot of movies over the years. It was one of their relaxing date night things to do together. Didn't cost a lot and didn't involve having to be hypervigilant while they were out among people. He wondered if Marie liked movies.

Marie shuddered. "I think I know which movie you're talking about and I didn't watch it. I don't do well with horror movies in general."

Noted.

Marie wrapped her hands around her mug and took another sip. "Judging by the way Socrates Industries wants me to include blue lotus and papyrus in the garden concepts throughout their building, I don't think the plant is harmful just as it is. But there's a reason it isn't supposed to be grown outside of specific places in Egypt. Maybe someone wants it close to hand for experimental purposes and slipped it into the cuttings intended for interior garden design."

Joe barked softly, nudging her knee in what seemed like encouragement. Marie smiled and buried her fingers in the fur around his neck. Warmth bloomed in Kuro's chest as he kept petting Marie while she pet Joe.

"I've got a strong feeling the amulet the man was wearing has something to do with it." Marie tapped a fingertip against her mug. "It didn't seem like a fashion statement. I think there was a different and specific reason for him to wear it."

It sounded like she was on the cusp of connecting her thoughts and ideas together, but she just couldn't quite get there.

"Maybe I need to go back and actually work with the blue lotus samples," Marie muttered. "I can learn a lot about a plant the old-fashioned way, the way healers and green witches like me explored herbalism before the advent of modern medicine."

Joe sat up and stared at Kuro, his posture tense. Kuro sat forward too, slightly alarmed. "Why don't we explore a different alternative before you go into the heart of a corporation to mess with their magical plants that they definitely didn't want anyone to know were actual magic plants?" He took a deep breath once he got that out. That might be a record for the longest sentence he'd ever uttered.

Marie

Marie looked at Kuro, really looked at him for the first time since they'd left Pike Place Market. His brows were drawn together, and his gaze felt deeply earnest, like he was concerned about her. And bracketed as she was by him and Joe, she realized they both were.

She couldn't think of a time when anyone had been so attentive to her mood. It felt…really wonderful. She bit her lip.

Kuro's gaze dropped to her mouth then lifted back to make eye contact with her again. "I don't know what you're thinking."

It sounded like both an admission and a request.

She swallowed. "I realized you're both concerned for me. I like that."

His lips curved in a smile. The man could stop traffic with his looks. She wanted to let herself get distracted, but she also wanted to give him a full answer to his question.

"I also felt bad that I'm making you two worry."

That beautiful smile vanished, and she shrank into herself. She didn't want that.

Joe turned under her hand and took her fingertips gently between his teeth, almost nibbling. Kuro slipped his hand along her jaw, gently tilting her face back up so she would meet his gaze again.

"I think that's a shame cycle we have in common," he murmured. "Can I tell you what I tell myself?"

At a loss for words, she nodded.

Kuro smiled again and her heart throbbed hard in her chest. "It's okay to like someone caring for me, and instead of punishing myself for causing them worry, I think about how much I want to be just as considerate of them in return."

Marie chewed on her lower lip, thinking through what he'd said. "I'd like to think about that for a bit."

He nodded, accepting her words at face value.

"Thank you." That came out breathy because she was very aware of how close he'd leaned in as he'd spoken to her. He still had a light hold on her jaw. It was getting slightly awkward unless one of them closed the distance with a kiss.

He did close the distance then, brushing his lips over hers. Then he released her and pulled back. "I have another suggestion for you."

She cleared her throat, then looked at Joe. He was sitting with his jaw dropped open in a grin, almost like he was laughing at her a little. She wrinkled her nose and scratched behind his ear. He leaned into her hand happily.

"What's the suggestion?" she asked. She thought she sounded reasonably steady.

How did Kuro—and Joe—manage to unhinge her so thoroughly? She didn't even resent it. She just wasn't used to being off-balance. They only seemed to do it when she was heading into a spiral or was gnawing too much on a problem. It was, in a way, a relief to be derailed when she wasn't being constructive.

If Kuro was aware of his effect on her, he didn't show signs of it. He just continued to watch her steadily with that earnest regard. "Are you familiar with the concept of a mind palace?"

She stared at him, and her mouth shaped an O of surprise.

"Only as far as it was featured in a television show I watched forever ago," she admitted.

"It's a technique for recalling things you know." Kuro brushed a few strands of hair off her cheek. "In practice, a person creates a visual space inside their own mind. Pieces of information to be remembered are associated with specific physical locations in this mental space. So if your mind palace is a library, things you know are associated with books in the library."

"Okay," Marie said slowly. It sounded like an excellent memorization tool. "Does that work for things you don't know?"

Kuro hummed and tapped his temple with his index finger. "What I'm suggesting is more in line with connecting the dots between bits of knowledge you already have. I think you'd have better success in a different space than here or walking around the city to brainstorm. Especially with an environment that will respond to not just your conscious thought, but your subconscious, too."

Realization broke over her like a wave. "Your magic."

Kuro's smile widened and there was a spark of mischief in his eyes. "I'm going to make a pocket dimension for you."

"A what?" She sure was learning a lot about fox spirits these days. "Is this something you both can do?"

Joe shook his head.

"It's a power specific to kitsune," Kuro responded. "We're going to pick an object and fill it with my magic to create a space inside for you. It can't be moved while you're inside it and the pocket universe is active, and it's not a portal to someplace else, so you will always reenter this reality in the same place you entered the pocket universe. But the point is that my magic will create the space you need to brainstorm. It'll be your mind palace, and interactive in a physical way that might be more helpful to you."

Marie was fascinated. "I definitely want to experience this."

Kuro stood and held out his hand. "Let's choose an object."

It took them a few minutes, but eventually they landed on Marie's favorite book nook. It was a diorama of a miniature library built to slide between the actual books on her shelf. The effect was like another world in miniature tucked among the books. It was kind of perfect for what they intended to do.

Kuro studied the book nook, then pulled her to stand in front of him, his hands on her shoulders. He leaned close so his lips brushed the shell of her ear as he spoke. "Look straight into your book nook and walk forward, and believe you're walking right into it."

She stared at her book nook, at the tiny books inside. She imagined she could reach out and pick one up to flip through it and took a step forward, intending to do exactly that.

And stubbed her toe on the bottom of her bookcase. "Ow."

Kuro's arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her back against him. "I'm sorry."

Joe was at her feet, sniffing her toe.

Heat rushed to her cheeks. "It's fine. You don't have to do that."

It was one thing when an actual dog or cat sniffed her feet. She felt uncomfortable with Joe or Kuro doing it. It felt a little like she was asking one of them to kiss her feet, even if Joe was the one who'd come to check on her stubbed toe.

She was being irrational. Probably to avoid the embarrassment of having walked into her own bookcase. Even worse, she was a witch and she'd just failed to follow simple instructions to do something magical.

"I wanted to give you the privacy of your own space," Kuro was saying, his tone contrite. "But you've never done this before and maybe there's more to it than keeping your intent in mind. I might not be explaining it right."

"Okay," Marie said slowly, trying to let go of her embarrassment. "What do you usually do with Joe?"

She was assuming they'd done this together before.

"Hmm." Kuro straightened and tucked her head under his chin. "I take him in with me. He's entered a space I created on his own before, but not before I'd taken him in at least once."

By the time he finished speaking, Kuro sounded a little embarrassed. He let his arms drop away from her and she immediately missed his warmth. Then he was stepping around her and offering his hand again. She smiled at him to let him know she wasn't upset and placed her hand in his. They could do this. She trusted him.

He gave her hand a tug, pulling her forward a step, and then she was standing inside a room. Maybe room wasn't the right word for it. A space.

Kuro was there, but he had fox ears and nine tails on his human form. "I'm going to leave now so I don't influence this space. It's yours. When you want to leave, just look behind you and you'll see the way out. If you don't, call me and I'll come get you. It's my pocket universe, so I'll hear you. I promise."

Marie nodded. He leaned in to brush his lips over hers in a swift kiss, then he walked past her and was gone. As she turned to watch him go, she saw a tiny hole in the space behind her. But she didn't intend to leave yet, so she faced forward again. The space around her was changing, gradually. The surface beneath her feet became smooth white marble streaked in gray. Columns rose up in a circle around her, wrapped in deep green ivy vines. In the circular room they formed, there were bubbles floating all around her, and suspended inside were different plants.

She stared at one and the bubble came to her, as if it realized it had her attention. As it came close, she reached out to touch it, and the bubble dissolved, allowing the plant specimen to fall lightly into her hand.

This one was a sample of dong quai, just like the plant she was growing in her apartment. As she turned it over in her hand, studying it, everything she knew about it flooded her mind.

"Dong quai, also known as Angelica root," she muttered. "Used for tonifying and replenishing in traditional Chinese medicine. It invigorates blood and relieves pain, stimulates the gastrointestinal tract and is used to treat irregular menstruation or amenorrhea. It's a warming herb, used to counter cold in the body and restore balance."

She knew how it was planted and grown, how it was harvested and preserved. Multiple ways to prepare it for consumption surfaced in her mind.

She blinked, so startled she dropped the plant, but it didn't fall. Instead, it simply floated back to where it had been and a bubble formed around it again.

"Wow." She hadn't even been aware she'd known that much about dong quai, and she cultivated it in her apartment.

A soft breeze flowed through the space, stirring the broad green leaves on the vines. It carried the earthy scent of deciduous trees and fallen leaves and the sharper scent of fresh cut grass drying in the sun. The forests of the Pacific Northwest didn't smell like this.

She remembered what this place resembled now. There'd been a battlefield near her hometown with a set of marble columns built at the edge of the battlefield to commemorate the historic spot. She used to sit in the circle of trees and columns, studying or reading. This place wasn't a replica of that place. That had been too open to the air and the battlefield. But this space had the same feel to it, the same peace that was both quiet and alive at the same time.

Even though Kuro had given her an idea of what this pocket universe was intended to be, it'd been too brief an explanation to really know what to expect. She turned slowly, taking in all of the plants suspended around and above her, the vaulted ceiling high enough to accommodate countless more floating specimens. Every plant she had ever encountered, ever studied, ever even heard about was here.

When she let her gaze wander back to the floor, a stone counter materialized in front of her with space underneath for a wood burning fire. There was a huge wok set into a recess in the stone, directly over the flames, and another small charcoal stove sat on top of the counter with a small teapot ready to be placed on it to heat. There was a thick cutting board nearby with a selection of knives and a drying rack for herbs.

The trickling sound of water caught her attention, and she looked to the right to find a waterfall between two columns that hadn't been there before. It wasn't the rushing sort—this was freshwater seeping through a cliff face, naturally filtered and trickling down a crevice of its own making into a small pool lined with smooth, flat stones and green moss. Suddenly, her small space felt like it was nestled inside a cozy cave with an opening above letting natural light filter in.

This was the kind of space she dreamed about. A place to brew and experiment, test different portions of plants to understand their properties. She could research their medicinal properties, but she had no recipe book, no teachings passed down from witch to witch to instruct her on how to combine plants in her spells to work magic guided by her intentions.

She wasn't a hereditary witch or a witch brought into a coven, taught the ways of witchcraft learned over generations. She had no grimoire, no book of spells. She simply had intuition, learned through trial and error, and had memorized what worked for her.

Now, Kuro's magic had given that pieced-together knowledge and experience a physical form. This space was a tangible expression of what she knew and the perfect place for her to build on it. And it made her indescribably happy.

Tears streamed down her face, even though she was grinning. She bounced on the balls of her feet once, then looked around, hoping there were specimens of both the Egyptian blue lotus and the lotus she was more familiar with from Asia. Two bubbles started floating toward her and she grinned even wider.

Perfect.