On his youki cloud, Sesshoumaru spirited Kagome and Shin away to the snowy mountain valley far below the castle. The dinosaur-sized snowflakes had stopped falling for the moment. Bundled up with Shin in Sesshoumaru’s dense fur, Kagome barely felt the winter chill. The air here was brisk but still. It smelled faintly of pine and

The inside of the mountain tower was much changed from the last time Kagome had visited. Crossing the enchanted threshold with Shin in arms, she gaped at what she beheld— It was a winter wonderland, and nothing short of magical. There were still the silvery tiered cliffs and the moon-shaped pool. But instead of velvety

Knowing what to expect this time, Kagome barely felt disoriented at the stomach-flipping sensation she experienced when Sesshoumaru ferried them away to his demonic mountain keep. Her worries were for Shin. Would he be anxious? Would he be scared?  The moment her feet touched the ground on that sparkling, wind-swept slope, she looked to her

Extricating her old trusty yellow backpack, Kagome crammed it full to bulging for herself and Shin. She’d stuffed in all the essentials for a three-day’s trip and then some. Shin watched her silently from his crib all the while. He stood up as best he could while he supported himself on the rails. Glancing to

Kagome sat by the crackling hearth after breakfast. Shin rolled around beside her on an old quilt her grandmother had made, basking in the glowing warmth of the coals. On the tatami platform by the bed, Inuyasha was getting ready to depart on another extermination mission. He threaded Tessaiga through his sash and leapt down.

Kagome stared at Rin, frozen in shock. The realization dawned on her by slow degrees. How could she have forgotten? How could she have been so careless as to forget? “Sesshoumaru’s mother,” Kagome said slowly, “you’ve met her.” “Oh yes,” Rin said brightly. “The second time Sesshoumaru-sama rescued me from death, I beheld her.” Dreamily,

As she and Inuyasha walked home together, Kagome kept her eyes trained resolutely ahead. Her heart still raced like mad. Shin burbled, reaching over for Inuyasha. With a half-hearted scoff, Inuyasha plucked the baby from her chest. As they went along, he kept tossing Shin up in the air and catching him. The tosses grew

Clutching Shin to her, Kagome paced back and forth across the snowy hilltop, trying to digest what Sesshoumaru had just told her. She could feel his eyes trained upon her as she did. “You bit me during sex,” she grit out at last, drawing to a halt before him. “And now in the eyes of

Kagome blanched, taken aback. “How—how can you say that?” “How can you deny it,” Sesshoumaru said with an edge. “It is only his blind, foolish trust in you which has so far prevented it.” Kagome stared at him, gutted. Even in the days of their earliest acquaintance, even when he had deplored her for her

Kagome tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep. Unable to do anything except to replay over and over again that damning conversation with Toutousai in her head. Her mind spiraled down pathways of paranoia that grew so warped and convoluted they eventually overwhelmed her. Her anxious thoughts mercifully short-circuited—until some new fear rebooted her