Kagome’s expression was flat as she watched a coin purse appear from one of the rich, dark folds of her visitor’s haori. Weighing the purse a hefty, clinking moment in his palm, the visitor clapped it to the guard’s shoulder with a smile. “Your shift is ending, is it not?” the monk asked just as

“Ren-heichou,” Kagome greeted lowly, as he drew to a stop near the foot of her bed. “You’ve got some nerve shutting me up like this. Ikiryou, too—you’d better bring him here before I get really pissed-off at you.” The samurai captain’s smile didn’t falter for a second. He was looking sharper and more lordly than

Groggily, Kagome came to, the world a dizzying swirl of orange-gold above her. The smoky scent of incense invaded her lungs. As her eyes struggled to focus, she clutched at the softness beneath her and groaned. “…Kagome-sama!” a familiar voice exclaimed. Kagome’s head screamed in protest as she slowly turned it, and Kanako’s pale drawn

Kohaku glanced back at her, frowning. Returning the gesture, Kagome dragged herself upright and swiped at the blood crusting her face. “Kagome,” he commanded. “Come along.” “No,” the miko said again, just as hard. “I can’t.” Brusquely, the taijiya retraced his steps to her. “What do you mean, you can’t? He’s a human-slaying youkai—he has

For a small blissful eternity they held one another. Kagome steadied herself in the warmth of his embrace, drew comfort from the earthy scents of leather and steel that surrounded her. The relief she felt dizzied her almost as much as the fatigue. Against all odds, she had reached him; she had saved him—had saved

As if suspended in some horror of slow-motion, Kagome watched the comprehension dawn on Kohaku’s face by degrees. In the subtle shifting and shadowing of his features, the progression of his thoughts displayed, as they passed from the vial of cursed earth to the shock of her advances, to each act of outrage and deceit

Kagome’s palm cracked like lightning across Kohaku’s left cheek. Maybe on some level he felt he deserved that much, but the incensed miko begged to differ. She would have lit up the other side of his face as well—if he hadn’t grabbed her wrist and dug his fingers into the soft underflesh of her forearm.

After Kanako left Kagome lingered on, resting her hip against the rough granite face of the lantern. It was a slim reassurance, seeing to Rin’s needs now. Too little too late, in Kagome’s bleak estimation. Still better than nothing, she reasoned. In vain, her gaze strayed off toward the distant graveyard. She could almost make