Page 30 of Old Secrets

“How close of a double is she?”

“She’s you, Karma. She’s you with a few extra inches, a more formal personality, and a tendency to view others as inferior. She’s you right down to your white tips in your black hair. Her mate? He’s also you, but he’s closer to Jake in height. If they aren’t members of your biological family, I’ll eat my slippers. Their auras are like yours, too, although his is more attuned with water than with earth. They’re old and powerful, Karma. The very ground they walk upon rejoices in their presence. If our targets show up, the very Earth will rise against them.”

Well, that changed my evening. If the woman was a clone of me but a little taller, our prey would struggle to differentiate us. “And their scent?”

“They do not carry mating markers, but they definitely reek of fox. Her voice is higher in pitch and more melodious than yours, so she’ll have to stay quiet to pull off the ruse, but I understand what our hosts meant during our briefing.”

Amelia and Mellisa had been carted off to have their own briefing, leaving us to receive gifts of firearms and meaningful work. Interesting. “Are they still around?”

“They are. They are enjoying a nearby food stall. She calls him her mate, but I get the feeling they are friends who happen to sleep together rather than mates. And they have intercourse for the purpose of having children rather than pleasure, as far as I can tell. They don’t seem all that interested in sexual relationships. They are not like you and Jake are mates. I feel they could separate at any time with no harm done to either side. They had a different term for their relationship, but it’s in a language I don’t understand, and our guide didn’t know the translation for it.”

“Find out what you can,” I requested. “You may mention we’re buying ceremonial goods to test their reactions.”

Mellisa chuckled. “I can do that for you. I’ll swing by your room in the morning so we can discuss this further.”

“Sounds good.” I hung up and stowed my phone before rejoining Jake. I pointed at the collection of decorative fans on the walls, displayed for the world to see. “We should get a pair of those, too.”

“No problems?” Jake asked.

“It seems the women of my line are short while the men are giants. Mellisa has seen two of my clones, and unless the woman speaks, she’ll easily be mistaken to be me. She’s a little taller than I am, but not by much. The man is almost as tall as you are.”

After gracing me with a leer, he said, “It seems your interest in giants may be genetic.”

“Why do you think they were introduced to Mellisa and Amelia first?” I asked, unable to keep my voice from wavering.

“Mellisa can tell how badly you’ll probably react to them and buffer you if needed. You’ve been under a lot of psychological strain lately, and she doesn’t want you to break because of potential problems. So, my guess is the Inquisition is having her evaluate them before they meet you.” Jake shrugged. “It’s not an unreasonable stance to take. I did notice they’d split us up, and it makes sense as to why. Mellisa and Amelia are here as security and to keep us functioning. We’re here to be bait and get as far into breaking this group into as many pieces as we possibly can. That Mellisa informed you they’re here and they’re like we thought, appearing to be genetic duplicates of you, means she has found them either to her liking or safe enough to expose you to.”

“What do you think it means that they came out here? For her to serve as bait?”

“I think you’re a loved child who was hidden or stolen. That behavior is not the behavior of a family who discarded a child for no good reason.”

Not like Ma. I would need more time than I had to work my way through those feelings, so I inhaled, nodded, and lifted my chin. “Six fans, then. Two for us, two for your parents, and two for members of my biological family, who might fill the role even if I don’t have living parents.”

“It’s a start,” Jake replied, and he eyed the selection of fans, pointing at several matching sets. “And even if it doesn’t work out, we can display them as a memento of what might have been if life were a little more kind and a lot more fair.”

As promised, we were taken to a variety of different shops owned by members of the Inquisition. We spent almost two hours at each one, where we did the equivalent of purchase entire new wardrobes for each other. We even found a new set of wedding rings along with a new engagement ring for me, featuring a mix of clear and black diamonds. The price tag stunned me, but Jake took over, delighting in the find and insisting I wear the new one for our adventure through Asia.

He walked away with six new suits, all of which fit him with minor adjustments needed, which were done on the spot. He also found new shoes.

I walked away with everything I might need to live a long and happy life, including a new set of lotus flower body care products, enough hot cocoa to please my fox for at least a month, a small pair of guardian statuettes featuring dragons, and a jade carving of a nine-tailed kitsune. Jake received a jade carving of a prowling wolf, which amused me.

I wondered how long our hosts had been planning for our arrival for them to have made so many preparations.

I’d been correct in my general guess about the stature of Asian men, which had resulted in very little Jake could purchase in regular stores. He found the whole thing amusing, laughing about it whenever he was certain Aiko or another of our hosts couldn’t catch him.

By the time we returned to our hotel, it was the wee hours of the morning, and we’d only get a few hours of sleep before we geared up and headed to the shrine, where I would switch places with someone probably from my biological family.

I’d endured so many lies I harbored more than a few doubts.

I passed out the instant I flopped on to the bed, and it took Jake waving coffee under my nose to get me on the move. While we’d both be shapeshifting upon arrival, the Inquisition provided bulletproof gear. Unless they went for a head shot, we’d have good odds of surviving anything our targets threw our way.

“Hey, Karma?” Jake asked while we did our final checks.

I checked my gun for the fourth time, and once satisfied everything was in working order, I slipped it into the holster I’d hide under a lightweight coat. “What is it?”

“Are you convinced we’re not dead yet?”

Later, my husband would pay. “Ask me after we’re back from the shrine,” I instructed.