There is a difference between falling asleep and being knocked out. Being knocked feels so unnatural, like there is a black hole in my memory.

“Here.”

I jerk back. My eyes snap open. Ohmygod! What is that pungent smell? I gag.

“Do you not eat?” Roharu holds out what I can only assume is fruit. It’s neon pink with thorns. Square shaped. Odd.

“Of course I eat, just don’t wanna eat raw meats or things that smell like crap. Is that even edible?”

Wait a minute. We aren’t in a tree anymore. I stand so quickly my head is woozy, but there’s no time for that, no matter how much my body is yelling at me. How long was I knocked out? The light is blinding. I didn’t think this forest could even get this bright.

“Human.”

“It’s Megan. You know that,” I mutter, rubbing my head. Ouch okay. My hair is tangled as all get out. Not like I keep a comb on me. I must look like a wreck. “Is there like a restaurant around here?”

“Restaurant?” He sounds out the word. “There are no establishments here. Only beasts and the dead.”

Dread coils around me like a snake, strangling me until there is nothing left. Only beasts and the dead? What kind of place is this? I suck in a breath and count to ten. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Damn.

I’m still here in this awful place.

“Then why are you here? You don’t look like one of those things…though you are a bit feral looking.”

Roharu preens. “Hunting.”

“Hunting…what?”

The smile slides off his face for a split second before he plasters it back on like a mask. “If I tell you, I’d have to kill you.” He tilts his head, and even though he’s smiling, the shadows are quivering.

That’s not normal. Shadows don’t quiver. They don’t do anything really, and yet the shadows around Roharu are.

“If you do not eat, you will perish. Unless that is what you are after?” He slices open the fruit with his claws and holds it out again.

I grimace. It smells so rotten like eggs left to sit out on a counter for days and then placed on a hot sidewalk. “How do I know this isn’t a ploy to kill me?” I squint. That’s it. Roharu is trying to kill me. He said he’s hunting. He probably gets off on that kind on that kind of thing. Torture or whatever it is that crazy serial killers do.

“You think I’d resort to poison?”

“I don’t know you at all!” This fox man cannot be serious. He didn’t even try to deny that he would kill me. “You know what, just take me back to where you found me, and I’ll be on my way.” I dust off my pants. The faster I get back to my world, the better. I’m hungry, cranky, and I need a bath like yesterday.

Roharu bites into the fruit and chews slowly. “No.”

Great, he’s going to take me back and I’ll retrace my steps. Maybe I’ll fall into another hole and that will transport me to my apartment. Preferably in my bed.

Wait.

No?

Did he tell me no?

Roharu quirks a brow as he continues to slowly eat the fruit.

“Did you just tell me no?”

“Is human hearing truly that terrible?” Roharu sighs. “Or maybe it’s a lack of comprehension.”

“I’m going to smack you,” I growl, bawling my fists at my sides. “Just take me back to that area and you won’t have to worry about me. It’s a win-win for both of us.”

“Very well.” He tosses the remaining fruit behind him and walks past me. His tail hangs low, swishing gently. That’s a good sign, right? If he was annoyed, then his tail would move in sharp bursts like a cat. Maybe? Dang, I should have paid more attention in that wildlife class I took on a whim. “Are you going to gawk? Or are you going to move?”

I scowl and march after him. “Give me a break. I just woke up from you knocking me out. Thanks for that, by the way. I just loved being knocked out.”

“You’re welcome,” he quips. His ears twitch and he halts. I freeze. My muscles tense. Is it a zombie? Please don’t let it be a zombie. I am not cut out for this. He resumes walking and I suspect the slow pace is more for my benefit as I trip over tree roots and plants that are far too grabby than they outta be.

Seriously, is everything in this depressing forest out to kill me?

“I was being sarcastic. No one enjoys being knocked out.”

“Had I not, you would have shrieked like a banshee and drawn more attention to us.” He glances over his shoulder and his purple eyes shine like jewels. “Your form is…” A fang pokes through his upper lip. “Weak.”

I blink once. Twice. I’m going to hit him. Who is he calling weak? I’m plenty strong. “First of all, I work out.”

“Right.” He snorts.

“I do!” Where does he get off? I walk in front of him, place my hand over my biceps, and flex my muscles. “See, I work out.”

Roharu snorts and then laughs. “You couldn’t even take care of the klarvak, and you think yourself to be strong?”

“Okay, so I didn’t have any weapons on me then, but I could have taken that thing on if I put my mind to it.” I jut my chin out. “I was just letting you show off a little.”

“Even a kit tells tales better than these lies you are trying to weave.” He rolls his eyes. “I’m not in the mood to waste any more time. We will go back to this area, and you will reveal why the undead are looking for you.”

“Buddy, I don’t know why the zombies are looking for me. I’ve never met a dead person in my life. At least not one that could talk back and move around, or want to eat your brains. That stuff only happens in movies. Not real life.”

“M-o-v-i-e-s?” He struggles around the word as though it is foreign. How strange. Some things go over just fine, but Roharu has no idea what a restaurant is or even what movies are. What kind of backwater world is this? God, I’d kill for a cupcake right now. My stomach rumbles. Roharu huffs.

Who cares if he is offended? I am not eating raw meat or pungent-smelling fruits.

The heat is beating down on my back. I wipe my forehead. What the hell is this? This forest is temperamental. Why is it suddenly so hot? My feet ache.

I sniff.

Something sweet is in the air. I’m going crazy. I just know it, but my legs turn and walk left, ignoring Roharu’s growls.

What is that smell? I sniff again. Chocolate?

“Human!”

“Megan,” I reply, off-handily. Seriously, what is that smell, and why is coming from deeper in the forest? It can’t be the zombies. They should smell worse than that weird fruit Roharu tried to kill me with. My mouth drops. Is that…hell yeah! I rush over to the cupcake in the middle of the forest floor. Not even the creepy plants are near it.

This is a sign!

Everything is going to be okay.

“Human!” Roharu calls again, but screw him. I am not sharing my cupcake. He can find his own. I grab the cupcake and hold it in my palm. It even has pink and purple star sprinkles on top of white whipped icing! Oh, this is Heaven. I’m saved. Something to eat finally, and Roharu is taking me back to the portal area.

I’m positive if I look hard enough, the portal will reveal itself.

“This is my cupcake,” I tell him, right before going to take a bite. Something glints and I jerk back.

“What are you doing!” the cupcake yells, wielding two mini swords. I drop it and scream. My cupcake just talked!

I take everything back. This isn’t Heaven. This is Hell! Why are there murderous cupcakes here?

“Get back here!” the cupcake jumps up and down with its little legs that stick out from the green wrapper. It waves a sword at me in anger. “I will fulfill my—ah!” Roharu plucks the cupcake from the ground and holds it out in front of him. “Let me go! You mongrel!”

I snap out of my stupor and walk around Roharu. The cupcake glares at me with its large dark eyes, and I glare right back. “The hell is wrong with you! You don’t just try to kill people.”

“You tried to eat me,” it retorts. “And I have my orders,” it mutters the last part.

“What orders?”

“As if I’d tell you.”

Roharu pinches the bridge of his nose. “Perhaps a little fire will open you up,” he says it so casually, as though he is talking about how hot the sun is.

The cupcake blanches and squirms, trying to get out of Roharu’s hold, but its tiny swords aren’t doing a lick of damage. They might not be hurting Roharu, but those things would have definitely hurt me if its plan succeeded.

“So, you weren’t going to say anything?” I hiss. “About there being sword-wielding cupcakes?”

Roharu slides his eyes towards me and then back to the cupcake in his hand. “They normally don’t travel this far, but more importantly, what idiot picks up a cupcake in the middle of a forest and tries to eat it? Your survival skills are worse than a whelp’s.”

“I’m hungry! Give me a break. Cupcakes aren’t supposed to kill, and they certainly don’t talk.” At least not where I’m from. Sure, someone might get crafty and sprinkle something on a cupcake, but how common is that? Spoiler alert, it’s not. Not at all, unless someone is cheating with someone’s spouse and the whole office smiled in that poor lady’s face. Then it’s common.

I suck in a breath and count to ten. This is fine. Everything is fine. Peachy. This must be a dream. A very, very long dream because I am not walking around with a fox boy, and a cupcake did not try to kill me based on someone’s orders.

Roharu scoffs. “Who are you working for?”

The cupcake snaps its mouth close and crosses its arms. “I’d never tell you.”

“That so?” Roharu smiles and then squeezes the cupcake until it calls for mercy. “Are you ready to talk now?”

“Fine! Fine. I don’t know, okay! It was an order to come out and take care of the human. She’s the only human here.”

I gnaw on the inside of my cheek. Someone told him to come out and take care of me? My face warms. The heat is beating down on me. It’s far too stuffy. Far too humid. Someone is after me? But why? I just got here. How do I already have enemies?

“You in the habit of working for an employer you don’t know?”

“The identity has never mattered. What matters is the coin,” the cupcake says with a scoff. “And she’s worth a pretty coin. Look, if ya help me out, I’ll split it with ya. No big deal. A powerful demon such as yourself wouldn’t want to be shackled with a human, anyway. Trouble they are.”

My blood turns to ice. That overbearing heat? Yeah, I wish I was sweltering right now. Now? Now everything is cold. My body tenses like it is going into shock. Roharu wouldn’t actually kill me, right? We’re kind of friends, though I did threaten to slap him a couple of times, but he knocked me out first, and oh my God, Roharu isn’t saying no.

“Just how much coin are we talking?”

I take a step back. Is he serious?

“50,000 Thi. We split it and both of us could have enough for a small home with a couple of servants.”

Roharu tilts his head and then looks at me. “50,000 Thi, huh?”

I glare. Oh, I dislike that gleam in his eyes. If Roharu tries anything, I’ll go straight for his ears.

“60—40 split, and we’ll have a deal.” Roharu smirks.

My eye twitches. Damn fox.