“Hey. It’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.” She looked up into the girl’s eyes and listened to her heartbeat. It was beating fast because she was scared but it didn’t raise when she spoke. She wasn’t lying. Surely Derek and Peter had heard that. Why were they still keeping her here? “I believe you. I don’t know why Derek and Peter have you here..I’m sorry.”
Gulping hard, Summer got a grip on her fear and inched back toward the other girl — Erica. “Derek and Peter? Those are the men who have me?” She put her fingers through the bars of the cage. “I don’t understand why I’m here. I didn’t do anything. They keep demanding I give up the nogitsune — I’m not a fox spirit!”
“Yeah..they’re my pack..well one of them is, the other is an entitled asshole.” She was talking about Peter, obviously. “I don’t know why they’ve got you here either. Your heart would tell them that you’re not lying and- wait. you know what a nogitsune is?”
“M-my heart?” Summer leaned her forehead against the bars. “What does my heart have to do with anything?” She tried to puzzle it out, gave up. “Of course I know what a nogitsune is, I read! I’m not stupid. I study Japanese in school, for gods’ sake. What is going on?!”