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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The day of the Tsukuyomi Festival arrived like any other, except there was a peculiar electricity in the air.

One that made the hair on the back of Koichi’s neck rise.

Everyone was on edge, which wasn’t helped by the flailing Ryuichi he had tied in a burlap sack and flung over his right shoulder. Kid was struggling fiercely.

“ Let me go ! I am not to be manhandled!”

Koichi snorted. “Better than being demonhandled. Besides, you’re not being manhandled—you’re being samuraihandled. You should be honored, snipe. Normally, we don’t bother with the likes of you. We’d just cut your head off and be done with it and the pain you give us.”

“I will see that you pay for this!” the muffled voice shrieked.

Koichi laughed as he struck him on the rump. “Take a number. It’s a long and frightening list that starts with much more impressive beings than you.”

Actually, it started with the Ryukage, but reminding the boy of the fact that his father wanted a piece of Koichi’s hide probably wasn’t the wisest course of action. If Ryuichi wanted to call that marker in, then he’d have a reason to be fearful.

And maybe rethink what he was doing.

Lucky for the world, he still didn’t have a lot of common sense, and even less self-preservation.

So, here they were on the dumbest quest ever.

To travel past two angry gods and demons galore in order to reunite Ryuichi with his shadow.

Why? He had no idea. No one in their right mind would have taken up this task.

Good thing I’m not in my right mind.

Irritated, he grimaced at Masaru, who still didn’t have the proper demeanor for a kitsune who’d screwed up so badly. “I hate you.”

Masaru gave back the same expression. “Not your friend either.”

Well, at least he knew where they stood in each other’s affections. He could work with hatred. He’d had worse.

Besides, they were lucky to get even this one opportunity. Fortune seldom afforded two. She was terribly stingy that way.

Masaru strode beside him, in that weird black outfit he loved so much. Masaru was looking way too full of himself, especially given what he’d done and the danger he’d put them all in. “Why do I have to carry the kid?”

Masaru smirked. “I’m the brains. You’re the brawn.”

Yeah, right.

Keiko gave Koichi a look that said she doubted his sanity for even asking that question. “You know how Masaru is with children. The last thing we need is for him to find another piece of the boy’s soul to gift to the Ryukage... or someone else he wants to buy off to save his own hide.”

Masaru sputtered. “I beg your pardon? If not for me, we wouldn’t get to spend all this nice quality time together.”

Koichi gnashed his teeth as he remembered some of their better moments... that he could have done without. “Please, Keiko,” he begged. “Let me stab him. Just once.”

“Stop it, the both of you. You’re bickering like children.”

“Let me out!” Ryuichi screamed as he struggled even harder inside the sack.

“Ow! Stop wiggling!” Koichi slapped the boy on his rump again. No one was proud of stuffing the scared and sacred prodigy into a sack, but the child had been less than cooperative. Unless Ryuichi conceived of the plan, he refused to partake of the plan.

He was terribly bossy that way.

At least no one was paying any attention to them as they entered the small, out-of-the-way village. Something he found remarkable given the spectacle they made. Masaru looking all evil in his leather armor. Keiko being her beautiful warrior self, and Koichi in his shoddy armor, carrying a bag that was obviously alive and protesting a kidnapping—both in action and by shrieking.

Yet the townsfolk were too busy looking over merchants’ wares or watching acrobats and players to notice three odd newcomers.

For once, they didn’t stand out.

Which he deeply appreciated, since it avoided a fight and any unwanted and awkward questions. Made him glad he’d discovered this little place by sheer accident while chasing a spirit with his students. If not for the involvement of the supernatural, he would have never known it existed. Which was fortunate, given that only the exceptionally desperate bothered to pay their respects to Amaterasu’s lesser-known sibling and husband.

Fewer still bothered to show respect openly, as they didn’t want to incur the wrath of the sun goddess.

To have found an entire village willing to run that risk...

It was a miracle. And one they needed. Just as he’d needed one when he’d been chasing down the demon he’d cornered here.

But the town’s devotion to the moon and Tsukuyomi cost them in so many ways.

Such as the fact that it was high morning, yet the sun was nowhere to be seen. Lanterns flickered all around, and everyone’s shadows moved unnaturally, taunting and beckoning as those shadows sought their freedom to escape in the waiting darkness.

The veil between worlds was thin in this place.

And it was growing thinner by the heartbeat.

That was why the demon had made a run for it and led him here.

As Masaru, Keiko, Koichi—and Ryuichi—proceeded, the sounds of familiar ceremonial drums echoed through the crowd like a second heartbeat.

Masaru picked up his pace. “It’s starting. They’re summoning the gods.” He passed a wicked grin toward Koichi. “We don’t want to miss the good part.”

Those words and their evil intent sent a chill down Koichi’s spine. “I really wish you’d let me skin that fox.”

Keiko tsked. “Now, now. What good would that do us?”

“Could use the fur? Make an extra blanket?”

She shook her head with amusement.

Ryuichi went still as if he sensed something in the air, and that, too, added to his apprehension as he made his way through the thronging crowd. While Masaru and Keiko might have been used to moon festivals and their preternatural weirdness, Koichi was mortal.

Unlike them, he was a creature of light. He needed the warm embrace of Amaterasu’s sun. And that was nowhere to be felt.

The dark left him cold. Abandoned.

Koichi had a rare moment of doubt. “Are we sure about this?” he asked quietly.

Masaru laughed in that mocking, sinister way. “Your idea, buddy. You didn’t like my plan.” Turning around, he walked backward through the crowd with a taunting grin.

Never had Koichi wanted to slug him more.

Keiko was far kinder. “It’s the only way.”

Koichi nodded and steeled himself, but not before giving Ryuichi a solid smack for good measure.

“Ow!”

It didn’t help, but smacking the shadow brat who had caused this mess did wonders for his mood.

They neared the painted taiko drums, which grew louder and louder until their thunder was deafening. The drummers seemed possessed and frenzied as they frenetically beat out their rhythms to the gods. It was a furious sound, at war with the beauty and pageantry of the drummers’ elegant movements.

Yet their frantic beat wasn’t the odd part.

This was unlike any festival Koichi had ever seen. There were no kids playing in the streets and no smiling faces. No one shouted out for their wares. Everyone here was as grim as if they attended a funeral.

In a trance.

While being constipated.

It made no sense. And that was what Koichi hated about people. Yōkai he understood. They were predictable. After years of hunting them, he knew their habits as well as he knew his own. Right down to what time of night they picked their noses.

They always acted in similar patterns and did what was expected.

People?

He had never quite gotten the hang of them.

They had their own hidden agendas that only made sense to them.

Worse? They could be extremely irrational and acted with no motivation whatsoever. No one ever knew what fueled their hatred or their hostility.

Or even their love.

Made for all kinds of problems.

Such as the brat he carried.

He’d never understood why Haruka had fallen in love with Ryu. Why she’d been so determined to have him, no matter the cost. Why she’d been willing to risk the fate of all the worlds for one man.

Humans and gods made no sense to whatsoever.

And to make matters worse, these people were like nothing he’d ever seen before. There was no light in their eyes. It was as if their souls had been taken.

Just like there was no sun in their village.

Another curse from the twins or their moon god father?

It would certainly explain the villagers’ zombielike state. Why they didn’t care about strangers or anything else.

Gods, what am I walking into? Koichi had no idea, and he liked that even less.

Masaru cocked his head, following Koichi’s observant gaze. “Funny, isn’t it?”

Keiko scowled at him. “What?”

“How much effort mortals have to go through to touch the divine... or even glimpse it.” He passed an irritated smirk toward Koichi. “This would have been so much simpler if Koichi were a kitsune. Then we could have simply walked him into the Ryukage’s lands.”

Koichi scoffed. “Spare us your wit, Masaru. After all, we’re here to correct your mistake, kitsune .”

With a growl, Masaru moved toward him.

Keiko stepped between the two and caught Masaru before he could make contact with Koichi. “Regardless of why we’re here, I’m sure the Ryukage has discovered the subterfuge by now.” She looked at Masaru and then Koichi. “Every road and path will have the Shadow King’s dark eyes and ears all over them. He will not expect the mighty Masaru to go through all this effort to take the same route as mortals.” She smiled at Masaru. “You are many things, my dear, but hardworking is not one of them. He’ll expect you to take the easy route back to his door.”

Masaru laughed. “What can I say? I’m a creature of habit. Besides, why should I run when I can walk? Or, better yet, sit.”

Koichi shook his head. Yōkai. So predictable. Even sneaky kitsune.

Unless they were involved with mortals. Then the mortals tended to wear off on them and make them wretchedly unpredictable again.

A sudden shout rang out, drawing his attention away from his thoughts.

That could only mean one thing—the Noh play had started, and the gods were being summoned to this plane.

Suddenly, Ryuichi began struggling even harder than before. Not that it mattered. The crowd now appeared to be in an even deeper trance. He doubted if they had any clue who or what was among them.

Out of the darkness, two men in elaborate happy-face Noh masks came forward. Their robes were a dark, solemn blue that contrasted starkly with their masks as they danced across the stage.

From the left side, a third actor who wore the mask of an elaborate oni appeared, with a candle in his hands. A small, little thing, flickering in the dark.

The other two ran to the flame, captivated by its light. In an elaborate dance, they fought the oni for the candle and won, taking it from his hands. Then they drove him off so they could pass the light back and forth between them, laughing the entire time.

At first Koichi didn’t understand the point of the performance.

Not until a fourth actor appeared, wearing the elaborate gold costume of Amaterasu. And she was angry at the shadow players who’d taken her light.

Her dance was furious and elegant before she took the candle from the two, mimed her shouts, stomped her feet, then let out a furious roar that was louder than any battle cry.

She blew out the candle, leaving them all in utter darkness.

Silence rang out so swiftly that it made his ears ring.

Even Ryuichi was still.

Quickly, lanterns were lit, yet all the actors were gone. Their costumes and masks lay on the stage, utterly forgotten, as if the players had vanished where they’d stood.

A stunned Koichi scanned the crowd to make sure there weren’t grown men running naked through them.

Nope. No sight or sound. Not even a whisper.

He turned to Keiko. “Where did they go?”

“Gone,” she said, and then fell silent.

“Where?”

She didn’t answer.

At the same time, the crowd of villagers began undulating and shuffling to some silent music, like a peculiar mix of a flock of herons and a raging sea. They moved en masse, with such force that Koichi and his companions were carried along with them as they headed away from the stage, toward the outskirts of town.

There were so many people...

He couldn’t escape or pull away. In fact, it was hard to keep his grip on his struggling bundle.

“Where are we going?” He expected an answer from Masaru or Keiko, but a villager to his right spoke up. “To see the masters.” The man’s tone was eerie and devoid of all emotion.

Like a tsunami, the crowd carried all of them to the outer edges of town, where a shrine had been built.

It stood dark and ominous in the moonlight. Somber light ricocheted through the shrine as if it were a living, breathing creature.

This was what they’d come for...

But as he looked at it, apprehension slowed his gait.

What are we doing?

Was this the best course of action?

He began to think of all the ways it could backfire. Maybe going to see the twin gods in order for them to restore Ryuichi’s shadow had not been the wisest idea after all.

“Should we leave?” The words were out before he could stop them.

Masaru laughed evilly. “Unless you’re a tengu and have a pair of wings that can fly you over these people, you’re stuck, buddy.”

“I really loathe you.”

That only made Masaru smile wider.

People flowed up and down the stairs of the shrine in a seemingly random pattern. Gradually, it dawned on Koichi that some of the petitioners were being turned away by the gods.

He tightened his grip on the burlap sack.

That was something he hadn’t considered. What if the gods refused to let them pass?

What would they do then? How would they restore Ryuichi’s shadow?

It would take all three of them to do this. While the kitsune could come and go whenever they chose, Koichi couldn’t.

This was their only shot. And if the gods didn’t cooperate, their quest would be over before it began.

Crap.

The crowd carried them forward again. They were being shoveled forward like treats toward the mouth of a hungry toddler. A sick feeling grew in Koichi’s stomach.

Maybe it was the apprehension of dealing with so many preternatural beings. Or maybe it was just bad sake. He wasn’t sure. But either way, he felt ill. Unprepared.

“Let me at them!” Ryuichi began fighting again.

“Careful, runt, or I will. And trust me—you don’t want to fight these guys.” They’d enjoy it too much. Right before popping his head off and eating it.

With a trembling hand, Koichi entered the shrine and heard the most terrifying words imaginable...