Page 84 of Shadow Wars
“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...
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
“Welcome! Welcome!”
“Come inside!”
Staring at the two gods who were disguised as Noh actors, Koichi had to fight the urge to repeat those words in a mocking tone and manner, and then add his own twist.Welcome! Welcome! Come inside! We plan to eat you. Steal your soul. Do all manner of awful things to you... and you’re too stupid to know better.
Why couldn’t they ever tell the truth? Really. It would make his job so much easier if, just once, evil could look evil.
Well, sometimes it did. But that was always the lesser evil.
Thebigevil...
It looked like friends and came dressed in pretty things that you usually coveted. Trappings of power. Fancy clothes. And bearing candy.
Like these soul-sucking twins.
Horrible, dangerous evil was always alluring and shiny. That was what made it so incredibly lethal. No one saw the danger until it was too late. Until it surrounded you like an ocean and pulled you under until you drowned.
Koichi let out a long, tired breath.Can’t I go one day without walking into a monster? Really, is one day too much to ask?
With a sickeningly sweet smile full of dyed-black teeth that belied her wicked heart, Mizuki revealed herself beside her beautiful brother.
Not that anyone could see his beauty. At the moment, Tsukiya hid his perfect face behind a white Noh mask that held a blank expression. But while the mask was bland, his long white silk kimono was elaborately embroidered in blood red. It even looked like drops of blood in places. In the center of the kimono rested a second mask that bore an angry expression. It was attached to the mask on his face by a gold stick he held in one hand. Both had red ribbons streaming from their temples that could be used to secure the masks to his face.
Mizuki wore the same white kimono, but unlike her brother, she didn’t hide her beauty behind a mask. She didn’t want a single devilish pucker or evil grimace to go unseen. Indeed, she wanted everyone to witness her burning hatred for them and for the human world she disdained. Her long black hair flowed over her shoulders all the way to the ground and trailed behind her like a train across the floor. She was insidiously beautiful. All the better to lure innocent mortals who were blinded by her beauty to their dooms.
Tsukiya rose and slowly approached them. He glanced at Masaru, then Keiko, but it was Koichi who caught his full attention. The god lowered his mask to reveal his pale, ethereally beautiful features. “Well, well...”
“What do we have here?” Mizuki asked, interrupting her brother’s words.
