Shadow of The Fox (Shadow of the Fox #1) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,41

focus, she would revert to a glowing ball of light. Speaking was difficult and required effort to remember how, and even then, her voice came out faint and breathy. In the stories, some yurei were powerful onryo, grudge spirits whose rage and hate manifested into devastating and sometimes fatal curses, but Suki had no idea how to do that. And even if she did show herself to her murderer, Lady Satomi didn’t seem the type to be distressed about the ghost of her former maid.

So she followed her, trailing the woman soundlessly through the empty halls, until Satomi pushed open the front doors and stepped into the courtyard again.

It was full of demons. Suki froze in midair, trembling, before darting behind a dead bush to peer through the branches. Amanjaku skittered over the stones, snarling and waving crude weapons at each other. In the center, the terrible form of Yaburama towered over the mob, casting them in his shadow.

Lady Satomi strode through the mob, ignoring the demons who hissed and cackled at her, face serene as she walked toward the oni. From Suki’s perspective, as she hovered behind a chunk of broken wall, Yaburama seemed to be in a bad mood, baring his teeth at any amanjaku who got too close. As Satomi approached, a green amanjaku darted out of her way, and the oni gave it a savage kick that booted it over the wall. Lady Satomi watched as the demon went sailing away, a bemused look on her face, before looking at Yaburama.

“Well, I could say something about your temper, but at least you’re on time tonight.” The woman sniffed, then gave an amanjaku that had been edging too close to her robes a warning look. “But, sadly, time is waning, and I have much to do. If you would kindly give me the scroll, Yaburama, we can end this unpleasant association, and you can go back to doing...whatever it is you demons do until you’re summoned. So...” She held out a slender white hand. “The Dragon scroll, if you would?”

The oni let out a growl. “I don’t have it.”

“What?” Lady Satomi dropped her arm, eyes narrowing. “Do excuse me, Yaburama, but this is the sole reason you were summoned from Jigoku, yes? Why I sent you to that temple of ki-using fanatics, because I thought, surely an oni like Yaburama would have no trouble with a bunch of bald old men. What do you mean you don’t have the scroll?”

“The scroll wasn’t at the temple, human.” The oni glowered down at her. “I killed every monk there, including the master, and tore the temple apart looking for it. There was no scroll.”

“And you’re certain you killed everyone?” Satomi’s voice was calm; she could have been asking a maid if she’d looked everywhere for a favorite teacup, not casually discussing the slaughter of an entire temple of monks. “No acolyte snuck out the back and managed to escape? No monk harnessed their ki to a trio of sparrows and flew over the wall?”

“No,” growled the oni. “I killed everyone. There were no survivors.”

At this, a pair of smaller demons near the oni’s feet began jumping up and down, chattering in raspy, high-pitched voices. Suki couldn’t understand what they were saying, but Yaburama spun around, looking murderous, and grabbed for them. One demon yelped in alarm and fled into the crowd, but the other wasn’t fast enough and was snatched up in the oni’s huge claw. It wailed as the monster lifted it off the ground, waving its arms and babbling, until it was at face level. The oni rumbled at it in a guttural, ominous voice, and the demon squeaked an answer, still squirming helplessly in its grip.

With a growl and a flash of fangs, the oni clenched its fist, crushing the demon inside. Blood shot from its nose and mouth and ran from its ears, before it dissolved into coils of reddish-black smoke that writhed away on the wind.

If Suki could have cringed at the display of violence and blood, she would have, but Lady Satomi only looked amused. “Oh, do let me guess,” she said as the oni opened its fist, letting the last of the smoke dissipate. Blood stained his claws and fingertips, but he didn’t seem to notice. “In all your murdering and killing and reveling, you let someone slip away through your big stupid fingers. And now they have the scroll.”

The oni lowered his arm. “There was...a girl,” he rumbled, sounding reluctant and