Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,67

on, or do I have to stand here and explain the obvious?”

“Yumeko-san,” Daisuke breathed, just as I reached up and stripped the leaf from my head, dispelling the illusion in a puff of smoke. Okame’s eyes bulged.

“Yumeko-chan! Then, it was you the whole time, not the priestess?” He looked back and forth between me and Reika. “Why?”

“So I could leave the castle,” I explained, feeling all their gazes on me. “I couldn’t just walk out the front gates, not without attracting the attention of the entire Shadow Clan. They were watching me after my meeting with Lady Hanshou. You weren’t in your rooms, and no one had seen you in the castle, so we thought you might be in trouble. We agreed to look for you.”

“No, we did not,” Reika snapped. “We agreed that I would look for them, and you would remain in your room at the castle. What part of that did you not understand?” She lowered her voice to a near whisper, still glaring at me. “You are the bearer of the You-Know-What. We cannot risk the Shadow Clan discovering the truth.”

Okame let out a snicker. “Ah, there’s the normal uptight priestess we were missing. For a minute there I was afraid you were dying.”

“And you.” Reika turned her wrath on the ronin. “What made you think it was a good idea to leave the castle and wander down to the city at night in Shadow Clan territory? You know the importance of our mission. Why would you risk everything just for one night of whoring, gambling and getting drunk?”

“It is not like that, Reika-san,” Daisuke interjected before the ronin could respond. “Forgive me, I fear I have caused a misunderstanding. You see, it was I who suggested we go into the city.”

“Taiyo-san.” Reika blinked at him. “You did? Why?”

“I wished to discuss matters concerning what we saw on the Path of Shadows,” Daisuke said. “Okame-san was kind enough to listen. We did not want to be overheard at the castle, so we decided to come here.”

“Don’t take the fall for me, peacock,” Okame growled. “I don’t need your pity. Might as well tell her the truth, that my goal tonight was to get drunk off my ass and you were afraid I’d end up facedown in a gutter somewhere.” His tone turned surly. “Frankly, I don’t know why you bothered to come.”

Daisuke blinked. “It was never pity, Okame-san,” he answered in a quiet voice. “I came with you because I enjoy your company, nothing else. Regardless…” He turned back to Reika. “Perhaps we can discuss our plans back at the castle? We appear to have made a powerful enemy among the Shadow Clan, and remaining in a dark alley when there are assassins about is not the wisest course of action.”

“That I can agree with.” Reika nodded with a final glower at me. “Let us go quickly, before anything else happens. Hopefully when we return, the Shadow Clan will not question exactly how Yumeko snuck out of the castle without being seen, but there is nothing we can do about that now.”

As we moved to leave the alley, awareness made me pause. I turned to glance over my shoulder, and saw the black cat sitting atop the fence, watching us depart with glowing green eyes, her twin tails waving behind her. I smiled and offered a short bow, and when I looked up again, the neko was gone.

11

THE CASTLE OF DEMONS

HAKAIMONO

Dozens of eyes watched me as I walked through the courtyard of Onikage castle, whispers following me across the stones.

“Has Lord Genno summoned a new demon?”

“Who is that? It doesn’t look like any oni I’ve seen before.”

“Wait. Is that…Hakaimono-sama?”

Yokai and a few minor demons stared at me from nooks and shadows of the courtyard. Amanjaku, lowest of the demon hierarchy, scuttled between cracks and into crannies, yellow eyes wide as they peeked out. Of all the creatures here, they at least knew who I was. The rest of them, at least the ones I could see, were all monstrous yokai, from the bloated jorogumo crouched atop the castle roof, eight long legs folded against her thorax, to the kappa peering at me from the rancid pond, to the trio of nezumi ratlings huddled in the wreckage of a smashed cart, watching me with beady rodent eyes. They were wary, curious or hostile, but only a few were openly fearful. I smiled grimly. That would change after I spoke to Genno. When I was done with the