Prologue

Black cicadas hummed among the trees. Bamboo stalks creaked softly in the breeze, and distant water murmured beneath it all.

These sounds should have calmed the senses and drawn the mind toward sleep.

Mikage shook her head.

No time for this.

It was here. She knew it was.

She might still have time to save the boy.

Her combat boots touched the earth without a sound. Black cargo pants were tucked into them, and a long shotgun coat shifted around her legs as she moved. A SHOW-YA shirt stood out beneath the open coat. A pistol rested in a holster at her side.

She carried her katana in both hands.

Her deep-blue eyes searched the chirring bamboo.

Where was the damned thing?

Something crashed through the grove to her left.

Mikage spun, sword raised.

The creature stood a little over three meters tall. In one hand, it clutched what remained of the boy.

She hadn’t been fast enough.

It shoved through the bamboo, bending some, splintering others, and tossed the body onto the path.

“Ah, Mikage-san. A little too slow, weren’t you?”

Its voice was wet, its pitch sliding from a shrill whine to a guttural rumble.

“What the hell are you?” Mikage demanded.

“Haven’t seen my kind before, have you?”

It took an impossible step. Its leg stretched across the distance, carrying it over the fence separating the path from the grove.

Though it stood beneath the faint light, Mikage saw it clearly.

Its skin was a sickly yellow, its eyes webbed with crimson. Its ears tapered to sharp points, as did the single horn jutting from the center of its forehead. Every tooth in its mouth was a fang. A scarlet, forked tongue flickered between them.

“I ate the boy’s fear, drank his blood, and feasted on his soul.” The creature licked its teeth. “He was quite the meal.”

Mikage tightened her grip on the katana. Anger burned through her, but she forced it down.“I won’t be so easy.”

“Oh, little Mikage-san, I’m not going to eat you. I was never going to eat you.” Its grin widened. “My job was only to bring you here.”

Shit.

“Leave us, Ateleya.”

The voice came from behind her.

Mikage moved sideways and turned, keeping both threats in view.

A man stood on the path behind her, dressed in an old-fashioned gothic suit. Long dark hair framed his pale face. Beside him waited a shorter woman in a kimono.

Both carried blades.

Ateleya bowed to them, then dissolved into a mist of disintegrating color.

The man smiled.

Mikage saw his teeth.

Yamikoko-ra.

No time to call for help. No path of escape.

“Ah,” the man said. “I see you’ve recognized our nature.”

“Why did you lure me here?”

“Because I need your help.”

“I don’t help your kind.”

“I didn’t say you would help willingly. But we’ll discuss that.” He glanced toward the woman. “General?”

The woman vanished.

Mikage heard a grunt behind the fence and ducked as a blade hissed over her head. She pivoted and slashed upward but struck nothing.

Something heavy crashed into the base of her skull.

Darkness took her before she hit the ground.

She looked no older than ten.

The suited man beside her desk still waited for permission to speak. Thalia turned to the man and sighed. “You’re certain it was a Soul Witch?”

“That’s what the evidence suggests, madam.”

“A Soul Witch couldn’t have taken Mikage. Not alone.”

“Our surveillance agent lost contact with her. There was no recorded Gate traffic, and she hasn’t returned.”

“Anything else?”

“The agent recovered her katana and firearm.”

Thalia looked back toward the city.

Something wasn’t right. Even a powerful Soul Witch should not have been able to stop Mikage. Damn it, this makes seven that have gone missing!

She turned from the window.

“We can’t leave Kyoto undefended. Bring me the cowboy. Have his father transferred and tell the boy he’ll be finishing high school here.”

“Madam, he has less than a year before he enters the loop.”

“I know, but I need answers and I need them now. He can get them and defend Kyoto.”

Dad had called to say he had big news.

When Dad had big news, it usually meant the PDC had big news. He was officially a corporate lawyer for one of the largest real estate firms in Texas. Unofficially, the PDC had a habit of rearranging his life whenever it wanted to rearrange mine.

I’ve lived in Texas all my life.

Sort of.

The front door opened downstairs.

I let the rune collapse and hurried to the kitchen.

Dad came in carrying his briefcase. He opened it, pulled out two plane tickets, and laid them on the table.

“How do you feel about Japan?”

I stared at him

“For vacation?”

“For high school.”

Not again.