by Gary Jonas
“She is.”
“I’ll bring her to you. If I can, I’ll bring your friend Jennifer as well. We can discuss Wakumi when I get back.”
“All right,” I said, feeling better about things. “Why did you betray my friends?”
“Hey, to be clear, you’ve never met this Jonathan, so he’s not really your friend. To be honest, he’s something of an asshole, and I don’t see why the other version of you puts up with him.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
He sighed and looked into my eyes. “I lost someone a long time ago. Someone I loved.” Emotions played across his face for a moment, but he grabbed control of them. “I thought I could get her back, so I had to try.”
He stared at me for a moment then stepped back. “Thank you,” he said.
“For?”
“Not killing me.”
“Like you said, I still need you to save Cho.”
He gave me a sad smile and stepped away into shadow.
Thirty seconds later, he stepped out of the shadow with two passengers: Jennifer and Cho.
“Hope you two enjoyed the ride,” Victor said. He glanced at me. “I’ll be in touch.”
He disappeared into the shadow before I could say a word.
Cho smiled and ran to me. “Kelly!”
Jennifer stood wide-eyed on the roof and moved shakily as though she might tip over.
I bent and embraced Cho. “You okay?” I asked.
“That nice man gave us a ride.”
“He’s not that nice,” I said. “But I’m sure glad you’re here.”
“Um,” Jennifer said. “I think I’m going to throw up.”
“Did the ninja in the house see you?”
“I didn’t see any ninja in the house.”
Maybe Shinobi had been bluffing.
Either way, tension I hadn’t realized was present eased from my shoulders. The ninja could watch Jennifer’s house all they wanted now.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I stuck mostly to the shadows as I moved around Nori’s house, which must have been a company-owned home. I couldn’t traverse the shadows like Victor, but I could certainly use them for cover. There weren’t any sentries, which seemed odd. The house felt empty from the outside, but there are magic spells that can be cast to give that effect, so I wasn’t going to take it for granted.
My phone buzzed, so I pulled it out. Amanda.
“I told you to text me,” I whispered.
“Sorry,” Amanda said. “We’re at the dojo and I’m setting wards, but someone wants to talk to you.”
“Put her on.”
“This is where you live?” Cho asked.
“Yes, sweetie.”
“It’s so cool. Are all these weapons yours?”
“Don’t play with those,” I whispered.
“Why are you whispering?”
“Because I don’t want anyone but you to hear me.”
“That’s silly.”
“I know. I have to work right now. You do what Amanda and Jennifer tell you. Okay?”
“Okay. Will you be here soon?”
“Maybe tomorrow,” I said.
“Will you bring my mommy?”
“I will.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. I gotta go now, Cho. See you soon.”
“You’re the best,” Cho said.
“No,” I said. “You are. Can you put Amanda back on the line, please?”
A moment later, Amanda said, “Something else?”
“Yes. I know you’ve got wards set, but I want wards on top of those wards. I don’t want anyone to know Jennifer and Cho are at the dojo. In fact, I don’t want anyone to know the dojo is there.”
“Paranoid much?” Amanda asked.
“Just double up on the wards.”
“Consider it done.”
A sweep of the perimeter showed zero precautions. Nori wasn’t some small business owner living a mundane life, so there should have been something in place to protect the house. This was doubly true if he were inside sleeping.
My senses went on full alert as I crept up to the house. The garage had a regular door on the side as well as the large door at the front. I picked the lock on the side door, and gently eased it open. No sounds. Nothing to alert me to danger.
I slipped inside.
The black Mitsubishi sat alone in the center of the garage. I placed my hand on the hood. Cold. I moved around it and spotted a bundle on the concrete floor lying in a puddle of darkness. The bundle was a blanket, and inside was the corpse of a Japanese man. The front of his body had been slashed open. It looked like someone used a four tined metal rake to gut him. The blood was definitely going to leave a stain on the floor.
I drew my sword and eased my way into the main house. The door into the house opened to the kitchen. The refrigerator hummed softly. My eyes were adjusted to the darkness, so I could see well enough to make out furniture in the living room. Table, sofa, television, chairs. A hallway led to the bedrooms, so I crept along, sword ready, listening for breathing. The house still felt empty.
The first bedroom held two twin beds and a single dresser. The beds were made, and each had a pair of pants, underwear, and shirt on top. A pair of shoes and socks stood in front of each of the beds. It was as though two men stripped naked, placed their clothing on the beds and walked away.
I doubted they were naked. They probably switched from street clothes to a uniform of some sort.
The next bedroom was the same. And the master bedroom.
No more bodies, so that was a positive.
A cellphone sat on a dresser with keys, wallet, a passport, and some loose change. I risked using the flashlight function on my phone to check the passport. Nori.
They had to be out doing samurai things.
As I had no other real leads, I went back to the living room, sat down on the couch with my sword across my thighs, and waited for them to come home.
***
At 4:37 that morning, I heard a thump in the backyard. I waited quietly, gripping my sword with an easy touch. Footsteps outside. Coming toward the door.
The door opened, and a man dressed as a samurai warrior stepped inside. As he entered, I rose from the couch, sword in hand.
“Is Nori with you?” I asked.
Rather than respond, the warrior drew his sword and rushed me, jumping onto the low table as he swung his blade. I grinned and parried his attack.
“You’re too aggressive,” I said and kicked the table forward. “Leaves you off balance.”
He plopped onto the sofa, losing his helmet. “You are an intruder,” he said pushing himself to his feet.
I crossed blades with him. “I’m more of a visitor, and you’re outmatched.”
He gave me a wry grin. “Outmatch this,” he said and opened his mouth.
I considered running him through, but his incisors grew into fangs and fur sprouted from his face and hands. Not the kind of thing you see every day. In fact, normally, I’d have to watch a Hollywood movie to see something like that, so out of curiosity, I waited and watched. His fingernails broke open as claws sprang from his fingertips. It looked painful, but he didn’t seem to be hurting. As the change neared completion, he tried to attack with the sword.
The moron thought I’d frozen out of surprise. All right, I was surprised, but I’d waited out of fascination, so when the sword whipped around, I easily parried it and kicked him into the wall. It cracked and caved in a bit, but he pounced away to face me.
“Well done,” I said. “Not the fighting, but the transformation.”
He roared and tried another attack.
I swatted the sword out of his furry hand.
“That was loud, but sloppy. I’m really only here to chat with Nori.”
“Die!” the beast growled and took a swipe at me with his massive claws.
I leaned back to avoid the slash then whipped my blade around severing his head. His body stood for a momen
t then collapsed as his head bounced off the table onto the floor.
“Sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t in the mood to die.”
The beast shifted from a wolf man to a regular man.
“How odd,” I said and bent to pick up his head.
A shirtless Japanese man entered the house. He spotted me holding the man’s head. “What the—” he said.
“Think fast,” I said and chucked the head to him.
He caught the head and glanced at the face. “Goro!” He dropped the head, shook his hands as though they had cooties on them then faced me. He said something in Japanese and started to change into a werewolf.
“Try English,” I said. “And stop wolfing out or I’ll kill you too.”
He stopped in mid-shift then eased back to human form. “You Kelly Chan.” He gave me a slight bow then held up his right index finger. “Hold. One second.”
He moved back to the door, leaned out and spoke in Japanese again. I heard my name, but that’s all I really understood.
A moment later, another werewolf stepped inside. This one was also dressed as a samurai warrior. It growled something in Japanese to the human then turned to gaze at me. It shifted from werewolf to human. Nori Oshira. “I thought that was you,” he said.
“Excuse me?” I said.
“You triggered our warning system, so I figured it had to be you. The ninja wouldn’t dare come here.” He spotted the head on the floor and smiled. “I guess we can drop Goro from the payroll.” His eyes met mine again. “Put the sword away. We’re not going to attack you. And you’re going to want to stay back when we bring Ichiro in. He doesn’t have any control, so the beast is furious right now.”
Outside, I heard a howl followed by an angry growling.
“She killed Goro!” the shirtless man said.
“Goro should have fought better,” I said.
“She’s right, Shintaro. Goro was always overconfident. We have other things to worry about. They’re bringing Ichiro in now,” Nori said.
He backed up into the kitchen.
“Careful guys,” he said. “Shintaro, go get the silver Taser.”
The shirtless Japanese man, Shintaro, rushed into the garage.
A werewolf slammed into the doorjamb. He stumbled forward, then back and held a metal chain in both furry hands. He, too, was dressed like a samurai.
“He’s a fighter,” Nori said.
The werewolf stepped on Goro’s head and lost his balance. He staggered backward, smashed into the wall, dragging a naked werewolf inside with him. That wolf was wrapped in chains. Two other werewolves dressed as samurai also had chains wrapped around the naked werewolf, and they struggled to control it. They pulled back, then found themselves yanked forward. The unclothed werewolf knocked a samurai helmet off one of them.
Shintaro returned with what looked like a standard Taser.
I had my sword ready in case the three werewolf samurai guys couldn’t hold the other werewolf.
Shintaro shifted to werewolf form, darted in and tased the naked werewolf. It howled in pain. He tased it again. It howled, whimpered, and dropped to one knee.
Nori said something in Japanese, and Shintaro tased the werewolf a third time. This time the fight went out of it.
“Excellent. All right. Take him to the garage, wrap him tight with more chains, and shove him into the car until the moon goes down. I’ll have a chat with Ms. Chan.”
They dragged the weakened werewolf into the garage. Nori closed the door so only he and I stood in the house. He gave me a smile.
“So glad you found the place,” he said.
“You’re all werewolves,” I said.
“Your deductive reasoning is going to put us all to shame, Ms. Chan.”
“But—”
He grinned at me, waiting.
“But you’re samurai.”
“My squad is comprised of werewolves who are also samurai warriors. That’s why I wasn’t too concerned about getting bitten by a werewolf.”
“Give me a moment,” I said. “I’m still wrapping my head around this.”
“I’ll cut to the chase. We control the change. Ichiro doesn’t. We can change at will whether the full moon is out or not. Ichiro is a victim of a curse. We’re trying to teach him, but to do that, we need to get through to the beast. So we meet up with him on the nights of the full moon. It’s not that difficult to grasp.”
“It’s just not what I expected.”
“Welcome to my world,” he said.
“So all the weird George Patrick stuff with the hotel?”
“Cover. This house is one of our rental properties. We usually stay at a hotel near Ichiro’s place.”
“And you don’t have a backup cage?”
“We’ve never needed one. Normally, we fly in for the full moon, and fly out when it’s done. This time, the damn ninja found Ichiro.”
“Shinobi?”
He sighed and nodded. “That asshole is the fly in the ointment. Or perhaps the wolfsbane on the silver bullet.”
“Fill me in. Maybe I can help.”
“Let’s make sure Ichiro is under control, then I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Nori’s team stood around in human form, and we stared at the werewolf chained in the Mitsubishi. The beast hurled itself against the windshield, knocking the rearview mirror off the glass. The beast tried to smash its way out and the windshield starred where it hit.
“It’s ruining your car,” I said. “Don’t you have any sedatives?”
“Ichiro normally supplies those, but they were destroyed the other night. As for the car, it’s a rental. We’ll pay the deductible and it’s all good,” Nori said. He turned to one of his men. “Gas him.”
The man nodded and grabbed a device off a workbench. He pressed a button and smoke billowed into the car. The werewolf tried waving its hands, but the tendrils swirled around with nowhere to go. After a few seconds, the beast growled and slumped in the front seat.
“Keep him here until sunup.”
“Yes, sir.”
Nori motioned toward the corpse I’d found. “We lost Kiyoshi tonight. He was a good man. Alas, he didn’t change in time, and Ichiro caught him by surprise.” He shook his head. “I don’t look forward to telling his wife and sons.”
I shrugged. Warriors know that every fight may be their last. At least he’d died in battle.
“Guess you’ll have to talk to Goro’s family too.”
“He was an orphan, and to be honest, I sent him in first intentionally to see what was waiting for us.”
“That’s right. You said I triggered a warning system,” I said.
“You didn’t see it.”
I hated to admit it, but denying it wouldn’t change anything. “Where was it?”
“We have a perimeter set three blocks out.”
“Then it must get triggered a lot.”
He shook his head. “It’s set only to go off if anything magical crosses into our territory.”
“So you’re saying I’m magical.”
He sighed. “If Kiyoshi and Goro hadn’t died tonight, I might smile at that. Magic flows through your veins. Come inside and we’ll talk. My men will keep an eye on Ichiro.”
He led me back into the house, and gestured for me to sit on the sofa. I picked up Goro’s helmet and tossed it into a chair then took a seat and glanced at the headless corpse on the floor to my left. “You’re a tricky man, Nori.”
“May I offer you some hot tea?”
“I’m not thirsty.”
“Well, I need some tea.”
“You going to have someone move Goro’s body?”
“Why?” he asked. “Does it bother you?”
“Not especially.”
“Then it can stay where it is for now.” He moved about the kitchen and set a pot of tea on the stove. He didn’t show any outward signs of being a lycanthrope. He seemed like a normal man.
When he retur
ned to the living room, he used one booted foot to move the table back to its proper place then set the tea kettle on a trivet and an empty cup down in front of me. “In case you change your mind,” he said. Goro’s helmet was in his chair, so he picked it up and tossed it on the floor by the body. Then he sat and sipped his tea. “Where’s his head?”
“Over by the door. One of your guys stepped on it.”
He looked over his shoulder. “Oh, there it is.”
“So you’re all werewolves,” I said. “And you can all control the change even when the moon is full. Except for Ichiro, of course.”
“He has one more night to learn, and I shall grant him that time.”
“And then you’ll kill him.”
“Only if he can’t beat the curse.”
“So you’re a natural, and…” I stopped speaking because he shook his head.
“Natural lycanthropes are exceedingly rare, no matter what the internet or old books say. Lycanthropes were nearly hunted to extinction. All of us,” he pointed toward the garage door to indicate his men, then at himself, “were cursed.”
“But you beat it.”
He nodded. “The will must be stronger than the magic.”
“Do you feel the pull of the moon?” I asked.
“Always. And on the nights where the moon balloons full, it’s like a long lost lover calling us to come home.”
“You don’t seem to be fighting it.”
“Appearances are often deceiving.”
“What I mean is you seem calm.”
“My exterior is calm and controlled. My interior is raging. It has ever been thus, and shall always remain so.”
“Why is it that you beat it, but Ichiro hasn’t?”
“I haven’t quite given up on him quite yet. Granted, it doesn’t look good, but some people don’t change until the last moment. He will have his allotted time.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
He studied me for a time, no doubt wrestling with what he should or shouldn’t say. “Remember when I told you this was a family thing?”
“Of course.”
“Ichiro was the first to be cursed. He and my sister both.”
“So Wakumi is your sister?”
