My heart pounded.
The door was wide open.
And there were no guards posted outside as usual.
What the fuck?
Behind the bamboo’s swaying shadows, I caught movement like someone was ducking.
I pulled out my guns. “Hiro.”
He didn’t wait for the order.
Just flicked his wrist.
Three Claws surged forward, weapons raised, cutting ahead of us without a word.
Then—gunfire.
Sudden.
Loud.
Close.
Muzzle flashes lit the greenhouse from inside. The bark of bullets shattered glass. Footsteps thundered. Shadows moved inside the bamboo room.
Men were running.
And they weren’t runningtowardus.
They were trying to get away.
Fuck that.
We all charged forward.
Chapter fifteen
Corpse Circle
Kenji
We hit the threshold, and everyone stopped.
The lollipop fell from Hiro’s mouth. It hit the stone floor with a softclack, rolling once before resting in a smear of blood.
The air stank of iron and something sweeter like overripe fruit and piss. Death always brought both.
The lights had been shot out, but the moonlight showed us enough.
For a second, I couldn’t move.
Just stared.
Five bodies lay in a perfect circle near the entrance. The perfection of it made it worse. Not one body out of place. Not one limb askew. Not a drop of blood outside the bounds. It was a death painter’s final masterpiece.
In the center of the circle sat a sake cup. Upside down. Empty. As if to say the vow had been revoked.
