“You are incorrect.” Kai spread his hands wide. “You are free to leave if you wish, Aika. But it is only a matter of time before Amatsu comes back, and when he does, he will take over my body again and kill you all. We must act before thathappens.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “If Amatsu isn’t here, where ishe?”
“In theReikai.” Kai glowered. “Lucky bastard, such as he is, was able to dive right back through the barrier as soon as he was free. That’s how he’s been able to summonyokaihere, and into the rest of the world, to do our bidding. He’s in theReikairight now, resting after glutting himself on all those shamans he drained.” He sheathed his sword and took a step toward us. “Amaterasu bound my life to his so that he wouldn’t be able to escape into the human world when she sealed us away in the tomb. That’s why I can’t be killed. If I died, he would befree.”
Raiden, Shota, and I exchanged puzzled looks. “So, if the curse is broken, doesn’t that mean you’ll die?” Shota asked cautiously. “And that Amatsu will be stuck in theReikai?”
Kai shook his head. “I’ll live out my normal lifespan happily with Fumiko as husband and wife.” He beamed at me. “Just as we were meant tobe.”
The moonbeam pulsed in myhand.
“You’re lying about something,” I said, backing away. “You’re never going to be able to just live with me in peace as husband and wife, even if the curse is broken. You’re too attached to Amatsu, aren’tyou?”
Kai opened his mouth to argue, but I shook my head. “I can’t do this,” I said, my gut churning with anxiety. “I can’t marryyou.”
Kai’s eyes narrowed to slits. “It’s because of him, isn’t it?” he hissed, turning on Raiden. “You still have feelings for this sorry excuse of a man, a man who couldn’t bring himself to tell you the truth when he had the chance!” Anger poured off him in waves as he yanked his sword from its sheath. “You have always been in the way of our happiness, Haruki, and I will not stand for it any longer. Prepareyourself!”
24
Kai’s swordlashed out through the air, and I instinctively cringed away as the clang of it smashing into Raiden’s dragon blade filled myears.
Kai bore down, pressing on Raiden’s sword and forcing him backward a half step. The image of Katsu flared around Raiden as he swiveled, whipping his wrist around and using Kai’s momentum against him. Kai’s sword twisted out of his grip, and before he had a chance to react, Raiden delivered a well-placed kick to hisknee.
The sickening sound of bone snapping echoed in the room, and Kai screamed. He crumpled to the ground as Raiden brought his blade back around, smashing the edge into Kai’s face. The blow should have sliced straight through him, but as it struck, darkness writhed around Kai’s body, absorbing the killing intent of the blow even as Kai went flying across theroom.
As Kai skidded across the ground, Raiden pointed the dragon blade at him and unleashed another blast of lightning. Electricity tore from the sky, slamming into Kai. Arcs of electricity leapt across his flesh, but as before, the darkness kept most of the damage atbay.
Raiden sucked in a breath, his chest heaving, and as he did, Shota raised hiskusarigamaand unleashed hell. Fire rained from the sky, once again engulfing Kai, but even as the stones melted and the room flared like a dying sun, I could tell it didn’tmatter.
As the blaze died away, Kai chuckled darkly. He got to his feet without a care in the world and then very intentionally put his weight on his ruined knee—it was alreadyhealed.
“Not good enough. Not by alongshot.”
Raiden’s eyes narrowed as he pointed his sword at Kai. “Stop, Kai. You aren’t good enough to beat me on your own.” He spat. “You never were. Not then and notnow.”
“You’re forgetting one thing,” Kai said slowly, lifting his hands. “I won lasttime.”
Kai lifted a hand toward the sky, gathering tendrils of darkness around it. The darkness swirled into a pitch-blackkatanathat seemed to suck all the light from the room into it. He whipped it through the air, and tendrils of black ink trailed from the blade as he strodeforward.
“Siding with darkness isn’t going to help you,” Raiden said right before Kai struck again. Raiden sidestepped, moving out of the blade’s reach before lunging in and jabbing Kai in the stomach with the point of his dragon blade. But the attack didn’t affect Kai, and worse, it left Raiden’s sideexposed.
“I’ve got you,” Kai crowed, swinging his blade back around to end the fight. But before it could connect, Shota whipped one hand up, brandishing anofuda. A blast of superheated steam exploded from the paper, catching Kai in theface.
Kai staggered back, his screams mingling with the sound of searing flesh, but Shota didn’t stop there. He lashed out once again with hiskusarigama, wrapping the flaming chain around Kai’s sword and jerking him forward. Despite his sword turning molten hot, Kai held it fast even as he lost his balance and toppledforward.
Raiden took a deep breath, pushing himself back into the fight and summoning more lightning to his sword. He flung the crackling energy at Kai. The bolt slammed into Kai in a burst of snapping electricity, sending him skidding across theground.
But instead of lying there stunned, like he did last time, Kai jackknifed to his feet as if nothing hadhappened.
“You just don’t get it, do you, ” Kai said. “You literallycannotdefeat me. I amimmortal.”
“I may not be able to kill you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t beat you!” Raiden snarled, launching himself atKai.
“Raiden, stop!” Shota called, but Raiden was too far gone to hear. This time, Kai didn’t even bother to counter Raiden’s attack. He just stood there, taking blow after blow, as Raiden unleashed the full force of his fury against him. Lightning bolts, sword strikes, punches, kicks—Raiden let him have it all. But none of it seemed to affect Kai, and my heart sank as I watched the darkness repair him over and overagain.
Worse, Raiden was getting slower with each blow. Sweat poured from his face and his clothing stuck to his body. I had no idea how much power he had left, but I knew it wouldn’t beenough.
“What do you want me to do?” Shota asked, looking at me. “I can help,but…”
