“No!” I shrieked, lunging at Kai. I grabbed for his legs, but Shota caught me around the waist and pulled meback.
“Are you crazy!” he shouted, pulling me back. “You’ll get sucked intoo!”
“Fumiko!” Kai shouted, his arms outstretched toward me. “Ilo—”
The black hole sucked him in, cutting off the rest of his statement. But I damn well knew what he was about to say, and tears flooded my eyes. Kai and Fumiko’s love had been a powerful thing—the powerful ache in my chest for a man I didn’t know was testament tothat.
“Let go of me,” I sobbed, shoving at Shota’s chest. “It’sover.”
Shota did as I said, backing away, but as he did I caught sight ofRaiden.
The look on his face said that this was far from over. His eyes blazed with fury, and his skin was stretched taut across his face, as if he were about toexplode.
“I can’t believe you,” Raiden snarled, his voice vibrating with rage. “You had the chance to seal him away. I saw you reaching for theofudain your pocket. Why didn’t you useit?”
“Because,” I said brokenly, “I wanted to savehim.”
Raiden flinched. “Save him? After all he’s done to you? Tous?” He gestured at Shota foremphasis.
“It’s not like that—” I started to protest, my heart twisting at the betrayal in Raiden’s eyes. But before I could explain, the walls around us began to shake. Several of the lanterns fell to the ground, and I gasped in horror as their flames began to lick at the woodenfloorboards.
“Shit,” Shota swore, grabbing my hand. “This place is collapsing. We need to get to theshrine!”
More lanterns began to rain down from the ceiling as we sprinted from the room. Shota clutched my hand in his, and though it was a bit too tight, I didn’t complain, focusing all my attention on running. The stairs began to crumble as we raced down them, and I shrieked as one gave out from beneath me. Raiden caught me as my hand slipped from Shota’s, yanking me into his arms before I could fall down, and I stumbled for a second before I got my feet underneath me and keptrunning.
Thankfully it wasn’t that far, and we managed to dodge and weave as pieces of ceiling crashed to the ground all aroundus.
My lungs burned and adrenaline surged in my veins as cracks opened up in the ground. By the time we made it back to the dungeon, the earth was shaking so hard we were clinging to the walls, barely able to keepupright.
To my relief, thetengurushed out of the dungeon to greetus.
“Come on!” theyokairoared, spreading his enormous wings over us to shield us from falling debris. “Get to theshrine!”
“Take us to the Takaoka Shrine!” I shouted as Shota hastily clapped his hands. “We need to get to mymother!”
Nodding, Shota rang the bell twice. The familiar flash of light blinded me, and I held on tight as we were swept into the current of theReikai, hoping against hope that my mother wasokay.
25
“Mom,”I yelled, bursting through the front door of our apartment. The moment we’d arrived at the Takaoka Shrine, I’d rushed down to the first floor and caught a cab at the curb. The cab ride had been filled with tension. Raiden had refused to look at me the entire time. He was still angry at me for what I’d done. Shota had stared out the window numbly, obviously still trying to process everything he’d been told. But he’d also kept my hand gripped tightly in his, as if he couldn’t stand to let go of me after watching me nearly die. I was incredibly grateful he wasn’t angry at me too—I wasn’t sure if I could handle both of them giving me the cold shoulder at the sametime.
I couldn’t really blame the two of them for being out of sorts. Everything they thought they’d known had been turned on its head. Hell,Iwas struggling to wrap my head around it all. On the one hand, I was relieved that my feelings were finally vindicated. I wasn’t imagining my connection to Raiden andShota.
But on the other hand, how did we know Kai was telling the truth? Could he really be trusted? Yes, the moonlight Tsukuyomi had given me hadn’t reacted, but just because Kai didn’t think he was lying didn’t mean he was right. What if Raiden’s version of events was the real story? I didn’t know how to determine which one was correct. But that was a problem for anotherday.
Right now, I just needed to see mymother.
“Aika?” my mother called from her bedroom as I rushed up the stairs. My heart soared—her voice sounded weaker than ever, but it was there. I dashed into her room to see her lying atop her rumpled bed sheets, still wearing the silk robe Kai had givenher.
“Mom,” I choked out, falling onto my knees next to the bed. I gathered her up in my arms and rocked her, my tears soaking her clammy skin. “I’m so glad Kai kept hisword.”
“He is not an evil man,” my mother whispered, her voice barely audible. “He did not lie when he said he tried to keep me as comfortable as he could. That tea he gave me numbed the pain from my illness and made it easier tobear.”
“I’m so glad to hear that,” I said, my voice trembling. Gently as I could, I laid my mom back on the bed sheets. “You’re way too cold, Mom, and weak. I’m going to call anambulance.”
“No,” she whispered, her gaze heavy with exhaustion. “It is too late. All that travel through theReikaihas sapped my strength. The doctors can do nothing to helpme.”
Her words hit me so hard in the chest I couldn’t breathe. “No,” I croaked, fumbling for the cell phone that wasn’t in my pocket. Panicking, I turned to Raiden and Shota. “Let me borrow one of your phones,” I said frantically. “We need to call 911,now!”
