But she knew better. Masaru had lost his standing and his honor. It was only bad luck that he was here.
Shehadprotected her charge. None of them had discovered Ryuichi’s real identity.
Not yet.
Not even her former partner.
They might suspect that her charge had great powers, but they had no idea just how great they actually were.
And now her sister kitsune was about to train Ryuichi to fight—something Keiko had carefully watched over in the past, to make sure his powers and real identity weren’t accidentally revealed. But with Kasumi and Masaru here...
He will be discovered.
It would only be a matter of time. If anyone could find and expose Ryuichi, it was Masaru. As Haruka’s one-time personal servant, Masaru would know in an instant the source of Ryuichi’s powers.
That would draw out every god, spirit, demon... or beast. They would all fight to possess the only boy who could control the gates that separated and protected the worlds.
What do I do?
If she exposed herself for who and what she was, then they’d know for certain Ryuichi’s true identity. That he was the Kage-taro they all sought.
Precious one. Precious one.
What have I done?
The darkness had only grown in the twelve years since Ryuichi’s birth. The demons of chaos and shadow were taking over humanity and turning the world into a nightmare. Turning men and women into soulless monsters who preyed on each other without compassion or care.
Humans thought it was about territory and power struggles. They were wrong.
Ryukage was using his scythe to sow discord and mayhem in the human world, weakening human resolve, so that once he was freed, humanity would be too weak to fight him. To win this war, Ryukage needed control of the gates that were currently jammed. The only way he could open and control them was through his son.
And so blood flowed freely among the humans, who had no idea they were sacrifices to a malevolent power.
Ryuichi had no idea how important he was. It didn’t matter. His enemies were coming, and they would show no mercy for his tender age.
Ducking into the shadows that would conceal her, Keiko hid from the powers she felt coming out of Masaru, before he could uncover her presence.
That wouldneverdo.
Masaru was pure evil.Always has been.
Since the day he had been punished by Haruka, he’d been resentful. Hate-filled. Fully uncooperative. No one had wanted to deal with him.
Why would he show up now?
You know why.
He wanted to use her charge.
Or maybe he’d sensed her presence, and it had called out to him. After all, Masaru was the yang to her yin. If he’d felt even the slightest stirring of her here, it would have been enough to pull him out of hiding.
Closing her eyes, Keiko strengthened her spell around Ryuichi to shield his powers and true essence from Masaru. Then she used more to hopefully mask her own.
But as she watched them leave the small building and head back toward the other students, an awful feeling went through her.
Would Masaru really be Ryuichi’s servant... or would he kill him?
CHAPTERFOUR
