Page 44 of Son of Shadows

“Then why are you so happy to be here?” Ryuichi asked.

An odd half smile quirked one corner of his mouth up. “I have a profitable little deal with them.”

“How’s that going?” Masaru asked.

The smile left his lips as he glared at the yōkai. “Quite good, until my castle burned down and all my men were killed.”

“So not good, huh?” Masaru asked in that teasing, mean tone that Ryuichi was glad was aimed at someone else for once.

Yumi shuddered. “Is Kagemura always like this? Falling apart and grimy?”

Lord Hayasaka replied, “It’s not all bad, you know. There are some nice parts to it too.”

Ryuichi didn’t believe that for one second. If there was a nice part, he couldn’t see it.

Hayasaka walked past them. “You won’t be able to see the better parts from here. It’s in the center of town. But if you think this looks bad, you should have seen what it used to look like.”

Yumi gave him a haughty stare. “I would rather not.”

Yet as they ventured further into town, Ryuichi realized Hayasaka was right. The town improved considerably as they approached the center.

He noticed Ryuichi’s judging expression. “Is something the matter?”

Ryuichi wasn’t sure. He had a creepy feeling that they were being watched. Glancing about, he didn’t see anything suspicious. Yet there was no denying the shivery sensation.

Of course, it didn’t help that the buildings around them seemed to be . . . alive.

He swore the machiya had eyes, looking out at them. It was nothing tangible—just a weird impression he felt.

“You’re not crazy,” Yumi said to him.

Her unexpected words stopped him in his tracks. “Pardon?”

“They are watching us.”

“The town houses?” he asked.

She nodded. “Everything here is yōkai . . . everything.”

That sent a buruburu down his spine. “Yōkai live in yōkai?”

Hayasaka smiled evilly. “Welcome to Kagemura.”

He didn’t like the sound of that at all, especially when one of the small machiyas on his left rose up from its stilts and backed away from them, then set itself down a few yards away.

The kōshi latticework on the front actually looked like a mustache.

Ryuichi moved closer to Masaru. “I don’t think I like it here.”

Masaru laughed. “No one likes it here. Just be careful, and remember everything around you is a living, breathing something.”

Awesome. “Tell me that we’re not staying here long.”

“We’re here for information, and then we’re gone.” Hayasaka smirked at him. “Don’t look so perplexed, boy. It’s not as different here as you think.”

Really? Homes getting up and moving, while others had doors that were opening and closing on their own? And one of the small pagodas on their right launched a kitsune onto the street without anyone touching the poor creature.

The kitsune immediately turned into an elderly man and started cursing the building. A building that then began launching yōkai cookware at him.