Page 5 of Son of Shadows

That made Ryuichi wonder if the tengu had been unconscious before or after he’d run into Haruki.

His aunt could be rather volatile, and that was putting it mildly.

Koichi crouched at the head of the tengu and pulled out his dagger, pointing it toward the tengu’s throat. “Let’s put him out of his misery. It’s the right thing to do.”

Ryuichi-kage grabbed Koichi’s hand to stop him. “No, please allow me. I deserve the honor.”

The tengu’s eyes suddenly popped open, and he squawked as he saw Koichi holding the dagger above him. Then he quickly rolled away from his attackers.

“Wait! Wait! You can’t kill me. I have an important message for the Ryukage’s son!” he shouted, springing to his feet.

“From who?” Ryuichi and his shadow asked at the same time.

“From one of your father’s most faithful servants.” Then the tengu fell to his knees so he could wrap his feathered arms around Ryuichi’s leg. “I am so glad to have found you, merciful lordling! Master of my heart! May the gods bless all your days from now until the end of time. May they⁠—”

Masaru interrupted by using his yōkai powers to pull the tengu away from Ryuichi. He lifted him in the air, the tengu’s feet wiggling frantically as he was suspended high above the ground.

“He might be merciful, but I’m not patient. Stop with the praising and say what you have to say before we all grow old,” Masaru demanded.

The tengu wheezed and nodded nervously. Not that Ryuichi blamed him. He’d be frightened, too, if Masaru growled and held him hostage with a magical choke hold.

“Could you put him down?” Ryuichi asked.

“Only if he stops groveling.” Masaru dropped him unceremoniously to the ground.

The tengu groaned, then pushed himself up.

“No groveling,” Masaru reminded him. “Otherwise, we eat you for breakfast.”

Haruki snarled. “That was my idea!”

Bowing at them, then Ryuichi, he spoke quickly. “The Ryukage . . . your father . . . has disappeared.”

Ryuichi was confused. The battle with his father had been fierce, and he’d almost died himself. The last thing he remembered was Ryukage being severely wounded and then withdrawing. He assumed he went somewhere to die in shame.

“So he survived our fight?”

“Yes, lordling. He did.”

Ryuichi wasn’t sure if he should be happy or terrified by this news.

“Well, that’s great,” Koichi said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. “Our monster is still alive.”

“Yes, but he’s missing,” Haruki pointed out.

“Maybe he’s devising a plan to ruin us,” Masaru said.

Keiko threw her hands up. “Or perhaps he’s just given up. If he’s gone, then we don’t have to worry about more demons breaking into our world. Maybe Lord Hattori will forgive Ryuichi and allow him back into his school.”

The tengu shook his head. “You don’t understand. The gate between the realms isn’t closed, and without the Ryukage, the spirit world has devolved into civil war.”

Masaru went pale. “That’s . . . not good.”

Ryuichi agreed. Demons at war could never be a good thing.

Yet Koichi looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “I completely disagree. How is it bad? Let the yōkai do our job for us. If they decimate each other in their quest for power, then we won’t have to worry about them coming after us or our world.”

Masaru held his hand up as if he wanted to choke Koichi. And for a moment, Ryuichi thought he might.