Page 66 of Son of Shadows

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Haruki grimaced. “Enough of your complaining, Koichi! We’ll be there eventually.”

Koichi leaned over the side of the boat and let loose everything in his stomach.

Again.

Then once more, for good measure.

It’d been untold hours on this awful, bobbing-and-dipping thing. “I’m going to die. Haruki, give all my belongings to Ryuichi, when you find him. Tell him . . . tell him that he didn’t annoy me all the time.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “What belongings? You don’t own anything . . . other than getting on my nerves. That you own with great pride.”

“Not important,” he panted. “I need you to record my last—” Koichi ran to the side and barely made it before his stomach unleashed itself again.

Gods! This was so miserable. He really wanted to die.

“How much longer do I have to spend on this stupid contraption? Why did the gods put me on a boat? What were they thinking?” Koichi cried out.

“I believe you did that to yourself. This whole thing was your idea, if you remember.”

To Koichi’s eternal surprise, Haruki seemed completely calm about the whole situation. He’d expected constant attacks and insults over how he had borrowed the money and gotten them thrown onto a ship going to who-knows-where by a crew of mad yōkai.

Led by a feral wolf who had used his magic to paralyze them.

That spell had worn off, but Koichi would trade this motion sickness for being frozen like an ice cube in a heartbeat.

Koichi wiped his face with the sleeve of his yukata. “To spite me, Haruki. It’s all part of their plan. All the gods hate me.”

“The gods don’t hate you, and you’re making a mess of yourself. You need to calm down,” she replied.

“They hate me, Haruki. I’m telling you. It’s a conspiracy. One they’re all in on. Maybe you are too. Are you?”

“Yes. I’m part of a conspiracy to make you vomit yourself to death. Why are you being so stupid?”

Before Koichi could respond, Haru shouted orders to the crew. Koichi wanted to knock the lying yōkai overboard. When the boat first set sail, Haru had told them, “It’ll be a quick trip. You’ll blink and it’ll be over. Don’t you trust me?”

This wasn’t quick. The trip seemed interminable. He wasn’t going survive, which might have been Haru’s plan all along.

Torture. Nothing could be worse than what he was experiencing. He would have rather the wolf kill him quickly to make an example of him.

Oh, the misery!

Suddenly, Koichi felt another round of nausea coming on and fought to keep his food down. In a rare moment of kindness, Haruki seemed worried for him.

“Are you all right, Koichi? You appear rather unwell.”

Rather unwell? That was putting it mildly.

He gave her a stern glower before he tossed what was left of his stomach overboard.

Grimacing, Haruki turned her head so she didn’t see his indignity.

“Maybe I should just drown myself,” Koichi said as his body ached.

“Don’t say that,” she chided. “We need you.”

Haruki’s words would have been far more believable had they come out of anyone else’s mouth but hers.