Page 69 of Son of Shadows

“Can you take my heart?”

What was she talking about? Take her heart?

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“It’s hard to kill the divine. A missing heart is nothing. I’ll survive. But I can’t take this torture and pain anymore. Please. All you need to do is squeeze.”

She grabbed Koichi’s hand and pressed it against her chest, over her heart. He felt the strong beating of it, and that terrified him. He tried to pull his hand away, but she only tightened her grip. “Please, Koichi. Help me.”

“I can’t do this.”

Who could?

That only angered her. “How many have you killed with your sword and without conscience? You would end their lives and refuse to help me?”

“It’s not the same.”

Haruki’s eyes turned a vibrant shade of red before she reached into her chest and gasped.

An instant later, she pulled her hand out, and there in her grasp was her still-beating heart.

Stunned, Koichi stared at the red, bleeding organ that wasn’t supposed to be outside her body. The hole in her chest held a white light that quickly sealed the wound shut.

Her nostrils flaring, she handed her heart to him. “Do what you want with that awful thing. I never want to see it again.”

The hatch above them creaked open and a crewman shouted down to them. “Hey, get back up here! Now!”

Still glaring at her hated heart, Haruki nodded. “We’re coming.” And with that, she got up and left Koichi alone.

Ew! He looked at the warm, pulsating heart in his hand. Honestly, he was a bit surprised, given that he hadn’t known Haruki had one.

Now she really didn’t.

And she’d turned it over to him. He didn’t feel worthy of such a responsibility. Why would she trust him so much? He had no idea. He barely trusted himself to wake up in the morning, and yet fate had decided to hand him, of all people, a goddess’s heart.

And the responsibility of Ryuichi-kage.

The hatch opened again. This time a much jollier Haruki barged in. “We’ve sighted land!”

Unsure of what to do, Koichi slid the heart into his secret drink pouch. He wasn’t getting much use out of it anyway, and hopefully it would protect her heart.

Wondering what disaster would claim them next, he went topside, and there, sure enough, was an island in all its nasty, terrifying glory. Black spires rose up from a massive castle that was erected on a hill in the distance. It was surrounded by vicious-looking winged yōkai and an unmistakable sense of dread.

It reminded Koichi of the Ryukage’s castle.

He blinked as he stared.

Wait, could it be?

No, surely not. There was no way that was Ryukage’s home.

Was it?

“We’re going to swing around back and try to sneak in under darkness. Then the real work begins.” Haru began barking out orders to his crew, including one that made Koichi groan in despair.

“Now that our hostages are able to swim ashore, tie them up. We have to make sure they don’t harm themselves before I sacrifice them.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN