Page 75 of Son of Shadows

Escape.

As Koichi went back to work, he kept his eyes trained on his big brute captor. Sadly, Haru had taken no chances. He understood his yōkai crew weren’t loyal. Conscription tended to kill allegiances.

Since they were abducted, Koichi had already considered at least twenty different plans on how to foil Haru. Unfortunately, when he plotted each of them in his mind, they all ended with him being eaten by yōkai, so he wasn’t eager to try.

He’d have to bide his time until he found some kind of vulnerability or breach.

Haru couldn’t stay alert forever. Eventually, he’d make a mistake, and then Koichi would strike. He’d sneak out, steal a boat, find Ryuichi, and all their problems would be over.

Except then he’d have to contend with the Ryukage.

But I’ll cross that bridge later.

Koichi walked through the caves, searching for Ryuichi-kage. He wanted to check on him and see how he was doing. Yes, the shadow appeared to be healthy enough to do Haru’s dirty work, but appearances could be deceiving. He saw him setting down two barrels, one next to the other, and breathing heavily.

“Hey, botchan, how are you feeling?”

The shadow scowled at him. “Angry.”

“So I see.” For some reason, Ryuichi-kage was irate, even though a little while ago he seemed almost joyful. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you stupid?”

“Yes, last time I checked.”

Ryuichi-kage crossed his arms in front of his chest. “The longer we’re stuck here, the more likely it is that I’m going to disappear and Ryuichi will lose his soul.”

“I know. It’s bad. But you seemed fine just a few minutes ago.”

“That’s all an act.”

“An act?”

Ryuichi-kage leaned closer and whispered, “It’s part of my escape plan.”

Yes! Koichi thanked all the gods. Maybe his strategy was better than what he’d come up with. “Really?”

“I’ve been getting close to Haru’s crew, making them trust me. You know, so they won’t suspect that I’d betray them.”

Koichi couldn’t wait to hear more. “That’s very smart. So what happens now?”

“We wait until dark.”

Koichi nodded. “Of course. That makes sense. The best time for doing something sneaky.”

“Then, while they’re asleep . . .” Ryuichi-kage looked around to make sure no one could overhear them.

Koichi was even more excited. “Yes?”

Ryuichi-kage’s eyes widened as he quickly told his plan. “We kill them all. One by one.”

Was he kidding? Koichi’s hopes fell apart in front of him. All the hope and faith he’d had disappeared in a flash.

“No. Terrible plan. Just awful.”

“Why?” Ryuichi-kage appeared as devastated as Koichi felt. “If everyone is dead, they can’t stop us from leaving or follow us to where we’re going.”

Apparently, the shadow didn’t realize the high odds of one of the yōkai screaming and waking the others. Then they’d be outnumbered and slaughtered, for sure. But Koichi didn’t want Ryuichi-kage to feel bad for trying.