Chapter 11

Murmuring voices drew me out of a restless sleep. Groggily, I lifted my head off the pillow I'd jammed against the sofa armrest. A heavy weight pinned my legs—Ezra had slumped sideways in his sleep and had his head pillowed on my thigh.

At the kitchen island, Aaron was prodding Kai's upper arm. The skin around the sutures was red and inflamed, and Kai flinched with each press of Aaron's fingers.

"I don't know, man," he muttered as he examined his friend's wound. "It doesn't look good. Might be infected. You need proper medical attention."

"If Makiko were willing to risk calling a MiraCo healer, she would've done it." Kai lowered his arm. "Wrap it up and I'll take a vitality potion."

Nodding unhappily, Aaron pulled a thick white pad and a roll of gauze wrap from the first aid kit. As he positioned the pad on Kai's wound, my gaze swung toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, where daylight leaked around the blackout shades.

"Makiko isn't back?" I asked.

Ezra stirred sleepily and raised his head. He blinked at me, then at the other two.

"Not yet," Kai answered as Aaron wound gauze around his bicep. "She should be back any time now."

"What time is it?"

"Twelve-thirty."

She'd expected to be back before noon. Nervous energy buzzed in my chest, and I slid the burner phone from my pocket. No messages from Makiko explaining the delay. Did she know this phone's number?

I dialed Robin. It rang and rang, then went to voicemail. I called again. And again.

No answer.

Slowly, I lowered the phone. "Something happened to Robin. Something's wrong."

Kai and Aaron didn't reply, their silence confirming my worries. The chances that she was sleeping or missing my calls were diminishing by the hour, but there was nothing else I could do except keep calling.

Staring at the phone, I considered all the numbers I could call. Darius. Clara. Sin. I could reach out to almost anyone from the Crow and Hammer, but contacting them would incriminate them.

The only person I could possibly contact was Justin. He was human and outside the MPD system—but he was also my family. Someone could be watching him.

The MPD had classified the case against Ezra, ensuring it wouldn't leak back to him or his guild, but Odin's Eye had been brought in on it—and possibly other guilds too. There was no way to know, but I suspected the men Zylas had noticed scoping out the museum hadn't been cultists. They'd probably been Odin's Eye scouts.

We were on our own. Not even Darius could swoop in to save us this time. He needed to protect the Crow and Hammer.

Our only chance was to separate Ezra and Eterran, and for that, we needed two people who weren't here—and whom we couldn't reach.

I pressed the call button again and listened to Robin's phone ring and ring.

* * *

I tried to sleep again but my restless brain would only doze for a few minutes at a time. Aaron, snoring softly, had replaced Ezra on the sofa beside me, and Kai had retreated into the bedroom to sleep. Ezra sat on a kitchen chair, which he'd placed in front of the TV. He watched the security feed, the rise and fall of his chest the only sign that he wasn't a highly realistic mannequin.

My mind whirled, questions and worries and fears and dread leaving me dizzy and antsy. Another hour crept by, and I gave up on sleeping. Pushing off the sofa, I stretched my arms over my head, then tugged the flip phone from my pocket and called Robin again. No answer.

Ezra's head turned as I walked over to his chair, and I stopped dead at the twin crimson eyes glowing in his face.

Fear uncoiled in my gut. "Uh… Eterran?"

"Ezra is sleeping." A guttural accent tinged his words. "I am keeping watch."

"Don't you need sleep too?"

"Not the way a human does. Demons will rest, but sleep is dangerous."

Pondering that, I walked to the kitchen table where our gear was stacked. Unearthing my combat belt, I opened the back pouch. Empty. Hoshi hadn't returned. Whenever we'd been separated before, she would find her way back to me within a couple of hours.

That Odin's Eye mythic had smashed her with his fist. Was she okay? Had he injured her? Had she escaped that basement or was she still there, too hurt to find me?

Chewing the inside of my cheek, I grabbed a kitchen chair and carried it over to Ezra—or Eterran, rather.

I set it beside him and sank down. "We haven't talked about what you'll do once you're no longer trapped inside Ezra."

"I do not know yet. Only when I am myself again will I know."

"What do you mean?"

"I have been trapped inside a human for ten years." His jaw tightened, then relaxed. "If I am still demon enough, I will find a way to return to my world. If I am not…"

Trailing off, he resumed his observation of the security footage. I caught my lower lip between my teeth.

"Eterran…" I leaned closer, lowering my voice. "How much are you influencing Ezra these days?"

"Another question I cannot answer, payilas. Our minds are bound. Our thoughts mix in strange ways."

"You mean… you can't tell who's who anymore?"

"Nothing so simple. I know my mind, and he knows his."

I swept a lock of hair off my face. "Then what? I don't get it. Are you the one who's determined to survive, or is Ezra really fighting for it too?"

"He has always fought, but against me instead of for himself." He exhaled harshly through his nose. "I have despised him for that more than anything else. His weakness, his foolish guilt. But there was always strength in him. If he had been kanyin instead of human, I could have taught him how to become a fearsome fighter."

"If he'd been what?"

"A juvenile male demon. A young warrior." His lips curved up. "Like the Dīnen et Vh'alyir. Zylas is past his kanyin years, but he has much to learn yet."

My mouth quirked in a frown, but before I could ask any more questions, the crimson glow faded from his eyes. Ezra squinted blearily, then covered a wide yawn with one hand.

"Were you talking to Eterran?" he asked, rubbing his face.

"Yeah. He said if you'd been a demon boy instead of a human, he could've made you into a proper warrior."

Ezra stared at me.

I shrugged. "That's what he said."

Shaking his head, Ezra pushed to his feet. As he arched his back in a stretch, I got up from my chair and slid my arms around his waist. He engulfed me in a hug, and I leaned into him, resting my cheek on his shoulder.

"Makiko still isn't back," I whispered. "I can't reach Robin. Kai's wound needs a healer. We can't ask anyone for help. What are we going to do?"

He brushed his thumb across my cheek, wiping away a tear. "We'll figure it out."

The bedroom door swung open and Kai appeared, his hair rumpled. Joining us, he held his hand out. "Tori, the phone please. We can't wait any longer without knowing what happened to Makiko."

Plucking it from my pocket, I handed it over. "Are you going to call her?"

"No. If they have her phone, they'll be waiting for us to contact her." He flipped it open. "I'm going to try some other numbers and see what I can learn."

Already punching buttons on the phone, he headed into the spare bedroom, swinging the door half shut behind him.

Ezra leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my tense mouth. "Let's make something to eat."

In the kitchen, we investigated the fridge, freezer, and cupboards. There were no perishables to speak of, so I got out a frozen pack of ground beef, tomato sauce, and noodles. Our spaghetti wouldn't include any cheese—a crime, if you asked me—but it'd be hot and filling.

Aaron woke up while we were clanking pots around, and the three of us quietly discussed our options as I mashed the frozen beef in a hot pan until it broke apart. Not my best work.

Kai rejoined us as I was dishing out pasta onto white plates.

"She arrived at the precinct this morning," he said without preamble, setting the phone on the table and dropping heavily into a chair. "Since then, she hasn't returned home or shown up at the MiraCo office. Her head of security is going to contact the precinct for information on her whereabouts. I'm supposed to call him back in an hour to see what he found out."

The guys polished off huge portions of spaghetti, and I forced down most of my plate despite a complete lack of appetite. While Ezra and I tidied up, Aaron checked Kai's arm again. The angry red inflammation around the wound had worsened. We dosed him with another vitality potion from the first aid kit, hoping to boost his immune system, then I made him lie across the sofa and relax as much as he could.

At exactly one hour, he asked for the phone. I heaved off the chair in front of the TV and crossed to the table. As my fingers closed around the device, a buzzing vibration shook it.

"Ah!" I yelped. Afraid it might stop ringing before I could get it over to Kai, I flipped it open and hit the speaker button. "Hello?"

"Kaisuke Yamada?" an unfamiliar male voice inquired.

Kai's jaw tightened, and I knew why—he was supposed to call Makiko's security guy back, not the other way around. As Kai sat up, I rushed the phone over and held it in front of him so he wouldn't have to jostle his injured arm.

"Kaisuke here. To whom am I speaking?"

"Yamada-dono," the man replied in a muted Japanese accent. "I'm a member of the Miura household and work with Miura Futoshi-dono."

"Has Miura-dono returned to the country?" Kai asked. "Makiko didn't mention it."

"He is still on health leave. However, he has been informed that his daughter was taken into MPD custody. The agents claim to have evidence that she is protecting the demon mage in Vancouver, as well as shielding you from justice."

Aaron sucked in a breath.

"If a guild master is arrested for a capital crime," the nameless man continued, his words terse and rapid, "the MPD can investigate any and all facets of their guild, with or without cause for suspicion. They've begun an examination of MiraCo's business dealings."

"I see," Kai murmured.

"If the MPD proceeds with this investigation, they'll uncover… transactions that are intrinsically tied to the Yamada family. Exposing MiraCo's discreet dealings will expose the Yamada family as well, and the family cannot allow that to happen."

"Do you mean—"

The man on the phone cleared his throat quietly. "Miura-dono can't ask you himself, but he begs you to save his daughter."

A pulse of silence.

"Save Makiko?" I blurted. "From what?"

"The family is going to have her killed," Kai replied flatly. "They'll make it look like an accident or a health-related death, but even if it triggers an investigation, the MPD can't legally continue to examine MiraCo."

My knees weakened. Ezra stepped behind me, his steadying hands on my waist.

"The decision has been made," the caller said. "There is no time left. Yamada-dono, if there is anything you can do, the Miura family would be greatly in your debt."

Kai stared at the phone, his eyes eerily dark against his pallid skin.

"I…" His throat moved as he swallowed. "I can surrender myself in exchange for Makiko's release."

"What?" I shouted.

"Kai—" Aaron began angrily.

He held up a hand. "Mute the phone, please."

I pressed the button.

"I'm injured," he said before we could resume shouting. "Without Makiko, there's no safe way to get me to a healer. And if I don't do this, Makiko will be killed."

"But if you do, you'll be killed in her place!" I yelled, panic constricting my throat.

"I'm not a GM. Holding me doesn't give the MPD any special privileges to investigate my guild. My family won't have any reason to kill me, and once Makiko is out of MPD custody, she can protect me."

Aaron stepped to his friend's side. "But we need you."

Kai closed his eyes. "No, you don't, Aaron. You can protect Ezra and Tori without me." Eyes opening, he smirked. "At least for a little while."

Aaron swore.

Slipping past me, Ezra tugged the phone from my hand and held it out to Kai. "Do what you need to do. We'll manage the rest."

Kai took the phone, pressed a couple buttons, and lifted it to his ear. "Tell them I'm on my way to the precinct." He listened for a moment, then ended the call.

Aaron swore again, his hands balled into fists.

Kai passed the phone back to me. "Wait for darkness, then leave. This place isn't safe."

"Where will we go?" I whispered. The city outside these flimsy walls had never been more terrifying. "What about the safe place Makiko was talking about?"

"She can't help us anymore. Once they release her, the MPD will dog her every move. You need to find Robin and Amalia. Without them, it doesn't matter where you hide."

Denial spun in my head, insisting this couldn't happen. We needed to be together. That's how it worked. We accomplished things together, and we struggled and failed when we were apart. It would take all of us to survive this. Kai belonged with us.

Only moments later, he was pulling on his jacket, his wounded arm held stiffly. And only moments after that, he embraced Aaron, then Ezra.

My brain was still howling its refusal to accept this when he wrapped his good arm around me. I clamped myself against him.

"Kai," I choked.

"Take care of Ezra," he murmured. "Get that demon out of him, and I'll be back before you know it."

"You don't owe Makiko anything. You don't have to do this for her."

He squeezed me gently, then stepped back. "I owe her a lot more than I ever realized. I can't let her die because of me."

I knew that. Kai wasn't the type of person who'd let someone die when he could stop it—even if it meant sacrificing himself to save her.

Sabrina's tarot card flashed in my mind, the Hanged Man spinning on his rope.

As I blinked the vision away, Kai stepped out into the hall. Our eyes met one final time before he swung the door shut, and the soft click of the latch was like an ominous strike of thunder in my chest.