Just as the third was going for Koichi’s back, Takara appeared and caught the blow with her own sword. She pushed the tengu back as Koichi moved to fight Shoji.

Suddenly, a loud scream filled the air.

Shoji hissed. “Our time for this is at an end. But when next we meet, I’ll kill you, my friend.”

With that, the tengu took flight.

Never had Ryuichi seen anything like the way they moved through the sky. Not in unison, but frenetically.

Takara scowled after them. “Why did they leave?”

Koichi shook his head. “Your father’s wards weakened them but aren’t powerful enough to keep them out. The tengu weren’t strong enough to fight us and take what they came for.”

“Which was?”

He turned to where Ryuichi was hiding. “Our little buddy.”

Wishing he’d chosen a better—and more to the point, deeper—place to hide, Ryuichi cringed. Sadly, he had no choice but to come out and face them.

“I don’t understand,” Takara said in a baffled tone.

Ryuichi’s stomach shriveled. “When we met, you asked me who I was. Remember?”

“Of course.”

“Well . . . it seems that my name is Yorukaze Ryuichi.”

Her jaw went slack. “Son of the Shadow?” After a moment, she recovered from her shock. “Koichi, does my father know?”

Koichi shook his head. “If he did, he’d have set fire to the boy already.”

Ryuichi gaped at him. “Thanks a lot!”

“Don’t thank me,” Koichi said, deliberately ignoring his sarcasm. “I might do it myself before all is said and done. It’d be the smartest thing. Lucky for you, I haven’t been smart in a very long time.” He sheathed his sword, then rubbed his forehead as if he had a massive headache. “I can’t believe this.”

Takara looked from one to the other. “What do we do?”

“Feed him to your pet dragons and run for the hills as fast as we can. Pray they don’t follow us after they devour him.”

She gave Koichi a bland stare. “We’re already in the hills.”

“Oh yeah. You know what that makes us, right?”

She shook her head.

“Stupid.” Koichi began patting his kimono. “Ugh . . . I picked a bad day to give up my sake.”

“Why is this a bad day?” Ryuichi frowned at him. “If I’m alive, I can close the gate my mother left open, right?”

Koichi patted him on the head. “Sure. Have fun with that. I dare you.”

Ryuichi bridled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you don’t even know what powers you have, little boy. Never mind actually possessing the skills to use them. You’ve never faced the kind of things that ate every one of the men and women I used to fight with.” Koichi released a long, tired breath. “We’re all just demon fodder.”