Koichi shook his head. “Not really. I don’t like having to pull demons off other kids. Besides, the real question is . . . who do we kill for this?”

Granted, he was reverting to the first rule he disdained, but in this case, it seemed the best course of action.

“What is wrong with you?” Keiko asked.

He gestured at the unconscious . . . something. “This isn’t Ryuichi.”

“Of course it is.”

“No. This is something else.” A tic started in his jaw. “Masaru!”

For several seconds, the irritable yōkai refused to answer. Then, just when he was sure it was useless, Masaru appeared.

Koichi tsked at him. “Where have you been?”

“On a personal errand. Why?” Masaru furrowed his brow as he saw the way Koichi had dumped the kid on the futon. “What did you do?”

“Me? Nothing . . . yet. What have you done, demon?”

Keiko sucked her breath in sharply as she moved to Ryuichi and held up his arm. She looked at the wall where her shadow lurked.

“Where’s his shadow?” Her voice was filled with horror.

“Exactly.” Koichi folded his arms over his chest as he glared accusingly at Masaru.

The yōkai shrugged. “I bought us time.”

Keiko groaned at his answer before she set Ryuichi’s arm down. “No . . . say you didn’t do it.”

“Okay,” Masaru said simply. “I didn’t do it.”

Cursing, Koichi raked his hands through his hair. “Have you . . . no, you don’t. You have no idea what happens when you take someone’s shadow. How important it is that we keep that part of ourselves. You’re such an idiot.”

“What’s the big deal? You get rid of the bad part. What’s wrong with that?”

Keiko sat down beside Ryuichi. “It’s not just the bad part of a person, Masaru. You’ve destroyed his balance. The very part that we need to keep us who we are.”

“How so?” It was clear the yōkai was clueless.

Keiko let out a frustrated sigh. “You’ve never paid attention. Why did you never pay attention?”

“I’m always paying attention. My life depends on it.”

She gave him a pointed stare. “You look for the quick answers and to the shadows to protect your back. When will you learn?”

“I guarded that boy. Have you seen what Ryukage’s done to the countryside? They’ve torn up everything, searching for him. No one has been safe. Not to mention the fact that they’d already located the kid. They knew exactly where he was. Do you not understand that something had to be done, or all of you would have been destroyed?”

Koichi rubbed at the ache in his forehead. “So you gave them Ryuichi’s shadow?”

Masaru nodded. “Made sense. The Shadow Dragon wanted his son, so I gave him his son’s shadow.”