The only thing Tsukiya didn’t despise was a Noh play. In fact, he was so fond of them that he often wore the mask of an oni. And if he wasn’t wearing it, he had it hanging around his neck.

While his sister would participate in performances, it wasn’t the play itself she enjoyed. It was her doll collection, which she used to capture the souls of some of the deadliest creatures ever born. Creatures she unleashed against anyone she chose. For whatever morbid reason she fancied.

They were two gods that no one wanted to meet, never mind cross.

For all that, Tsukiya was preferable, because he could be bribed. Sometimes.

Groaning, Masaru shook his head. “How do we get past the twins to the god?”

Koichi considered that as he remembered the last time he’d faced them . . . and it hadn’t gone well at all. “We’ll need a distraction.”

And a miracle.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“But I don’t want to!”

Ryukage wanted to shake the boy in front of him. Though this was the same child he’d seen in his conjurings, Ryuichi was not at all what he had expected.

Honestly, his son was rather . . .

Whiny. Petulant. Frankly, annoying.

“What is wrong with you?”

The boy blinked. “Nothing. I just don’t want to practice. I don’t like fighting.”

Ryukage forced the katana into his hand. “You have to.”

“But why?”

“Everything in life is a fight!”

“But why?” Ryuichi repeated.

So help him . . . if his son asked why one more time, he was going to throttle him. “It just is.”

“But—”

“Don’t!” he roared. “Don’t you dare!”

Ryuichi paled at the ferocity of his shout, as did all of Ryukage’s men. A part of him felt guilty, but the rest of him didn’t care. He was too aggravated. Too⁠—

The boy began to cry.

Seriously? Tears? What did anyone do with tears? Not even Haruka had cried on him.

Lost and confused, he glared at Haruki. “Did I break him?”

She shrugged.

Ryukage shoved the boy in her direction. “Fix it.”

Haruki gave him a stunned gape. “I don’t know how. I’ve never had a child. Never really been around them.”

Kagi snorted. “She usually stews them up and eats them, my lord.”

Now he glared at Kagi too. “Did I say you could speak?”

His minion shrank back.

Well, at least that one knew its place. If only he could instill that kind of fear in his whiny progeny.

Sadly, Ryuichi had no sense of fear of him. Or self-preservation.

“What is wrong with you now?” he snapped.

“Don’t yell at me.” He sniveled and wiped his snotty nose with the back of his hand. Disgusting.