Perenelle stirred. Nicholas was dozing with his head on her shoulder. “I thought your race were impervious to the weather.”

“Some might be,” Aoife said. “I’m not.” She held up her arm and pushed back her sleeve. Her pale flesh was dappled with goose bumps. “Why do you think Scathach and I left Scotland and never went back? We couldn’t stand the rain.”

Josh pulled his head in and hit the switch that raised the window. Beads of cold moisture sparkled in his hair. Looking at Niten, he pointed to the thick fog billowing against the windshield. “Don’t you think you should slow down?” he said nervously. “I can’t even see the road-how can you tell where we’re going?”

Niten’s eyes didn’t move, but a trace of a smile curled his lips. “I do not need my eyes to tell me where I’m going.”

“I have no idea what that means,” Josh said. “Is it like some sort of ninja trick?”

Niten shot Josh a warning look. “Whatever you do, don’t mention-”

It was too late. In the backseat Aoife stirred. “Ninjas,” she spat. “Why is everyone obsessed with ninjas? They were never that good. And they were cowards, sneaking around in their black pajamas, stabbing their victims with poisoned darts. I hate ninjas-they have no honor.”

“Scathach said she tried training them, but they were never that good,” Sophie added.

“She should have stayed well away from them,” Aoife snapped. “They were her students until they thought they had learned all her secrets-then they tried to kill her.” She grunted a laugh. “That was a mistake,” she added grimly.

“What happened?” Josh asked, but Aoife had turned her face to the window, eyes blank and distant. He looked at the driver. “What happened?” he asked again. He was curious; he’d always thought ninjas were cool, and here was a chance to learn about them from someone who had actually seen and fought them.

“You do not want to know,” Niten murmured. “When Scathach was finished with them, Aoife insisted on hunting down the few survivors.” The small man pointed through the windshield, changing the subject. “What do you see?”

“Fog,” Josh said.

“Look again,” Niten urged.

Josh stared hard. Inches beyond the hood of the car, the road disappeared into a shifting wall of wet gray cloud. “There’s nothing to see,” he said finally, struggling to understand what the Japanese immortal was getting at.

“There is always something to see, if you only know how to look,” Niten suggested. He raised his head slightly, pointing with his chin. “Look on either side of the road, see how the fog shifts and coils; now look directly ahead and see how it moves.”

Josh squinted out through the glass and suddenly noticed something strange. “It seems to be moving quicker in front of us than it does on either side.”