Page 98 of Secrets & Sake

Raiden’s face softens. He reaches back and pulls the necklace off. My heart skips up into my throat as he holds it out to me. “You can have it back. Should have just said so earlier. I’d have given it back to you sooner.”

Tears sting my eyes. “A-are you sure?”

Raiden nods solemnly. “Yeah. ’Course I am.”

My hand shakes as I take it from him and slip the necklace over my head. My lips tremble, and I blink stubbornly to keep my tears at bay.

“Jinta—”

I throw my arms around him and clutch him to my body. A low, warm chuckle escapes him, and he wraps his arms around me, stroking my back as I shake and gasp.

I kiss him again and again, saying, “Never taking it off. Ever. Hear me? I promise I’ll take good care of it. I promise.”

Because it’s not just a necklace. It’s the heart of him, Raiden’s heart, and I’m going to cherish it, always.

My full bladder wakes me in the middle of the night. Carefully, I untangle myself from the blankets. Raiden snores softly but doesn’t wake. In the bathroom, I flick on the light and go about my business, sighing in relief. I flush the toilet and wash my hands. My reflection stares back at me in the mirror, hair tousled, lips a little swollen.

My smiling face in the mirror suddenly darkens. The lights flicker, electricity humming. My reflection ripples like water, and in seconds, a beautiful woman in a red kimono stands where I once did. Her skin is pale as a ghost, eyes black as the void. When she bares her teeth, they’re razor points in her red mouth.

It’s the kitsune. Tamano-no-Mae.

“My. Aren’t you adorable?” She bares razor teeth in a feral leer, her harsh fangs contradicting her beauty. “It's so nice to finally have a body at my command that is both young and supple.”

I stumble back until I hit the wall, heart in my throat. The mirror ripples as the kitsune steps through the glass. Her bare feet slap gently over the floor as she reaches out a pale hand to touch my cheek. Her touch is cold as ice. “We’re going to have so much fun together. Aren’t we, dear?”

The lights flicker, plunging me into darkness. When the lights come back on, Tamano-no-Mae is gone, for now. But I’m afraid that her plans for me, for all of Japan, have just begun.

Chapter 27

Kensuke Namikawa’s remains are cremated and laid to rest in a family grave. Hundreds of yakuza from all over the city fill the streets in their black cars as we ride to the temple where his funeral will be held. I wear a black kimono. Wearing minimal makeup, Ren wears a black kimono as well and carries a black handbag.

Once we arrive at the temple, I climb the steps and wait outside the doors to greet those who enter. Every person to approach offers me their condolences with a bow, writes their name in a book once inside the temple, and places an envelope of condolence money on the table nearby.

Closing the doors behind me, I join my pack inside. On an altar covered in flowers, a portrait of Namikawa smiles at the gathered crowd. You’d think he was just a normal businessman from that picture. Incense burners fill the room with sweet smoke.

The service begins once we’re all seated, and a Buddhist priest recites sutras in a deep low voice. Namikawa never took a wife or had children. The only family here is the one he created. Namikawa was a lot of things, mostly bad, but he gave people a place to belong, he gave them purpose. I’ll give him that.

Tense whispers fill the room and when I smell him, a growl rises in my throat. I turn in time to catch the eye of Takada as he enters the temple with Hirano. He sits in the back and observes, eyes crawling over my skin like a spider.

The funeral concludes after we’ve burned pinches of incense, filling the temple with the scent of smoke. A light meal is served at Namikawa’s home after the funeral. Everyone from the service attends the dinner. I don’t eat and stay outside, burning through a cigarette.

I’ve had my share of wakes and funerals for the week. Hideyoshi’s was… complicated. Not the service itself. That was simple and intimate. I invited a few of his friends from the pack to my apartment and set up an altar for him that will remain a permanent fixture in my home. It’s my feelings for him that have changed. He was my hero growing up. The father I never had who understood me and supported me when no one else did.

But he murdered people in my name and would have killed my mate if I hadn’t stopped him. I wish someone would tell me how I’m supposed to feel.

“Hey, ‘boss.’”

I grind my teeth at the mockery in Takada’s voice. He sidles up beside me, cigarette smoking between his teeth. Many of Takada’s men had been sacrificed in the ritual. I’d had the bodies returned to him so he could oversee their burial. I wouldn’t tell him how they died. Nobody needs to know about the kitsune. Especially not him. I’m not naïve enough to think that makes us even, but how nice would that be?

“Shame about Namikawa. Man was a legend in this city. Now, he’s just ash.” Takada snorts, smoke puffing from his nose. “Those are big shoes to fill.”

I grunt around a drag of smoke.

Takada grabs my arm and yanks me around to face him. “You better be up to that task, Noboru.” His lip curls around a fang. “Because the minute I sense weakness, I’ll be over your territory like maggots to meat. Got it?”

Tension tightens my jaw. I tug my cigarette out of my mouth and blow smoke in his sneering face. “Give it your best shot. Tokyo will never be yours.”

I will never be his.

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