Page 146 of Emperor of Wrath

An anguished cry wrenches from Hana’s throat, but Mal shakes his head.

“She’s okay,” he grunts as he lays Freya’s body on the ground.

“I’m fine!” Freya’s pained voice calls from under Mal’s jacket. “My riding jacket tore off in the crash!”

Mal nods his chin at the sky.

It’s not quite dark out yet.

My eyes drop back to Freya, lying all covered up on the ground. Shit, that’s why Mal’s jacket is over her: her photosensitivity thing.

He knew about that?

There’s no time for questions. Glancing at my siblings, I yank the door open and slide behind the wheel of the Porsche.

Mal is instantly at the window. “Where the fuck are you going?”

“You know where I’m going,” I growl, revving the engine and shifting into drive. “And no, you’re not coming with me.”

“Like fuck I’m?—”

“Stay here,” I say coldly, my eyes locking with Mal. “Watch them until our people get here.”

He scowls. “Why Sakamoto Castle? Even at night it’s gonna be crawling with tourists, and all the park staff?—”

“They’re not going to Sakamoto Castle,” I growl.

“Kenzo, that’s the only place this road?—”

“No, it’s not.”

His brow furrows before it clicks. “No. No fucking way are you going there without any backup.”

“I love you, Mal,” I hiss. “But if you don’t step back from the car right now, I will run you over.”

His face is grim, but he nods. “If you find them, please, just wait until?—”

I gun the engine and speed off just as Mal jumps back. The engine roars as I stomp down hard on the gas.

I don’t have time to wait.

I don’t have any time at all.

32

ANNIKA

You can tell yourself a thousand times that ghosts aren’t real. But when you’re faced with one, in the flesh, it doesn’t matter what you’ve told yourself. It doesn’t matter what you believe. Ghosts don’t give a fuck.

At least, mine certainly doesn’t.

“I’ve thought about you, puppet.”

I shudder. The very word from his mouth makes me want to throw up until there’s not even bile left. Sitting in the rusty metal chair I’m tied to, I stare unblinkingly at the stone floor. I say nothing. I don’t even look at Valon, though I can feel him standing right next to me in the dank gloom.

I don’t know where we are. I tried to memorize the turns we took after the bike crash, when he and Tengan dragged me into the very van that had just driven my friends off the road. But in the sheer terror of the reality unfolding around me, I lost track.

Now, I’m here.

---