Page 41 of The Tainted and the Tamed
Dancing over rooftops, Haruki raced ahead, falling into an easy pattern of Junpei watching his back, or Haruki alternately watching his as he made a lateral move across the houses. Soon they were on foot again, two shadows flying through the night, towards a mountainside grave that was empty, the joss sticks snapped in half and stones crushed to dust.
Junpei let out a low grunt when he saw it. He kept his voice quiet. “This can’t be a wraith’s doing.”
“I saw her myself,” Haruki hissed back. “She’s cognizant of what she’s doing.”
“Is it possible she killed a vampire, or some other supernatural being?”
Dragging a hand back through his hair, Haruki found himself kicking at the surviving rocks. Was everything to be his fault? “After—after what happened, I tried to give her my blood. I thought it wasn’t too late to turn her.”
Junpei huffed. “Lovely. A wraith who’s tasted the blood of an elder vampire. If it’s kept as many of her faculties alive as you say, we have a long night ahead of us, Haru.”
Haruki turned his eyes toward the peak. “How will we ever find her?”
Junpei lifted his chin, his nostrils flaring. “We do it by smell when we can. And when we can’t—sometimes the old ways are the best ways.”
Haruki harrumphed, his eyes still actively scanning the trees. “It’s like I don’t know either of you anymore.”
“You’d know us better if you came to the capital this century.” Junpei hopped down into the grave. “Let’s get her scent and keep moving. We’ve only a few hours before daylight.”
Haruki inhaled Chiyo’s scent from where he stood. He knew her smell all too well. This wasn’t it. This was a wraith’s odor.
It turned his stomach. Because this was a mockery of Chiyo’s powder and perfume scent, corrupted by death and grave dirt, and somehow almost sickly sweet. Yet another reminder that he tainted all he touched.
A young woman lay severely injured on the tatami of Dr. Setouchi’s abode even now, her blood seeping into the mats. And, somewhere in these mountains, was the woman he had turned into a monster.
“No talking from here on out,” Haruki said.
Junpei nodded, offering him a familiar hand signal from a previous age. It took no time at all for Haruki to recall its meaning.
Move out.
Chapter 20
Haruki
Just before dawn, Haruki caught Chiyo’s altered scent. Mentally, he swore. Though she wouldn’t be able to move through the sunlight any better than they could, it was little consolation.
He felt how close they were. But instead of pursuing, he had no choice but to help Junpei construct a shadowy hide. When the first rays of morning—the ones most dangerous to vampires—touched the mountainside, they were safely nestled beneath a weave of pine bowers and dried leaves.
They spent the day in silence, alternating light sleep and staying on watch. The feeling in that tiny shelter was so unlike when he’d been hunting with Daisuke, Haruki could have laughed. Tension hung between the two elder vampires, the anticipation of the fight. At least in the old days, they had the meditative effects of the tea ceremony to comfort them before the battle.
Chiyo could not be allowed to go on another night. But knowing that didn’t make facing his sins any easier for Haruki.
He had to be the one to do it. The days of the samurai were indeed past, but he still had his honor. It was his fault Chiyo was like this. He should be the one to grant her a peaceful death.
The moment the sun retreated behind the mountain, Haruki crawled out from the hide and sniffed. Chiyo’s trail had gone cold, but it was still there—still that hint of perfume, like spices hiding the scent of spoiled meat. Junpei quickly disassembled the shelter behind them. They would leave nowhere for her to hide.
After another hand signal, Haruki and Junpei moved out as one. They traveled the path of the scent in near silence, careful to remain beneath the canopy and not to stray out into the remaining light of the day.
At last, they came upon a hide less sophisticated than their own. The scent here was colder than the one winding through the trees.
She tricked us.Chiyo likely hadn’t slept here in a pair of nights.
Flaring his nostrils, Haruki stalked away from the collection of branches, sniffing at every step. Her trail led them up and down the mountain, always a little too cold to give them hope.
They wasted another night in this fashion. At every turn, Chiyo was always a few steps ahead of them. As the sky changed from ink to deep blue, Junpei made a cutting gesture.I’m calling it for the night.
Shaking his head, Haruki offered a different signal.Move away. It was clear Chiyo was an exceptionally clever wraith. They couldn’t make their shelter anywhere near where she’d been.
