“Oh?”

  He leaned in, setting his glass down. “People are trying to find her, but not to take her in. It’s for her friend. Maybe you know her? One they call… Amabie. They’re waiting for her to give away Amabie’s position, then strike.”

  I didn’t like his tone one bit, or the way he seemed suddenly sober.

  Leaning back and trying to clear my head, I attempted to analyze him, hand going to my scarf in case there was trouble. “How do you know this?”

  Greg shrugged. “A monster like her doesn’t randomly meet someone like me. I love her to death, but no, our meeting was very much arranged. The people I work for, they don’t know about you yet, but if they did? When they find out? Everything’s different, isn’t it? You can summon them—you can help us capture Amabie.”

  “Fuck… me.” I was rigid, ready to leap into action.

  “Think about it,” he said, standing now. He wasn’t tall but seemed to loom over me. “No more pandemics, maybe even no more sickness! That creature keeping her powers from the world is a crime, and we have to ensure humanity benefits from this opportunity. Ferris, I need to know you’re with me.”

  Ahlaksiz had introduced me to Amabie for very different reasons than this guy had for wanting to meet the strange three-tailed mermaid. Out of the two of them, I had every reason to trust Ahlaksiz, none to trust Greg.

  “Not gonna happen,” I muttered.

  “What was that?”

  “I said it’s not going to happen.” Pushing myself up, I clicked my tongue and became instantly aware of a figure standing behind me. Likely Kazu—in on it, too? My mind was going through the options, and I hoped Basty would be useful here. The last thing I wanted was to have to summon the sword and cut these two open. While I’d fought monsters and killing them had felt wrong to some degree, killing two humans on my first visit to Japan wasn’t likely to get me invited back anytime soon.

  The shadows of their movement told me they were coming, but I wasn’t sure how to counter, so I hesitated. They managed to get ahold of me, and it was then that I decided no matter what, I wasn’t going to be their puppet. I certainly wasn’t going to be taken in or whatever they had in mind.

  I fell, struggling to break free, and had to decide between the sword or other options. One of the potted trees had fallen over during the earthquake, and that gave me an idea. Rolling halfway, I was able to reach out and grab it—then used my druid power. It instantly sprang into action, twisting and grabbing hold of Kazu despite the man’s protestations. As it wrapped around his arms and legs, I managed to push myself up and turned in time to see Greg watching this in awe. No shock or horror, only fascination.

  “Cool trick,” he said, then had a pistol in his hands, aiming it at me. I wasn’t sure if he’d gotten it somewhere at the restaurant or had it with him, but that didn’t matter. The point was that this had suddenly gotten much worse. At least no shadow movement showed, so it didn’t seem he was about to shoot me.

  “Basty,” I muttered.

  “What?” Greg glanced around to make sure he was the only person I could have been talking to. “I don’t underst—”

  Before he could finish the word, his eyes went wide and he ducked, letting out a shriek like a little girl. The pistol wasn’t aimed at me, and I knew this was my chance. Basty must have given him some sort of vision. I plowed into the man, knocking him back, and managed to get my foot to touch the soil and roots of another tree. While I’d meant to repeat the same action I’d used to hold Kazu in place—he was now shouting at me, cursing in Japanese—the tree swung instead and, as Greg tried to turn on me, it hit him in the face.

  The man fell back, whacking his head on the ground, pistol clattering across the patio. I rolled, grabbing it and accidentally firing a shot off that hit one of the restaurant windows. That caught me off guard. I cursed and turned with the pistol at my side, pulling on the hunter sword with my other hand.

  Greg was on his side, starting to push himself up, and shouted for Kazu to shut his mouth. Slowly turning to me, Greg held out a hand.

  “Give me the pistol. It doesn’t have to be this way.” He started to stand, but I lifted the pistol, careful to keep my finger away from the trigger this time.

  “No. Stay where you are.”

  “What’s the move, hotshot?” Greg held out his hands, showing that he was unarmed. “I’m not the bad guy here. I’m a husband, a father, and simply a man trying to leverage a tool that will help humanity stay safe in the future. Would you deny us that? Deny your own parents the chance to live?”

  “You’re making a big leap.”

  “Am I?” He scoffed. “Say another virus comes in a few years. They’re getting older, I imagine. More susceptible to this virus, but we don’t have Amabie helping us. Their chances aren’t looking so hot—but with her? Nothing to worry about. It’s resting on your shoulders right now.”

  I stared at him, horrified that he could try to make me out to be the villain. It bothered me more and more, until finally, I shouted, “FUCK YOU!” That rage wasn’t me, but right then, I was pissed. I stepped up to him, sword held up with the point at his throat, and said, “Tell me that shit again, I fucking dare you.”

  He gulped, and for the first time, worry showed in his eyes.

  “Your… move…” He said, voice low, unchallenging.

  “It is my move. So here’s what is going to happen. You’re going to give me your car keys. Then you’re going to sit. Understand?”

  He looked like he might argue, but his eyes went to the sword and he seemed mesmerized by it. Eyes not leaving the blade, he reached into his pocket, handed me a key fob, then sat.

  “Good.” I knelt at the tree by his side, and this time instead of attacking him, it wrapped around his torso to hold him in place. It wasn’t a thick tree and he would likely find a way out before long—but not before I was out of there.

  “You’re drunk,” Greg said. “You sure you want to drive?”

  “Not at all. But I also didn’t want you to turn out to be an assface, and here we are.” I turned then, clicking my tongue to be sure I was ready if they tried something, and made for the car. The added benefit of having my bat sense was that, even if I was drunk, or very tipsy, my balance and sense of awareness was heightened to the point that I almost felt sober.

  Once I was in the car, though, that was a different story. My senses simply couldn’t keep up with my surroundings, even with the windows down, so I was swerving around roads I barely knew, trying to figure out which way the house was. To my relief, at least there weren’t many other cars on the road at this hour. By my guess, with our arrival time and then the meat and beers, it was maybe eleven in the morning.

  Another pang of worry wrenched my gut as I drove. What if the monster ladies weren’t safe? Greg had certainly made it sound like Yuki wasn’t involved, that he had been lying even to her, but I had no reason to believe a word he said. As far as I knew, that could have been one more part of the story to lead me off the correct path.

  “Basty, you got any way of leading me back there?” I asked.

  “No good,” came his soft voice from around my neck.

  “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure we’ll be fine.” To my credit, it wasn’t like there were that many roads out here. When I saw a small temple on a hillside, I was worried I’d gotten us lost. Then I realized it wouldn’t have been viewable coming the other way, because a tall evergreen stood out in contrast with the other trees nearby, and I was fairly certain we’d turned out of that direction.

  I went for the turn, overdid it with the wheel, then overcompensated with the other direction, so we went spinning back the other way only to go off-road, clip a tree, and end up slamming into another.

  The impact jolted me, slamming my head into the window, but not hard enough to cause any real damage.

  “Good?” I muttered, holding my head and reaching to ensure Basty was there.

  “Good.”

  I nodded, noticed the car was off, and tried turning it on again. No luck. Rubbing my eyes, I got out and saw that it wasn’t going to happen. From that point, though, I could see the edge of a curved roof, one I thought might not have been so far from Yuki and Greg’s place.

  “We’re running for it,” I said, and started at a jog at first. As the alcohol seemed to wear off, I started running faster. At least, that’s what I thought was happening until I looked down and realized my arms were out behind me as I ran, like in that anime. So… apparently I was drunker than I had realized.

  It took me a few steps to get my arms pumping, then I was running normally, though it was more of a jog than a sprint. Odd thoughts started going through my head. What was the name of the character who controlled trees in Darkwing Duck? And, Was I more like him, or was I a Poison Ivy type? I didn’t quite have the physique of the latter. Coming to the point where I could see the house, I first jumped with joy, then thought, Dr. Reginald Bushroot! That’s his name! At the time, I wasn’t sure if I was more excited about remembering that or finding the house, but two steps later all thoughts of the nineties cartoon had faded, and I was sprinting to the house.

  I was panting when I reached the door and started pounding on it.

  “Dammit,” a voice said, and the door went flying open to the sound of the baby crying. Yuki was rocking it, staring into her child’s face as she said, “You woke the baby!”

  She looked up, surprised to see only me, then looked around me and up and down the street. “What’s… going on? Where’s Greg?”

  “Is everyone okay?” I didn’t answer, instead walking past her to find an empty living room. “Ladies?” I opened my mouth, almost calling out for Milrae, but corrected myself and said, “Milkshake?”

  “Tell me where my husband is,” Yuki demanded, though I had to guess half of it over the baby crying.

  “First tell me what you did with them,” I countered, hand out, ready to draw my sword. It was only then that I realized I’d somehow managed to keep the pistol and it was still in my other hand.

  Yuki eyed it, then me, and glared.

  “Ferris?” a voice said, and I spun to see Milrae at a backdoor through the kitchen.

  I didn’t waste a second, running over and kissing her as I took her in a hug. Next, I looked past her to see the others had been lounging about on the small backyard patio, now standing to see what was happening.

  “Why do you have a gun?” Ahlaksiz, the next in, asked, eyes going from me to Yuki, then holding her hands up. “No!”

  I spun again, this time to see Yuki had turned away from us to clutch her baby close. That wasn’t what caught my attention, but what was going on with the back of her head—it was moving as if it had a life of its own, and a mouth with sharp teeth had formed there, snarling my way. At least the baby had stopped crying.

  “This is not the time!” Ahlaksiz said, taking a step toward her old friend, growing cougar ears and tail as she advanced.

  Yuki turned her head halfway, so her normal mouth could speak. “He shot my husband, didn’t he? Tell me!”

  “I did not,” I protested. “He tried to shoot me, and—”

  “Why? Why would he try that?”

  I bit back the words, not wanting to be the one to bring such a wedge into their marriage.

  “Ferris,” Ahlaksiz said, and she was looking at me with eyes that demanded I spill the beans.

  “He wants us to lead him to Amabie,” I blurted out. To my relief, Yuki turned to face us, hair falling back into place.

  “What?”

  “Amabie. He’s with the government, or some private group, maybe, and wants us to lead him to her so that they can use her to ensure they’re protected against future plagues and whatnot.”

  “My Greg?” Yuki asked.

  “That’s what he told me. He got me a bit drunk, then sprung it on me. And his buddy, too. They basically ambushed me when I argued.”

  “I don’t… I don’t understand,” Yuki protested, looking to Ahlaksiz with desperation.

  “He knows,” she replied. “It’s as simple as that. They’ve always wanted her, and we knew it. Somehow, Greg knows.”

  Yuki shook her head, then her eyes suddenly went wide. “You all came from there—you mentioned the tree, while he was here.”

  “Yeah?” I wasn’t following.

  “Oh, no,” Ahlaksiz said, and was already moving for the door.

  “What’s happening?” Kinara asked as Ahlaksiz reached the door, pausing to ensure we were following.

  “I sensed it, that it wasn’t an earthquake,” Ahlaksiz replied. “That’s why I had Yuki call you back. But I didn’t understand what it was—only that it was trouble. Now you arrive saying there’s a group aware of us, even telling you to help them bring in Amabie. My guess is they’ve already been able to track our journey back to the tree. This can’t wait.”

  It didn’t all make sense to me, but enough of it did that I was already on the move, joining her to exit the house with the others close on our tails.

  “Wait,” Yuki said, calling after us from the door. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

  Ahlaksiz looked truly pained as she turned and said, “I’m sorry. If you can make it work, make it work. If you can’t… you can always count on me.”

  Yuki simply clutched her child close and nodded, watching as we left.

  “This is so fucked up,” Jalee said, climbing in the back seat. “What just happened?”

  “The question I’ll be asking myself until my head stops spinning, I imagine,” I replied, really wishing I’d stopped at one beer. Ahlaksiz took control, not bothering with the road this time, but bringing us into the sky and cloaking before she sent us careening off in the direction of the tree where we’d met Amabie.

  14

  Smoke billowed from the hillside, where seconds before there had been no smoke and no hillside. We had crossed through whatever magical barrier there had been to keep the place hidden before, and now stared down at the massive tree in flames. Not only that, but four vehicles were at the base, and men in tactical gear were searching the area. One was pinned to the tree that was on fire, now merely a charred corpse.

  Whatever we had missed had clearly been bad. The question was, which side had it been worse for?

  “What’re we doing here?” I asked, watching as two of the men turned to look up at us, one touching a hand to his ear, likely reporting our arrival. “They might be government, I mean… right?”

  “You think their lives are more important than ours?” Jalee growled.

  “What? No, I’m saying—”

  “She knows what you’re saying,” Ahlaksiz interrupted. “You’re saying that you have a problem fighting humans, when we’ve seen you have no problem fighting our kind. Monsters.”

  I bit back my retort, because of course, she was right. How could I not feel that way? Yet, they had a point. Fuck. It wasn’t about some real world versus a fake one, not anymore at least. It never had been, but in my mind, that was exactly what had been going on. I was human, from Earth, where monsters didn’t truly exist. To cut down one of them, in a sense, didn’t feel real.

  “This sounds like a conversation for another time,” Milrae interjected, leaning forward and pointing. Three men on the hill were now aiming rifles at us, though that wasn’t concerning. I was fairly certain the car could take it, and I could send out the drones to deal with them.

  What did concern me, however, was the man who wore a different type of clothing—white, fluttering around him as the wind picked up.

  “He’s a… I mean,” I started, wanting to ask if he was a monster, but now feeling unsure about how to discuss the topic.

  “Not a monster, not even a Myth or Legend,” Ahlaksiz said, suddenly turning the car around for a retreat. “But I’ve come across him before.”

  “And?”

  She didn’t have time to respond as the car lurched forward, going as fast as it could. More than that, she seemed to have taken over the drones because she sent two of them off, while two more remained as turrets that started firing.

  “What the hell is happening right now?” Kinara shouted, bracing herself.

  We all were, but Ahlaksiz seemed to be panicking, swerving the car about, muttering to herself, and clutching one of her protective stones.

  “Ahlaksiz?” I protested.

  Her wild eyes turned to me and she said, “Stone! Hold it, now, before—”

  A green burst of light went off in front of us and she swerved as tentacles shot out in our direction. As we narrowly missed them, explosions sounded nearby, and a burst of fire shot across our windshield.

  I leaned back, clutching the Alexandrite and bracing myself against the dash, fearing for my life. There was more swerving, then flight into the clouds of a storm, and finally, we came to a stop. Sitting there, with lightning flashing and clouds swirling around us, Ahlaksiz seemed to relax.

  She finally turned to us, took a deep breath, and said, “As Ferris here is a summoner, that man… he’s like the opposite side of a coin. An Expulsor, some say. Inquisitor is another title. Essentially, he has the power to send our kind back, but in doing so steals part of our essence. Like killing one and taking their ichor, except it’s more complicated, as I understand it, he maintains some control over those he sends back, like he owns them.”

  “What the fuck?” I said, shaking my head. “And he’s here… why?”

  “My guess is we’ve stumbled into something bigger than we realized,” she replied. She sat there for a second in thought, then shook her head. “This is so not good.”

  “Greg!”

  “What?”

  I was shaking my head. “Fucking hell. That guy Greg, he answers to someone—probably this Expulsor, right? He said they want to use her powers to stop illnesses or something, but what if it was in this take-control way?”

  “That would explain why they were at the tree,” Ahlaksiz said. “Shit, if they’d managed to catch her because of us, I’d never have been able to forgive myself.”

  “And… Amabie?” I asked. “You think she got away?”