Daisuke reached the museum ten minutes before it opened and sent Ruq, once more in pigeon form, to watch the outside. A modest crowd had already gathered, including a number of families with little kids. Not what he wanted to see when the potential for an encounter was so high. Ideally he’d prefer to fight in the middle of nowhere, but that seldom seemed to happen. Important as it was to keep the demon prison out of the wrong hands, keeping civilians safe was also a priority.
If you split your attention, you’re liable to end up dead.
Your concern is touching.
If you die, I end up back in Abaddon’s hell where I’m on rather poor terms with management.
He grinned. That was more like it. Ruq had never said exactly what he did to end up in a cage and on a demon lord’s shit list. Daisuke figured anything that made Abaddon mad had to be a good thing for the universe.
The door finally opened and the line streamed in. He didn’t even bother with the first floor, instead heading straight to his lookout point. When he arrived and studied the scene, he couldn’t decide if his luck was good or bad. There still weren’t any wards, but there was a wizard, along with half a dozen armed security guards.
The problem was the identity of the wizard. It was his cousin, Natsumi, and she carried the family katana, Flame Edge. He recognized it at once from the crimson-stained ray-skin wrap around the hilt.
Just like every other member of the family when they were out on business, she wore a white suit. He couldn’t help smiling when he looked at her. The reed-thin tomboy he remembered had grown into a beauty at eighteen. She’d be even prettier if not for the serious scowl twisting her features and making deep creases in her brow.
It came as no surprise that she now sported the same crimson streak in her hair as her father. Shogo couldn’t be thrilled that she’d received the spirits’ recognition as the most powerful wizard of her generation. His little brother and cousin had been competing over everything for as long as Daisuke could remember. She was only eight when he left Japan and Daisuke had no idea if she’d recognize him.
Of all the wizards he might’ve had to worry about, why did it have to be a member of the Kugo clan?
Maybe you should’ve gone to talk to them.
If I had, they’d expect me to obey every time they said jump. That’s not something I want to encourage. Besides, scouting the museum was more important.
Not that they’d learned anything important, but he hadn’t known that to begin with.
Well, whatever. Natsumi might serve as a distraction if nothing else.
He leaned back against the wall and settled in to keep watch. It was going to be a long day, assuming the Blood agents even showed up. Pity a folding chair would’ve been too obvious.
Every fifteen minutes he shifted his vision to the ether and every time saw nothing save Natsumi’s protective magic and the aura of fire around her katana. Lunchtime arrived and the crowds thinned out. Daisuke took a box of Pocky out of his pocket and started nibbling. He would’ve preferred strawberry, but the vending machine only had cookies and cream.
Halfway through the box a tremor ran through the ether.
Master.
I felt it too. Do you see anything outside?
No, it’s all clear.
They must’ve snuck in with the crowd. He’d pretty much expected that, but would’ve been pleased to be wrong.
He mentally prepared several spells as he surveyed the crowd. At least there were no kids, thank heaven.
From the second-floor walkway directly across from him, a stunning woman with long dark hair and dressed in all red leapt down to the floor.
“Halt!” Natsumi put a hand on her katana.
The woman in red sprinted forward the instant her feet touched the floor.
Her movements were a blur.
A palm heel strike sent Natsumi flying.
The security guards went for their guns, but they might as well have been stuck in toffee. A flurry of punches and kicks laid them all out in seconds.
But those seconds proved important.
Natsumi recovered and drew her katana. Crimson flames blazed around it as the spirits displayed their wrath.
“This is your final warning,” she said. “Surrender or face me.”
The woman in red smiled, a barely visible quirking of her lips.
To his left power gathered.
That was what Daisuke was waiting for. He hurled the magic he’d gathered, disrupting the enemy wizard’s spell.
Ignoring the raging battle below, he sprinted toward the wizard. When he reached the source of the spell, he found nothing.
Where the hell did he get to?
A pained shout from below prompted Daisuke to spin around, just in time to see Natsumi slam into the museum wall.
Again.
The woman in red went for the prison.
With no other options, Daisuke pointed and black tentacles shot out from the shadows of the display stands.
His shadow binding wrapped her arms and legs, locking her in place.
For a second anyway.
A counterspell virtually identical to the one Daisuke had cast a few seconds earlier smashed his spell to pieces.
He started another, but she took off like a deer from the wolves.
Natsumi sprinted in pursuit, her own body-strengthening magic allowing her to stay close.
Shit.
It was probably a trap, but he couldn’t just leave the demon prison behind.
Daisuke leapt down to the first floor, smashed the display open, and slipped the prison into his extra-dimensional storage trunk. It would be safer there than anywhere.
The wizard is waiting in the back alley, Master. I believe your cousin is in trouble.
Of course she was. Typical Kugo. Too arrogant to imagine that there was something she couldn’t handle.
Whatever he felt about his family, he couldn’t just let her get killed.
Daisuke sprinted for the exit and said a silent prayer that he wouldn’t be too late.
Natsumi arrived at the museum half an hour early and went to the rear entrance just as her uncle had instructed. She carried Flame Edge in her left hand, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice. Ordinarily, someone walking around with a katana would quickly draw the attention of the security forces, but everyone knew the Kugo clan. Since they were an unofficial part of the nation’s military, members of the clan could get away with carrying weapons that would get an ordinary citizen arrested.
With her car safely parked in an employee-only slot, she marched up to the door and knocked. A nervous little man wearing perfectly round glasses, an ill-fitting gray suit, and sporting a thin mustache bowed to her. “Miss Kugo?”
“Correct. You would be Director Waki. My uncle sends his regards.”
“I am most grateful that Lord Kugo could send someone on such short notice. One of my colleagues got wind of a threat to the artifact and called to warn me. She suggested not displaying the item in question, but I refused to give in to thieves.”
She nodded. Though an unimposing man, Natsumi liked the respect Director Waki showed her uncle and also that he was brave enough not to give in to threats. “What do you wish me to do?”
“Come in and I’ll show you.”
She followed him through twisting corridors until she was totally lost. They finally stopped in a large room filled with display cases. They held old bits of metal, bone, a horned skull that had to have belonged to a demon, and a variety of other old junk.
“An impressive collection, isn’t it?” he said, mistaking her mental inventory taking for actual interest in the items on display. “Everything here is over three thousand years old. The bronze cylinder in case two is the item the thieves are supposed to be interested in.”
Her gaze shifted to the item in question. It didn’t look like much. The only area of interest was a slight, round depression on the top that was marked with an odd design unlike anything she’d ever seen.
“What is it?”
“We’re not certain. There’s some magic on it that our resident wizard has never seen before. She intends to study it more closely after the exhibition. All you need to do is stay with the security team. Hopefully, seeing a member of the Kugo clan protecting the artifact will be enough to dissuade any thieves that might show up.”
Natsumi nodded again. That would, indeed, be best. There would be hundreds of noncombatants in the museum on a Saturday. If she had to let loose with her fire magic, tight control would be necessary to avoid any accidental injuries. The greater danger was that her opponents wouldn’t be as concerned about collateral damage.
A woman in a dark business suit stuck her head in the room. “The stands are all ready, sir.”
“Send in the movers,” he said.
Eight museum staffers dressed in white coveralls entered the room and gathered up the cases. Natsumi and the director followed along behind them as they made their way to the main floor of the building.
Six armed guards were waiting in the display area. They each kept a wary eye on their surroundings. Their vigilance was a good sign and she felt better about working with them now that she’d seen it.
Introductions were made and the displays set on the wooden stands prepared for them. The whole process took about fifteen minutes. During that time Natsumi made a quick circuit around the room. Four halls led to it and the second-floor balcony let visitors look down at the display. It would also make a good place for a thief to sneak up on them. The space was hardly secure, but what could she expect—this was a public place, not a fortress.
When the preparations were complete Director Waki said, “We open in five minutes. I leave everything in your hands. Thank you again.”
He bowed one last time and walked away.
Once he was out of sight and throngs of people started strolling by and through the display, the pressure of “all in your hands” really settled over her. This was her first mission and she was responsible for artifacts that were thousands of years old as well as the safety of hundreds of people. When Uncle Yoshikazu gave her this mission, she’d assumed it would be simple, but the truth was hitting her in the stomach, literally. Natsumi felt like she was going to throw up.
A few slow, deep breaths calmed her. Everything would be fine. She’d been training her whole life for this. She would complete her mission and bring honor to the clan.
The morning dragged on and she found it hard to maintain total vigilance. Her mind wandered as her gaze drifted over the crowd. On the second-floor walkway she thought she saw a familiar face, but then it was gone. Maybe someone from school came with their family.
Her stomach snarled as lunchtime approached. She ignored it. Breakfast would have to hold her until the museum closed and her responsibility was discharged for the day. At least the crowds began to thin.
The moment of relief didn’t last. Some strange magic gathered on the second floor. Perhaps the person that caught her eye wasn’t so friendly after all.
She spun when it grew stronger. A woman in red, her body crackling with energy, leapt down from the second-floor balcony.
The moment her black sneakers hit Natsumi said, “Halt!”
The woman sprinted forward so fast her body seemed little more than a blur.
A blow to the chest sent Natsumi flying back to slam into the wall hard enough to knock the breath out of her despite the magical protection she’d put in place. Had she failed to take that precaution, a broken spine would’ve been her reward.
Whatever magic she was using, it wasn’t something Natsumi had encountered before. Basic body strengthening wouldn’t be enough to overpower Natsumi. She was using that spell herself and was considered one of the best at it.
With an undignified groan, she climbed to her feet.
Just in time to watch the last of the security guards fall.
Natsumi drew Flame Edge and it instantly blazed with crimson flames as the spirit of the sword responded to her will.
Her opponent looked up from the unmoving guard.
“This is your final warning. Surrender or face me.”
The bitch actually had the nerve to smile.
Behind her, magic gathered.
Not good.
If she turned to counter the wizard, another trip into the wall would be the least of her problems.
As quickly as it formed, the magic shattered and vanished. Natsumi had no idea what happened, but when the woman in red’s smile withered, she assumed it wasn’t part of her opponent’s plan.
She charged into battle again, just as fast as last time.
But Natsumi was ready and so was Flame Edge.
That made surprisingly little difference.
The finest bladework in the world did you no good if your opponent was too fast to hit.
The woman in red evaded a horizontal slash, spun away from an overhead chop, and lashed out with a side kick that sent Natsumi flying back into the wall.
Her vision went blurry and she felt certain at least a few ribs were cracked.
She tried to get up and failed the first time.
The second try got her to her knees and finally her feet. Ether flooded into her broken and weary body.
When she finally was able to focus, what she saw made her jaw drop. The woman in red was fleeing toward one of the rear exits. A quick glance confirmed that the artifact was still where it was supposed to be.
What the hell was going on? There was no one to stop her and yet she still fled. And where was the wizard she sensed?
Natsumi shook her head. None of that mattered. She couldn’t let the thief get away.
As she ran after her, Natsumi’s mind raced to come up with a new plan. Much as she hated to admit it, the woman in red had superior fighting skills. That meant she’d have to keep her distance and rely on magic.
Not her preferred way to fight, but certainly doable.
She rounded a bend and found a slowly closing door leading to the alley beside the museum.
Outside the woman in red waited.
“You should’ve kept running,” Natsumi said.
“Why?”
That single word hurt Natsumi worse than either of the blows she’d taken. And she didn’t even have a comeback. They’d fought twice and Natsumi got crushed both times.
Well, not this time. She leveled Flame Edge and called on the spirit’s power.
A stream of fire rushed out only to splash against an invisible barrier five feet short of the target.
A dark-skinned man in a black suit appeared from behind the woman in red. Even from a distance she could sense the man’s power. He was not someone to be trifled with. One-on-one she could probably take him, but the pair were too much for her.
Her body arched as pain unlike anything she’d ever felt ran through her.
It lasted only a second before some other magic negated it. A black disk appeared under the woman in red and inky lightning arced up from it into her body.
A scream tore the air before her partner negated the spell.
Natsumi dared a glance behind her. Another man in black, this one in denim and a t-shirt with pale skin, dark hair, and Japanese features.
“Let’s go,” the man in the black suit said.
The woman in red snarled at her, ran to her partner’s side and the two of them stepped through a dimensional door.
“Not your finest hour, Natsumi.”
She spun and raised Flame Edge. Her eyes widened. “Daisuke? What are you doing here?”
“I’m impressed that you remember me. How about you put that sword away and we get you to a doctor?”
She winced. The adrenaline and magic were fading and the pain rising. She sheathed Flame Edge. “We have a healer on duty at the estate and I know Uncle Yoshikazu wants to talk to you.”
Now it was his turn to wince.
“Fine. I’ll call a cab.”
“No need. My car is in the back lot.”
She took a step, staggered, and Daisuke caught her. “Easy. You’ve had a rough time.”
He scooped her up and her cheeks warmed. “I can walk.”
“You can barely stand.” He set out for the parking lot, carrying her like a child. It was the final embarrassment of a day filled with them. “Which one’s yours?”
“The red hatchback.”
The passenger door opened at his approach. Natsumi hadn’t even felt the ether stir. How had a boy rejected by the spirits become so skilled in magic?
He set her gently in the passenger seat, closed the door, and climbed behind the wheel. Daisuke started the car but before he could put it in gear she grabbed his arm.
“The artifact! The bitch must’ve rung my bell worse than I thought if I forgot about it.”
“Relax, it’s safe with me. If the idiot museum director had just listened to my boss, none of this would’ve happened.” Daisuke backed up and pulled into traffic.
That statement raised more questions than she had the mental capacity to deal with at the moment. Her uncle and father could handle it. Right now all she wanted to do was rest.