“Our aunt, yes.” Miori shuddered. “I’d forgotten,” she said, almost to herself. “The air felt the same. Smelled the same.”
“She won’t let you past her easily,” Fuyumi said. “Fuck. Why doesn’t our magic work?”
A sharp rap at our door had all of us jumping. I was closest and peered out the window to see who was there. My eyes widened and then narrowed. What… I threw a confused look at Wataru before opening the door. His grandmother, tiny and white-haired, stood on the step. Behind her was one of the governor’s guards.
“Can I come in?” she asked and I immediately stepped aside.
The guard followed her, a long heavy case held in his hands.
“The air smells like magic,” the old woman said.
“Baba.” Wataru took his grandmother’s hand and led her to a chair, helping her sit. “What are you doing here?”
“I brought you something,” she said, indicating for the guard to step closer. “Can you open the case?”
The guard did as she asked, flipping the locks and opening it to reveal, holy shit, swords. I choked on a laugh, but when she glanced at me I managed to hide my smile. “Wipe the smile off your face, Reiji.” I thought I had. “These were my grandfather’s grandfather’s.” I leaned down to touch one. They were beautiful, the metal gleaming in the overhead light. I picked one up and held it in my hand.
“Do I look as stupid as I feel?” I asked.
“Yes,” Fuyumi said. “They can’t fight magic with swords,” she told Baba.
“Oh, no?” the woman asked. “Because you know so much? Magic has always been part of Sara, and just because your grandfather tried to hide it and stamp it out, doesn’t mean he was successful.” She tapped the side of her nose. “Some of us remember.” Baba sat up straight, not flinching when an especially loud crack of thunder shook the walls. “These swords have slain Sara’s dragons before.”
“I was going to look for hedge clippers, but these will work.” Goro held a sword loosely in his hand and backed away from the group to carefully slice it through the air.
Baba pointed at Wataru and then the case. He bent, carefully withdrawing one sword for Dai and then the final one. “It has magic?”
“It is ancient. I don’t know if it has magic, Wataru, but I wouldn’t leave you to face evil empty-handed.” She scooted to the edge of the chair and held out her hand. Wataru quickly helped her stand. “Of course, you also have this.” Placing her hand on his heart, she patted his chest. “Love is all the weapon you truly need.” Her gaze flitted around the room, landing on each of us, and she sighed. “Good luck.”
Wataru leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”
“Yes,” I added. “Thank you.” The sword in my hand was heavy, but I felt better with it, even if my only plan was to hack through briars and thickets to get to Kumiko.
Baba left and as the door closed behind her, I let out a breath. “I’m ready to go.”
Kumiko’s sisters were silent as we readied ourselves. We bundled ourselves in stiff fabrics and heavy boots. Goro wrapped his leg which I’d forgotten was injured.
“Will you be all right?” I asked. It would be pointless to ask him if he wanted to stay here. I could tell by his tight jaw he was in pain, but he wouldn’t be left behind. If I’d been in his position, I’d have done the same.
“Too bad your grandmother didn’t have shields,” Fuyumi noted as I found a pair of thick gloves and held out my wrist for Wataru to duct tape the cuffs around my wrists.
“I don’t even know what to do with a sword,” I muttered.
“We’ll figure it out,” Wataru answered.
By the time we’d finished, we looked like demented gardeners. Hopefully, the layers would protect us against the thorns and allow us to get into the lighthouse. Once we were in there, facing the witch and her magic…well then, we’d have to think creatively.
“Come back with her,” Aoi said. Her face was drawn, eyes bleak as she opened the door and stared in the direction of the lighthouse. “Please.”
I nodded. Now that the plan was made, I needed to go, so I stepped past her into the street. A wave of foul-smelling air hit me in the face and I choked. Next to me, Dai gagged and turned his face into his shoulder, shutting his eyes tight.
“You okay?” I asked.
He nodded, eyes still shut before straightening. “Yeah.”
The door shut behind us, and then it was just us. The streets were empty, though off in the distance I could make out the sound of sirens. There was something in the air, other than the smell, that had people staying inside. It was dark and the ocean had taken on a strange black and green cast, as if the waves had absorbed the color of the clouds.
“The lighthouse really did get taller,” Goro said. It was hard to hear him. The wind picked up with each step closer to the lighthouse until I had to hunch forward, throwing my weight against its force.
“And the thicket is bigger,” I yelled. What had started as a ring of thorns around the base of the lighthouse had moved outward until it met the edge of the dunes. Unlike earlier, when the vines had moved as if alive, now the only motion was the branches swaying in the wind. I lifted my sword, poking the tip toward a knot of vines before slicing down.
It was like a hot knife through butter. The vines fell away. I did it again, this time drawing the blade sideways through the brambles and then down. A hole opened in the thicket, big enough for me to step through and for a moment, I thought I could make out the white lighthouse beyond the vines.
“Come on!” I yelled, slashing the vines in earnest. My friends joined me, and soon the only sound was branches breaking and our ragged breathing.
We pressed onward, stomping and cutting our way to the lighthouse. With each step, the sky grew darker until I couldn’t see anything except my hand and the occasional flash from the blade as the lightning and thunder cracked in the sky.
Strike followed strike, step followed step, but we seemed no closer to the lighthouse. The wind picked up and blew through the vines. Pain slash across my face, but the wind carried my voice away when I yelped.
The wind was so strong now it seemed the earth shook beneath my feet and I stumbled, dropping to one knee. I caught myself with one hand, my fingers sinking past the sharp grass into the dirt.
Senses overloaded, I wasn’t certain at first if I felt, or heard, the low rumble. Sara wasn’t immune to earthquakes and I’d experienced enough to recognize the feeling of the air and the earth moving.
But this wasn’t an earthquake. The source of the rumble wasn’t deep beneath me, but towering above me.
“Watch out!” Dai yelled, pulling my jacket and yanking me to the ground. A blast of heat shot over my head, and the darkness was suddenly illuminated in shades of bright orange and yellow.
I lifted my head before squeezing my eyes shut to clear my vision. Opening my eyes, however, revealed the same thing. A creature uncurled from the thicket as if it had lain, slumbering peacefully, and now, unhurried and unconcerned, it roused.
In the firelight its scales glimmered in shades of silver and green as it stretched its reptilian body. It yawned, maw opened wide before its forked tongue tested the air.
A snake? No. A dragon.
It was impossible. My mind fought to make sense of what I saw, putting together clue after clue to come up with the same explanation—a dragon—before starting all over again.
Scales. Claws. Horns—dragon.
Fire. Forked tongue. Plated chest—dragon.
The creature’s mouth opened wide as the silver scales on its stomach turned a bright red.
“Run!” Dai pushed me and I ran. Goro sprinted ahead of me, slicing at the vines. When he tired, Wataru and Dai took over.
Fire shot over our heads, the heat scorching my skin, and the thicket went up in flames. Unceasingly, the creature attacked us, breathing fire in any direction we ran.
All at once, the thicket disappeared and the air cooled. The earth dro
pped away, and my arms pin-wheeled as I tried to stop myself from tumbling over the edge of the cliff into the sea. Someone grabbed my jacket, jerking me back to toss me to the ground. I flipped onto my back, chest heaving, and stared at the sky.
“It herded us here,” I got out, gasping.
“I know,” Wataru answered from where he braced his hands on his knees. His sword, and mine, sat on the ground next to us.
Without thinking, I picked up my sword and got to my feet, seeking my balance as the earth trembled. “It’s coming.”
There was a sudden rush of air and the ground in front of me cracked, falling away as the dragon landed in front of us and rose onto its serpentine tail. Its eyes glowed a golden yellow, bright like two suns, as the fire in its belly coalesced. “You can’t have her.” The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, but the dragon lowered its head, nostrils blowing sulfur above our heads. “Give up.”
The voice was familiar, and though I’d only heard it once, I knew who spoke. “The witch.”
The dragon jerked its head back, as if my words offended it. “If I am a witch, it is because I was given no choice. Abused. Locked away. Forgotten.” Her nostrils flared and she huffed a heated breath that singed my cheeks. “This is my revenge.”
“Kumiko is innocent,” I said as I held my sword in front of my body.
Eyes blinking lazily, the creature swung her head from side to side as if disagreeing. “I was innocent once, too. It was not my fault I had magic.” She suddenly rose up again. “I won’t let you take what I’ve waited so long to have.”
“We won’t let you hurt her,” Goro said, coming to stand beside me.
The dragon dropped her head again until she was almost eye to eye with us. “You won’t stop me. You can’t.”
Something inside me rose up and rejected the words. With a burst of speed, I ran at her, thrusting my sword at her silver belly. It went past scales, into muscle and organs, and she screamed.
Her scales turned orange and the sword heated so much, I had to grit my teeth to hold onto the hilt. Next to me, Wataru cried out as his own sword glowed red before he jerked it out of the dragon.
The witch’s borrowed form swelled as she created her fire, and we dove into the thicket before it blasted onto the place we stood. From the corner of my eye, I saw Goro and Dai attack, stabbing until the dragon created her fire again. As soon as their swords heated, they withdrew them, running and dodging past short bursts of flames. Above us, the witch groaned and swayed as black blood oozed from dozens of punctures over her body.
“Again!” Wataru yelled, and it was our turn. I slashed this time, at her chest, her sides, her tail, at anything that looked like it held her upright. Her tail whipped through the air, catching me in the stomach so I flew backward through the thicket until hitting something hard.
Dazed, I tried to catch my breath, groaning at a sharp pain in my chest. I glanced down at the thorns embedded in my side and with a shaking hand, dropped my sword and pulled out the barb. My head spun, but using my sword as a crutch, I forced myself to stand.
“Reiji!” Wataru yelled. My body didn’t want to move, but I ran. My friends darted around the dragon, avoiding blasts of heat, to thrust their swords into her body.
My sword no longer felt strange. It was an extension of myself. Each blow had to count, each stab to hit something vital. The sky began to clear as we relentlessly attacked the dragon, and suddenly, it was over.
The beast swayed, groaned, and crashed into the ground. One golden eye, pupil a long slit, stared at me as I lifted my sword, ready to jam it past bone into her brain. But before I could, it gave one last wet and shuddering breath, and was still.
27
Kumiko
Wind buffeted the tower and it shuddered with each gale. I knew where I was, and what had happened. My finger still stung where the urchin’s spine had pierced my skin.
Eternal sleep? It was a lie. I was as awake as anyone walking around, but I was frozen inside my body. I would lie here, wasting away, feeling every ache in my body, hearing every gust of wind.
The witch’s voice whispered in my ear. “It was so easy to send them away. A little push, and they gave up, led away by your beautiful sisters.”
Good, I wanted to answer. I’d felt her magic. It kept me tied down, anchored inside my body. The smartest thing the princes could do was run away, and yet…
And yet—
“They will forget about you. Find lovely wives of their own. You’ll be like me. A hazy memory. They’ll pretend you never existed in the first place.”
Her words made my heart ache.
“Eternal sleep. When I cursed you, I meant dead, but somehow, your sisters did this. So you have them to thank for this state—your eternal awareness in a body held motionless by my magic.” Her breath tickled my nose but there was no way to scratch the itch. “I hope you suffer.”
Outside the wind suddenly rose, howling like an injured animal.
“Don’t go anywhere,” the witch said, and then laughed. “Not that you can. But don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”
28
Goro
The sky brightened, clouds disappearing as if sucked into a black hole. The air cleared of sulfur and the only sounds were the waves slamming against the cliff.
“Look!” Reiji pointed to the lighthouse, which had shrunk to its normal size. The magic was gone. “Hurry!” He dropped his sword, ran to the lighthouse, and I followed.
For all of my protestations about not being athletic, in the last few days with Kumiko, and in this fight, I had proven to myself I was more than capable when I had to be. I was first through the door and first to skid to a stop.
“No.” My voice caught as my legs gave out, and I hit the floor, hard, but didn’t feel the crack of my bone against the cement.
“She’s dead,” Reiji said as he stumbled past me.
“No.” Wataru came in after us, with Dai on his heels. “No, she can’t be.”
Frozen in place, I watched him lay his head on her chest, listening for a heartbeat. He shut his eyes tight. No. I glanced at her face and froze. Her skin was pale, but still retained a golden sheen. Her features were even and delicate, and her nose had an adorable upturn at the end.
She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen in my life.
Tears oozed from Wataru’s eyes and he didn’t bother to wipe them away. “I thought we could do it. I thought we could save her.”
Dai knelt next to her, reaching for her hand to splay against his cheek. “You’re perfect, Kumiko,” he whispered. “You’ve always been perfect.”
I had to touch her. My best friends in the world, men closer to me than brothers, were as gutted as I. But my legs wouldn’t work, wouldn’t support me to stand, so I crawled to her on my knees and touched her face with my fingertips.
“She should be cold,” I whispered. She wasn’t. Heat radiated off her body. “I’m so sorry.” I don’t know if I spoke to my friends or to Kumiko as I touched my forehead to hers. “I’m sorry,” I repeated.
Her lips were so close, rosy and plump, and all it took was an inch of movement to taste them.
I lingered. This would be the only kiss I had.
Wataru suddenly sucked in a breath. “Her heart,” he choked. “Her heart. It’s beating.”
I lifted my head quickly, staring at her chest. “But she’s not breathing,” I said.
“No,” Wataru answered. “But her heart thumped. Listen!” I moved to where he’d been and put my head against her chest. Sure enough, her heart beat a steady tattoo.
“Kumiko,” Wataru said. “Come back to us.” And then he kissed her, too. I closed my eyes, focusing on her heartbeat. Her chest suddenly expanded, bumping into my ear and I jerked back.
I stared hard, waiting for the movement and when it came I gasped out a cry. “She’s breathing!”
Wataru sat up fast, staring at her chest and when it moved again, he laughed. “She’s breathing.�
� Reiji and Dai edged closer until all of us crowded around her form, waiting for her to rouse. When she didn’t, Wataru gently shook her shoulders. “Kumiko. Wake up.”
We watched her, studying her for any movement or sound, but there was only the soft whisper of air as she breathed. Wataru shook her again, and when he spoke, his voice was louder. Harder. “Kumiko. Wake. Up.”
Nothing.
Wataru kissed her again, a hard press of lips against lips, but nothing changed. “Let me,” I said. It had worked to start her heart, maybe my kiss would rouse her. Wataru made room for me and I slid closer to her head. I pressed my lips against hers before drawing back. “Wake up. Please, Kumiko, wake up.”
Still nothing.
I glanced over at Reiji and Dai, who stared, wide-eyed, at her face. “You try,” I said to them. “One of you. Kiss her.”
Dai moved fast, elbowing me out of the way. Gently, he took her face between his hands. “Wake up,” he whispered. “We’re waiting for you.” Then he kissed her.
I thought I saw her lips move beneath his. “Did she move?” I asked. Her fingers twitched next to her body and I quickly grabbed her hand and squeezed. “We’re here.” I told her. “All you have to do is open your eyes.”
Dai lifted his head and laughed. “She squeezed my hand.”
Her fingers wiggled in my hand. “Me, too!” I laughed, relief making me giddy.
“Come on,” Reiji said. “Show us your eyes. Please, Kumiko.” His voice cracked. “Please.”
But she didn’t. Her chest still expanded with breath, her heart beat, and her muscles trembled, but she didn’t open her eyes. “Why isn’t she waking up?” I asked.
“Because I haven’t kissed her yet,” Reiji answered quietly. Reluctantly, I let go of her hand and Reiji took my place. First he kissed her nose, then her forehead, and her cheek. “Wake up,” he said, and kissed her lips.
While Beauty Sleeps (Once Upon a Harem Book 7) Page 17