Page 41 of Cherry Moon

Bob appeared, licking my face.

“My baby!” I cried.

Bony Hag hissed.

Rose joined him, growling at the piece of shit and her widening peepers.

“What is this?” the vile thing demanded.

My babies were usually invisible, but clearly not tonight. And what was with their eyes matching the bone freak up there? Where did the orange go?

Hone-onna.

Yeah, that was what she was based on.

Let’s not think about it now, eh?

“These wolves,” Bony Hag said. “These wolves have⁠—”

A massive boom behind me rocked the fishbowl, the sweet sound of cracking bone perking me up big time.

The lights came back on, the hole in the roof reopening. Mercifully, the sand also stopped pouring in. Sakura swooped into the bowl, encircling the top half in a fab ring of pink.

Not so fucking sure of herself now, was she?

Tee to the pissing hee!

CHAPTER TWELVE

GABRIEL

Thick darkness clung to the edges of a pathway of glowing cherry blossoms. They floated upward as we ran, drifting in slow motion around us.

Out in the shadows I could see the Cherry Moon, a small, distant disk overseeing everything. Feeding the light in my hands and the hope in my heart.

I’m coming, Aki.

My skull ached, yearning for his face. Full to the brim with so many thoughts, Akira at the very top of the pile. Nothing else mattered until I found him.

Zach kept pace with me, just as laser-focused on the task ahead.

“Help Akira find his path.”

A new life for my fiancé. Back to the big fights, the life-threatening drama.

He can’t go back.

I won’t let him.

The wolves began to slow, the path curving to the left. In the distance, a wall of off-white stone waited.

Rose stopped, glancing back at us.

“Through there?” I asked.

Bob looked next, then they both vanished through the wall.

In other words, yes.