Page 33

“How did you get a gun into Japan?” He leaned his head to the side and grinned.

“I have my ways.”

“You are quite the powerful little witch.” Yoichi stepped onto the poud vodou.

The threshold erupted beneath him.

Red fire climbed both legs. The fabric covering his legs burned away. Skin cracked open. Blood ran down his ankles.

“Fuckkkk.” He lowered his head and growled. His neck corded with tension, chin dropping toward his chest, eyes rolling upward to fix on me with something that had stopped being human.

The fire eating his legs threw his face into shadow as his head fell forward.

Black blood pooled around his feet.

Suddenly, I remembered the enormous creature lying broken beside the shrine. The blood-matted fur, eight ragged tails, and one swollen eye fixed on me while I poured my magic into his body.

My heart ached.

Don’t feel bad for him. He’s crazy.

I kept my gun pointed at his chest.

Yoichi forced his second foot over the threshold.

The protection tore across his chest. Flesh blackened over his stomach and the cursed hands moved. That fire even climbed his throat and burned one side of his beautiful face.

His cheek split.

His lips peeled back from sharp white teeth.

One glowing eye remained fixed on me.

Again. . .any other creature or human would be a pile of ashes on the threshold but not him.

In fact, I could not look away.

Yoichi was horrifying, magnificent, and also the most dangerous thing I had ever seen.

And every pulse between my thighs begged me to let him closer.

Yoichi stepped fully into the room.

Oh fuck.

My hand shook, making the gun tremble.

All the poud vodou went dark on the floor and then evaporated into orange steam. I’d never seen any shit like that in my life.

His blackened jaw cracked as he spoke, “What did you put there? I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life. Your magic. . .it’s delicious. . .dark. . .powerful. . .”

I sat there fucking speechless, unable to comprehend what I was seeing.

For one terrible second, Yoichi remained burned.

Then his body began healing.

The charred skin on his face cracked and fell away. New flesh formed beneath it, smooth and golden-brown. His cheek sealed. His lips reshaped themselves over his teeth.