CHAPTER 131

"Much like this shitty deal you want me to make."

"A deal which I offer one last time. Oh, Mike Radley, you have no idea what you've been pulled into. For whatever reason, the threads of fate have converged on you, and there will be many who are hungry to cut them, to see those lines split and unravel. When you—"

"Taikutsu," Yuki groaned. "This bastard really does prattle on and on, doesn't he."

"He really does. But seeing how I can't just chase him off, we may as well hear his deal so we can turn him down. Please continue." He waved his hand at the shadow.

After a few tense seconds, the shadow spoke again, his voice strained. "I have found another who is willing to make a deal with me, someone willing to do whatever it takes to gain power. With their strength, I would take from you what you could have given me willingly, and will ignore your piteous cries for help and mercy. I have prolonged this game long enough, and will continue to do so until I can win it."

MIke frowned. The shadow had mentioned a game before, but he had no way to ask without being harassed.

"However," the shadow continued, "I would far prefer a deal that is beneficial to us both. Give me what I want, and not only will I give you the power and knowledge to rescue your precious banshee, but I will also give you the strength to keep them safe until the end of your days, to protect and guide those you love most."

"Is this the same deal you offered Emily? You took something from her so she could protect the others? It didn't end well for her."

"She strayed from the path!" The fog billowed around the stranger. "She balked when confronted by greatness, and that is exactly what I am offering you! This is no longer about some spirit, some noble quest, or even love. This has always been about power, Mike Radley, and if you do not accept me this last and final time, then I will see to it that your world burns, and that you burn with it!"

"And there it is. World will burn." Mike looked over at Yuki and saw that her hands were clenched tight, her eyes aglow with magic. "My friend here has more up her sleeves than just ice, you know."

"Well?" asked the shadow.

"You know I'm going to say no." He took a step toward the shadow. "So that's that. Any business we have is done. So you can take your shitty attitude back to your broken up castle and sulk for all eternity while I get on with my day. You can also stop lurking behind my magic gate and watching my house. Oh, and whatever you have in here that likes to growl at people and scare them away from your town of the Damned? You forgot to feed it, because it obviously wandered off."

The shadow laughed. "That creature is not one of mine. It's the guardian of this place, a being of immense anger and wrath determined to keep anyone from crossing over without permission."

Mike frowned. "Well, we obviously have permission, because we haven't seen it."

"That's where you're wrong." The shadow backed into the fog, vanishing from their sight. "I led it away so that you could get this far. Goodbye, Mike Radley."

The shadow was gone now, leaving behind nothing but an ominous silence. Mike scanned the fog, then looked over at Yuki. If the shadow had lured them this far out, then they had just fallen into a trap.

"Maybe we should start—"

He was interrupted by a low, full throated growl that rumbled his entire body. It was like standing next to the big speaker at a concert, and his stomach clenched itself in response.

Yuki held up her sword. She scanned the fog, her eyes searching.

"Wha—" Mike asked, but she put her free hand over his mouth and then pointed to her ear.

He heard it now. It was the rustling of leaves, and the faint sound of something large moving around them in the fog. He tried to see what it was and failed, but Yuki's ears had turned forward and she was moving her head as if tracking it, so he followed her gaze.

A pair of fiery orbs appeared in the fog at head level, then vanished.

"What the fuck was that?" he whispered. The orbs returned, then vanished once more.

"I don't know, but..." Yuki was pushing him backward now, and when the orbs appeared, they were even closer this time. The thing in the fog sniffed again, and then something else sniffed in response. Another pair of orbs appeared and hovered above and behind the first.

When a third pair of orbs appeared, Yuki pulled a tarot card out of her robes and threw it like a frisbee into the fog. A few moments passed, and then it exploded, showering the area with fire and sparks. Through the thick fog, Mike was able to make out a large figure with black fur and three massive heads. The creature stepped forward through the flames, and all three heads settled on the two of them.