Yui’s smile is warm. Comforting. Anything for Veah’s friend.
Before we leave, Veah’s father stops me.
I do not know who you are, he says gravely, in a low voice. I do not know what you work as, or if you are truly only her friend. But you have made her happier than I have ever seen her, and for that . . . thank you.
I . . . I . . . I look down. Swallowing. Everything I’ve wanted to say to Veah, everything I haven’t let myself even acknowledge . . . it spills out. Veahshe’s one of the best people I know. Your daughter isshe’s compassionate, and brave, and I can tell she would do anything for the people she loves. She’s saved my life in more ways than one, and several times over. So thank you for raising her, for making her who she is.
My heart is racing by the time I’ve finished.
I . . . I can’t believe I just said that.
Kaya. Veah’s voice. Are you ready ?
When I turn away, joining hershe is already outsideI notice there are tears in her father’s eyes.
Her parents wave, and Veah hails a cab.
Okami called, she says breathlessly, her hair wet from the weather outside. She wants me to come to her. With you.
What I wouldn’t give to taste the rain on her lips.
I shake my headfocusing. I thought you said she was dangerous. And aren’t you disobeying her orders, just by allowing me to live ?
Change of plans, Veah says grimly. She’s decided you’re more useful to her alive than dead. She took back the contract for your life.
So . . . I’m only wanted by half the city now ?
What ? she teases. You don’t feel so special now that all of Tokyo city isn’t after you ?
I fall back against the car’s leather seat. No, I groan. It’s not that . . . it’s just that I don’t know whether to feel relieved or not. Do we really trust Okami ?
Veah grins. Not at all.
But we’re heading there right now.
Yes, she agrees. When Okami calls, you answer.
What if she changes her mind ? I whisper suddenly. What if she’s just luring us there so she can kill me ?
But Veah must have already considered this possibility, because she closes her eyes, lashes fluttering. I won’t let anything happen to you, Kaya.
And only twenty minutes later, we are in the heart of Tokyo city.
What is this ? I ask, shaking Veah awake.
They call it The Geisha, she whispers.
As we both climb out of the car, I hear soothing music, like the rustling of leaves, like the sigh of the summer wind.
What is this place ? A strip club ?
Veah waltzes right through the arched doorway of the temple-like building, as though the thought of danger is energizing to her.
In a way, yes, she says under her breath. Pleasure. Secrets. Murder. It’s all here. This is where Okami livesthis is the Wolf’s home.
The ceilings above us are glass, and rain sluices overhead. There are women wrapped in organza and satin, swirling the fabric of their dresses in a mesmerizing display. There is music, and they dance to itgraceful and hypnotic and pure. Small gatherings of people watch, but the whisper of silk against silk lulls the room into a trance.
Through here, Veah breathes, pulling me through heavy rose curtains.
We come face to face against a wall.
Maybe we’re in the wrong place, I think, but I don’t move.
There is a lotus engraved on the stone.
My head tilts. What does it mean ?
The relaxing drip of a river, of a waterfall in the distance, becomes a melody. I step forward, and the marble stone is smooth to the touch. The carved pink flower is cold against my fingertips.
The lotus represents serenity, Veah tells me softly. Peace. Meditation. This is the symbol Okami chose when she became the leader of Kogu-Ryu.
Oh, I think, and for a moment I can sympathize with Okami. The beauty of the lotus flower.
Then Veah draws out her knife, the sound of silver grating in my ears. And she plunges it right into the center of the flower, twisting it like a key in a lock.
The wall shudders backward.
It’s a pain in the ass every time, Veah mutters, as she pushes it open like a door. Motioning for me to follow her.
I step past the lotus wall
And it feels like an entirely different world.
As the door slams shut behind us, all I can focus on is the soft grey of the stones beneath our feet. The colour of the impossible blue sky above. The vibrancy of the trees and the flowers that line the edge of the walkway.
There is a river that flows through the floor, winding between the patches of garden and stone like a ribbon. And I hear the sound of birds chirping. The air here . . . it smells like lavender and honeysuckle.
When I think of the Garden of Eden, this is what I imagine.
Wow, I whisper to Veah. This place is beautiful.
And it would almost be heaven on earth, if it weren’t for the fact that as soon as round the corner of the pathway, I see a corpse.
Standing behind it can only be who I assume is Okami, with her fine black hair and her lovely wine-red mouth. The axe in her hand is wicked-sharp, and blood sprays against her lilac kimono as she brings the blade down onto the man’s body.
There, she says, satisfied, as black blood trickles into the river’s stream, seeping through the cobblestone.
She looks up, finally noticing Veah and I.
Oh, she says, delighted. Where are my manners ?
I can’t look away from the ruined flesh of the corpse. The way it seems as though she brought that axe down, over and over again, for the pleasure of it.