Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1)(79)

This soldier deserved to reap what he’d sown.

Mariko drew back a fist and punched him in the face.

When he spat at her, she punched him again.

For all those times a man had caused her to feel fear. For all those times she’d been made to think something was wrong with her. For all those times she’d been forced to believe a girl was somehow less than a boy.

She struck him again. He called her another filthy name, and her knuckles met his face once more. Soon she felt nothing in her fist.

“M-Mariko?” a voice stuttered to her right.

Just as she met the eyes of her brother, the roof of the granary collapsed on itself in a flurry of smoke and ash.

And a dark shadow grabbed her and whirled into the night sky.

—

“Kenshin!” Amaya yelled through a haze of smoke and a shower of sparks.

It couldn’t have been his sister.

That scrawny boy with a face covered in a spray of crimson—beating one of his men to a bloody pulp—was not Hattori Mariko. Kenshin shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

“Kenshin!” Amaya yelled again.

He whirled around to see her splashing pails of water toward the burning granary.

“There are workers trapped inside,” she implored. “They were trying to save some of our stores. If we don’t rescue them, they will be burned alive!”

Kenshin’s father stumbled to a halt nearby. “Get our men out,” he ordered, smoothing the folds of his fine silk kimono while he spoke.

Usually Kenshin was the first to follow any order Hattori Kano doled out, without question. But in this instant, a part of Kenshin could barely register his father’s words. He was still lost in the sight of only a moment ago. And he desperately wanted to seek out the crazed young man with a face so similar to that of his sister.

Amaya shoved her hair from her damp forehead and barreled toward the granary.

“What are you doing?” his father demanded.

The fire blazed in Amaya’s beautiful grey eyes. “Our men are in there.”

“And several servants.” His father’s face became stern. “Do not risk yourself for the servants. Try to save our soldiers. If you cannot, so be it.”

Her lip curled in disgust before she turned toward the burning granary, her head held high. Kenshin raced toward the fire, pushing his way through the smoke.

“Amaya!” he called out.

She was dragging a man from the flames. The sweat was already dripping from her forehead, drenching the collar of her kimono. Kenshin saw from the man’s clothing that he was a servant. Amaya was working in express defiance of Hattori Kano’s directive.

In the corner, Kenshin caught sight of one of his father’s samurai. The man was unconscious, with a wound to his head and a leg stuck beneath a splintered beam. He turned toward the samurai to help.

Amaya called out. “Help me, Kenshin!”

“Leave the servant,” Kenshin replied. “Help me with Fumio-sama.”

“Don’t argue with me!” Amaya said.

“My father wants—”

“I don’t care what your father wants. Help me save this man. Help me save this life.”

Kenshin heaved a breath, his eyes wild. Then he grabbed hold of the servant’s shoulders and stumbled away from the blaze. His father waited outside, every part of his body tense with fury. Before Hattori Kano could say a word, Kenshin and Amaya fended off the blaze once more and—together—managed to lift the splintered beam and pull Fumio-sama to safety.

Another side of the granary bowed inward, consumed by flames. “That’s enough, Amaya,” Kenshin said, his voice coarse from the smoke.

“There are still two more people inside—a woman and a young boy who works in the granary. We have to help them. They became trapped because they were trying to put out the fire!” She spun to make her way back toward the blaze, undeterred.

“No.” Kenshin grabbed her by the wrist.

Amaya’s eyes were pleading. “We have to save them.”

“Do not risk yourself,” his father argued. “The entire structure will collapse at any moment.”

Kenshin hesitated. “Amaya—”

With a look of pure revulsion, she returned to the fire.

Kenshin’s father took hold of his shoulder, keeping him still. Keeping him beyond the reach of any danger. Again Kenshin hesitated before firming his resolve. He could not leave Amaya to fight through the blaze herself. The moment he tore himself free from his father’s grasp, the walls of the granary buckled.

Without a second thought, Kenshin sprinted toward the roaring fire.

It took three of his father’s soldiers to hold him back.

“She’s gone,” Hattori Kano yelled.

Kenshin stared at the blaze until his eyes burned.

“What a foolish waste of life,” his father said before walking away.





MY NAME IS MARIKO





Okami let himself be sick. Let himself empty his stomach until there was nothing left. And still the shaking did not stop. Still he felt the cold sweat sliding down his back.

He’d never flown this far before. Never carried a burden like this before.

In the distance behind him, he could see the flames. Hear the shouts. The burning granary and its many victims. ōkami could only hope the Black Clan had vanished back into the woods, letting the thick veil of night conceal them from prying eyes.