Of course that's what the Roar noticed. Not the fact she’s weakening my Fang.
I rolled my eyes. "Tell him after the briefing."
"I will."
A new thought hit me that made me slow my steps a little.
Should I tell him about the Burial Ritual?
The question landed before I had time to push it away. The book was still under my arm. The weight of it pressed against my ribs.
Rin had a serpent-shadow. Deja could see it. The same way Tora could see my dragon. Our bloodlines went deeper than I had time to fully map out before this upcoming battle. If the rite worked for me, there was a chance—a real chance—it would work for Rin.
That meant his serpent-shadow on the battlefield with my dragon-shadow. That was an advantage I could not ignore.
Two beasts in the field instead of one. Two warriors with Death-sight instead of one. Two minutes of warning, doubled, layered, overlapping across two sets of eyes that loved their women enough to braid their souls into the dirt for them.
We could win this war faster and come home faster.
But. . .
I watched Rin laugh with the twins. Watched the way his shoulders had finally come down from his ears. Watched thebraids swing across his back as he tipped his head back in bold laughter and let Toma join the teasing.
He had met Deja a few days ago. For the first time, I believe he was still learning what it felt like to be seen by a woman without a silk bag between them. He was still figuring out how to wear color. He was still figuring out how to laugh in front of other men. He was still figuring out that he was allowed to be a person.
And I was about to ask him to braid his soul to hers in a hole in the ground under a full moon.
Is that fair to ask of a man who just learned how to smile in public?
The other side of my brain answered immediately.
Is it fair not to tell him?
Because this wasn't only my decision. It was his. And it was Deja's. If I sat on this and didn't tell him, and then I walked into Tokyo with two beasts' worth of advantages he could have shared, and one of our men died because Rin couldn't see the death coming—that would be on me.
I would carry that.
The same way I already carried too many things.
He deserved the choice, and she did too. The fact that they had only been together for a handful of days wastheirinformation to weigh, not mine.
I’ll tell him after the briefing. Privately. Lay it out clean. The gifts. The cost. The full moon tonight. Let him take it to her. Let them decide together the way Tora and I decided together.
The decision settled into my chest.
We got to them and Reo began immediately with his announcement. "The hackers went through Akiro's phone. Once inside, they were able to connect to associated devices. Other phones. Tablets. From there, they mapped hotspot activity—every location where Akiro's phone had been active in significant concentrations."
Reo got in front of us all and stood next to a building I recognized.
Really, father?
"One location dominated.” Reo pointed at it. “Repeated visits over weeks. Long durations. The phone stayed active there for hours at a time, always overnight."
I frowned. “Hotel Gajoen."
The Palace of the Dragon King.
Chapter twenty-three
