Hiro looked at Nyomi. "You see his shadow?"
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Different times.”
“What about now?”
She looked up above us. "Yeah. It’s. . .I don’t know. . .high like Kenji and floating on its back. I’ve never seen him like that before. Kenji must be pretty fucking high.”
Hiro's gaze moved to the space above us. He squinted. “I wish I could see that.”
“You don’t. Sometimes Kenji’s dragon-shadow is scary.”
I quirked my brows.
“And let’s not forget about the fact that seeing it at all is a bit creepy.” She yawned. “It’s like. . .making me question my reality and all that.”
Hiro watched her. “Do you see an odd shadow with me?”
“No.”
“Then, I probably don’t have one.”
“I bet you do. You just need your true love to see it.” I smiled.
Nyomi nodded. “I agree.”
He gave her an odd look. “But you’re my true love.”
I frowned. “Careful.”
They laughed.
I didn’t.
Hiro let out a long sigh. "My true love. She's out there somewhere having a terrible time without me."
Nyomi closed her eyes. “Facts.”
He chuckled, but I saw the flicker of grief beneath the sound. The place where Nura's death still lived. His expression went serious again. “Hiroko smiled before they shot her. Did you see that Kenji?”
Tension gathered in my shoulders.
Nyomi opened her eyes. “What?”
I sighed. “Hiro. . .”
“It’s just. . .” Hiro shook his head. “I didn’t need another smiling woman being shot in front of me. That’s all. I needed to say that out loud.”
Nyomi’s eyes watered. She shivered against me and I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t think she needed the gory details, but I also knew she deserved some rationalization.
Tears left her eyes and she turned to me and buried her face in my chest.
I held her closer.
We were all grieving. Hiro for Nura. Nyomi for Hiroko. Me for every man I'd put into the ground and every man I knew the ground was waiting for soon.
