I leaned my head to the side. “Did she leave you a note too?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
“I hope you like this. If not, you do not have to wear it.”
“Hmmm. Mine was longer and more romantic.”
Reo smirked. “Of course it was.”
“Let’s go.” I headed out.
My security team gathered, forming a tight ring around us—five ahead, two on each side, and five behind.
Reo fell into step beside me. "I looked into the Burial Ritual."
Tension gathered in my shoulders. "What did you find?"
"A lot." He exhaled. "Your mother's bloodline goes back further than I thought."
The hallway stretched toward the elevator.
I glanced at my Roar.
"The old Shinigami hunters came out of the mountains of Japan. They believed the earth itself was a living body."
I slowed my stride.
Reo kept his voice even. "For them, soil was flesh. Roots were veins. The lotus was the earth's heart flowering upward."
My chest tightened.
We got to the end of the hallway.
A guard pressed the elevator button.
Brass clicked.
The doors slid open.
We stepped in together. Security split— four holding the hallway, two stepping into the elevator with us, the rest taking the stairs.
The doors closed.
"The ritual does two things. First, it further binds the hunter to his spiritual animal.” Reo watched the floor numbers above the doors. “After the binding, the beast fights with the hunter and feeds on his enemies during combat. This weakens them before the hunter strikes."
I thought back to the illustration from the book.
That’s what the spider-shadow was doing, weakening the man before his hunter could kill him.
"The ritual grants another gift." Reo turned his head slowly. "It’s called. . .Death-sight."
The elevator started its descent.
"Death-sight?"
Reo nodded. "During the battle, the hunter sees the moment of a person's death before it happens. Two minutes out."
