Page 80 of Dragon 7

“Because I believe in you and know my loyalty within your hands is safe from corruption, evil, and deceit.” Reo’s mouth tightened. “Sure. It will be a hard conversation. The Fangs will understand. The Claws will not. Hiro especially. And every day we let that lie sit in their chests is another day the truth grows bigger than the lie and. . ."

“Again. . .” My hands found the edge of the table and gripped it. "I made the deal and only I will carry it. I will not hand it to the Claws and ask them to carry pieces of it for me. I will not hand it to my brother. That weight is mine."

"That weight will eat you."

"Then it eats me."

"And when Hiro finds out on his own—"

"He won't."

"He will." Reo tilted his head to the side. "Men like your brother always find out."

Tension gathered in my shoulders. “Tonight, we win the war. Tomorrow, we figure that part out.”

Reo nodded.

My stomach twisted. “By the way. . .Akiro and my father are heading here.”

Reo leaned his head to the side. “Is that your guess?”

“No. We did a new ritual and it worked.”

Reo blinked. “A. . .new. . .ritual?”

“Yes. I’ve got control of my dragon-shadow.”

Reo widened his eyes. The best thing about my Roar was that he never questioned any of the mystical sides of my life. He simply addressed it like realistic facts and continued on.

He gestured to my hands. “Is that why you have those black lines on your palms?”

I widened my eyes. “When did you notice them?”

“As soon as you came over.”

And I’d thought his full focus has been on the table.

Reo studied me. “Your dragon-shadow—”

“Goryū.”

“He has a name?”

“He does. That’s what it is.”

“It’s an interesting name.” Reo considered it for a minute. “Goryū. The mountain in the Hida range is called that. Five Dragon Peak. Two thousand eight hundred meters.”

“Why do you know that?”

“It’s one of the hundred famous mountains of Japan."

I looked in Goryū’s direction, and the shadowy beast studied Reo.

My Roar continued, "Goryū also means honored spirit. I think there’s something about a noble of that name who died wrongly and came back as a spirit with enough rage to bring plagues to the world."

“Why do you know that too?”

“I’ve heard the name a lot for some reason. Many times.” Reo rubbed the side of his head again. “And I’ve been a bit obsessed with it through the years.”