Ice Blue (Ice 3)

“No,” Summer said. “He’s not.”

Reno looked at her for a long, contemplative moment, then back at Taka. “I’m going out,” he said abruptly. “I’ll be back in the morning. We can work out the details then.” He was already at the door, shoving his feet back into his boots, putting the sunglasses down over his extraordinary eyes. “You can use my bed,” he added with a grin, and then he was gone, the door closing behind him.

22

“I’ll use Reno’s bed,” Taka said absently, still staring at the kimono. “You can take the futon.”

“Why? Is his bed as scary as his toilet?”

He turned to look at her. Her encounter with Reno didn’t seem to have daunted her, but then, she wasn’t easily daunted. He didn’t like to see her wrapped in Reno’s yukata. More of that irrational macho bullshit that was running through his veins recently. He still couldn’t believe he’d hit his cousin, for suggesting something they’d actually done when they were younger. But that had just been sex with a willing young woman, and Taka understood sex very well. He just didn’t understand what was going on between him and Summer Hawthorne.

He could blame his mysterious American father for it, he supposed. His Japanese

side was much more pragmatic; sex was healthy, athletic, not to be confused with practicalities like marriage and business and the important things in life. He preferred his sex undiluted with emotions, feelings, and up until now he’d managed that very well.

His future wife would be perfect for that. She was exquisite, graceful, controlled and athletic in bed. They would have the perfect marriage, and his grandfather, if he couldn’t accept Taka, might finally accept his children.

Unfortunately, his grandfather could go fuck himself, as Taka had politely suggested just an hour ago. The old man had connections, including his brother, Great-uncle Hiro, and once he knew Taka had returned to Japan, he’d tracked down his cell phone number, an impressive feat. A mistake, however. Taka had been too concerned with catching Reno before he came home to find Summer in his apartment, and demands about marriage contracts weren’t on the top of his priority list. Or his grandfather’s long-withheld approval, he’d realized. The wedding was off, and his reluctant bride would breathe a sigh of relief.

There was something liberating about finally letting go of the old man. Finally figuring out what it was Taka himself wanted. Summer was standing in the room, wearing Reno’s yukata, and if she had a knife she’d probably stab him. His kind of woman.

“What are you smiling about?” she demanded.

“Nothing,” he said. “Why don’t you change? I wouldn’t trust anything Reno wore next to his body.”

“Eww…” she said. “What am I supposed to wear?”

He tossed the silk kimono at her. “It’s told me everything I need to know. You can have it now.” Taka had a flashing memory of her standing naked in the middle of the room when he’d snatched the kimono off her. He shouldn’t have even noticed, should have been too busy looking at the missing clue. But he had noticed, and so had his cousin.

“Am I allowed to go into the bathroom this time?” She didn’t wait for an answer, which was just as well. Taka would have told her no, and he had no good reason for it, other than their track record with bathrooms.

By the time she emerged again he’d found her a pillow and quilt for the futon. Reno’s bed would have probably been more comfortable for her American bones, but his decor would be a little…off-putting.

She glanced down at the futon and the one pillow, and was probably thinking Thank God. She didn’t look happy, but that was wishful thinking on his part. He had no excuse to touch her, no excuse to want her. He just did.

“I’ll be in there.” He jerked his head in the direction of Reno’s tiny bedroom. “Call me if you need anything. I’ve got work to do.”

“I won’t.”

No, she wouldn’t. There were no doors between the rooms, but the futon was out of sight, at least. Reno’s large American bed filled the room, and the walls held a peculiar melange of posters from gory movies, animated porn and classic woodblocks, and even one of the video game villain Reno had taken his name from. He had a blow-up doll in one corner that he tended to tie up in strange positions, to his own amusement, but Reno’s strange tastes were probably a bit much for someone already suffering severe emotional overload.

Taka was going to get her out of here as fast as he could. There had to be some way to keep her safe until they trapped the Shirosama. Some way to get her away from him before he screwed things up any more.

He stripped off his clothes, climbing into the pristine bed. He’d been teasing Summer earlier; in fact, Reno was fastidiously clean. Taka just hadn’t wanted her in his cousin’s clothes.

He wanted her in Reno’s bed, now, beneath him, but that was an impossibility. Things had gone too far. He could have verbally calmed and soothed her in the bathroom on the plane. Instead he’d acted on instinct, and those actions had silenced her, stopped her before her hysterics could alert the entire plane. Very noble of him. He wasn’t going to make that move again. Unless he could come up with any lame excuse.

His mobile unit was beginning to run low on juice, despite its state-of-the-art battery, and he hadn’t been able to recharge it on the airplane. He had just enough power to text Madame Lambert, but her reply was cut off midsentence, and he had no idea how much had gotten through. He could rummage around the apartment, find any of a number of cell phones Reno kept around, but Taka would have a hard time getting access to the Committee’s network, and his attempts could be easily intercepted by anyone with the proper skills. And the Shirosama had an army of people with the proper skills.

Taka would simply have to hope for the best, and assume that completing the mission was up to him, and him alone.

The Shirosama was back in the country, following a little close on their heels for Taka’s comfort. He’d only glanced at the newspaper on his hunt for Reno, but it appeared that his holiness was planning a major celebration for the Lunar New Year, combined with a great announcement. Taka could just imagine.

Now that he knew where they were going he had a pretty good idea what would happen. In ancient times, the Lunar New Year celebration had begun on the second new moon after Winter Solstice and ended fifteen days later, when the moon was full. Time enough for Hayashi to send his cache of weapons to the far corners of the earth with his faithful followers. Time enough for Armageddon.

Taka set the dead mobile unit on the table, leaning back to stare at the poster on the wall. Battle Royale—dead teenagers and a bloodbath. Just Reno’s style.

Taka turned off the light. There was enough neon in the streets outside to fill the room with an unearthly glow through the slatted shutters, but he could make himself sleep in any situation, and his instincts told him a few hours rest was acceptable right now. Not actual sleep, but he could close his eyes.