The Queen’s Daughter by Judith Berens

Author:Judith Berens [Berens, Judith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781642021547
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2019-04-03T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

They stepped out of the sushi restaurant and Alison couldn’t help a yawn. She’d slept on the plane, but she still had to adjust to the time zones, and she didn’t know a spell off-hand that could do that for her. It was mid-afternoon local time, but her body insisted it was late at night.

I should really look into some magic to help with this. I’ve traveled a lot lately, and it wouldn’t hurt. Even an energy potion doesn’t manage it well.

“That place was good,” she observed. “Not Maneki good, but it was simply one random sushi place. After we find Lily, we’ll have to figure out what the best sushi place in Kyoto is. The ultimate victory sushi.”

With every minute she spent in the city, her certainty that they would find Lily increased. It didn’t matter that it was based more on hope than evidence. She’d flown halfway across the world to find her friend, and she would damn well find her.

Four red-faced businessmen in suits pushed out of the restaurant.

A little early to be getting shit-faced, isn’t it?

She looked at her companions. “I suggest we split up. Mason and I can use the translation mics…damn it. I left them in the hotel room. Screw it. We’ll use the apps on our phones. We can all handle a different area and maybe work our way to a central meeting place near Lily’s hotel. Let’s head there first and figure out where we’ll each go.”

They nodded and the group set off down the sidewalk and joined the light flow of foot traffic past the line of small restaurants, bars, and food stands. Every once in a while, an obvious tourist held their phone up to take a picture.

This isn’t even the cool part of town.

The drunken businessmen chattered among themselves and moved in the same direction.

Five minutes later, Alison leaned over to whisper to Hana and Mason. “Is it only me, or are we being followed?”

The fox smiled and turned her head. A nearby dress shop cloaked her intentions. Mason managed a furtive glance with the same ploy.

“It might be a coincidence,” Hana suggested. “Although I’m sad now that I don’t have the tachi.”

Alison chuckled. “Just because it’s Japan and you’re a nine-tailed fox doesn’t mean you’re allowed to carry a sword everywhere.”

“I know. Just saying.” She scoffed. “The sword is fun.”

“They are moving too easily,” Mason murmured. “They look like they’re drunk off their asses, but they’re all but marching in lockstep. Now I get where Tahir was coming from. They’re half-ass trying to hide.”

Across the street, a smiling Japanese woman in a bright kimono led a group of elderly tourist women all wearing bright white hats with feathers.

“Ladies, stay close,” the guide announced. “It’s two more blocks to the historic tea shop mentioned in your brochure.”

The group crossed the street and blocked the four businessmen who all scowled.

Alison nodded to a nearby turn. The trio kept a calm walking pace as they stepped onto a less densely-packed side street.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.