Ice Blue - Anne Stuart [106]
But that meant leaving Summer to the Shirosama’s tender mercies.
It all came down to this—one woman or the thousands, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands. Ensuing chaos would raise the death toll higher still.
Takashi had no choice, and he’d always known it. This was one reason he’d tried so hard not to care about anyone, one reason why he’d known immediately just how dangerous Summer Hawthorne could be. Because now she was the one he couldn’t sacrifice, couldn’t walk away from, no matter how high the stakes. He could die for what he believed in. He just couldn’t let her die as well.
Reno was watching him, his expression unreadable in the darkness as Taka made his way silently to his side. “Take out the plane,” Taka said. “Kill anyone who tries to board it, anyone who tries to leave. I don’t care who they are. We can’t let them get away with these weapons.”
“You going after her?”
“Yes.”
“You got any more guns?”
Taka opened his backpack, pulling out the carefully wrapped urn, then dumped the rest of the contents on the ground in front of his cousin before putting the bowl back in.
“Wait. You’re going to need something,” Reno protested.
“If I bring a weapon, they’ll just take it from me. I have my hands. I know how to use them.”
“Crazy motherfucker,” his cousin muttered. “Bring her back with you, and we’ll all fly out of here.”
“I don’t see how that’s going to happen.”
Reno grinned in the dim light. “It’ll happen. After you save the world, my noble cousin. Go off and rescue her. I’ll take care of things on this end.”
Taka stared at him for a long moment. Reno had been the only brother he’d known, and he’d brought him up here to almost certain death. And he looked to be having the time of his life. Taka hugged him tightly and then headed off into the darkness, leaving the landing field far behind.
Summer was freezing. She considered complaining, but the last time she’d mentioned it Brother Heinrich had slammed her in the ribs. No one really gave a damn whether she froze to death or not, which suggested that she was going to die no matter what. Well, she wasn’t going to make it easy for them.
She also had no intention of shutting up, and the nasty Brother Heinrich had forgotten to bring more duct tape up this icy mountain with him. He’d tried slapping the old stuff on, but it didn’t stick, and any gag he forced in her mouth she simply spat out again. He’d been getting to the point where she half expected him to shove his fist down her throat in order to keep her quiet, when the Shirosama admonished him, sending him off on some errand or another while Summer hunkered down on the frozen ground, waiting. Waiting for God knows what.
“You shouldn’t annoy Brother Heinrich, my child,” His Sliminess said in his rich, hypnotic voice. “He has far to go in his search for enlightenment, and I am grieved to say he often falls into his old ways. It distresses him when anyone fails to show me the proper honor.”
“He’ll have to get used to it,” she retorted with her best approximation of a snarl. “You still haven’t told me why you brought me up here. You know I don’t have the urn anymore. And any number of people have figured out where this place is. They’ll be coming for me.”
“That is exactly what I am counting on. Takashi O’Brien will bring me the urn in exchange for your safety, and then the rite of ascension can proceed as predetermined.”
“You’re crazy,” Summer said, not bothering to consider that might not be the wisest thing to say to someone who really was insane. “Taka’s not going to trade the urn for me. I’m just part of a job, and that job is protecting the urn. You already pointed out he’s been trying to kill me ever since he met me. Why should he suddenly be willing to risk everything just to save me?”
The Shirosama’s smile made the temperature drop lower still.