Chapter 12.

          Aya walked up to me, and glared down at me. I looked calmly back at him. It is so DAMN hard to look menacing when you're staring into your opponent's chest. Zane tried to grab Aya's arm and Aya jerked it free, then jerking it up to backhand fist him in the face. Zane was nearly thrown to the ground and I knew that had to have hurt Aya's hand. I grabbed his arm then. He turned his anger back to me, and I looked him in the eyes.

          "Do not touch what is mine," I said slowly and carefully. I heard Kannon translate and Aya challenged me with his return stare. I tried to put everything I meant into my eyes. That I would kill him if he touched Zane again. That I was trying to help him. And that I wasn't going to take him along.

          Aya jerked his arm from my grasp, eyes still cold. I was at a crossroads. I either had to put Aya in his place now, or leave him to fend for himself. Decisions, decisions. If he acknowledged my dominance, I could protect him. If he refused to, he was vampire food. Unless he could really cash the checks he was writing. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'd still be there to save his butt once something started chomping on him. And we'd have the big question answered.

          "Okay, Aya, you can come," I told him, "but your friends stay here."

          Kannon translated that, and Aya looked back to whom I was referring too. Youji was still squirming with Cherry, not wanting to actually hit her, and so, getting nowhere. Nathaniel had Goggles in a headlock, Goggles punching him in the ribs.

          Aya snapped at them, and everyone paused. Zane crawled on his hands and knees to my feet and I knelt to look at his face. The slash had missed his left eye, following the nose, almost straight down. It was already starting to heal and close.

          "I'm sorry," he murmured to me. I cupped his face in my hands and kissed him on a clean spot of his forehead.

          "It's not your fault," I told him. "It appears Aya is a dominant, and we are going to find out. I don't blame you for not being able to stop him."

          Zane almost kind of mewed and rubbed his face against the palm of my hand, smearing it with blood. I stood back up, bringing Zane back to his feet with me.

          "Aya is coming with me," I told the others. "But the others will stay here."

          Kannon translated that and Youji yelled angrily.

          "Shut up!" I clapped my hands over my ears. "Nathaniel, Cherry, take them back upstairs. Keep them there."

          Nathaniel nodded, and with a quick movement, slung Goggles over his shoulder. Goggles kicked and thrashed, yelling in Japanese, but Nathaniel just hauled him along like he weighed nothing at all. Youji was staring at us, eyes wide in shock as he was drug backwards by incredibly strong, slender arms around his waist. He got over the shock and snarled at Aya, eyes blazing betrayal.

          "Cherry, clean up Zane's face, please," I called after her.

          "Sure." Cherry nodded and Zane walked after them like a scolded puppy. I looked to Aya.

          "Let's go."

          He nodded and opened the backdoor of the car. I watched the others walk back into the hotel and hoped they made it up to the rooms without getting the cops called on them for holding hostages.

          "So, where are we headed?" I asked as Kannon drove us through the streets.

          "To a place I've seen that pard at sometimes," he explained. "It's kind of like a bar and a restaurant. Your average citizen doesn't go there. But first, we gotta get a present."

          Of course. Just once, I'd like to go to a shape shifter hangout that was a high-class restaurant. And a present. I'd forgotten about that part. Shape shifters tended to be a demanding lot. Thank God one of us had his head in the right place.

          Aya spoke up and Kannon answered him. Aya nodded and sat back. I watched him in the rearview mirror. He looked sullen, distracted. Jason occupied himself by watching out the window.

          "Aya, what is the your teammate's name?" I asked.

          Kannon translated and Aya raised his eyebrows. "Which one?"

          "The one with the goggles."

          "Ken."

          That was a rather American sounding name. It surprised me. Of course I started to think about a certain doll called Barbie, but I think anyone would have.

          "Why?"

          I looked back to Aya. "I didn't know his name."

          Aya was silent the rest of the way. Kannon took us to a small shop that looked like a hole in a wall really. The small concrete steps led down a few steps below street level. Inside the shop it was dim and musty, lit by candles and a couple weak lightbulbs. There was a tiny man just slightly shorter than me standing in the store. He had straggly white hair and was wearing some old fashioned Japanese outfit. You know, the ones with the poofy sleeves. I had a 'Gremlins' flashback and prayed I didn't find a Mogwai anywhere. But then again, Jason would probably eat it.

          "What are we getting?" I asked Kannon after he spoke to the man. The shopkeeper smiled, and he was missing a few teeth. Kannon smiled at me as the ancient shopkeeper hobbled behind his counter.

          "Have faith." He lifted his hand by his face as if telling me to just shut up. So Aya, Jason and I stood around, looking around the shop, looking like tourists. Well, at least Jason and I did. Aya looked like he needed to use the bathroom. Badly.

          Assorted knick-knacks and curios filled tables and shelves. I picked up a fan and it fell open in my hand, revealing its white background and flying crane with cherry blossoms. I was examining what looked like a jade dragon with a ball in its mouth as the shopkeeper stepped back out with a sort of tray in his hands. He handed it to Kannon and money exchanged hands. Aya was out the door before we got near it.

          "So, what did you get?" I asked in curiosity.

          "Just a token." Kannon smiled. "It'll do."

          The tray was about forearm length by forearm length, and it had a bit of weight to it. It was completely encased in thin wood, and it was driving me crazy. Too small for a Mogwai. I got to hold it in my lap as Kannon drove, and I desperately wanted to open it. I'm not normally this bad. It was the fact I was in Japan and it might be something I'd never seen before. Yeah. That's what it was.

          We pulled up to a bar in the seedier part of town. There was a guy taking a leak in the alleyway, watering the wall. Inviting.

          We climbed out of the car, and I noticed there was a sticky substance that had started to leak from the box onto my pants leg. I froze the moment I noticed it, and looked at the box, feeling my breath quicken.

          "Kannon," I called.

          "Hai?"

          "The box is leaking on me, and if there is a human body part in here, I'm going to be very upset."

          Kannon almost giggled. "It's not a human body part."

          That much was a relief. But the answer left a lot of possibilities. Joy.

          A dingy sign that badly needed to be replaced, or repainted, hung over the bar door in Japanese letters. The outside was stone and brick, and trash littered where the walls met the sidewalk.

          I looked to Aya, who was studying the sign. "Aya, don't attack anyone unless they attack us first."

          He nodded wordlessly, and Kannon opened the door. The inside was dim, cigarette smoke in the air. I coughed, and the patrons looked at us. I felt the power in the air, shape shifters. A Japanese bartender looked at us boredly. Kannon spoke, drawing attention back to him, and the bartender answered.

          "He hasn't seen them today." Kannon looked back to me. A woman's voice came from the pool table, and Kannon spoke to her quietly, taking a small step back towards us.

          She put the pool cue she had been holding down, and walked towards us. She wore ripped blue jeans with the whole right leg missing. The waist of the blue jeans started just below hip level, showing the straps of her underwear, and made the fact she was wearing a G-string painfully obvious. She wore a short shirt over it, baring a bit of tight stomach, like my penguin shirt. It was obvious she was not wearing a bra, and apparently it was cold in the bar for her. A navel ring shone in the light. She was a few inches taller than me, built slender like Asian women were. I bet I could have easily snapped those Barbie doll legs with a well-placed kick. Her hair was long and straight, dyed dark green. Her face was round and delicate. Wisps of green hair hung into that doll-like face, making her seem innocent and coy.

          The power that radiated from her was anything but. It was nearly smothering, like trying to breathe through a warm cloth being placed over your face.

          "This is Honyaku Tennyo." Kannon introduced us quietly, practically hiding under my arm. "She's the In."

          "Werewolves?" I whispered to him.

          "Tora," he whispered back.

          Weretigers. I'd met one before. Her name had been Christine, and I hadn't wanted to piss her off.

          "In, that's the leader?" I whispered quickly.

          "The female one," was the reply.

          "What does she want?"

          Kannon looked up at me with wide luminous eyes that clearly said he was afraid and didn't have an answer. This one was on me. I could work with this. Just a little girl talk. Sure hope she didn't want to share fashion tips.

          I stepped forward and she looked me up and down. Then she eyed the guys behind me. I didn't like the look. She looked hungry.

          "I'm Anita Blake," I told her. "I'm the lupa for the Thronnos Roke Clan."

          Kannon translated from behind me, and I watched Tennyo's eyes lift to look me in the face as it had suddenly become worthy of note. Her power began to recede, calming in the face of ritual. I could suddenly breathe easier.

          "What makes us worthy of your presence?" Tennyo asked in a clear and strong voice. I knew sarcasm when I heard it.

          "I've come seeking the foreign pard." I saw Tennyo's chest inflate rapidly several times in succession, and knew that she was sniffing. The mysterious box was still in my hands. I looked to Kannon.

          "This was for the pard, right?" I whispered to him.

          "It's for whoever," Kannon whispered. "Whoever will accept it in exchange for our blood."

          I looked back to Tennyo. "The lupa of the Thronnos Roke Clan offers tribute."

          I held the box out towards her. Her eyes strayed to the box, and she seemed to hesitate. I felt the power level in the room from the shape shifters almost tense up. Everyone was holding their breath, waiting for Tennyo to make up her mind.

          Two slender hands reached out and took the box from my hands and the power level dropped, like every throat in the room had just let out a collective exhale. Tennyo smiled slightly at me as if she hadn't been expecting a present and began to open the box. I held my breath to see what it was. She lifted the top and whatever it was in the box was dark and almost jelly looking. She dropped the top of the box to the floor, dipped a finger into the mass, and then stuck it into her mouth. I almost flinched.

          "What is it?" I whispered to Kannon. Tennyo smiled around her finger and pulled it out, licking the pads of her other fingers as well.

          "It's a honeycomb."

          I blinked. Honey? It was just honey? The other occupants of the bar moved forward, about seven of them, and Tennyo handed the box to the first one that reached her. It was a short, but very wide man that took the box for the Pride to share.

          Tennyo continued licking her fingers and looking at us as the Pride members plunged fingers into the box, pulling out chunks of raw honeycomb and shoving them into mouths.

          "What are we doing?" Aya hissed behind me.

          "Shut up," I hissed back. His eyes narrowed, but I wasn't very worried about him right now. There were worse things in the room than assassins.

          "Sufficient for them," Tennyo finally said, coyly, "but not for the In."

          I took a big breath. Someone was getting a little too big for their G- string. Pride members were starting to slink closer, honey smeared on lips and fingers.

          "What would please the In?" I asked. I wasn't in the mood to guess. Tennyo smiled beautifully.

          She stepped closer to us till she was nearly touching me. I saw her arm reaching out to go behind me and I turned to see where it was going. Aya watched her hand approach and I grabbed her wrist. Dark eyes turned to me and her power flared, smashing into me almost like a physical blow.

          "Mine," I hissed through my teeth, trying to breathe as my lungs wanted to constrict. She smiled and lifted her hand to where we could both see my hand on her wrist. I let go and she shifted her eyes to Jason. I stepped into her line of vision and met her dark eyes with mine. We were at a standoff. If I did anything to her, the Pride would kill us.

          "You have nothing to offer worthy of the In of the Green River Pride?" she asked, and her eyes flashed luminescent in the light. I narrowed my eyes at her. I heard someone move quickly and looked back to see Jason skitter to the side as a Tora moved between us and the door. There went the option to leave. Looks like we might have to fight our way out if I can't think of something quick.

          "Again, tell me what you want. But you cannot have my people."

          "Then you have nothing to offer." She smirked at me, and the Tora moved closer. My hand slid for the Browning, and a low guttural growl trickled through the room. No human throat could have made that sound. Someone was on the verge of turning furry. This was going to be bad.