Read Online Wet: Undercurrent by Zenobia Renquist - Free Book Online

her boss’s. She wanted to use him the way Masato and the Mizuno family had been using him. No wonder she was so eager to set him free.
    One more day. She was leaving in the morning, and he would bet she planned to take him with her… back to Voda. How could he have been so blind? He should have realized when she first suggested moving to Voda and he learned she worked there. His passion for her had blinded him to the obvious.
    No! It wasn’t passion for her. He’d been without the company of a woman for centuries. What he had with Lulu was thirst being quenched. Why should he settle for her alone when an entire hot spring’s worth of women waited for him to pleasure them?
    And he would, on his terms. Masato was bringing a priest, and that priest would set Hotsuma free. He didn’t need Lulu any longer. He and Masato would deal. Hotsuma would get his freedom, and Masato could keep his good luck charm. The rest of the Mizuno family need never know Masato had broken the seal.
    Hotsuma stalked to the bathroom and threw himself at the tub. The water that made up his body drenched the walls. He pushed his spirit through the pipes, headed for Masato’s office. Once there, he didn’t linger in the fire extinguisher spigot. He opened the valve so the water could spill free.
    Masato sat behind his desk, unmoving as Hotsuma formed his body.
    “You don’t look surprised to see me.”
    “Not at all, Uncle. I’m very surprised to see you. I thought you and your little girlfriend would be on your way out the door.”
    “Lulu isn’t my girlfriend. She’s nothing to me but a means to my freedom.”
    Masato’s lips curved into a knowing grin. “Could have fooled me. The way you two were going at it earlier, I thought there might be something between you.”
    Hotsuma narrowed his eyes at Masato. “You put a camera in the pool room.”
    “Cameras don’t see magic. I watched as you fucked that luscious piece of ass. You did well for someone with no body. The way she screamed…” Masato ran his tongue over his lips with a slight shrug of his shoulders then shifted in his seat so he leaned to one side. “Made me want to join you. Stuff that mouth of hers with a real man.”
    “I am a real man.”
    “You’re a dead man’s ghost inhabiting some water.”
    “I’m more than that. If I were any less, you wouldn’t be so scared about me leaving.”
    “True. True. I’ll give you that.” Masato rounded the desk so he stood face to face with Hotsuma. “I can’t have you leaving the Mizuno family.”
    “I hadn’t planned on it.”
    “Really? That’s a surprise. I know if I were in your place, I would be trying to get the hell out of here.”
    “I won’t abandon my family. I won’t let you hold me prisoner any longer, either. Set me free.”
    Masato waved a dismissive hand. “Get your girlfriend to do it. Looks like she was doing a pretty fine job before.”
    “She’s not my girlfriend, and she’s not part of this any longer. This is a family issue, which makes it between you and me.”
    “What’s the matter, Uncle? Her little freak-out scare you?” Masato faced him, his expression a knowing one. “Oh, no. It wouldn’t be that simple. You must have found out she works for Voda.”
    To say Hotsuma was surprised was an understatement. “You knew? How long have you known Lulu works for Voda?”
    “Since I was introduced to her while she wore your stink. Nothing in this hotel smells like that except the barrier room. I wanted to know why she was there. Imagine my surprise when I found out Voda had sent its best and brightest to snoop around for what makes Onsen tick.” Masato returned to his desk and picked up a stack of papers. He waved them in Hotsuma’s direction. “Even more surprising is her family history.”
    “What about it?”
    “Come now, Uncle. You have to wonder how she can break the wards, how she can see the hallway that leads to the barrier room when it’s under an invisibility barrier