Read Online Wet: Overflow by Zenobia Renquist - Free Book Online Page A

hadn’t thought to check his proof.
    Masato kissed her again. “Cameras can’t see magic, sweetheart. If he was filming us, he got a nice long video of you talking to thin air. Sure it makes you look crazy, but you wouldn’t be the first Mizuno accused of that.”
    She stepped back from Masato. His kisses were comforting but she didn’t like the way Hotsuma was reacting, or not reacting. She spoke to Hotsuma when she said, “That’s not all. I know the Mizuno lawyers. They would have found a way to bury a video. I’m not that stupid.” Okay, she was but she wouldn’t admit it. “He said he also knows how to end the ageman power. He may have lied about the video, but I think he’s dead serious about that threat.”
    Hotsuma asked, “How? What claim did he make?”
    “He’s in contact with Ichiro Mizuno’s direct descendants. According to Richard, there’s a long-standing grudge in that disowned branch of the family. They’ve been searching for a means to bring the whole family down ever since the disownment -- an if-I-can’t-have-it-no-one-can ploy.”
    “Ichiro doesn’t have any direct descendants,” Masato said.
    “That’s what you think. He married a woman, took her name, had children, and passed his grudge to them. Each generation has searched for a way to destroy Hotsuma’s powers. They found it.”
    “Why not use it, then? Why let Richard use it for blackmail?” Hotsuma asked.
    Masato said, “Because the barrier room not only kept Uncle in, it kept other magic out.”
    Okay. Lulu hadn’t known that part. She wondered if Richard and his new friends knew. That would explain why they needed her to grant them full access. So this might still be a ploy for them to end the ageman power rather than getting luck like Richard thought.
    She said, “They’ve been in the hotel as employees. If they had tried to use whatever they have during our little feud a few months ago, they would have succeeded, but they didn’t know about that chance.”
    Masato yelled, “Names! I want names. I want to know who.”
    She shook her head. “He wouldn’t tell me. Said that was his little secret and that if I don’t cooperate, the sleepers would end the ageman power forever.”
    “Only the most trusted employees have access to the invisible hallway that leads to the barrier room. That’s a short list, but it would take too long to investigate the lineage of each person.” Masato cursed loud and long. His anger made the water behind him roll and thrash about like the ocean during a hurricane.
    Hotsuma said, “We need to reinstate the barrier.”
    Lulu and Masato stared at him. Masato appeared as disbelieving as Lulu felt. He said, “I never thought I would hear you utter those words, Uncle.”
    “It’s the only way. The barrier kept them from acting before now. It’ll do so again.”
    Lulu said, “No. That can’t be an option. That’ll restrict your powers again and possibly make you sleep like before. Now that you’re in Masato’s body, who knows what putting up the barrier will do to you and him?”
    Masato grinned at her. “Worried about me now too, sweetheart? I’m touched.”
    She ignored him, but his words floated around her head. She was worried about Masato. The man might be a complete, self-serving bastard but his actions hadn’t all been malicious. He’d used the threat of outing himself to the family and imprisoning Hotsuma but he’d had no intention of following through. She saw that now. Masato did it all to be with her. She would be touched but his desire probably stemmed from her being his only option.
    That was a problem for her to solve later. They had bigger issues to deal with. She could figure out the relationship with Hotsuma and Masato once the Mizuno family was out of danger.
    Hotsuma said, “We could expand the barrier to include the entire hotel. That might not affect me or Masato adversely.”
    “It’s still a prison, though,” Lulu said. “A bigger one but a prison,