Free Wet: Undercurrent by Zenobia Renquist Page B

knees.
    “Fuck!” Masato wrestled to keep hold of his gun but the water Hotsuma controlled yanked it from him and carried it to the bottom of the pool. When Hotsuma would have surrounded Masato next, the man brandished the chalice at him and snapped, “Get off me.”
    Hotsuma had to obey. The water dropped, leaving Masato a clear path. He rushed over to Lulu and wrapped his free hand around her throat, choking her. Over his shoulder, he yelled, “Finish the damn spell.”
    The priest chanted faster and louder.
    The electricity in the room intensified.
    As one, Hotsuma, Lulu, and Masato all screamed in pain. Hotsuma felt himself losing consciousness. This was it. This was the end. He was going back to his watery tomb to be a slave to the Mizuno family for the rest of time. His only regret was that Lulu was coming with him.

Chapter Six
     
    Lulu rubbed her shoulder when it started throbbing. She’d been sitting at her computer too long.
    “You okay, Lulu?”
    She smiled at Stan’s worried look. Her boss was a sweet guy. He’d been beside himself trying to do anything and everything for her since she’d returned to him with a gunshot wound. A wound that could have been so much worse if not for Hotsuma’s powers extending to her. The bullet that had passed through her shoulder close to her chest had missed all bones and arteries -- a flesh wound. The doctors and nurses told her over and over how lucky she had been. Their words were meant to comfort but, like Stan’s concern, only made the pain in her shoulder worse.
    “I’m fine. Just a little sore.”
    “Go home. I told you to take more time off.”
    “I’m fine, Stan. Really.”
    “Any news about that robber you stopped?”
    “Nope.” She returned her gaze to her computer. She hated lying to her boss but that was the story she had to tell. The Mizunos had stepped in to clean up the aftermath of the spell. Instead of cleaning up her dead body, they’d had to pay for her medical bills and provide her hush money and a cover story.
    Lulu had valiantly stopped a thief from stealing one of the Mizuno family’s prized treasures, taking a bullet for her trouble. The thief got away, and the gun he used had been registered to Masato so there was no way to find the man. And of course her memory was too fuzzy to recall what he looked like.
    All of it was a nice little gift-wrapped file for the police cold case cabinet. The Mizunos wanted to forget and so did Lulu. She wanted to forget, but four months later she still couldn’t.
    She could never forget waking up cold, wet, and naked with Masato half draped over her body and several hotel employees along with men in business suits bustling around the scene. Lulu lost track of the priest and Hotsuma in all the confusion of being packed off to the hospital.
    Once the doctors let her have visitors, the Mizuno family lawyer stopped by with a substantial check, a non-disclosure agreement, and their version of what had happened. Lulu managed to take it all in stride until they informed her she was barred from ever setting foot in Onsen again.
    That made sense. She was the only one who could free Hotsuma now that he was bound again. She assumed the binding had worked, or else barring her from Onsen made no sense. The Mizunos didn’t want her showing up and trying to free him again.
    “Lulu?”
    “Huh?” She looked at Stan. “I’m sorry. Did you say something?”
    He placed his hand on her uninjured shoulder. “Did you talk to a therapist, like I suggested? Getting shot is a big deal. You need to talk to someone.”
    “I’m fine.” And she couldn’t talk to anyone. Therapy wouldn’t do her any good if she couldn’t tell the truth. And say she did tell the truth -- the therapist would recommend Lulu be locked up in a psychiatric ward for the rest of her days. Water spirits, ageman , barrier spells -- Lulu wouldn’t believe any of it either if it hadn’t happened to her.
    She forced herself to smile and look