Hodder Headline Australia Pty Limited

FOREWORD''T^hese events took place in the months following the X marriage of Otori Takeo and Shirakawa Kaede at the temple at Terayama. This marriage strengthened Kaede's resolve to inherit the domain of Maruyama and gave Takeo the resources he needed to carry out his work of revenge for his...

CHAPTER ONE My mother used to threaten to tear me into eight pieces if I knocked over the M^ater bucket, or pretended not to hear her calHng me to come home as the dusk thickened and the cicadas' shrilling increased. I would hear her voice, rough and fierce, echoing through the lonely valley....

ONE It was unusual to see a mug kerb-crawling this early. But as the silver Ford neared the gutter, the few huddled street workers, risking a drenching in the driving rain, ventured out from under the shelter of the Ferrari building. Business was always slow at the beginning of the week and,...

Breathing fire It was their last visit to the beach. The day itself was nearly over and Mihali and Georgi stood back to look at their work. There would be no more sandcastles for a while. He was beautiful. Long carefully formed claws resting on the sand. Smiling as if he'd just eaten. Across...