Contact [Kaito Asano] has entered communication range.
Contact [Amy Asano] has entered communication range.
Jason’s brother and his wife lived next to Jason’s parents, so it made sense that they would come into range at the same time. He drove through the empty streets of Casselton Beach towards his old street. The dark, the rain and his enhanced senses made the familiar unfamiliar.
He pulled to a stop across the street from the house where he grew up. Instead of getting out, Shade transformed into a cloud of darkness that retreated into Jason’s shadow, leaving Jason standing on the side of the road as he pulled the umbrella from his inventory.
The dark and quiet car had drawn no attention. Jason stood away from the streetlights, the moonless, rainy night making him all but invisible. The first thing he noticed was the cars in the driveway. Neither of his parents’ cars were present, although they might have been in the carport. In their place were what he recognised as the cars of his sister and her husband. He had no idea why they would both bring their cars if they drove all the way up from Melbourne.
Jason let his aura senses wash over the house. He sensed two adults who were wrangling with a child. He could feel the tiredness and frustration in the auras of the adults and the defiance of the child. She was apparently not a big fan of bedtime.
Although he had never sensed the auras before, there was a familiarity to them. He had no doubt that it was his sister, Erika, her husband, Ian, and their daughter, Emi. There was no one else present; his parents were nowhere to be seen.
He had not seen his brother Kaito or his wife Amy since before they were married. Jason turned his gaze to the house next door, where they lived. Amy’s parents had retired early and moved to Tasmania, selling their house to their daughter. Their generous price gave the young family a financial head-start at a time when few young people could afford a home.
He brushed his senses over the house, sensing two adults and two sleeping children. They just had one at the time Jason left, the younger child only a few months old. The auras of the adults were drenched in the tiredness of dealing with a new baby.
Jason turned his attention back to the house he grew up in. Had Erika and Ian bought his parents’ house, the way that Kaito and Amy had bought hers? Erika certainly had the money for it, but what about her TV series that filmed in Melbourne?
“Will you go in?” Shade asked.
“No,” Jason said. “I need to know what they think happened. I need some kind of story that fits.”
“You won’t tell them the truth?”
“Well,” Jason said, “let’s say I rock up and tell them ‘hey, it turns out I’m alive and a wizard now. Also, magic is real, there are alternate universes, and your most fundamental understandings about reality fall somewhere between breathtakingly incomplete and utterly wrong.’ How do you think that would go?”
“Perhaps a more measured approach would be best,” Shade agreed. “You will travel to the city you mentioned, as planned?”
“Sydney, yeah.”
“Will you be trying out a portal, or do you want to drive?”
“It’s a long drive,” Jason said, “but I think I could use that right now. I need more time to think.”
4
SOME SECRETS CHANGE YOU FOREVER
Jason let Shade drive through the dark and the rain. The dark did not obscure his vision, but he trusted Shade more than himself to drive safely in the wet. He also didn’t want to drive distracted; his visit home had left him contemplative and sober.
“We should do this trip again when the weather’s better,” he said. “And during the day. The Pacific Coast Drive is one of the greats.”
As Jason’s soul had grown stronger, the connection to his familiars had grown stronger in turn. Even with the current strength, the connection wasn’t the equal of a bonded familiar, but he could feel them more than ever. They could likewise feel him and the emotional turmoil raging beneath his placid fa?ade.
The familiars did not know Jason’s complicated family history, and he doubted Colin or possibly Gordon could even understand if they did. What they did understand was the feeling it engendered in Jason. He felt them urge him on with feelings of support, smiling as he sent back his own feelings of gratitude. It was a comfort to have his strange but loyal companions on his side.
Despite the wet conditions, Shade had no regard for speed limits and every confidence in his ability, so Jason had arrived in Sydney before the bars stopped accepting people. Sydney was also suffering a downpour, so Jason’s umbrella floated along behind him.
The Stone Wall was a bar in Sydney’s Kings Cross. A remnant of the wilder days before the lockout laws, it was a bastion of the old rough and dirty days. Working the door was a small mountain—a Māori dressed all in black.
“Hey, bro,” the bouncer said. Despite his towering figure, he had a high-pitched voice. His thick New Zealand accent made his use of the word ‘bro’ friendly and amiable, rather than frat-boy douchebag. “How’s your umbrella stay up like that?”
Jason glanced at the magic item floating next to him. “Probably magnets.”
“That’s pretty sweet. You coming in? It’s pretty quiet, on account of the rain.”
“I’m looking for Hiro Asano,” Jason said. “Last I heard, he was operating out of here.”
“No worries, bro; I’ll give him a call. Who should I say is looking for him?”
“His nephew.”
“Okay, give me a sec.”
The big man fished in his jacket pocket for a phone that looked like a toy in his huge hand.
“Hey, it’s Taika. I’ve got someone here looking for you. Says he’s your nephew.”
The bouncer looked Jason over.
“Good-looking half-Japanese bloke, yeah.”
He covered the phone with his hand. “Are you Kaito?”
“I’m the other one. Jason.”
The bouncer went back to his call.
“He says he’s the other one. Yeah, Jason.”
The big man winced at whatever came through from the other end, then put his phone away.
“He says Jason is dead, bro. He sounded pretty angry that someone was claiming to be his dead nephew. Said he’s sending Growl downstairs. My advice to is make yourself scarce before he gets here.”
“Thanks, but I’m fine.”
“If you say so. I’m Taika, by the way. Like the director, but I don’t make films.”
“Jason Asano.”
“You really Hiro’s dead nephew?”
“The trick is to not stay dead.”
“I can see how that would be useful. You might be needing that soon.”
On cue, a hulking white guy came striding out of the bar. He wasn’t as big as Taika, but looked like a bicep that had grown a person around it, bought a tank top, and started getting tattoos.
“Is this the guy?” Growl asked. His voice could have surfaced a gravel road.
“This is the guy,” Taika said.
“I thought you might have warned him to run,” Growl said.