Wet: Overflow by Zenobia Renquist Page A

couldn’t seem to free himself from. “What is this? How are you doing this? Why --”
    His rapid questions cut off when Takumi was pulled below the water. The man thrashed and reached for the surface but was held down. Lulu clutched Hotsuma’s hand. He nodded and Takumi came up for air.
    Hotsuma said, “Now then, Takumi Baba. I’ll be asking the questions and you’ll be answering them. Understood?”
    “Yes. Yes. Just get me out of this water.”
    “Sorry, but no. That’s my leverage. If you say something I don’t like, I’ll drown you and the members of your family you brought with you.”
    “That’s murder.”
    “That would be an unfortunate accident due to the hotel pipes bursting and flooding the pool room, which has been under renovation to become a therapeutic spa for the last week. I was giving you a tour when I was called to my office on a family emergency. The water pressure from the pipes bursting slammed the door shut and kept it closed. The amount of water filled the windowless room in a matter of seconds. There was no way we could get to you in time. Tragic, really.”
    Takumi paled. “You wouldn’t?”
    “Try me.”
    “Wha-what do you want to know? I’ll talk. Anything. You wanted to know the Baba family tree, right? Names, addresses -- I can tell you everything.”
    “Not interested. I want to know how you planned to end the ageman power.”
    “We discovered a spell to separate Hotsuma Mizuno from the water. Once separated, he would pass on and the power would go with him.”
    Lulu whispered, “Something so simple.”
    Hotsuma nodded. “Simple but very effective, if I were still in the water.” To Takumi, he said, “Your idea was a good one but is completely useless now. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Hotsuma Mizuno, eleventh head of the Mizuno family.”
    Takumi laughed but the sound choked to a stop when no one else joined him. “What joke is this, Masato?”
    “No joke.” Hotsuma’s brown eyes bled to crystal blue and glowed. “The Mizuno family bound me to water, giving me power over it, and then my wife woke me and put me in this body.”
    Lulu almost snorted at Hotsuma’s truncated version of the story.
    Takumi swung his gaze between Lulu and Hotsuma. “Bu-bu-but she… you… If you’re Hotsuma Mizuno, where is Masato?”
    Hotsuma shrugged. “Who cares? I’m in his body and I’m free. The family knows my situation has changed. They are doing everything in their power to make sure I stay happy so I don’t leave.”
    “How did she --”
    “None of your concern. Was that one spell the only thing the Babas had planned for me?”
    Hotsuma had to repeat his question before Takumi stopped staring at Lulu and said, “Yes. It was the only thing that would work. If we could have gotten past the barrier spell of the room where you were kept, we could have ended the Mizunos’ good luck long ago.” He grinned then started laughing. “Ha! I’ve still won, though. You’re mortal. Your powers will die with you.”
    “What makes you think I can’t hop from body to body?”
    Takumi sobered.
    “The Mizuno family will do anything to ensure my powers remain, including offering up sacrifices for me to inhabit. I gain the memories of the host body when I take it over, allowing me to blend in flawlessly.”
    “It doesn’t matter. We won’t stop. We’ll never stop. The Mizunos owe us for the wrong they committed against our ancestor. Ichiro Mizuno will be avenged.”
    “Avenged? His betrayal of the family almost ruined it. He should be glad Kazuko didn’t have him and his followers killed. Banishment was the leniency she showed him, against the wishes of the family, because he was her beloved twin.”
    “She stole his rightful place as head of the family.”
    “What lies have you been told? The Mizuno family has always passed the title through the first-born female. Her husband is adopted into the family and made the head. Ichiro refused to accept that and wanted the