by Cole Gibsen
Q reached for my hand and squeezed so hard I almost cried out.
Instead, I swallowed the yelp, closed my eyes, and tried to fall inside myself. But like earlier inside the truck, my access was blocked. Only a few wisps of ki reached out to me, and I grabbed onto them with everything I had.
When I opened my eyes, despite the fact that Q was still squeezing my hand to the point of bringing tears to my eyes, I could no longer see him sitting beside me.
I’d done it. I’d used up the last of my ki in the process, but I’d made us invisible.
Without thinking, I let out a sigh of relief.
The man standing before us snapped his head in our direction and scowled. He tilted his head and took a step in our direction, the dart gun aimed at where my chest would be if it were visible.
I held my breath, afraid the slightest noise might set off his index finger, which twitched against the trigger. Already I could feel the ki inside me slipping away like unraveling spools of ribbon. I knew I couldn’t keep us invisible much longer.
The man slowly lowered his gun, reached for the walkie-talkie clipped to his belt, and brought it to his lips. “I don’t see any signs of them. I’m going to head back to the truck and check on Agent Ross—he might need medical attention. The bitch got him good.”
I stiffened, but Quentin’s hand on mine kept me from standing up and giving him his own reason for needing medical attention.
“Roger that,” a voice answered through the walkie-talkie. “Your orders are to remain with the truck until backup arrives.”
He brought the walkie-talkie back to his lips. “Tell them to bring the dogs.”
“Roger,” the voice answered.
A knot formed inside my gut and pulled tight. I couldn’t hold on much longer. I watched in horror as Quentin and my clasped hands flickered in and out of view.
The man snapped his walkie-talkie back on his hip and set off toward the road. I let go of Quentin’s hand as we both appeared in view. Still, I didn’t dare make a sound until I could no longer hear the man’s footsteps trudging through the brush.
“Are you all right?” Quentin asked, lightly touching my arm. It was so strange to see him looking at me through Whitley’s good eye with a look of genuine concern.
I shook my head. “Not even close. And to make matters worse, I think I might have used up the last of my ki.”
He frowned. “I was afraid of that. I don’t think I have much of my healing powers left, either.”
Awesome. So there we were, lost in the woods, running from Network agents, without food, powers, money, or even a map. I stood and brushed the leaves off my pants before carefully peeking over the boulder to make sure the coast was clear. “We need a plan.”
He nodded. “We need to get home. You know, before—”
I snapped my head in his direction. “Do you really think that could happen? That we could get stuck like this forever?”
He used his hands to help himself into a standing position. “Yes. The only thing I’m not sure about is how long we have. A couple days at the most, I think.”
A newly formed headache throbbed beneath my temples, and I squeezed my palms against my head to ebb the pain. “Son of hibachi,” I groaned.
He nodded grimly. “So what do we do?”
I dropped my hands and tried to come up with a solution. I couldn’t spend the rest of my life in Sumi’s body. We had to get home—and fast. I checked to make sure the coast was clear. When I didn’t spot anyone coming, I pointed deeper into the woods. “We have to go that way.”
He shielded his eyes and surveyed the forest in front of us. “How do you know that’s the right way?”
“I don’t.” I motioned for him to follow me as I marched ahead. “But we have to keep moving, and we certainly can’t go back in the direction of the road. That’s where the Network will be setting up a search team.”
“But”—Q sidestepped a tree—“what if we get lost? What if we come across a bear?”
“You’re really worried about that bear, huh? Don’t. With the mood I’m in, I’d feel pretty sorry anything that decides to cross our paths.” I cracked my knuckles together.
He frowned at me before pushing through the branches of a bush. “That doesn’t seem like much of a plan.”
“It’s not.” I shrugged. “But we can’t sit there and wait for the Network to catch us. I also can’t wait around doing nothing while Sumi steals my life—possibly forever.” In a fit of desperation, I’d been forced to kill myself in my last life. There was no way I was going to let this one be taken from me as well.
“You’re right. We’re running out of time.” He was quiet a moment before adding, “You’ll get us out of this. I know it.”
“Of course I will.” I gave him a reassuring smile but quickly turned away before it had the chance to slip. I didn’t want him to know how scared I really was. The odds were stacked against us. We were lost, outmanned, and outgunned.
I licked my lips and leapt over a fallen tree. If only Kim were here. In our past lives, he was the leader of our samurai army. I could always count on him to know what to do in any situation, and to always lead us in the right direction. But now that responsibility had fallen to me, and the burden of being the one to make sure we made it home felt like a noose around my neck.
“There sure are a lot of trees,” Q mumbled.
My throat constricted and I said nothing. I hoped the trees weren’t an omen of what was to come. Because when you walked with a noose around your neck, all it took was one branch to end it all.
And a million stretched out before me.
18
Do you see that?” Quentin asked. He stepped to the ledge of a rocky cliff and looked at the tree-covered valley below.
I walked up beside him, trying to ignore the ache in my legs from a full day of hiking. Not to mention the hundreds of cuts and scrapes we’d accumulated by pushing our way through thistles and thorny bushes. I pushed a sweat-soaked lock of black hair from my eyes. “See what?”
The sun had begun its decent into the valley. I’d followed its path throughout the day, knowing that as long as we headed west, we traveled toward home. But now its orange glow was barely visible over the tops of the trees. Shadows elongated at our feet like a thrown blanket. Before long, we wouldn’t be able to see anything at all.
“I think”—he squinted his eyes—“I see a cabin up ahead.”
“Really? Where?” Hope bloomed inside me.
He pointed at a line of trees. “Through there, I think.”
I tried to follow the direction of his finger, but the only thing I spotted beyond the trees were more trees. Still, I wasn’t about to squash the hope in his eyes, especially as tired, hungry, and dirty as we were. But I also knew we couldn’t stop—not with the Network on our tails. But maybe the cabin would have supplies or, better yet, a car. I figured since Sumi was already a murderer, it wouldn’t matter much to add auto theft to her rap sheet. “Let’s go. You lead the way.”
Q nodded, and together we made our way down the rocky embankment. By the time we reached the valley, the entire forest floor was bathed in shadow, making it impossible to see the foliage clearly. Branches and thorns pulled at my hair and raked across my skin until every inch of me bled or burned.
Quentin ripped a twig free from his hair and pushed forward. “Just a little bit farther.”
I said nothing. I didn’t want to tell him that my hope in the so far “unseen” cabin was fading fast. After all, it had been getting dark when Quentin first spotted it; maybe he mistook it for a cluster of trees. Even if the cabin did exist, I wondered if we’d be able to find it in the growing darkness.
I was on the verge of suggesting we give up on the cabin and instead locate a spot to rest when he stopped in front of me.
“There!” He pointed. “
Just past those trees. Do you see it?”
I squinted my eyes. “Q, I don’t see—” But before I finished my sentence, I spotted it. It was nestled within a grove of evergreens. It wasn’t what I would have called a cabin by any means, as it was barely more than a stack of logs with a moss-covered roof. Still, my heart swelled in the hopes we’d find something useful inside.
“C’mon!” I grabbed his hand and sprinted forward. “Maybe they have a car or a four-wheeler—we need to get mobile fast.” I pulled him along as I ran through the valley, darting around trees and leaping over fallen branches until we arrived at the door.
That’s when my heart sank.
There was no car parked outside. In fact there was no road, just an overgrown animal trail that wound to the door. One of the windows was busted. Leaning in, I saw the jagged pieces of glass strewn across the dirt-covered floor. It was obvious no one had been there in a very long time.
As if sensing my disappointment, Q placed a hand on my shoulder. “We should still check for supplies.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him I doubted the cabin held more than raccoon turds. Instead, I walked to the mostly rotten door and shoved it open with my shoulder. I peered into the darkness. “Hello?”
Something small and furry scurried across the back of the room. I shuddered and withdrew my head. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything useful.”
Quentin made a face and stepped around me, into the cabin. “Let’s just look around real quick. Just in case. There could be something helpful.”
I followed him and wrinkled my nose at the smell of rot and mold. “Squirrel poop helps no one, Q.” I leaned against the wall but jumped up when I thought I felt something crawl across my shoulders.
“No.” He stepped over a fallen chair and opened a cabinet. He withdrew a can and held it out to me with a grin. “But canned chili does!”
I made a face. “And how is that better than squirrel poop?”
Quentin sighed. “There’s nothing else in here, Ri. Oh wait.” He pulled another can out of the cabinet, squinting as he read the label. “Unless you want … ALPO.”
I couldn’t deny I was starving. And if I had to choose between dog food and chili … “Chili,” I replied glumly.
He grinned. “Coming right up.” He stuck his head back into the cabinet but stepped away a moment later with a frown. “Um, there’s no can opener.”
I sighed. “Of course not. Because that would have meant that one damn thing would have gone our way.”
“I know that’s your hunger talking.” Q gave me a stern look, which looked hilarious on Whitley’s face. “There’s no need to get so cranky. Let me just search over here.” He closed the cabinet and rummaged through the drawers beneath the counter. “No can opener here” he muttered. Then, a second later, “Aha!” He pulled a tarnished knife from a drawer and held it over his head like a warrior charging into battle. “This will work.” He brought the tip of the blade down against the can and it barely made a dent in the lid. He glanced at me. “You might want to wipe off two spoons while you’re waiting. This is going to take a while.”
“Yeah.” I walked past him and pulled open a drawer. Something squeaked in the back of the drawer when I stuck my hand in, so I pulled out the first two utensils I could find and slammed the drawer shut.
Quentin raised an eyebrow as he continued working the knife into the lid of the can.
“Poisonous snake.” I walked around him and picked up the fallen chair, turning it over so I could sit.
He made a face. “Oh yes, the squeaking snakes are especially deadly.”
“Do you always mock the person who just saved your life? That’s pretty rude.” I examined the two utensils in my hand, pleased to find one of them was a spoon and the other a fork. With the light fading fast outside, we needed to scarf down our food so we could get a little more distance before it became too dark to travel. Who knew? We might find a cabin that wasn’t just an outhouse for woodland creatures.
The spoon was gross, spotted and covered with some sort of green film, so I set about rubbing it vigorously on the edge of my T-shirt. After several minutes of rubbing so hard I thought the fabric would catch fire, I was happy to find it shining and silver. I held it up to the light, and that’s when I saw dark eyes reflected back at me.
I gasped and the spoon fell from my fingertips, clattering against the filthy floor.
“Rileigh?” Quentin stopped working the knife into the can and eyed me with concern.
I shook my head. “Sorry. I’m fine. My reflection … it’s not my reflection. Seeing her eyes staring back at me … ” I swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth. “It startled me.”
“I know.” He nodded. “But don’t worry. We won’t be stuck like this much longer.”
I bit my bottom lip to keep it from trembling. As much as I wanted to believe him, without a phone, money, or transportation I didn’t see how we’d make it home in time to switch back our bodies, let alone avoid capture by the Network. I set the spoon on my lap and rubbed my hands over my face—only it wasn’t my face. Even without seeing my reflection, the bridge of the narrow nose and high cheeks felt foreign under my fingertips. “What are we going to do?”
Quentin walked the can of chili over to me and set it in front of me. A thick crust of orange-speckled fat sat on top. Quentin took my discarded spoon and sank it into the can. “You’re going to eat.”
I made a face. Our only other option had been dog food, but if both cans were open in front of me, I wasn’t sure I would be able to tell the difference. “That looks revolting.”
“Sure does.” He scooped the layer of fat out of the can and flung it through the broken window. Next, he scooped a spoonful of chili and lifted it in front of my face.
Despite the appearance of the disgusting slop before me, my stomach roared to life.
“We haven’t eaten in over twenty-four hours.” Q waved the spoon. “There are a lot of things out of our control right now. But we can control eating. We need to keep up our strength. We have a long journey ahead of us.”
Reluctantly, I took the spoon and swallowed the chili. Despite the greasy texture and dog-food-like appearance, I half-expected my stomach to sing with joy the moment the food slid down my throat. “Thanks.” I handed the spoon back to Q who took his own bite. “Do you always have to be right all the time?”
He shrugged. “It’s just my cross to bear.”
I took the spoon from him and fished out another heaping spoonful. “Do you think the others have noticed that we’re—I mean they’re—not us?” The idea that Kim would think for a second that Sumi was me made me sick to my stomach. Surely he would know something was up. Then again, I never believed in body swapping before it happened to me. How could I expect Kim to?
“I don’t know.” Q took the spoon from me. “It’s going to be tricky. It’s not like we can go running to Kim and the others to tell them what happened.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why not? They deserve to know what’s going on. Besides, we’re going to need all the help we can get to stop Sumi and Whitley!”
Quentin chewed thoughtfully. “After the body switch, we both had access to our powers, right? At least for a little bit.”
I nodded.
He continued. “Then it only makes sense that Sumi has access to her power too. And since her powers are ridiculously strong, I bet hers last a lot longer than ours did. If Kim or the others became even a little suspicious that something wasn’t right, she could have easily manipulated their minds so they don’t question her.”
The meaning of his words hit me like a fist to the stomach. I gripped the edge of the chair so hard my arms shook. “If killing Sumi wouldn’t hurt Kim, I would do it, Q. I swear! Just like we did in the old days. I’d cut off her head and mount it on a spiked board.”
“Easy, killer.�
�� He touched my arm, sweeping me from the fantasy I’d concocted of facing Sumi on the battlefield with my sword in hand. “You can’t go around beheading people in this lifetime. The law frowns on that sort of thing.”
I sighed, blinking away the images of hoof-trampled fields and blood-stained corpses. “Sometimes I really miss the old ways.”
“Yeah.” He took another bite of chili. “Sometimes you can be a little scary—did I ever tell you that?”
A bark of a laugh escaped my lips as I ripped the spoon from his hand and dug into the chili. “You’re friends with me, so what does that say about you?” I’d meant the words as a joke, but the second they left my mouth I wished I could take them back. There was a truth to them that burned through my heart like acid. If Quentin hadn’t been friends with me, he never would have fallen under Sumi’s radar. He’d be planning what to pack for college—not living in the wrong body and running through the woods from a secret government agency.
“What’s wrong?” Q asked. “Your face just got really pale. You’re not going to throw up, are you?” He glanced at the can. “I have no idea how old this stuff is.”
I shook my head and swallowed hard. “It’s not the chili. It’s just … do you think you’d be better off if you’d never met me?”
He jerked back. “How could you even ask something like that?”
“Q! Look around!” I motioned to the dark shack. “Look where we are! Are you telling me if you’d been friends with somebody else you’d be in the same situation?”
He reached out and touched my hand. “If I didn’t know you, I never would have found out about my powers. Besides, I like to think of these situations as … adventures.” He grinned. “Life with you is never dull.”
I snorted. “You’re the only person on the planet who would look at it that way.”
He shrugged. “I take that as a compliment.”
“We’ll see how cheerful you are when we’re captured by the Network and locked in a cell for the rest of our lives.”
