by Cole Gibsen
Gene moved Rosie back and jerked the door open, startling the Network agent on the other side. Before the man could raise his gun, Gene grabbed him by the arm and flipped him over his shoulder. The man landed with a grunt at Gene’s feet. Gene lifted his head in our direction. “I can’t go because I have to make sure you aren’t followed. It’s the only way you’ll escape and make it back in time.”
“No!” Kim’s hands balled into fists. “I wasn’t there for you in the last life. I won’t leave you on your own again. We’ll fight them together.”
A blur of color flashed behind Gene. He whirled around and raised his hand, making a fist. He turned back to us and opened his fingers, letting the dart he’d captured fall to the floor at his feet.
I nearly choked. “How did you—”
He shook his head and smiled. “Another time. You need to go.”
“We’re not leaving you,” Kim said.
Gene adjusted the dark glasses on his face. “And I told you that this life is your own. You owe me nothing, Yoshido. Let me repay your years of faithful service in your past life by making sure you get to live this one. You two need to make it back home before Senshi gets stuck in that body. As you can see”—he gestured to the unconscious man on the floor—“I am more than capable of stalling these men.”
Kim folded his arms. “What if I refuse?”
Gene rolled up his sleeves, revealing arms decorated with faded tattoos. “Then I’ll make you go.”
Rosie whined once before turning back to the open door with a growl.
Kim frowned. “I really don’t see how you could possibly—”
“Really?” Gene cocked his head to the side. “You may still be an exceptional warrior, Yoshi, but please remember I also have skills of my own.”
Without warning, he raised his hand and what felt like an invisible wall slammed into us, knocking us both to the ground.
Blinking and stunned, Kim and I scrambled back to our feet.
Gene lowered his hand. “Without your true body, my dear Senshi, you are no match for my ki manipulation.”
He was right. And even if I had my body, his powers had always been greater than mine.
“Please don’t fight me on this. I will push you two from my house if I have to.” Gene raised his hand and caught another dart a mere inch before it slammed into his chest. He tossed it to the ground.
Kim and I exchanged another glance. Last time we’d been under attack, our dear Lord Toyotomi had been mortally wounded by an arrow to the chest. If we left him alone, how were we to know history wouldn’t repeat itself?
Just then, a black figure crashed through the window. We threw our hands up, shielding our faces as shards of glass exploded into the room as the man landed on the couch.
Rosie yelped and ran for the kitchen.
The Network agent jumped off the couch and aimed his gun at my head.
“Go!” Gene shouted before raising his hand. A blue light pulsed from his fingers and slammed into the man’s gut. He fell back onto the coffee table, which splintered under his weight.
Gene raised his other hand in our direction, his fingertips glowing brightly. “Do I have to tell you again?”
Behind him, another man ran through the door while another climbed through the broken window. A fight would only slow us down, and I was running out of time. If I wanted to get my and Q’s bodies back, we had to leave. “Come on, Kim!” I looped my arm through his and pulled him into the kitchen.
“Take Rosie with you!” Gene called. “She’s a passive spirit and the fighting won’t do her any good.”
We found Rosie in the back of the small kitchen, shivering against a door. Kim gently pulled her aside by the collar and opened the door, which luckily led to the garage and an old Subaru parked inside.
Kim ran to the passenger door and climbed inside.
“C’mon, girl!” I patted my leg, urging Rosie to follow me. I opened the back door of the car and ushered Rosie inside. After closing her safely in, I opened the front door and climbed in myself.
I stuck the key in the ignition but found myself unable to turn it. The sounds of fighting grew quiet inside the house.
“Rileigh.” Kim gently touched my shoulder. “This is what he wants.”
“I know.” I bit my lip to keep it from quivering. “But we just got him back. I don’t know how to leave him again.”
“We have to.” Kim reached forward and turned the key. The car’s engine rumbled to life. “When this is all over, we’ll come back for him.” He looked over his shoulder at the panting dog in the backseat. “We’ll have to get Rosie home, after all.”
“Right.” I swallowed, my throat tight. “We’ll come back.”
I muttered a silent prayer he’d still be here when we did.
24
Japan, 1492
Chiyo arrived at the village under the cloak of night. After slitting Ryuu’s throat, she’d taken the first horse she could find and fled the bandit camp before anyone realized what she’d done.
Miraculously, her sense of direction had held true and after hours on horseback, she’d arrived at Yoshido’s village.
Ryuu’s men would be furious with her once they discovered his body. She knew they’d demand her death, so she fled to the only person who’d be able to protect her. Her samurai. Her Yoshido.
She dismounted from her horse and tied the reins to a nearby post with trembling fingers. She hadn’t been able to stop shaking since she left camp. She glanced at her hands. Ryuu’s blood stained her fingers and darkened her nails. She went to wipe them on her robes, but they, too, were stained crimson.
Chiyo cursed silently under her breath. This was not the reunion she’d imagined. She raked her hands through her hair, trying to untangled the knots. For the last year she’d daydreamed what it would be like to finally see Yoshido again. Of course, in those dreams she wore silk robes and her hair was styled. Her beauty would take his breath away and he’d feel compelled to open his arms. She’d rush into his embrace and all would be well.
Chiyo sighed at the thought and her lips pulled into a smile. After a year of living in terror, the expression felt foreign on her face.
But that didn’t matter. She imagined she would get used to it quickly enough. After all, once she was reunited with her samurai she was sure nothing but a lifetime of smiles awaited her.
Now she just had to find him.
But before she could begin her search, the sound of footsteps approached behind her. She whirled around and found a samurai, with much sharper features than her Yoshido, approaching. He stopped in front of her with his hand resting on the hilt of his blade. His eyes traveled the length of her body, growing larger when they took in the blood stains on her robe. He grinned. “Just what do we have here?”
Her pulse quickening, Chiyo quickly bowed her head. “Please. I have travelled very far in search of someone. Perhaps you can help me find him?”
The samurai folded his arms. “Perhaps I can. Do you have a name?”
“Yes.” She looked up eagerly. “I am searching for my be-
trothed, a samurai by the name of Yoshido.”
He jerked back suddenly, before a bark of a laugh escaped his lips. “Oh this is too good. You are Yoshido’s betrothed? I thought you were killed by bandits.”
Chiyo fought the urge to scowl at him—she knew better than to disrespect a samurai. Still, how dare he find her suffering amusing! The tingle of electricity sparked between her fingertips and she quickly balled her hands into fists before he noticed. “No. I was merely held hostage. If you do not mind, I have travelled far and I am exhausted from my escape. Could you please take me to him?”
“He is in there.” The samurai crossed his arms and glanced at a building over his shoulder. “He is currently assisting another samurai.” He grinned, and the wickedness
of it rolled through Chiyo’s stomach. There was something this man wasn’t telling her—and it filled her with dread. “But I cannot allow you to go wandering through the master’s estate by yourself,” he continued. “What kind of samurai would I be? Besides, I would not miss this for the world.” He offered her his arm.
Chiyo couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about him reminded her of Ryuu. Maybe it was the quirk of his smile, or the glimmer in his eye. Regardless of what it was, she was certain the last thing she wanted to do was go anywhere with him. She forced a smile to her face. “Thank you. That is very kind.” She reached for his arm and uncurled her fingers. Before they touched, a spark of electricity leapt from her fingers into his body.
He opened his mouth and a strained gurgling emerged. A second later, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped to the ground. Chiyo waited long enough to make sure his chest still rose and fell with breath before she darted toward the building he’d indicated. After all, she didn’t need to be in any worse trouble than she already was.
Chiyo entered the building and a sour smell assaulted her nostrils. She pressed a hand to her nose and took several gulping breaths through her mouth. She’d lived with bandits long enough to recognize the smell of death when it greeted her.
She glanced around the narrow hallway with its rice paper doors. She must be in a house of death. But that didn’t make sense. What on earth would Yoshido be doing here?
Perhaps the samurai outside had been playing a cruel joke on her. She started to turn around when she heard the sound of muffled voices from down the hall. One of them sounded female and the other voice had to be her Yoshido!
Her heart fluttered. Breathless, she ran down the hall as fast as her feet would carry her. Finally, after living through a year of hell, the reunion she dreamed about would finally be made real. She wondered if he’d even lose himself in the moment and kiss her. A heated blush warmed her cheeks at the thought. It would be improper of him to do so, but she’d forgive him—just like she’d forgive him for not rescuing her. She’d almost reached the corner, his name on the tip of her tongue, when she heard him speak.
“There is a samurai. His name is Yoshido.”
She skidded to a halt just before the corner. That didn’t make sense. Why would he refer to himself in the third person? She peeked her head around the wall. Yoshido sat in the hallway facing a rice paper door. The slender silhouette of a girl faced him from the other side. What on earth were they doing?
“Ah yes,” the girl answered from the other side of the door. “The irksome one. I have heard of him.”
Yoshido sputtered and the girl laughed, the sound of it twisted a knife into Chiyo’s heart. Her legs grew weak and she grabbed the corner of the wall to keep from falling. The samurai outside had said Yoshido was training another samurai. But there was something else going on here—Chiyo could feel it in the air, crushing against her and making it hard to breathe.
“Yes, well, be cautious with him,” Yoshido continued.
“I thought you said I was the dangerous one,” the girl said.
“You are,” he agreed. “Be cautious of his heart. You hold it.”
No. Oh, please, no. The pain of his words cut deeper into Chiyo than Ryuu’s dagger ever had. She covered her mouth with her hands to keep from crying out. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t how her reunion was supposed to go.
“I-I do not understand,” the girl said.
Yoshido paused before he raised his hand and placed it against the rice paper. “I love you, Senshi.”
The room tilted on its side and waves of nausea twisted through Chiyo’s gut. No. No. No, no, no! A moan rolled up her throat and she fled down the hallway before she could give herself away. Only after she exited the building did she allow the sob she’d fought to burst from her throat. Chiyo collapsed to the ground as fat, hot tears spilled from her eyes, only to soak into the dusty ground at her blood-stained fingertips. She was too late. She’d been gone too long and now her samurai loved another—some Senshi.
She remained on the ground until the last of her tears had dried. And still, the weight of her grief kept her pinned down. What was she to do now? She had no home. No family. And no samurai to love and protect. She had nothing.
Chiyo raised her hand to her face to rub her burning eye, and that’s when she noticed the blue spark dancing along her fingertips.
Well, almost nothing.
Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet and made her way down the path to her horse. She couldn’t remain here a moment longer. When she passed the place where she’d jolted the samurai, she noticed he was no longer there. It was just as well. She wasn’t staying. She couldn’t live in a place where the man she loved loved another.
She formed a plan as she untied her horse and mounted the saddle. With nowhere else to go, and no husband to want her, she would return to the bandit camp and declare herself their leader. And if anyone opposed her? She lifted her hand and watched the blue sparks roll across her fingers. She’d kill them. Because that’s what you did when the world turned its back on you.
A numbness settled over her as she kicked her horse into a gallop. She was on her own. It was time she realized that the only person who was going to take care of Chiyo was Chiyo.
25
Several hours later, we entered Illinois.
The knots of anxiety pulling tight across my body finally began to loosen. We’d crossed two state lines, and there’d been no sign of the Network. And our luck hadn’t ended there. When the gas gauge fell into the red, Kim found a handful of twenty dollar bills rolled up inside the glove box.
Worried I might be spotted thanks to the news broadcast of my face, I stayed inside the car while Kim led Rosie around a grassy area sectioned off for dogs at a rest stop. We didn’t have a leash, but it was soon apparent we didn’t need one. Rosie barely walked more than a couple of feet in front of Kim before she’d turn her head anxiously around to make sure he was still there.
When Rosie finished her business, Kim led her back inside the car and I moved the shifter into gear. “Ready?”
He nodded and reached into the backseat to give Rosie a pat on the head.
She grinned, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth.
“But the second we switch you back—” he began.
“I know.” I didn’t need him to finish. I could read the emotion radiating off him like I could the pages of a book. “We’ll drive straight to Gene’s house. I’m sure he’s okay.” My words sounded hollow, even to me. I couldn’t help but worry he might be hurt … or worse.
I shook my head, as if I could dislodge the thought from my mind. Gene would be okay. Even though he was blind, he was obviously a skilled fighter, and his ki powers surpassed my own. He was fine. He had to be.
Kim said nothing. His eyes continued to flick to the side mirror, scanning the cars behind us.
I licked my lips. “How are we looking?”
“So far so good. There doesn’t appear to be anyone following us.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
He sighed and brought his eyes forward. “Yes and no. As a former general, I’m familiar with strategy. They know where we’re going, Rileigh.” His eyes met mine and held them for several seconds before I was forced to return my attention to the road. “If they figure they can’t catch us during the chase, they’re going to cut their losses and wait for us where they know we’ll show up.”
“Son of hibachi,” I muttered.
He nodded. “So you see the problem. I’m sure they’ve been in contact with Wendell, who is keeping the other samurai updated—including Sumi, who he thinks is you.”
A dull ache began to throb beneath my temples as a headache formed. “So Sumi will be expecting us.”
“Exactly,” he agreed. “She knows we’re coming, and s
he’ll have time to prepare.”
My throat tightened. I hadn’t considered that. “You think we’re driving into a trap?”
He was quiet a moment. “I’ve been thinking about something.”
“Do you have a plan?” I asked hopefully.
“Not exactly. Maybe Lord Toyo—” He stopped and swallowed. “Maybe Gene was right. We’re not in Japan anymore. Maybe, for once, we should stop fighting.”
I tightened my grip on the wheel to keep from swerving into the other lane. “What?”
He turned away from me and stared out the window. “We know if we go home we’ll be walking into a fight—possibly one we won’t win. So what’s stopping us from turning this car around and driving someplace they’d never find us? We could do it, you know. We’re warriors. We know how to survive on our own. We could disappear, just the two of us.”
I blinked as I stared at the road ahead of us. Never in my life would I have expected Kim to suggest we turn away from a fight. “Is that … what you want?”
“It’s not as easy as what I want.” From the corner of my eye, I could see his lips pressed into a thin line. “I’m a warrior, Rileigh. Every bone inside my body is telling me to fight for what is right—even if it means we don’t win. But then there’s you. We suffered so much in the last life, and we’ve suffered in this one. There are about a million things that could go wrong if we go home. I don’t know how I’d survive if I lost you again.”
I sat silent and let his words wash over me.
“It’s not that I don’t want to stop Sumi and get you back inside your body,” he continued. “Of course, I want her to pay for what she’s done to us. But more than that, I want to keep you safe. It doesn’t matter what body you’re wearing, you’re still my Senshi. And I will love you from this life into the next. If you’re tired of fighting, just say the word and we’ll disappear.”
I chewed my lip. He was right—with Sumi and the Network expecting us, there was a pretty big chance we’d fail in our mission to get my and Q’s bodies back. How easy would it be to just drive to Mexico? Or anyplace where Kim and I would never be found? We could spend the rest of our lives alone and together.
