by Cole Gibsen
But as tempting as that sounded, could I really stand to wake up every day, look in the mirror, and stare at a face that wasn’t my own? And what would happen to Quentin? If he’d been apprehended by the Network, he’d be stuck in a cell forever as Whitely. I couldn’t let that happen.
And what about my mom? Sumi had no problems killing her own parents. Why would she hesitate to do the same to my mom or the other samurai?
I wouldn’t risk anyone’s life for a chance at escape.
I shook my head. “We have to go back. I know the odds are stacked against us and the risk is huge. But we have to at least try to fix the mess Sumi made. Q’s counting on us. We can’t desert our friends.”
Kim stared at me a long moment. Finally, he sighed. “I know. Your desire to always do the honorable thing is one of the many reasons I love you.” He reached forward and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, letting his fingers linger on the back of my neck. “We’ll get through this.”
Not wanting him to sense my doubt, I forced a smile onto my face. Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but worry about what would happen if we failed. If I was captured or … worse, then this might be the last few hours I had with Kim—ever. An invisible weight pressed against my chest and I strained to keep my smile locked in place.
As if reading my thoughts, Kim dropped his hand and frowned. “Do not worry. We will defeat Sumi and get your body back. And afterwards … I don’t really know.” A slow grin appeared on his face. “Huh. What do you want to do afterwards? After this whole mishap, I’m not really too keen to work for the Network because—”
“They’re idiots?” I offered.
“I was going to say because they tried to kill us. But your answer is just as good. So if we don’t work for the Network, what do we do?”
I let his question swirl around my mind a minute before I finally shrugged. “I have no idea.” I chuckled. “It’s crazy because a few days ago I thought I had it all figured out. I was going to attend a local college and get a criminal justice degree. I assumed I’d work for the Network for the rest of my life.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I couldn’t join an organization that tried to hunt me down. But at the same time, it’s not like there are a lot of job openings for reincarnated samurai these days.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
I tapped my thumbs against the steering wheel. “Which is unfortunate, because we could really use a few more samurai right now.”
“I agree.” He rested his elbow against the window. “I hope our friends are faring better than we are.”
“Me too.” With Sumi and Whitley as the wolves in sheep’s clothing, the other samurai were in considerable danger. And to make it worse, they had no idea. “If Sumi or Whitley hurts any of them … ” I bit off the rest of my words, and my hands tightened around the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.
“I know.” I watched his jaw flex out of the corner of my eye. He didn’t say anymore, and he didn’t have to. His intent blazed like fire in his eyes.
I glanced nervously at him. “You know we can’t kill them, right? I’m Whitley’s soul mate and you’re Sumi’s. If they die, so do we.”
He nodded, his jaw flexing. “I’m not worried about Whitley—he’s an idiot. But Sumi is dangerous. If I have the chance to make sure she never hurts anyone ever again, I’m going to take it.”
Cold fingers clamped around my throat. “What are you saying? If you get the chance, you’d sacrifice yourself just to kill her?”
He said nothing, his eyes trained on the road ahead.
“Kim!” I turned, accidentally swerving the car onto the shoulder in the process. After quickly righting it, I glared at him. “I won’t let you do it. We’ve been through too much in this life to lose each other again.”
He shook his head. “I’m a samurai, Rileigh. I don’t know how to be anything else. And as a samurai, I will sacrifice everything to make sure the people I care about are kept safe.”
“No.” I shook my head. “No. No. No. No. I won’t let you do it. There has to be another way, Kim.”
He looked at me. “Is there? Because so far, nothing else has worked. The longer Sumi is left alive, the more dangerous she becomes. How many people does she have to kill before we put an end to her?”
I pressed my teeth together so hard my jaw ached. “None. Because I will figure out another way. So don’t do anything stupid.”
When he didn’t answer me, I glanced at him. He sat, looking straight ahead, with his lips pressed into a thin line. I knew that look—it was the same look he wore before he charged into battle. I knew then he’d made up his mind and there was no talking him out of it.
So I didn’t bother.
We were past the point of words, anyway. Lucky for me, I had an advantage in that I knew his plan. If he had the opportunity, he would kill Sumi. So now it was my job to stop Sumi on my own before he had the chance.
The clock was ticking. I needed a plan, and I needed it fast.
26
An hour before we reached St. Louis, Kim told me he was feeling better and offered to drive. And as tired as I was, I let him.
As we drew closer to the city, his eyes flicked from the road ahead to the rearview mirror. I, on the other hand, kept my eyes locked on him. I watched for any signs he’d begun to suspect I was plotting against him. There was no way I would let him sacrifice himself for a chance to kill Sumi. But the problem was, I still hadn’t come up with a plan and with us drawing closer to St. Louis by the second, I was nearly out of time.
Oblivious to my worries, Rosie stuck her head out the back window and happily panted in the wind.
A pang of jealously twisted through me. How awesome it would be to be a dog—to have no worries other than finding a soft place to sleep and learning what time dinner would be served.
We passed a sign announcing that St. Louis was only thirty miles away. “We’re getting close,” Kim said. “We need a plan.”
“I agree,” I answered, even though I knew mine would have to go against his.
He tapped his thumbs along the steering wheel. “We can’t go to any place the Network might suspect we’d show up at. So your condo is off-limits.”
I nodded. “The same goes for your dojo and apartment. I’m sure they’re watching those places as well.”
“Yes.” His fingers continued to drum a taiko war rhythm on the steering wheel. “We need a place where we can assess the situation. A place we can regroup and wait for an opportunity to strike. So the question is, where is the last place they would expect us to go?”
I thought about that. With Whitley posing as Q, Quentin’s house would be out, and so would Drew’s apartment. Michelle’s house was probably being watched. So that left …
I smiled at Kim the same moment his eyes locked with mine. A knowing grin pulled at his lips.
“Braden,” we said in unison.
Kim turned his attention back to the road. He continued to drum the war beat as he drove.
I settled back into my seat, happy with our plan. It wasn’t that Braden wasn’t as capable a warrior as the rest of our friends, but his goofy demeanor and distracted tendencies made him appear less of a threat, even though I knew he was every bit as deadly as the rest of us. But because of his outward appearance, the Network would assume he’d be the last of the samurai we’d contact.
That didn’t mean we wouldn’t have to be careful. I was sure Sumi and Whitley were working hard to convince the rest of the samurai that I’d brainwashed Kim and we were coming to kill them. It wasn’t going to be easy to convince Braden I was really Rileigh, and it would be even more difficult to convince him if he decided to attack.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that. We needed all the allies we could get. And let’s face it—Rosie wasn’t
exactly intimidating.
Darkness streaked across the horizon like thick brushstrokes from a calligraphy brush. If Gene’s assumption was correct, with night approaching I had less than twelve hours to switch bodies with Sumi before the change became permanent.
I stared at Sumi’s reflection in the side mirror, her eyes boring into mine until I had no choice but to look away. As much as it would suck to stay trapped inside the body of my enemy forever, maybe I could learn to live with it—especially if it was a question of Kim’s life.
I chewed on my lip as I tried to come up with a plan to ensure Kim wouldn’t kill Sumi. But a half hour later, as Kim parked the car along a narrow St. Louis street, I hadn’t come up with an answer.
I rubbed my burning eyes and sucked in a deep breath. All my hours without sleep were definitely catching up to me. And now, more than ever, I needed to be on full alert.
Worried lines pinched Kim’s forehead. “How are you doing?”
“I’m exhausted,” I admitted. “But I know I have to keep going. It’s not like I can afford the luxury of a nap.”
He reached for my wrist and squeezed lightly. “Soon. This will all be over soon.”
His words caused a flutter of fear to stir inside my heart, because I wasn’t exactly sure whose end he was talking about.
“But first,” he continued, “we need a plan.”
I turned my head to the row of brick houses outside my window. Each house was an exact replica of the one beside it, distinguishable only by their landscaping and whether or not a chain-link fence crossed the narrow strip of grass separating the lots.
I recognized Braden’s house only because I’d been there before. It had only been a year since Q and I had gone to Braden’s house after we’d found out Michelle had disappeared. So the good news was, I knew the layout. “Did you see any suspicious vehicles when we pulled up?”
Kim shook his head. “No. But that doesn’t mean they’re not out there.”
“Right.” I surveyed the parked cars, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, with only a single dim streetlight and my lack of danger premonitions, there was no telling who could be lurking in the shadows. “We can’t just ring the doorbell. We should take a quick assessment—find out what kind of situation we might be walking into.”
“Agreed.” He gripped the door handle. “Do you want high ground or low?”
As tired as I was, the least amount of ground to cover, the better. “High. What about Rosie?”
We both glanced behind us at the dog grinning and thumping her tail.
Kim frowned. “It’s a cool night. She should be fine in the car with the windows rolled down. Hopefully this won’t take long.”
Hopefully was right.
“Let’s go.” He opened the car door and stepped out onto the street. I did the same, making sure to close the door as softly as possible. I hunkered down against the car until Kim crept along the vehicle and joined me. He looked down both ends of the sidewalk before motioning to the corner of the house, indicating which direction he would take.
I nodded.
He set off in a sprint, and I stayed close at his heels. He paused at the edge of the house, leaned over, and laced his fingers together. I only had to put my foot in his hands before he launched me into the air. Landing on the roof in a crouch, I glanced over the side and gave Kim a thumbs-up.
He nodded before darting into the backyard.
From my new vantage point, I surveyed the entire street. Except for a yellow lab who eyed me curiously several yards over, the street remained empty of life. Still, my heart hammered inside my chest, warning me that things were seldom as easy as they appeared.
Keeping low to the shingles so as not to call attention to myself, I crept along the roof to the back of the house.
Once I reached the apex of the roof, I had a clear view of Braden’s empty backyard. The only movement came from a rusted swing that swayed lazily in the wind. Wherever Kim was, he was doing an excellent job at staying hidden.
I cleared the apex and climbed down the other side until I reached the roof’s edge. I swung my head over the ledge and peered into Braden’s window to find it dark and empty. I pulled myself back up on the roof and frowned. If Braden wasn’t home—where was he? With Sumi? I sank back on my heels. With time running out, we needed to find him. Kim and I didn’t stand a chance without allies.
A car door slammed shut from somewhere nearby.
With a gasp, I flattened myself along the shingles, muttering a silent prayer that we hadn’t been followed.
Another car door slammed, followed by the sound of voices in conversation. I heard the metal gate squeal open, and the voices moved into the yard below.
With my pulse racing, I debated what to do. Any movement might draw attention to my location. I had no choice but to remain as still as I could.
“I still can’t believe Sumi kidnapped Kim.” I recognized Michelle’s voice. A second later, she appeared below me. She walked to the wooden deck and sat on the steps.
“We don’t know for sure that’s what happened,” Braden answered. He, too, appeared below me and sat beside Michelle.
She shook her head, her auburn curls bouncing like springs around her head. “Of course that’s what happened. Dr. Wendell said Kim was chasing after her when she escaped, and he never reported back to the truck.” She shrugged. “What else could have happened?”
“I don’t know.” Braden leaned forward, propping his elbows against his knees. “This whole situation … Doesn’t something feel off?”
Michelle chewed on her lip before answering. “Yeah … I didn’t want to say anything around Rileigh and Dr. Wendell because I didn’t want them to think Sumi was messing with our heads again. Do you think that could be it?”
“Maybe?” He sighed. “I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve had this really bad feeling ever since Sumi and Whitley were
captured. I can’t explain it. The only thing that makes sense is if Sumi did mess with our minds. Do you think we should tell the others?”
“I don’t know.” Michelle tipped her head back to the night sky and I held my breath, praying she wouldn’t glance in my direction. “Rileigh’s been so … ” She was quiet a moment, as if searching for the right word. “Stressed,” she said finally.
Braden nodded. “She definitely hasn’t been herself, that’s for sure. Maybe she’s just worried about Kim?”
“Maybe … ”
A small wisp of hope fluttered through me. If they had doubts about the situation, maybe there was a chance I really could convince them I was Rileigh.
Michelle turned to Braden. “Thanks for letting me stay with you tonight.”
Braden wrapped an arm around her shoulder and drew her against him. “Of course. If what Doctor Wendell says is true, and Sumi really is headed back to St. Louis to kill us, I’m not going to let you out of my sight.”
She smiled and nestled her head against his shoulder. “You don’t think I can handle myself?”
“What?” Braden looked down at her. “You think I want you here so I can watch over you?” He snorted. “Did you consider maybe I want you here to protect me?”
Michelle laughed.
“But as powerful as Sumi is,” Braden continued, “I’m even more afraid of your dad. He’s not going to kill me, is he?”
“Relax.” Michelle shook her head. “He’ll never know I was here. I told him I was spending the night at Rileigh’s.”
Braden nodded and leaned back on his hands. “That’s good.” He was quiet a moment. “I just wonder how long we have to worry about Sumi. With all the Network guys here plus us, she’d have to be pretty stupid to come back.”
Not stupid, I thought. Just desperate.
“Maybe she’s desperate.” Michelle echoed my thoughts, sending a chill spiraling down my back.<
br />
“Desperate for what?” Braden answered. “If it’s Kim she’s after, isn’t he with her?”
“That is the question, isn’t it?” She shook her head. “Kim is all she ever wanted. If she has him, what on earth would she come back here for?”
“Dunno,” Braden answered. “It doesn’t make sense, does it? I just wish Kim would contact us. I’d feel a lot better knowing he’s okay—even if he is under mind control.”
Just then the bushes in the back of the yard made a soft rustling noise. A second later, Kim pushed through and stepped into the middle of the yard.
Michelle gasped and Braden scrambled to his feet.
I clasped my hand over my mouth and swallowed my own startled cry. Was this really the right time to reveal himself? Then again, it wasn’t like we had the luxury of waiting for the perfect moment. I just hoped he knew what he was doing.
Before they could say anything, Kim raised his hands. “I’m fine. And, no, I haven’t been brainwashed.”
“Kim! Oh my God, I’m so glad you’re okay!” Michelle ran to him and threw her arms around his waist.
“Um, babe?” Braden grabbed Michelle’s arm and pulled her away from Kim, putting several feet between them. “We don’t know for sure that’s really our Kim.” He gave Kim an apologetic look. “No offense.”
Kim frowned. “Of course it’s me.”
“Well, yeah.” Braden rolled his eyes. “But how do we know Sumi hasn’t brainwashed you again? If you were brainwashed, of course you would say you weren’t brainwashed. That’s kind of the point of being brainwashed, isn’t it?”
I fought the urge to smack my palm against my forehead. Leave it to Braden to complicate things.
Kim blinked in confusion. “I really don’t—”
“Besides,” Braden continued, “if you are brainwashed, how do we know you aren’t here to kill us?”
Michelle’s eyes widened as if she were considering the possibility. “Are you here to kill us?” She straightened her posture, shifting her weight to her back foot—a stance that would let him know she was prepared to fight.
