by Cole Gibsen
I shook my head. “You’re just now realizing that? How many times does she have to kill you?”
Sumi huffed. “Stop being so dramatic. I already told you I was only questioning her. Don’t you think if I wanted to kill you I could have done it a hundred times already?” She extended her hand, and Whitley shrank back. Having no power of his own—unless you counted his ability to be a super ass-hat—was it possible he didn’t realize Sumi no longer had hers?
She pointed to the door. “Now I want you to go back out there and tell that annoying doctor you did everything you could to try to get information out of her.” She pointed at me. “But her mind was too strong for you to break.”
I strained against the duct tape until my skin burned. Still, it held fast. “Don’t do it,” I told him. “She’s lying. She’s going to kill me the second you walk out that door.”
Whitley’s frown deepened.
“Shut up!” Sumi snarled. She turned to Whitley and pointed at the door. “What are you waiting for? Get out of here!”
He took a step backward.
“No!” I knew my life depended on whether or not he stayed. “If you leave me alone with her, we’re both as good as dead.”
Sumi whirled on me. “I thought I told you to shut up!” Her open hand connected with my cheek hard enough to topple me over, chair and all. My head smacked against the concrete and white fireworks exploded in my vision.
The duct tape, however, remained intact. So not only was I still taped to the stupid chair, but now I was sideways and taped to the stupid chair. Not an improvement.
Sumi brushed her hands together. “Now Whitely, I believe I asked you to wait outside. And please make sure we’re not interrupted.”
“You don’t have to listen to her,” I said. “She doesn’t have her powers anymore.”
Sumi’s eye’s flew wide and her mouth snapped shut.
Whitley’s lips curled into a grin. He cocked his head. “I’m sorry. Say that again?” Oh, crap. I pressed my lips together, realizing too late I’d made a horrible mistake. I needed Whitley to stay so Sumi wouldn’t kill me. But now that he knew Sumi was powerless, would he try to kill her and in the process kill Kim?
“You’re dead,” Sumi whispered, her eyes blazing. Slowly, she withdrew my katana from the sheath at her hip. “I’m going to kill you in this life and every life thereafter.” She raised the sword over her head. “I’m going to take from you any chance of happiness—just like you’ve taken mine.”
Fear squeezed my throat as I tried in vain to shimmy the chair backward. I’d barely made it an inch when she swung.
“Not so fast!” Millimeters before the blade met my neck, Whitley caught her arm and spun her around to face him.
The sword wavered in her hands. “Let go of me!”
Whitley brought his face next to hers. “Make me.” Before she could respond, he made a fist, reared back, and punched her in the jaw.
I couldn’t help but flinch. That had to hurt.
Sumi spun a lazy circle before she collapsed to the floor. She let go of the sword, and it clattered to the ground just out of reach of my fingers.
Sumi jerked her head and blinked. An angry red welt bloomed across her chin—my chin, really. “How dare you! I should kill you right now!”
Whitley smirked. “Go ahead then, princess. Give it your best shot.”
Son of hibachi. This was exactly what I didn’t need right now. With Kim and the Network on their way here, I needed to be back in my body before they arrived—not breaking up a fight between my two worst enemies—a fight that would leave either Kim or myself dead.
I craned my neck over my shoulder. My katana was only an inch away—if only I could work my way over to it without being noticed. I glanced back at Sumi as she slowly climbed to her feet, her murderous gaze locked on Whitley. Yeah, I think I had a few minutes on my own.
Whitley raised his hands, his fingers curled into fists. “You’re not so tough without your powers, are you?”
She bared her teeth. “Who says I need powers to kill you?” She raised a hand over her head. Balancing on one leg, she lifted the opposite knee.
Awesome. It was about to get all kung-fu up in here. Which meant I had to stop this before someone got killed. Using all of my strength, I heaved my weight backward and managed to scoot a hair closer to my katana. I tried not to groan. If I kept it up, I’d reach the blade by tomorrow.
Sumi cried out and launched herself at Whitley, and the two became a blur of flying fists and feet.
I had to hurry.
I sucked in a deep breath and prepared myself to try again. But before I could move, a weird drifting sensation came over me. I shook my head, trying to dislodge the woozy feeling, but it remained. Had Sumi hit me harder than I thought? Or maybe it was the surreal experience of watching my own body locked in mortal combat with the body of my best friend.
Whitley jerked back and placed a hand against his head as if to steady himself. Did he feel it too?
Sumi looked at me and smirked. “You’re almost out of time.”
That’s what that was? The feeling of my spirit severing ties with my old body? A lump pushed up my throat, and I struggled to swallow it down. I couldn’t let that happen. Again I threw my weight backward, and again I was rewarded with another fraction of an inch. Only this time, I extended my index finger and was able to touch the edge of the katana’s hilt. Success! Now I had to hurry.
Sumi narrowed her eyes at me. “What are you—”
Whitley charged her before she could finish. He swung a foot for her head, which she quickly ducked before it made contact.
Carefully, I coaxed the handle into my hand and flipped the sword around so I could saw into the tape. The drifting sensation grew stronger as I worked. It was the same feeling I got when I plummeted down the incline of a rollercoaster—a feeling that my insides were no longer connected to my outsides.
I didn’t have to be a metaphysical expert to know that was probably a bad thing.
From the looks of Whitley and Sumi’s sudden sloppy fighting, I knew they were experiencing the same thing as well. Whitley’s punch went wide, wobbling over Sumi’s head. Her clumsy attempt to duck sent her staggering backward.
Yep. I had to hurry.
I continued sawing feverishly until the tape gave a pop as the blade cut through. I pulled my arm free and set about sawing the tape on my other hand. Second by agonizing second, the blade ate into the tape until it finally broke open. Once free, I climbed to my feet, my legs wobbling as the floor seemed to move beneath my feet.
Sumi snapped her head up as I approached, her eyes growing wide.
Whitley only laughed. “Well, this just got interesting.” He folded his arms over his chest as his body wavered. He nodded to Sumi. “How do you like these odds? Now it’s two against one.” He winked at me. “Help me take her down and I’ll make sure you get back inside your body.”
I spun my sword in a slow arc in front of me. “And then what?”
He hesitated. “We’ll hand her over to the Network, of course.”
Right. As if I couldn’t read the lie on his face. He wasn’t going to stop until she was dead. And as much as I would love to have Sumi gone from my life once and for all, I couldn’t risk Kim. “You screwed me over last time I trusted you. Why should I believe you now?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Because we both want the same thing. Common interests unite.”
“Normally, yes. But this time, we don’t want the same thing.” Before he could react, I grabbed his wrist and slipped the tip of my sword beneath the leather-wrapped bracelet.
“Hey! What are you—?” But before he could finish, I jerked the blade forward, slicing through the bracelet. It fell to the floor in tattered pieces.
Warmth radiated through me. If nothing else, I’d saved Q.
/> Whitley looked at me, his eyes wide with horror. “No. I won’t go back. I won’t let them lock me away.” He spun on his heels and ran for the door. He pulled it open and staggered into the dojo where he collapsed to the ground before the door had a chance to swing closed behind him.
Sumi placed a hand on her hip. “Thanks for taking care of that for me. If I didn’t hate you so much, I might say we make a good team.”
I turned to her, my sword held out in front of me. “Yeah, well. Let’s see how well you like me once I have you back in your own body and you’re locked inside a jail cell.”
She laughed and adjusted the wrapped bracelet on her wrist. “As if that’s going to happen. Powers or no powers, I’m not going back inside a body wanted for murder. Especially not with the Network on the hunt.” She snorted. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’re wrong.”
Sumi and I whirled around to find Kim standing in the doorway. He held a katana in each hand. Behind him, Q’s body remained motionless on the dojo floor.
Sumi made a choking sound before she spoke. “Kim, thank God! I’m so glad you’re here! Sumi’s trying to kill me.”
His eyes narrowed. “You know as well as I do she isn’t Sumi. You are.”
“No.” She held her hands out. “That’s not true, Kim. She’s poisoned your mind again—making you believe her lies.”
“Is that so?” He took a step toward her. “If you’re really Rileigh, tell me how you like your nachos.”
Sumi paled. “What? That’s a ridiculous question. What does that matter?”
“How do you like your nachos?” he repeated.
“I—I—” She took a step back and shook her head.
I smirked. “Extra jalapenos.” Triumph buzzed through me like an electric current.
“No!” She raised a trembling finger at me. “I won’t let her steal you from me again. We can finally be together now, Yoshido—just as we were meant to be in the past. I’ve given up everything for you—even my powers—just like you wanted. All of this”—she threw her arms wide—“I did for you. So I could be exactly who you want me to be.”
Dr. Wendell pushed the door open. “What on earth is going on in here?” His eyes swept over the three of us, lingering on Kim’s extended blades. “Kim?”
Kim ignored him. “Don’t you get it, Sumi? It’s not your powers that kept us apart—it’s you. You’re twisted on the inside, and switching bodies isn’t going to change that. You hurt the people around you when you can’t get what you want. I could never be with someone like that.”
Her shoulders slumped, giving her the appearance of a broken doll. “No,” she whispered.
He took another step closer. “I’m going to make sure you’ll never hurt anyone else ever again.”
“Wait a second.” Dr. Wendell pressed his hand to his temple. “You mean Rileigh really is Sumi? And you really are … ” His eyes met mine.
“We’re going to have a talk later about that tranquilizer dart,” I answered.
Tears sprang from Sumi’s eyes and she let out a wail. “You don’t mean that, Kim. You loved me once. You can love me again.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Our marriage was arranged to unify our families. I never loved you. And I never will.”
She hugged her arms around her waist and sobbed. If she hadn’t tried to kill me several times over, I might have felt sorry for her. Might.
The sinking feeling inside me grew, and I stumbled back-
ward.
Kim shot a worried glance in my direction. “Are you okay?”
I pressed my palm against my forehead to keep the room from spinning. “We don’t have much longer until the change is permanent.”
He turned to Sumi. “Take the bracelet off and prepare to die.”
Sumi clutched her wrist to her chest. “You would kill me? Even if it means you die too?”
“If it means you never hurt another person I love, absolutely.”
“Kim, no!” I rushed to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. “The Network is on their way here. Once I get my body back, they can lock her up, and we’ll never have to worry about her again.”
He frowned and shook his head. “Isn’t that what we thought last time? And then look what happened. She found a way to switch bodies with you. As long as she’s alive, she’s a threat—she’ll always be searching for a way to hurt you. I’d rather die than give her another chance.” He glared at her.
I stepped in front of him, blocking his path. “I won’t let you. We lost each other in the last life—I won’t lose you in this one.”
His eyes softened. “Rileigh, I—” But before he could finish, Sumi kicked my hand holding the katana. The sword sailed from my grasp and tumbled to the floor. With a gasp, I dove for it—but Sumi was faster.
With my sword clutched in her hands, she scrambled backward toward the door.
I took one of Kim’s katanas from him and pointed it at Sumi’s chest. “Do you honestly think you’re going to defeat the two of us?”
She licked her lips. “I don’t need to defeat you.” She lifted the sword and dug the sharpened edge against her own neck. “I just need to escape. And if you don’t let me go, I’ll slice your pretty little throat. Not only will Kim die, but you’ll lose your precious body—forever.”
29
Japan, 1492
Chiyo ran her hand along the edge of a trunk her men had deposited inside her tent earlier in the evening. She undid the latch and pulled open the lid. Several daggers waited inside. She smiled and withdrew a blade with a delicate gold handle. Tonight’s robbery had gone well. A few more like it, and she’d be set for life. Not too bad for a girl on her own.
She put the blade back when the candlelit silhouette of a man holding a sword passed outside her tent. With a gasp, she whirled around with her hand extended. Her men knew better than to sneak up on her unannounced and not expect death. But before she could release the electricity pulsing from her fingers, the man pushed open her tent flap and revealed himself.
Impossible. Chiyo’s stomach clenched and her hand dropped to her side. “Yoshido?” What on earth was he doing, not only in her camp, but inside her tent? Unless … she snapped her mouth shut and grinned. “You have finally come for me! I knew you would not give up!” She ran to him with her arms extended. Finally she’d have the embrace she’d always dreamed of.
Before she could fall against his chest, he jerked out of reach. “Chiyo?”
She stopped and frowned. “Of course it is me. Who else did you expect to find?”
The look of surprise on his face gave her the answer—anyone but her. He shook his head, his eyes wide. “What are you doing here?”
“Obviously not being rescued,” she replied bitterly. She silently cursed herself for thinking he might actually be here for her. Would she never learn? She pressed her lips together and balled her fingers into fists. She thought she’d long ago squashed the part of her that wistfully longed for married life. She was a powerful kunoichi now. She needed no man.
But if that were true, why did her heart ache in the presence of this one?
“I do not understand,” Yoshido said. His gaze swept across her tent, lingering on the overflowing trunks of silks and weapons. “I was told you were dead.”
She lifted her chin. “You were lied to.”
His eyes returned to hers and he readjusted his grip on his sword. “Then show me the leader. I will kill him for you.”
She almost laughed. “Where were you two years ago?”
His brow furrowed in lines of confusion. “What do you mean?”
She turned to the nearest chest and sat on it. “You never came. You were my betrothed and you left me to suffer.”
He jerked back like he’d been struck.
“And not only that,” she con
tinued, “but when I finally managed to escape on my own, I went looking for you. And I found that you had … already moved on.” She turned away so he wouldn’t see the hurt on her face.
“Oh, Chiyo.” He moved toward her, but she halted him with a glance.
“No, Yoshido.” Anger burned through her. “I have only ever wanted your love,” she spit, “not your pity.” She gestured at the crates and chests stacked around her tent. “Does it look like I suffer? I bet I have more wealth now than you could ever have offered me. Perhaps I am better off.” Even as she said the words, she knew it was a lie. She did suffer, especially now with him in front of her, reminding her of everything she couldn’t have.
His eyes widened. “You are the kunoichi?”
She smirked. “Do not look so surprised. I did what I had to do to survive. Did you think I was going to wait for you forever?”
Just then, a woman pushed aside Chiyo’s silk-covered doorway and stepped inside her tent. She wore the armor of a samurai and her withdrawn sword dripped with blood. A quiver of fear rolled down Chiyo’s spine. This woman reminded Chiyo of a tiger, in that she was beauty and death intertwined.
“Senshi,” Yoshido said, his voice thick with sorrow.
Of course. Chiyo pressed her jaw together so hard it ached. As if it wasn’t enough for him to come here and open old wounds, he had to bring his harlot with him as well. Did he think she was stupid? That she didn’t know he hadn’t been true to his word? She glared at him. She wanted to hear him say the words out loud, to admit his wrongdoing. He owed her that. “Who is that?”
His eyes narrowed in warning. “She is none of your concern.”
This time Chiyo did laugh. She should have known he was not man enough to admit it. “Some samurai you are—making promises you never intended to keep.”
“That is a lie!” His eyes blazed in anger. “Look at you! Look at what you have become. I only had one betrothed, and she was killed by bandits. You are a bandit.” He turned and looked at the woman beside him. “We are going.” He reached for her and the woman slipped her hand within his.
The second their fingers laced, Chiyo felt a rip through her heart. As much as she’d tried to convince herself she was better on her own, having Yoshido hold hands with another woman reminded her how much she’d been in love with him—and how much she still was.
