“Hey you, warrior girl.” Elektra could see her breath tickling the soft hairs against Abby’s temple and she willed Abby to feel what she saw, to experience the sensation of the strands of hair sliding across her sensitive skin. “Do you see me? Look at me, I’m over here. No, no—right here.” She squeezed Abby’s wrists, pushing her silent commands into the flesh rather than trying to feel for life. “That’s it,” she continued in a murmur. “Now come to me, come to me, come here. Obey your superiors, that’s right. Always obey your superiors.”
Elektra paused, knowing she would start again if she had to, she would not give up. Abby’s face was still blank, but… yes! There was something…something…
She looked down. One of Abby’s fingers had moved until it was just barely touching Elektra’s own. Coincidence? No—suddenly Abby gagged, then her body twisted on the bed. She writhed and turned, but Elektra made no attempt to hold or quiet her other than to keep her grip on the teenager’s wrists. It was a terrible thing to watch, but some things in this universe were meant to be done alone.
Coming back to life would not be any easier for Abby than it had been for Elektra years before.
It had taken more than half an hour for the convulsions to subside, and now the exhausted Abby was sleeping quietly. Elektra was content to just sit at Abby’s bedside and listen to her breathing, watch her chest rise up and down and monitor the tiny jump of her not-so-strong pulse beneath the fragile skin of her neck.
It was almost ten when Elektra heard Mark’s crutchaided footsteps thunking down the hallway, followed by the much more subtle stride she recognized as Stick. In his haste, Mark came around the doorway and jerked to a stop, nearly falling when he saw his daughter’s prone figure on the bed. Elektra waved her hand to call him in when she saw the fear on his face.
“She’s fine,” Elektra said. “She’s fine.” She rose and gestured again for Mark to take her place by the bedside. She met Stick’s blind gaze, then walked to the window and looked outside. She had not stood at this window since well before her mother’s death, but finally, after all this time, she had found the sense of detachment—if not peace—she needed from her mother’s passing.
The demon in her dreams was just that…
A dream.
Elektra couldn’t exactly recall the last time she’d been in the master bedroom and seen the sunshine spilling through the tall windows, but it was sure doing that now. It was fitting, though, a lovely morning to welcome Abby back into the land of the living and into a life free of those who had tried so hard to kill her and her father. Mark was in parental hover mode, of course, and Stick stood regally in the doorway as Elektra went over to the bed.
She smiled down at Abby. “How are you?”
Abby nodded—better—but she wasn’t quite ready to try her voice. After a moment, Elektra sat on the side of the bed, then she jumped a little when Abby reached over and took her hand. She didn’t pull away.
“So,” Elektra said after a bit, “what’s next?” Abby looked at her with a frown, not understanding. “Kirigi’s gone,” Elektra reminded her. “No one’s after you. You can do what you want now.” Abby’s frown deepened and Elektra almost shook her head as she realized how strange it must be for Abby to actually have a choice in what she could now do with her life. No one had ever revealed the specifics, but she and her father must have been running for a long, long time. Elektra grinned. “Back to school?” This question made the girl scrunch up her face so much that Elektra chuckled. She gestured toward the blind man. “Train with Stick?” This time Abby looked undecided, so Elektra decided to lighten things up all the way. “Go lie on a beach and get a tan,” she said with cheerful finality.
Abby considered this, then looked hopefully toward her dad. “I want ice cream,” she ventured in a scratchy voice. Both Mark and Elektra laughed, then without warning Abby threw her arms around Elektra and held on tight.
Elektra swallowed, fighting against tears. She was supposed to be the strong mentor here, not a sappy friend. It would be nice if she could be both, but her life just wasn’t set up like that. The girl’s next words were a bittersweet reminder of exactly that. “You gave me my life back,” Abby whispered.
“You gave me mine,” Elektra said in return, and she meant it.
Only Abby heard her, but it was enough to make the girl sit back and stare at her with a sudden understanding that was a little too old for her years. Tears glistened in the teenager’s eyes. “Will I see you again?”
On the other side of the bed, Mark sat up straighter on his chair. “Are you leaving?”
Elektra smiled at them both. “We’ll find each other.” She hugged Abby, then gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. Over Abby’s head, her gaze met Mark’s. His was hopeful, hers was forgiving. The reconciliation was complete… but they both knew it would never go any further.
Elektra left the estate feeling better about life and herself than she had since the death of her father and her parting from Matt. She stopped outside for a while, looking at the ruins of the maze and the remains of the overgrown grounds. What would become of this place now? What should become of it? She had so much history here, but Elektra wasn’t sure she ever wanted to return, or what she would do if she did. Yes, she had some decisions to make, but she would take her time about it. They would not be made lightly.
“Please,” she finally said to Stick. “Don’t let her be like me.” She’d known he was behind her for at least three minutes.
Stick made his way carefully forward until he was standing by her side. “Why not? You haven’t turned out so bad.”
She glanced sideways at him, surprised at the tone of approval in his voice. They’d crossed attitudes so often that it was something she’d never thought she’d hear. “I…just don’t want it to be so hard for her,” she finally said.
But her mentor simply shrugged. “That’s up to her.”
Elektra could only lift a corner of her mouth ruefully—that was all too true. “Anyway,” she added, “your second life’s never like your first, is it?”
Stick smiled vaguely. “Sometimes it’s better.”
Elektra looked at him and knew that even though the man didn’t have his vision, he could see her.
She turned and walked away, knowing that he always would.
Epilogue
DEADLOCK.
Roshi sat back and studied the Go board. “You played well, as usual,” he said.
Stick leaned forward and let his fingers touch lightly across the board, feeling the pieces along the playing field, finding and mentally recording his white ones. “Not too shabby yourself. Unfortunately, I lost that treasure you so coveted.”
“The little one—she died after all? So sorry.” Roshi paused, then nodded sadly. His eyes glittered in the mellow light of the room. “And I have lost my greatest warrior, the magnificent Kirigi.”
“Who tried to displace you as leader,” Stick pointed out.
Roshi grinned and raised one eyebrow. “And somehow failed to kill the girl you try to convince me is dead.” He turned to a small table off to the side and ceremoniously poured two cups of sake. Stick accepted one and they lifted their cups toward each other.
“Yet once again,” Roshi added, “for all our skill, we end in a stalemate. What is the point of playing if no one wins?”
Now it was Stick’s turn to smile. “Just to keep playing, I suppose.”
They finished their sake without saying anything else, then both men reached out calloused fingers and began meticulously gathering their stones. Oddly enough, it almost seemed as if they were “unplaying” their game, reversing all the maneuverings and situations that had already taken place.
Roshi looked down at the board when it was finally cleared. He seemed vaguely puzzled, as if he were still asking himself why bother. “Another game, then?”
After a moment, Stick reached out and carefully placed the first white stone on the board.
THE END …?
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Elektra Page 20
