by Cole Gibsen
I didn’t have my sword and I didn’t have enough ki left to make a shield. But I had a samurai’s spirit. I would win this fight. Or I would die. And if I died right now, at least I could be at peace with the fact that I did so with honor.
“I pity you.” I spit the words through clenched teeth. “You have to brainwash people to get them to love you. If I die now, I know I’ll die with Kim’s heart. That’s something you’ll never have.”
She snarled. The light crackling against her fingertips grew brighter, to a level that would shock the life from my body.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. This was it. The moment every samurai trained for. Death—the unbeatable opponent. I wasn’t scared to die. But a pang of sorrow wound through my heart as I realized that, this time, I’d have to navigate the afterlife alone.
Or maybe not. Maybe this time, instead of Yoshido, Q would be waiting with an offered hand. The thought made me smile.
I was ready. I took another deep breath—maybe even my last. Because Rileigh Martin, teenage samurai, had come to the end of another life. And she’d done so by filling her existence with friends, family, and love. It was enough.
54
One thing I’d learned through all my close calls, is that death is a woman. I know this because she’s a total diva. She likes to maintain a mysterious rock star image. So when you least expect it, she storms in with the attitude that she owns the place. And when you’re waiting for her, she’s almost always fashionably late.
So there I was, waiting to die and, of course, it wasn’t happening.
I opened my eyes to see the reason for the holdup. I’d expected to see Sumi with her hand extended, wearing a sinister grin, and having one of those clichéd villain moments where she wanted to savor my death.
Instead something, moving fast enough to blur, crashed into Sumi and knocked her to the floor. She screamed and struggled against the person wrestling her to the ground, but he pinned her arms behind her back. Once she was safely secured, her captor’s eyes met mine.
Kim.
He hauled Sumi to her feet. She kicked and thrashed but remained firmly in his grasp.
I started for him.
He frowned. “Don’t.”
I stopped, even though his words drove a spike into my heart.
His gaze softened. “She’s dangerous. She’s transcended. She’ll always be dangerous.”
I nodded. That didn’t leave us with a whole lot of options. “How is she not hurting us now?”
“Her power is in her hands.” Kim inclined his head, motioning to Sumi’s wrists ensnared by his hands. “If I let her go, it will be all over for us.”
Sumi stopped struggling and smiled. “That’s right. And you can’t hold on to me forever. So you might as well let me go.”
“No.” Kim must have tightened his grip because she flinched. “I was a fool to let you live in the last life. I’m not going to make the same mistake in this one. You’ve caused enough damage.”
“You think I’ve done damage?” She unleashed a high-pitched hysterical laugh. “I’ve done nothing but put things right. How things should have been before she”—Sumi spit the word like venom—“came between us. We can be together now as we were meant to be.”
“No.” Still holding her wrists, he spun her in his arms so she came face-to-face with him. “I don’t love you. I never loved you. I felt an obligation to you as I was bound by honor. But that obligation ended the moment you became this. I could never be with someone so full of selfish hate. Someone who manipulates the minds of others so she can control them. You disgust me.”
She flinched, her eyes widening in horror. “I—I don’t believe you. This is her doing.” She twisted in his arms to glare at me. “She confused you. She made you forget. When she’s gone, we can go back to our lives. It can be like it was.”
“You don’t get it,” Kim said. “I love Rileigh. I will always love Rileigh. From this life into the next.” He met my eyes, sending small shivers racing along my skin. How could I have been such an idiot to believe he’d ever choose to leave me for her?
Sumi’s face flushed and her eyes brimmed with tears. “So what are you going to do?” Static danced along her fingertips. “You can’t hold me forever.”
“You’re right.” He looked at me with a sadness in his eyes I couldn’t decipher. “Rileigh, I need you to get your sword.”
A chill rippled down my spine as I nodded. I walked to the spot where my sword lay abandoned on the floor and picked it up. As a samurai, it was my duty to rid the world from someone so dangerous. But as I walked back to where Kim stood holding Sumi, I couldn’t help but notice an uneasy quiver that brushed along my skin. Something about this didn’t feel right.
As I drew closer, Sumi flailed in Kim’s arms. Despite the uneasy feeling, a part of me wanted her to suffer. I wanted her to hurt like she’d hurt me. I shook my head and struggled to push those feelings down into the pit of my stomach. I needed to be calm and emotionless for what I had to do next.
I stopped and raised my blade.
Sumi shrieked and thrashed. “Don’t you dare! What Kim’s not telling you is that if you kill me, you’ll inadvertently kill him. We’re soul mates.”
I froze. My breath lodged in my throat. There it was—the reason for the uneasiness twisting my insides into knots. I lowered my blade and looked at Kim. “How could you leave out that little detail?”
“Doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “You have to end her. It’s the only way to make sure she won’t harm anyone again.”
I blinked at him. Was he insane? How could I kill her knowing that Kim would die shortly after?
“Rileigh, please,” he said. “Look at me.”
I looked up and fell into his dark brown eyes.
“You have to do this. For me. It’s because I love you. Because I always will. Death won’t change that.”
His words unraveled me. Desperation filled his eyes. I couldn’t imagine the physical toll Sumi’s manipulation took on him. Or how hard it was for him to fight her off. He couldn’t have much energy left, which meant I didn’t have much time to decide.
But the fact remained, I loved him so much. And I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to live a life without him. He had to know that if I killed him, I’d be killing a piece of myself as well. “Kim, I don’t—”
“Yes, you can.” A faint smile appeared on his face. “You are a samurai. The strongest of us all.”
I choked back a sob. “I know,” I answered, quoting the words he spoke to me more than 500 years ago.
He laughed and the sound shattered what remained of my heart.
I raised my katana. It felt heavier than I remembered it being. For the first time since I began my training, it didn’t feel like an extension of my body. It felt foreign and awkward in my grip. Two times it almost slid from my fingers before I tightened my hold.
Sumi shrieked and began thrashing all over again.
Kim twisted her to the side so he could look at me directly. “I’m so sorry you have to do this. But you’re the only one who can.” His eyes bore into mine with a ferocity I’d only seen on the battlefield. “I promise, I’ll find you again.”
Hot tears burned down my cheeks and my sword wavered in my hands. I hiccupped and tried to gain some composure but quickly gave up the attempt. Though it had never been stated, I was willing to bet even samurais were allowed to cry when they had to kill someone they loved.
It wasn’t fair. We’d been through so much, and overcome the impossible, only to be torn apart again. And the reason why was struggling in Kim’s grip. I glared at her, hating her in that moment more than I’d hated anyone else before—in this life and the last. I welcomed the feeling, allowing it to course inside my blood and burn my sorrow away until I was numb from the inside out.
I stepped forward.
Sumi’s lip quivered and her eyes never left my advancing blade.
I averted my gaze to Kim. “How long will you have until—” I left the sentence dangling in the air, unable to voice the words out loud.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe an hour or two … maybe only a minute.”
I nodded and raised my katana over my head. “I love you.”
55
Wait!”
I froze, my blade hovering an inch above Sumi’s nose.
Sumi cracked an eye open. “No. It can’t be.”
I lowered my sword and whirled around to find Q staggering to his feet. He grimaced as he stood upright, pushing his shoulders back with a hiss of pain.
I didn’t move, didn’t breathe out of fear I would somehow awaken from the dream I’d stumbled into. I saw him take the bolt of lightning and crumple to the ground. I thought he was dead—he looked dead. “Please tell me you’re real,” I whispered.
He smiled. “No generics here.”
An earsplitting squeal erupted from my mouth but I didn’t care. I ran to him, but he stopped me with an outstretched hand before I could hug him.
“I’m a little tender.”
“I can imagine.” I couldn’t stop bouncing.
“How?” Sumi called out from the spot Kim still held her. When I looked at her I noticed her face was paler than normal. “No one has ever survived my electrocution.”
Q walked over to her. “I’m a healer. When you have this gift and use it in the way it was intended, the power grows into something amazing. But you wouldn’t know that, would you?”
She tried to shrink back, but Kim’s body kept her locked in place. “You’re not stronger than me. That’s impossible.”
Q shrugged. “Not impossible. In fact, it would be my pleasure to give you a demonstration.” He unbuttoned his sleeves and began rolling them up.
“What are you going to do?” Sumi pushed against Kim’s hold. “Don’t you come near me! Don’t you touch me!”
Kim looked at me, his brow pinched in confusion. “What’s going on?”
“It’s okay,” I told him. “Q’s got this.”
He frowned. “A lot has happened while I’ve been out of it.”
I nodded. I didn’t dare tell him about Whitley. Speaking of … I looked around the barn. Drew, Braden, and Michelle rested peacefully, but Whitley was nowhere to be seen. I shook my head. I don’t know why I was surprised. The coward probably made a break for it the first opportunity he had.
“Don’t you dare mess with my mind!” Sumi shrieked, tossing her head back and forth. “I’ll hunt you down in every life. I’ll kill you in a thousand different ways. I’ll torture your loved ones. I’ll—”
“Do absolutely nothing.” Q smiled. “Want to know why?”
Sumi shook her head. Her lip quivered.
“You’ll do nothing because I’m going to make it so you won’t remember any of this. Now or ever again.”
Kim’s eyebrows shot up. “You can do that?”
“Yes he can!” I grinned. It was the perfect solution. Now no one had to die.
Q nodded. “The abuse Sumi encountered in her last life scarred her. Her hatred is a disease. I’m going to take away her memories of Japan. I’m going to take away all the hurt and anger she’s been carrying around.” He looked directly into Sumi’s eyes. “I’m going to give you the chance to live a normal, happy life.”
Even after Sumi had almost killed him, all Q wanted to do was help her. I couldn’t help but thank my lucky stars I got to be best friends with someone so amazing.
Q rubbed his palms together until a white light glowed from his fingertips. He reached for Sumi.
“No!” She shrieked, kicking her feet.
Kim adjusted his grip, the muscles in his arms straining to hold onto her thrashing body.
Q hesitated. “Maybe you should let go.”
“I can’t.” He spoke through clenched teeth. “If I let go she’ll unleash her power and you’ll be dead.”
Q’s hands were glowing so bright I had to squint through the light. I wanted this over with so we could get back to our lives. I couldn’t wait for the moment when I’d finally be able to fall into Kim’s arms.
The glow from Q’s hands reflected bright orbs into Sumi’s wide eyes. “We’ll do this,” Q said. “Just don’t move. We wouldn’t want any accidents.” He bit his lip and stretched out his hand.
I held my breath and leaned forward on my toes. In just a couple of seconds this would all be over. And then Kim and I could be together and we could pretend this whole thing was just a nightmare.
But just as Q was about to touch Sumi’s face, she planted her feet and threw herself at Q. I watched Kim’s eyes widen in surprise. He managed to keep her in his grasp, but her movement caught him off balance. Together, they tumbled forward. As they fell, Sumi turned to look at me. The fear on her face only moments ago had been replaced with a look of triumph.
“No.” My cry was barely a whisper. I watched, helpless, as Q tried to get out of the way. But there hadn’t been enough time. Both Sumi and Kim collided into Q’s outstretched hands. The moment they touched, light filled the room so brightly I was forced to shield my eyes with my arm. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. I had to believe when I opened my eyes everything would be fine. Kim would be fine. I couldn’t consider the alternative.
A few seconds later the light died. I dropped my hand and opened my eyes. Q sat on the ground with a hand pressed against his temple. His eyes met mine. “Rileigh, I-I’m so sorry. I couldn’t get out of the way. There was nothing I could do.”
I shook my head. “It’s okay.” My voice wavered. Kim and Sumi laid on the ground, unmoving. I rushed over to Kim, dropped to my knees, and propped his head in my lap. My fingers trembled across his skin as I stroked his cheek. “He’s going to be fine. I bet you missed him.”
Q’s eyes dropped to the ground. He didn’t answer me. He didn’t have to. His silence said everything.
Kim’s lashes fluttered and I snatched my hand away.
Panic squeezed my heart in a too-tight embrace. I held my breath. He just had to be okay.
And when he smiled at me, I knew he was. “Oh, thank God.” Waves of relief washed over me and the tension knotting my muscles unwound. “You’re okay.”
“Of course I am.” He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around the room. The smile melted from his lips and lines of confusion pinched his forehead. “But I do have to ask … ” He looked into my eyes and said the words that ripped me half.
“Do I know you?”
56
Someone knocked on my bedroom door.
I cracked open an eye. With my concentration broken, my legs wavered over my head. I locked my elbows to keep from toppling over. The rush of blood pooling into my head set fire to my cheeks. “What?”
Dr. Wendell opened my door and stepped inside. If he was surprised to find me hanging out in a handstand, he didn’t act it. Instead, he gave a little sigh and crossed the room until his argyle-covered ankles were inches from my face. “You got another postcard.”
Oh, goody. After my fight with the kunoichi, I thought I’d never hear from Whitley again, but he seemed to get a kick out of sending me Wish You Were Here postcards from around the world. “Where’s this one from?”
“Egypt. Don’t you think it’s weird he sends you those things?”
Weird? Definitely. But personally, I slept a lot better at night knowing he’s on the opposite side of the globe. I pushed off my arms and landed on my feet where I took the postcard from Dr. Wendell’s outstretched hand. As usual, it was signed, “Your soul mate, Whitley.”
Ugh. I tossed it beside the growing stack on my desk and turned my attention to Dr. Wendell. “Is that all you wanted?” I dusted my hands on my y
oga pants. “Or is another historic bad guy on the verge of getting their memory back?”
He shook his head. “No. You’ve done such a good job, things are pretty quiet.”
That sucked. I was hoping for some action. Even though I swore I never would, after Kim lost his memory, I started working missions for Dr. Wendell and the Network. Turns out I’d been right all along about them. The missions did occupy most of my free time. But now that I had no social life to cut into, that was just the way I liked it. It had been more than six months since Kim’s memory was wiped, and anything I could do to avoid thinking about him was just peachy.
The problem was, it’d been three days since my last mission and I was growing increasingly aware of the ache gnawing at my heart. I needed a distraction, and fast. “Okay. If there are no bad guys to fight, are there any artifacts I can look for?”
“Not at the moment.”
I huffed. “Some papers that need filing? I can go to the office supply store. You can never have too many paperclips.”
“We don’t need paperclips.” He looked away and shifted uncomfortably. “But there is something you can do.”
Uh-oh. I knew that look and I knew what it meant. “No. Absolutely not.”
He swept a hand through his hair and met my eyes. “You know I wouldn’t ask you unless we were in a bind.”
I shook my head so hard I could feel my brain jostle in my skull. “Uh-uh. No way. Why can’t Drew check on him? They’re neighbors.”
Dr. Wendell nodded. “Yes, but Drew’s out of town. He wanted to go to some comic convention and I told him to do it. This thing with Kim has been hard on him, too. He lost his brother, you know.”
Guilt twisted my stomach and I bit my lip. Sometimes I forgot I wasn’t the only one affected by Kim’s memory loss. “What about Michelle? Or Braden?”
He made a face. “It’s prom and they wanted to go. I didn’t think it was fair of me to ask them to cut their night short. Especially when you’ve made it abundantly clear you didn’t want to go to the dance. And without a mission, you’ve got no plans for the night.”