Except to her.
The cramped, dim room was hot and stuffy, but a chill settled in Emmi’s bones and she hugged her arms around herself. The most important thing was that Kae, his father and Takehito were alive. At least she wouldn’t have to die with the thought that her stupidity had taken innocent men to their deaths as well.
She wanted to go home. She wanted to see Jake and her grandparents. Her brother and even her mother. What she wanted more than anything was someone to hug her and tell she was safe.
And, yes, she wanted Kae to be that person, but that certainly wasn’t ever going to happen now.
* * * *
Kae watched silently as the servant women carefully packed up and removed Emiko’s things. So this was it. It was over between them before he’d even gotten the chance to really know her, to love her more than he already did.
“Wait. Not that,” he said to the girl who was taking the parcel of odd undergarments he’d had made for Emmi in Gion.
“But, sir—”
“Just leave it. Please.”
The girl frowned a bit but did as he asked. She set the small wrapped bundle at his feet before withdrawing with the last of Emmi’s things. Kae lay back on the tatami and rested his head upon the bundle, certain he could smell Emmi’s sweet scent lingering in the fabric.
It had been such a short time since she’d come into his life, and yet it seemed as if she’d been a part of his world forever. He knew he would be lost without her, but what else could he do? Even with everyone sworn to secrecy under the penalty of death for what happened to the young prince, the fact was that Emiko must be divorced and exiled as soon as possible. It was only by the grace of the gods that Emperor Komei and the shogun had decided to spare the entire Maeda clan from the retribution that would normally be handed down.
Kae didn’t even bother to worry about where he would be sent. Most likely he’d be exiled to some remote temple and forced into monkhood for the remainder of his days. Not that it mattered. There was nothing for him here, nothing without his Emmi.
“Kae-san?”
Kae’s eyes snapped open at the sound of a boy’s voice, and he immediately prostrated himself before the emperor’s heir. “My Lord, you should not be here.”
“Are you no longer my friend?”
“The foolish actions of my wife have brought too much dishonor. Please, my Lord, I beg you to remove yourself from this unworthy one’s presence.”
“No. I will stay.” Sachi sat in front of Kae. “My father is very angry.”
“As he should be, my Lord,” Kae said with his forehead still pressed to the tatami.
“I was angry, but now I am sad.”
“Sad?”
“I have been lonely since they locked you and Emiko-chan away. I miss you telling me stories when I can’t sleep. I miss watching your wife write such bad poetry. I miss the happiness she brought me at the festival. I miss your wife, Kae-san.”
Kae lifted his head enough to glance up. Sachi was a blurred shape through the tears that formed in his eyes.
“As do I, my Lord, but it cannot be helped. We have offended you. We have brought shame upon our families and ourselves. We must be punished.”
“So they say.”
The young prince rose and disappeared back into the hidden passage from which he’d come.
Kae sat up and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Perhaps death would be the best option for him now. At least it would still the pain in his heart.
* * * *
Kyoto
Present day
Jake Hillhouse shifted nervously and glanced to his sister before turning to Emmi’s mother.
“Tara, I have a real bad feeling about this. I don’t think you should go through with this ritual or ceremony or whatever it is.”
“My daughter is missing. I will do anything to get Emmi back, no matter how crazy it seems. She didn’t get blown away in that storm. She’s not dead. She’s somewhere. I know it, and I’ll get her back with Honji’s help.”
Jake glanced at his sister again, but watched silently as Tara stepped into the waiting elevator with the former Buddhist monk who was certain he could return Emmi to their living world.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kyoto
1864
It seemed to be a week before they stopped shoving food trays through the door to Emmi’s cell-like room. Hana, the girl who brought the food, finally joined Emmi for a meal. Hana also had the dubious honor of bringing her a bucket of cold water to wash with in the mornings and taking away the other disgusting bucket that served as her bathroom.
Emmi almost choked on her rice when Hana said that she would take her to get a real bath and a change of clothes once she had finished her meal.
“I would give anything to soak in a tub of hot water and be able to wash my hair—” Emmi felt the smile drop from her face. Maybe this was not a good thing. Maybe they only wanted her clean and presentable when it came time for the long-delayed execution.
Emmi pushed her food tray away. “I can’t eat any more.”
Hana looked at her a moment, then nodded and took the tray outside. She came right back with a tray containing clean clothes. A flash of pale yellow caught Emmi’s attention, and she reached under to lift the kimono. She bit her lip and tried to blink away the tears that were stinging her eyes. It was the silk underwear Kae had given her.
“I will help you to the bath now.”
Emmi wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and stood, clutching the tray with the clothes to her chest.
Emmi felt awkward with the maid hanging around while she undressed and bathed, but she supposed they didn’t want her to try to escape or drown herself. At least sitting in the big tub and being able to pour water over her head hid the fact that she was crying like a baby the whole time. The bath should have made her feel better, but it didn’t.
Emmi hardly noticed that when they left the bathhouse, Hana wasn’t leading her back the way they’d come. Finally she looked up and realized that this corridor was familiar. This was the way to Kae’s rooms.
“Emmi.”
She spun around so fast she almost lost her balance and had to reach out to grab the wall. There he was. Kae was there—here—standing just a few feet away in the doorway that led outside. She bolted forward and threw herself at him. She hugged him as tightly as she could and buried her face in his shoulder. She didn’t even care that the hilts of his swords were jabbing her in the stomach.
“They’re going to kill me, aren’t they? But I don’t care. Not really. Not as long as you and your father are all right. You’re going to be okay, right? And Takehito is safe? And Sadanori?”
Kae wrapped his arms tighter around her and kissed the top of her head. He rubbed his hands across her back. “You will not die, Emiko. No one is going to die.”
She looked up, sniffled, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “You mean it? You’re not lying to me?”
“Have I ever lied to you?”
She cried and hugged him again. It was going to be all right. They were safe and together, and he forgave her for being so stupid with Sachi.
“We will have to leave Kyoto, however,” he said softly.
She looked up and rubbed her eyes again. “Leave Kyoto? But will we be together? Will I have to go away alone?”
He smiled and rubbed the last of her tears away with his fingertips. “We will go together. The first thing in the morning.”
Emmi nodded and hugged him again. It would be okay. As long as he was with her, it would all work out.
Kae pulled back and smiled at her again. He looked so tired. He looked like she’d been feeling all these days since the Sachi business.
“Are you sure you’re all right? You look awful. They didn’t hurt you or your father, did they?”
He shook his head. “We were not harmed. My father has disowned me, but I expected as much. He is allowed to stay on here as the emperor’s advisor
.”
Emmi touched Kae’s face. “I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I really didn’t know who Sachi was—”
Kae touched his fingers to her lips to silence her.
“None of that matters now. Come with me. I have something for you.”
He took her hand and headed down the hall toward his rooms.
Emmi prayed that this wasn’t some cruel setup, that he wasn’t turning her over to guards for execution. She didn’t think he could be so horrible, but if the emperor was testing his loyalty…
She held her breath as he slid open the door. There was no one in the main room. He led the way to the bedroom. Emmi closed her eyes and took another deep breath as he slid that door open.
“Emiko.”
The sound of Kae saying her name made her open her eyes, and when she did, she saw it. The mirror. Her mirror. It was sitting on top of a small lacquered chest on the far side of the room, across from the futon. She ran to it, picked it up, hugged it to her chest, then turned to look at Kae.
“It’s mine. It’s really mine. How did you get it?”
“I had to buy Aneko one with genuine gold trim before she would consider parting with that. I also had to buy her freedom for her and give her enough money to leave Kyoto.”
“But that must have cost a fortune. It must have cost everything you had… You did that to get back my mirror? You did all of that for me after everything that happened?”
He removed his swords from his belt and set them in the rack near the bed. He smiled and came across the room.
“I would do anything for you.”
Emmi thought she’d cried all the tears she could possibly cry, but she cried again from sheer joy. She was happier than she could ever remember being. She put the mirror down on the cabinet and threw herself back into Kae’s arms.
He kissed her long and slow, and she didn’t care if she never saw her own time again.
* * * *
Kyoto
Present day
Something was happening, Jake could feel it. The air in the room was unnaturally heavy, and the fine hairs on the back of his neck prickled as if copious amounts of static electricity was spiraling around them, almost the way a tornado swirls and begins sucking things into its vortex.
A chill shot down Jake’s spine when Emmi’s mother gasped.
“I see her. I see her in the mirror!”
The former monk said nothing—he was deep in whatever trance he’d put himself into with his chanting, which continued in a preternatural drone.
Jake, too, saw something—a distinct blue fog reflected in part of the mirror’s edge.
A shadow fell over the room, and Jake looked over his shoulder. Outside the hotel window the waning daylight had totally faded, as if a dark cloud had settled over the setting sun. A boom of thunder rattled the window, and a white-hot bolt of lightning cut directly in front of the glass.
The air raced and howled outside the window, and Jake finally understood the true meaning of the word kamikaze—Divine Wind. This was not natural.
* * * *
Kyoto
1864
Emmi barely heard the clap of thunder through the rush of blood in her ears as Kae kissed her again and again. His hands began to tug at her obi. She felt the fabric give way and fall free, and she sighed. She pressed forward when he slipped his hand inside the front of the kimono to brush his fingers across her silk-covered breast.
“Emiko… Emiko… Can you hear me?”
“Of course I can hear you,” she sighed.
“What?” Kae asked pulling back from the kiss.
“Nothing. Forget it,” she said, coaxing his head back toward hers.
“EMIKO!”
Pain ricocheted through her head. It was like the accident, when the car slammed through the guardrail. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t hear.
She couldn’t feel Kae’s arms around her anymore. “Kae!”
Kae was flung back by an unseen force when Emmi was wrenched from his embrace. He hit the futon flat on his back, and his head bounced off the floor despite the thick cushion. He shook off the impact and pushed himself to his knees in time to see Emmi enveloped in a strange blue mist. He rose and lunged forward, tried to grab what he could see of her outstretched hand.
“Emmi!”
It was too late. The mist was gone. Emmi was gone.
The mirror…was broken.
* * * *
Everything was a blur as Emmi flew backward across a million miles of nothingness. She slowed for a minute, but then she was jerked harder until the blackness turned bright.
“Ohmygod!”
Was that Uncle Jake’s sister?
“Emmi!”
Mom?
She was in a room. She was flying across the room. She could see a window coming closer, closer…
Someone screamed.
Big hands grabbed her and pulled. Uncle Jake. She fell, hit something—someone—hard.
Her mother grabbed her, hugged her in a crushing embrace.
“Kae. Where’s Kae? Mom, where am I? Where’s Kae?”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Kaga Domain
1864
Takehito thought he was seeing a specter when Nakagawa Kaemon entered the finely appointed reception room of his home. The young man bowing his head in greeting was not the vibrant young warrior he’d entrusted his Emiko to, and he knew that the incident with the young imperial prince was only a fraction of the cause for Kaemon’s current state.
“Emiko is gone,” Takehito said flatly as he knelt opposite his guest.
Kae looked at him questioningly with his dark eyes empty, haunted. “You know. But how?”
Unable to explain, Takehito shook his head and shrugged his broad shoulders. “Fleeting thoughts, dreams, nothing more.”
Kae exhaled a long, dismal sigh and sat back on his heels, wetness pooling in the corners of his eyes. “I miss her,” he said in a dull, soft tone. He managed a faint trace of a smile. “The days are too quiet and predictable without her.”
Takehito reached out to touch Kae’s shoulder. “She was…unique.” His expression hardened when a knock sounded on the shoji. A servant looked in.
“Forgive me, my Lord, but the monk has returned. He insists that you see him. He has had yet another vision. This one clearer. This one featuring a girl riding upon a golden dragonfly.”
Kae’s eyes grew wide, and Takehito knew he was thinking of the same thing—the charm Emiko wore—the golden dragonfly of Lord Maeda Toshiie.
“I will see him. Nakagawa no miya will see him as well.”
Monk Anji entered, and his old eyes grew wide the instant he saw Kae. “You! You are the one! You are the one who torments her spirit. You are the one her soul cries out for!”
Kae leaped to his feet, rushed forward and gripped the old man’s shoulders. “You have seen Emiko? Where is she?”
“She is in great pain, my son. Her soul cries out for what it lost. It cries out for…you.”
“Then do something!” Takehito shouted. “I have looked into your background. I know what they say near Osore-Zan—you communicate with the dead. You have powers to reach beyond the living world.”
Kae faltered, his shoulders slumping. “Emiko is…dead?”
“No, no, no,” Anji said. “She is among the living, but it is on a different plane. It is a magical place where great silver birds rule the sky, and where unseen men sing out from small circles of solid rainbows. It is a frightening, wonderful place.”
Kae grabbed the monk’s shoulder. “Can you take me there? I need to be there. I must see her again.”
Monk Anji looked down and wrung his wrinkled hands. “I don’t know. I don’t know. There may be a way. There are places on Osore-Zan that may be portals to other worlds, but it is all so dangerous.” He looked up. “There are no guarantees. You could be killed for daring to use the gods’ magic. You could be transported to a place where demons will eat you alive.”
Takehito removed a small silk pouch from within his kimono sleeve. Pieces of gold clinked when he shoved it into the monk’s hands. “You will work your magic, priest.”
* * * *
Los Angeles
Present day
Emmi was home, in her own room, in her own house, and she hated it. It had nothing to do with her mother. Her mother was fine. In fact, she was great. She was smiling and happy, much like the way she’d been before the accident. While Emmi realized that her mother had only blamed her for the accident—as Jake had said—to deal with the pain of losing her husband, Emmi felt little comfort in her mother’s renewed grace. Emmi’s own lonely pain was eating her away inside. She hated everything, absolutely everything. She hated the California sun and the days that dragged by like excruciating months. She had always been proud of the home’s tribute to their culture, had loved it, but now she hated it.
There were too many Japanese things here—the low tables, the lacquered chests, the porcelain, the garden—they all reminded her of Kae. There were too many posters and pictures of her father and Jake from their samurai movies, wearing the traditional kimono and hakama. Everything about home constantly reminded her of Kae. She couldn’t even bring herself to talk to Jake when he called from Kyoto to check up on her. Simply knowing he was there, where she wanted to be, where she belonged, made her cry.
Of course, that wasn’t exactly correct. She didn’t belong in the Kyoto of now any more than she belonged here in L.A. She belonged back in old Kyoto. As weird and dangerous and alien to her as it had been, she wanted to be there. She needed to be there because Kae was there. Somewhere.
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