Senshi (A Katana Novel) (20 page)

41

I
kept my gaze locked over my shoulder, watching the two ninja close in on us from behind. If we could pick up the pace, we’d reach the doors to the parking lot. Just a little farther …

“Rileigh.” Carson jerked free from my grip. “Look out.”

Before I could glimpse what he was warning me about, I collided into something hard—something that smelled like sandalwood.

Son of hibachi.

I wobbled back, dazed from my Kim impact, when Carson took my hand and pulled me against him. “Sorry about that. My girl isn’t feeling so great.”

My girl?
I fought the urge to make a face at him. I had more important things to deal with than Carson’s sudden possessiveness.

I watched the ninja, who hung back but still watched the scene with interest. At least I knew they weren’t going to make their move around bystanders. This was good news. Maybe I could find a way to ditch Carson, after all.

“Are you okay?” Kim asked. His soft tone pulled at the slivers of thread keeping me together. God, I’d missed his voice.

I locked my jaw and dared to look at him. To my surprise, I didn’t burst into flames of agony. But I did feel the knife of pain, still buried in my heart, twist. I would never forgive him for doing this to me. Not in this lifetime. Not in a thousand lifetimes.

Carson cleared his throat, pulling me back to the world that existed beyond me and Kim—a world with ninja who wanted to kill me.

Right. Focus, Rileigh.

“We have to go,” I told Kim. I tightened my grip on Carson’s hand, knowing it was the only thing keeping me rooted in place. Even now, with all my anger, I could still feel his pull, the need to stand next to him, to touch him, to—
NO!
I had to focus. “Later.” I only hoped it hurt Kim to see me with someone else as much as it hurt me to see him with Sumi. Still holding Carson’s hand, I brushed past Kim, not bothering to keep my shoulder from bumping against him as I walked past. I didn’t have time for personal drama. I had staying alive to worry about.

“Rileigh, wait.”

My feet stopped moving. Just like that. Despite the fact I’d rather be trapped in an entire room full of ninja than to be in a five-mile radius of Kim, he still had the ability to stop me in my tracks. And I hated him for it—for the hold he had over me. Anger simmered in the pit of my stomach. Anger at Kim for making me love him, and anger at myself for being unable to stop.

Carson’s hand slid out of mine.

“What, Kim?” I didn’t bother to hide the acid in my voice.

Next to me Carson snickered. “His name is Kim?”

Kim frowned, as if noticing him for the first time. His eyes traveled over Carson’s frame and I knew Kim was sizing him up.

Awesome. Not only did I have ninja to deal with but now I had a pissing contest between two boys.

I tried to ease the tension by smoothing the anger out of my voice. “Is there something you wanted?”

Kim looked at me, but his gaze kept flicking to Carson. “Yes … I need to talk to you.”

I wanted to laugh. He had a month to talk to me. So why now, on ninja date night, was it so important? “Now’s not really a good time.”

“Why?”

“We’re kinda on a date, dude
.
”
Carson’s shoulders tightened.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Of course this was happening
now
. I considered waving the ninja over. I would have preferred fighting them to this.

Kim let go of his suitcase. “This is more important than your date,
dude.
”

Carson’s eyes narrowed. “Get a clue. Rileigh said she doesn’t want to talk to you.” He took a step forward. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but I had to stop him before he got hurt. In a way, it was cute to think he thought he was defending me. Little did he know, I could break every bone in his body using only my index finger. I placed a hand on Carson’s chest and pushed him back.

“I got this,” I told him.

Slowly, he backed off. But he didn’t look happy about it.

Kim, on the other hand, was smiling a stupid cocky grin. So annoying.

I placed my hands on my hips. “Look, Gimhae, you want to talk to someone? Remember those three friends I made outside the art gallery downtown? Their buddies are here. Why don’t you go talk to them?”

The smile melted from his face as his eyes widened in shock. He scanned the passing shoppers. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

He stared at me a moment longer, as if trying to tell me something—but I wasn’t getting the message. Finally, he gave a curt nod. “You know, maybe I should be going.”

Carson folded his arms across his chest. “That’s probably a good idea.”

Ignoring him, Kim grabbed the handle of his suitcase and wheeled it behind him. “Where are you parked?”

I nodded to the exit down the hall. “Out there.”

He smiled. “What a coincidence. That’s where I’m parked, too.”

Carson scoffed. It wasn’t like I believed Kim, either. But if we were about to have a showdown with ninja, I definitely didn’t mind the backup. Now I just had to figure out what to do with Carson.

As we started down the hall, the ninja followed. Kim watched my gaze and nodded to let me know he’d spotted them too.

Our subtle communication was second nature. It re-newed the ache inside me. The hurt reminded me of the way things were and the way they were supposed to be. But I needed to pull myself free of the past. Whether I liked it or not, Kim was no longer a part of my life and it was time to kick some ninja ass and move on.

The moment we stepped outside, the energy pulsing beneath my skin accelerated. I clenched my teeth together to keep from grimacing. The attack was moments away.

I stopped walking and Carson stumbled, tightening his hand around mine. “Rileigh?”

My mind raced as my skin burned from the cold beneath it. I had to think fast. “Carson
…
I
…
uh
…
I don’t think I can go with you.” I flinched at my own words. God, being a bitch was hard.

“What?” Hurt flashed in his eyes. “Is it because of this loser?” He gestured to Kim.

“No.” I had to clench my teeth together to keep from defending Kim—always my first instinct. We’d been protecting each other so long, it was habit. “This has nothing to do with Kim.”

“Then why are you ditching me? Not even fifteen minutes ago you wanted to get something to eat.” Angry heat flushed his face. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’d like some answers.”

Kim stepped forward before I could answer (which was a good thing considering I had no idea what to say). “It’s not what you think,” he said. “Rileigh’s not ditching you. There’s something else going on.”

“Like what?” Carson folded his arms.

For one terrifying moment I wondered if Kim was actually going to tell Carson we were moments away from a ninja attack. But that notion was quickly squashed when Kim took another step and struck. He moved so fast that I barely registered the impact as more than a blur of motion.

Carson blinked once before his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the ground.

“You knocked my date unconscious?” I ran forward and kneeled in front of Carson’s unmoving body. I placed my fingers against his neck and found his pulse steady and strong. I rocked back on my heels and stood. “Don’t you think that was a little dramatic?”

Kim smiled. “I just hit a pressure point. It’s not like I gave him a concussion. He’ll be fine.”

“You’re an ass.” I scowled at him, even though I secretly appreciated his quick thinking. And I knew Kim had extensive knowledge of pressure point combat. Carson wouldn’t be hurt when he woke, but he was going to have one hell of a headache.

Kim ignored me and surveyed the parking lot. “How long have the ninja been following you?”

“A better question would be, ‘When aren’t they following me?’”

He whipped his head back to me, his eyes wide.

“You didn’t know?” Sarcasm dripped from my words like venom. “Then again, how would you? You’re obviously much too busy going to the movies with Sumi and taking shopping trips to the mall. How would you have the time to find the ninja you promised to take care of?”

He frowned. “It’s not like that.”

My emotions rolled inside me like a washing machine on spin cycle. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. I wanted to hit him hard enough to break through his rib cage and pull his heart from his chest like he’d done to mine. “What sign have you given me otherwise?”

He opened his mouth, but before the words came out, someone laughed behind us.

I turned to find one of the ninja, the tall boy, walking toward us with the girl in tow. Both grinned widely. “How do you like that?” The guy motioned to Carson’s motionless body on the sidewalk. “They started without us.”

The girl flexed her fingers. “That makes our job that much easier.”

I shook my head. I missed the days when you could fight without the clichéd banter. Nowadays, it was all, “Blah, blah, blah … you don’t stand a chance … blah, blah, blah … revenge will be mine.” I missed the simplicity of get in, kill, and get out.

Kim brought his hands in front of him into a defensive position. For a moment, it was all I could do to remember there were ninja who wanted to kill me. Having Kim beside me, ready to fight, was just like old times when, together, we could take on the world.

God, I missed him so much.

“Ready?” he asked me, his eyes locked on the ninja.

So ready.

The ninja smirked at each other. They reached into their pockets and withdrew small black sacks. A second later they hurtled them in the air. As the sacks tumbled toward us, their contents spilled out in an arc of twinkling powder—like fairy dust from hell.

Crushed glass. Not awesome.

“Metsubushi!” Kim cried. “Close your eyes!”

Metsubushi, or bags of crushed glass, was a really sucky weapon to come across. If you got even a little bit of the crushed glass in your eyes, it could blind you for life. And I was a big fan of looking at things. But they were ninja, so of course they played dirty. And despite all of the misery Kim had put me through, I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let him get hurt.

“I got this.” I stepped in front of him and let go of my ki. Energy poured from my outstretched fingers, painlessly and without effort. A shimmering blue wall stretched above our heads and collected the shower of glass. I raised my other hand and, with a conscientious flick, sent the broken glass hurtling back at the ninja.

They cried out in surprise and pulled their jackets over their heads as a shield.

“Nice.” Kim straightened his stance. “I see you’ve regained control of your ki.”

No thanks to you,
I thought.

After the dust settled, the ninja uncovered their faces and brushed themselves off.

Kim raised his fists. We were lucky it was late in the evening and no people milled about. “Which one do you want?” he asked.

I turned away from him, my defensive stance mirroring his. As good as it felt to fight beside Kim, I knew it wouldn’t last. I was on my own, and it was something I had to get used to. “Both of them.”

Kim didn’t say anything for a moment. But then I heard him move back. “I’m here if you need me.”

Words. Empty, meaningless words.

I pushed thoughts of Kim from my mind and concentrated on the energy swirling within me. I had to be careful; ki was the energy of my spirit. And each time I used it, it took time to replenish. If I used too much? Well, when your entire spirit left your body, the odds of survival were pretty slim.

The two ninja charged, their eyes zeroed on me. After all, ninja were a dishonorable lot. If I was the one they were getting paid to kill, they’d avoid dirtying their hands on anyone but their target.

My ki moved from my center into my hands where it pulsed against my fingertips. I held my stance, the energy building, my fingers burning, second by second, until a groan escaped my throat.

The ninja were almost to me and Kim hadn’t moved. He got a few brownie points for that. He trusted me to take care of this and I would.

When the ninja were only a few feet away, I released my ki, letting out just enough to form another shimmering wall in front of me.

The ninja didn’t see what hit them. Literally.

Both of them cried out and stumbled backward. The girl doubled over, covering her nose. Blood seeped from the cracks of her fingertips.

The guy got off a little easier. Rather than hitting face-first like his friend, he lay on his back with his knee pulled against his chest. I called the ki back to me and it answered in a rush, fluttering the hair around my face in its return. Easy-peasey, now that the kunoichi was out of my head.

I lifted my fists in front of my face and licked my lips. Thanks to the kunoichi messing with my ki, it had been awhile since I had the upper hand in a fight. I missed it. “You don’t have to do this,” I told the ninja. “You could return the money to whoever paid you and we could all go home and watch television in our jammies. This fight? So not worth it.”

The guy slowly rose to his feet. “You’re pretty cocky for someone about to die.”

I sighed. How anyone could choose a fight to the death over a movie night at home was beyond me.

He rushed me. Before I could move, he ducked down and grabbed my wrist, pulling it behind my back. A twinge of pain coursed along my shoulder and he twisted it farther, daring to pull it from the socket.

Kim stepped forward, but I gave him a look that stopped him in his tracks. “I got this,” I said between clenched teeth.

I crouched down, jumped up, and pushed off of the ninja’s thighs. I flipped over backward and landed on my feet with my arm untwisted in front of me. Locking my fingers around the ninja’s wrist, I pulled him closer to me.