Senshi (A Katana Novel) (24 page)

48

T
ell me again why we can’t take the elevator?” Quentin panted behind me as we ascended the last flight of stairs leading to the roof.

“Because they’re nothing more than evil ninja robot assassins.” I climbed the last couple of stairs and stood with my hand on the door, waiting for Whitley and Q. When they finally caught up, I opened the door and stepped onto the roof. The combined effects of the wind and dizzying heights nearly bowled me over.

Q stepped next to me and braced his hands on his knees as he hunched over to catch his breath. “But why couldn’t we do this inside? In your room?”

“One.” I held up a finger. “Debbie has this rule about not setting fires in my room.” I lifted another finger. “Two. I have a hunch that Dr. Wendell may be a little pissy over the fact that I knocked him out earlier. I’d like to delay
that
lecture for as long as possible.”

Whitley chuckled and tossed the bag containing the kanzashi at my feet.

I flinched. I knew we had to burn the kanzashi to keep the kunoichi from coming into her powers, but a part of me still hated to destroy such beautiful antiques.

Whitley reached into his pocket, pulled out a silver flask, and twisted off the lid. He smiled and held it out to me. “It’s time to celebrate.”

I waved the flask away. “No thanks. I remember what happened the last time you offered me a drink.”

He shrugged and took a swig from the flask before capping it and putting it back in his pocket. “You really know how to hold on to a grudge.”

“A grudge?” I snorted. “You stabbed me and set fire to my house. I don’t think being upset about that qualifies me for any psycho ex-girlfriend awards.”

“Pssh.” Whitley rolled his good eye and waved a hand dismissively. “You left me trapped inside and half of my face burned off. You don’t hear me with the constant snide comments, do you?”

I opened my mouth to tell him what I’d like to do to the other side of his face, but Q stepped forward, interrupting me. “Guys, I think we need to focus on the comb right now. Before the kunoichi sends anyone else after us.”

I nodded. Q was right. Ignoring Whitley, I squatted down and emptied the contents of the velvet pouch onto the ground. Again, I was drawn to the same silver and coral kanzashi. I picked it up and stood, studying it under the moonlight. I knew I’d seen it before. The memory was like a butterfly, floating by my fingertips only to dart away just before I could catch it.

A crunching noise pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up to find Whitley grinding the broken pieces of several hairpins beneath his heel. When he finished, he pulled a bottle of lighter fluid from his jacket and doused the pieces. After saturating them, he set the bottle aside, grabbed a book of matches, and lit the pile on fire.

I watched, transfixed, as the metal blackened and the pieces of shell turned to ash.

Whitley turned to me and held out his hand. “Give it.”

Instinctively, I hugged the comb to my body and took a step back. I wasn’t ready to let Whitley destroy it, at least not until I remembered its secret. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it felt important to figure it out.

“Rileigh.” An edge to Whitley’s voice revealed the warning underlying the words.

“Just a second.” I stared at the kanzashi in my hands, willing myself to remember. It didn’t work. “I know I’ve seen this before. I’m trying to figure out—”

“It doesn’t matter
what
you’re trying to figure out.” Whitley made a swipe for the hairpin and I jumped back, clutching the comb to my chest. His eyes narrowed. “Give it to me.”

I shook my head. “What if it’s important?”

“It’s not.” His voice was a growl. “You probably saw one of the whores in your pleasure house wearing one just like it. Besides, nothing is more important than destroying it.”

Anger ignited within me. He never seemed to get tired of reminding me where I’d come from. I tightened my fingers into fists.

“Ri-Ri.” Q’s eyes darted nervously between Whitley and me. “You know I hate to agree with Whitley on anything. But right now he has a point. Does it really
matter
that you might have seen the comb before? Does it change anything?”

“Exactly.” Whitley thrust his hand at me. “Hand it over.”

I took another step back. “But if you’d just give another minute to think. Maybe I could—”

“Get us killed?” Whitley offered. “This is stupid. The sooner we destroy it, the sooner we’ll be safe. I’m sure the kunoichi has several ninja on their way right now … if she’s not on her way herself.”

“I know!” I kept an eye on Whitley as I paced a circle around the burning combs. They were right. The only thing that mattered was keeping the kunoichi from regaining her powers. But still … I shook my head. It didn’t matter.

I stopped pacing and gave the kanzashi one last glance before I held it over the fire. There was no going back.

“Besides,” Whitley added, “it’s not like it belonged to you or anything. Yoshido wasn’t exactly the type to gift girls with hair accessories.”

Yoshido.
The hairpin teetered on the edge of my grasp and I tightened my fingers around it before it could drop. The memory crashed into me with enough force to rock me on my heels. “That’s it!” I followed my heart to the ground where I sat and stared at the kanzashi in my hands.

Whitley huffed. “You’re telling me this was Yoshido’s comb? Was he moonlighting as a cross-dressing geisha?”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course not. It wasn’t always his. It was all he had left after … oh my God.” I braced a hand against the ground as the realization hit me in the gut. We were in a lot more trouble than we’d originally thought.

“Ri-Ri?” Q squatted next to me. “What’s going on?”

My mind spun as the memories crashed into me. “It was Chiyo’s.”

Q frowned. “Chiyo? Wait a minute. Isn’t that—”

“Sumi.” Her name left a bitter taste on my tongue. “Yoshido kept it as a reminder of his so-called failure. He said it inspired him to become a better warrior. That means this kanzashi”—I lifted it toward Whitley—“can’t belong to the kunoichi. Because Chiyo was dead before I became a samurai, long before the kunoichi ordered us killed.”

Whitley folded his arms. “Are you certain?”

Before I could answer him, my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket to see who would be calling me so late, but the phone number wasn’t one I recognized. Weird.

“Who is it?” Q asked.

I shrugged.

Whitley walked over to us and stared at the ringing phone in my hand. “I have a bad feeling. Don’t answer it.”

I had a bad feeling, too—which was exactly why I was going to answer it. “What if someone we know is hurt or in trouble?” I pressed the talk button. “Hello?”

“Rileigh.”

It was the same whiny voice that I heard countless times begging Kim to come back to the dojo to fix one problem or another.

“Sumi?” For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why on earth she would be calling me at such a late hour. My only guess was that by mentioning her name I’d accidentally summoned her. “What do you want?”

“You have something of mine,” she answered. “And I want it back.”

49

S
till holding the phone, I jumped to my feet. My mind reeled as I tried to make sense of her words. “The kanzashi? How did you even know about that?”

Her laugh was an angry bark. “I’ve been looking for it for quite some time. And when my ninja didn’t return to me, I figured you must have gotten to it before me.”

“
Your
ninja?” My eyes widened as I struggled to process the new development. It didn’t make sense. How could Sumi be the kunoichi? Chiyo was dead long before the kunoichi rose to power … unless Sumi had lied about being Chiyo.

I felt the blood drain from my face, and my hand shook the phone against my ear. I looked at Whitley and mouthed the word
kunoichi.

His spine went rigid and he swiped his hand across his neck, signaling me to disconnect the call. But I couldn’t do that. She had Kim tricked into thinking she was Chiyo and he was ready to move to Japan for her. I had to figure out what she was after and why.

“I know you’ve teamed up with Whitley,” Sumi continued. “And I know you’ve been hunting and destroying kan
zashi. I would strongly suggest you leave mine unharmed.”

I glanced from the small bonfire of burning combs to the kanzashi I held in my hand. If Whitley was right, the kunoichi’s comb was in the fire burning while Chiyo’s remained safe and sound. But with an endless supply of ninja at her disposal, I’d put
telling Sumi we’d destroyed her comb
on my list of things I was
not
going to do, right above
making out with a porcupine
. “I’m afraid that you’re out of luck. You see, Whitley and I are seconds away from making s’mores and, wouldn’t you know it, we ran out of sticks.”

“I would advise against that,” Sumi growled.

My fingers tightened painfully around the phone as I struggled to contain the anger rolling inside me. “I don’t really think you’re in a position to make threats.”

“Aren’t I?” She sounded amused. “You forget, I have something that belongs to you, too.”

Kim.
Sumi had Kim. I wondered if he was okay, if he’d figured out who Sumi really was. And if he had … tremors of fear ripped through my chest. I gasped.

Sumi laughed. “I take it you’ve figured it out. Good. Then we’ve come to an understanding. You will bring me my kanzashi. Tonight. And I won’t kill Kim.”

Invisible hands tore inside my chest and ripped into my lungs. I’d been so angry at Kim for leaving me. But the thought of something happening to him clawd my heart into ribbons. So what choice did I have? Of course I would meet her, even though I knew she’d like nothing better than to kill me.

“Let me add,” Sumi continued, “I’m not feeling particularly patient. So if you have to think this over, I suggest you do so quick before I carve—”

“No!” It didn’t matter what she was about to say. I wouldn’t let her hurt him. Even after everything, he was still my Kim. I loved him. “Just … don’t touch him. I’ll be there. I’ll bring the comb.”

Whitley’s lips pressed into a line so thin they all but disappeared.

“Good.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “There’s an abandoned barn—I’ll text you the directions. Meet me there in an hour.”

An hour. That was all the time I had to figure out a way to find Kim and get him away from Sumi before she killed us all. But I wasn’t stupid. “Fine. But just so we’re clear, I know it’s a trap.”

She laughed. “Of course it is.” The phone clicked and the call ended.

I slid my phone back into my pocket. My mind raced as I tried to formulate some kind of plan. So far I had nothing.

Whitley stalked toward me. “Tell me I didn’t hear what I think I heard.”

I stared at him. “Chill out, Whitley.” I pointed to the fire. “We’ve incinerated the kunoichi’s real comb. I’ll bring her Chiyo’s kanzashi instead, and hope she doesn’t realize it’s not the right one until I can escape with Kim.”

“What?” The color drained from Q’s face. “That’s your plan?”

Whitley shook his head. “You’re an idiot.”

“Probably.” My muscles tightened reflexively as he closed the distance between us. “But Sumi has Kim. She says she’ll kill him if I don’t bring her the kanzashi. What other choice do I have?”

Whitley’s eyes blazed with fury. “Oh, I don’t know. How about you say, ‘To hell with Kim.’ If you bring her the comb—especially the
wrong
comb—she’ll kill you and that will in turn kill
me.
And being dead is my least favorite thing to be.” He stopped in front of me, his shoulders rigid. “Besides, she’ll probably kill Kim anyway, just for kicks.” He positioned himself between me and the exit. “You’re not leaving this roof.”

Awesome. Just what I needed—another fight. As subtly as I could, I shifted my weight to the balls of my feet. “I’m going.”

He lifted his chin and glared at me. “No. You’re not.”

I stared at him for a moment, watching the tendons flex along his jaw. I didn’t have time for this. I yanked down on my shirt collar and slid the twines of the comb onto the middle of my bra. Now that my hands were free, I lifted them in front of me. “Okay, you want to fight. Fine. We’ll fight. But just so you know, after I kick your ass, I’m still delivering Chiyo’s kanzashi to Sumi.”

Whitley’s lip curled into a sneer. “I’m not going to fight you.”

“Well, you’re not going to kill me, either. You said so yourself. If you kill me you die.”

“Right.” Whitley spun and grabbed Q’s arm, pulling him against his chest. He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a switchblade. After flipping it open, he pressed the knife point against Q’s neck. “But I’ll kill him.”

Q’s eyes widened, but he didn’t move or speak.

I
froze as needles of fear dug into my heart. How could I not have seen this coming? How could I be so stupid? When I spoke, my voice was strangely level, hiding the rage that burned inside me. “If you hurt him, I swear to you, Whitley, I will end you. Even if it means I die too.”

Whitley pressed the blade deeper into Q’s neck until a red line of blood appeared, trickling down Q’s neck. Q hissed and clenched his eyes shut.

I ground my teeth together but remained still, fearful of Whitley digging the blade in farther.

“Think very carefully, Rileigh.” Whitley tightened his hold on Q. “You have a choice. Your best friend or your ex-boyfriend. You can only choose one.”

I opened my mouth to answer but the words weren’t there. Partly because I didn’t know what to say. I was supposed to choose between my best friend and a man who’d loved me enough to sacrifice his life for me in the past?

“What’s it going to be, Rileigh?”

Son of hibachi.
What other choice was there? Slowly, I raised my palms in surrender. “Fine. I’ll stay. Now let Q go.”

Q opened his eyes and stared at me. “Rileigh, I—”

I smiled at him. “It’s okay. Kim’s a samurai. Maybe he’ll come to his senses in time to stop her?” The hope I’d put in my voice sounded fake to even me.

Q shook his head. “It’s not that, though I appreciate the gesture. It’s just … this.” He spun in Whitley’s grip and grabbed onto his shoulder.

Whitley’s eyes widened. “What the—” But before he could finish, Q put his free hand on Whitley’s cheek. A couple of seconds later, Whitley made a strange gurgling noise. His head snapped back a second before he fell to the ground. He looked around the roof, seemingly unable to focus.

Q stepped around him and gave me a quick hug. “You should get going.”

I stood limp in his arms, too shocked to hug back and unable to tear my eyes from Whitley, whose head rolled lazily on his shoulders.

He smiled back at me with a crooked grin. “I guess you’re going to leave now. Good luck and stuff. Try not to get killed because I really don’t want to die.” He leaned back on his arms, tilting his head to the sky, and started whistling.

I backed out of Q’s grip. “What the hell did you do to him?”

He shrugged. “I altered his serotonin levels. For the next couple of hours, he shouldn’t have a care in the world.”

“Wow.” I blinked at him. “That’s a pretty neat trick.”

“Did you guys ever notice that the stars kinda look like shuriken?” Whitley asked, averting our attention back to him. “It’s almost like the sky is full of fighting ninja.” He waved his hands in front of him shouting, “Hiya!” like a cheesy kung fu movie martial artist.

I shook my head slowly. “Wow … just wow.”

“See?” Q placed his hands on his hips and smiled. “I’m not so helpless.”

I looked at him. “I never thought you were helpless.”

He rolled his eyes. “Maybe not helpless. But you thought I was a liability.”

I wanted to argue but, the truth was, I couldn’t. He was right. I’d been terrified he’d get hurt. But just now he’d taken down one of the most dangerous samurai I knew with just a touch. Shame burned hot on my cheeks.

Q waved a hand in the air. “It’s okay. I understand. I didn’t bring it up to make you feel bad. I just want you to know that you don’t need to babysit me anymore, okay?”

I nodded.

Q smiled. “Good. So now you’re going to let me come with you?”

“I wish you could.” I shook my head. “I’d love nothing more than to have you fight by my side. It’s not that I don’t think you can handle your own. But Sumi told me to come alone. I don’t want to think about what she might do to Kim if I bring backup. I can’t risk it.”

“I get it.” He sighed and hunched his shoulders. “I just—” He sucked in a breath. “Do me a favor would you?”

I nodded. “Name it.”

He hugged me again, this time crushing me against his body. His chest shuddered against my cheek. “Come back alive.”