Squaring my body with the box, I relaxed my hold on the energy I’d gathered. Before it could stream wildly, I used mental direction to push it forward, then braced myself as the energy slammed into the crate and splintered the side.
The snake’s strike seemed to occur in slow motion. As I moved to meet it, I noticed the way its black scales glittered blue against the fluorescent lights and the sparkling drops of venom poised on each of its two hooked fangs.
Its eyes met mine the moment I brought my blade down. The metal in my hand didn’t waver as it slid through the giant reptile. The snake fell to the floor in two pieces, twitching several times before becoming still.
A scream rang out through the dojo. I turned from the dead animal to find Q with both hands curled over his open mouth, his bulging eyes looking ready to leap from their sockets.
Kim was at my side, his hands gripping my shoulders. And I was glad for it, too. The calm left me as quickly as it had come, and my legs gave out under the force of my trembling. The katana slid from my fingers onto the ground, next to the viper’s gaping mouth.
“Did you see that?” Quentin squeaked. He stumbled up to Drew and tugged on his shirt. “Did you see that?” The color left his face and he collapsed forward into his arms.
“Oh, geez,” Drew grunted, looping his arms around Quentin’s chest. “Help! He’s heavier than he looks.”
Braden rushed to his side and swung Quentin’s arm over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you a glass of water.”
Quentin nodded weakly.
Even with Kim bracing my shoulders, I slid to my knees. Kim followed me down to the floor. “Is it completely ridiculous to ask you how you feel right now?” His face was calm but his eyes were electric, like clouds gathering for a storm.
I didn’t answer. The hair on my arms stood on end, and it wasn’t because of the snake. The man before me was dangerous—maybe not to me, but dangerous all the same. Kim was a warrior, and I never considered what that meant until just now as I watched the tendons in his neck tighten. Some people have looks that kill. Kim had a look that let you know he was about to.
Drew seemed to sense the change in Kim as well and cautiously approached with his own katana. He nudged the half destroyed box with his toe. “Is there anything else in there?”
“No,” I answered.
“Are you—”
I cut him off. “I’m sure. But you can jump in there and double check if you want.”
Drew frowned as he peered into the packing paper. “I think I’ll take your word on it.”
Quentin walked out of the break room with Braden.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
Quentin smiled. “Shaken up. But I’ll live.” He looked down on the severed snake. “What’s going on?”
Kim answered, his voice low and threatening. “I underestimated the threat. And the last time I underestimated someone … ” His jaw flexed. “We have a very serious problem here. The Noppera-bō targeting Rileigh knows who we are.”
“Well, not only do they know who we are … ” Braden stuck his toe at the snake. “It looks like they don’t want to be friends.”
I staggered a bit as the full weight of the situation hit me. “It’s not just me, then. They want to kill
all
of us.”
Kim pulled me around to face him. “I will protect you with my life, Rileigh. This threat will not go unanswered.” The tone of his voice let me know that his version of answering would have nothing to do with the criminal-justice system.
“What should we do?” Braden asked.
“The crate,” Drew offered. “I wonder if there’s a clue as to who’s behind this.” He squatted next to the box and rifled through the shredded paper. Braden walked over and dug in beside him. It wasn’t long until Drew found a pink envelope. He turned it over in his hand, paling slightly. He looked at Kim. “It’s addressed to Senshi.”
Kim took the envelope from Drew and tore it open. He read without breathing. When he was finished, he crumpled the note into a ball and threw it back into the crate. “Change of plan,” he said. Fury radiated from him in hot waves. “Where is Michelle? She should be here by now. Braden, call her cell phone. If that doesn’t work, try her house.”
Braden pulled his phone from his pocket and began dialing. It sounded as if someone picked up, and Braden turned away from us and began talking into the receiver.
“Kim?” I stepped around the box, fingers itching to grab the note within, and stopped at his side. “What did the note say?”
Kim’s eyes never left Braden.
“Kim!” My skin prickled as if the mixture of fear and anger were igniting inside my veins like water on a hot frying pan. I was fed up with not getting answers. “What did the note say?”
He looked at me and opened his mouth to answer, but the padded thud of Braden’s phone falling onto the mats stopped the words in his throat.
One look at Braden and my stomach dropped to my ankles. His eyes were glossy and unable to focus, which made him teeter on his heels.
Drew raced to secure him by hooking his arm around his waist. Drew then asked the question that was on the tip of my tongue, yet a question I didn’t want to hear the answer to. “What happened?”
Braden gasped several times before answering, like he’d been underwater and had just come up for breath. “It’s Michelle.” He swayed and Drew staggered with him before lowering Braden to the floor as he sank to his knees. “Michelle!” Braden’s voice cracked and he buried his face behind his hands, his shoulders heaving.
“Shhh,” Drew whispered, running his hand in slow circles along Braden’s shoulders. “Tell us what happened, buddy. Then we can fix it.”
Braden looked up, his face stained with tears. “That was Michelle’s mom on the phone. She told me … ” He paused to suck in a heaving breath. “She told me that Michelle never came home last night.”
34
A
thousand shards of ice needled into my heart. Michelle was missing?
Kim knelt beside Braden and gripped his shoulders so hard that Kim’s fingers turned white. “You listen to me, Braden,” he growled. “We will have Michelle back by sunrise tomorrow. I pledge this to you. Do you understand me?”
Braden released a quivering breath and nodded slowly.
“Good.” Kim shook him once before releasing him. He stood and moved away from us, so that when he turned, he could address us all. “This is the plan. Drew is coming with me. Our first stop is the company that delivered the crate. From there, we should be able to get some idea of the sender.”
I felt a chill go through me when I realized I was standing in the presence of a ghost. The long dead samurai leader Yoshido stood before me issuing orders.
Kim continued. “Braden, I need you to take Rileigh and Q to your house for now.”
Braden started to protest, but Kim cut him off with a wave of his hand. “I know you love Michelle, and that’s why you can’t come. You’re too close to this and your emotions will either get you
or
Michelle hurt. Is that a risk you want to take?”
Braden shook his head.
Kim nodded once. “Good. Know that I give you no easy mission. Should Drew and I fail, understand that the enemy will come for Rileigh next. I place her life into your hands.”
A knot formed in my throat at the word “fail.”
“I understand and accept,” Braden answered, rising to his feet.
Kim’s smile was brief. “I knew I could count on you. I understand that your father can sometimes be difficult, so I need you to have a solid excuse ready. Then pack your own bags and be ready to relocate tonight if need be.”
I watched what little color Braden had left drain from his face and wondered how long it would be before I might be able to see right through him.
“Brother,” Drew whispered, “what are we up against?”
Kim stared at the ground, unblinking. “It appears someone from the past has resurfaced.”
“Who?” I asked.
He took a deep breath and turned to face me. “A traitor.”
The room seemed to grow cold. I looked at the box, then back at Kim. He raised his chin but made no move to stop me as I stooped down and retrieved the note. I smoothed it out and immediately recognized the scratchy handwriting as the same as in the notes left in my door. Drew, Braden, and Quentin clustered to look over my shoulder.
My Dearest Senshi,
Well, I suppose that is a bit premature,
as I interrupted your coming out party.
I’ll make it up to you, though.
Hopefully we will be able to celebrate
your transcending together.
We have a lot of lost time to make up for,
and I am so looking forward to catching up.
I hope you enjoy my gift, and please
give our friends my best regards.
—Sincerely,
Zeami
“Sea-ah-mee.” The name left a foul aftertaste on my tongue. “Why do I know that name?”
Kim closed his eyes, Drew turned away, and Braden looked like he was going to be sick.
“Somebody say something!” I crumpled the note and threw it to the ground at my feet.
Kim answered. “Zeami is the man who betrayed all of us. We can attribute our deaths to him.”
A knot wound its way inside the pit of my stomach. I didn’t remember Zeami, so why was talking about him affecting me in this way? My eyes stung. Was I going to cry? A memory struggled to push past the curtain in my mind. I saw the gleam of a dagger. And blood, warm and sticky on my fingers. I wiped my hands against my shirt to chase away the phantom sensations. “Did you know he was around?”
Kim shook his head. “He would not be alive if I did.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “You can’t go around killing people. It’s against the law.”
“The only law I am concerned with is the law of the samurai. And Zeami has a debt to pay.”
“Besides,” Drew added, “if the Network feels someone is a threat, that person vanishes like they never existed.”
“The Network sounds like a government agency,” I said.
Nobody spoke.
“Oh. Well, if they’re an agency, why can’t they send in some people to help us?”
“Because,” Drew answered,
“we’re
the people they’d send in.”
Well, crap. This was getting deeper by the minute. “But you’re all so young.”
“Age is a state of mind,” Drew replied. “The three of us are more experienced in battle than half the four-star generals in the military.”
“But Michelle knew how to fight, too, and look what—” I bit the words off when I saw Braden’s eyes glass over, realizing too late that I’d twisted the dagger buried in his gut. Stupid, Rileigh! But still, I needed some leeway considering the situation. I’d killed a giant viper, Michelle was missing, and a crazy psychopath from the past was out to get me. It was too much to take in. My knees buckled and I sagged to the floor under the weight of it all.
“I’m calling the Network,” Kim said, turning on his heels. “They need to be advised of the situation and our next move.”
When he was out of the room, Drew turned to Quentin. “You want to give me a hand with this?” He inclined his head toward the dead animal.
“You’re kidding, right?”
Drew shrugged and picked up the severed back end of the snake using both of his hands. The tail dragged along the floor as he made his way to the front door. The viper was twice as long as I was tall.
“Thanks for leaving me the half with fangs.” Quentin grimaced and carefully wrapped his hands behind the arrow-shaped head before following Drew outside.
Braden hugged himself as he walked over to me. “How are you holding up?”
I shrugged. “I’ve had better days.”
He stared at his lap and nodded. “Me, too.”
My careless words from moments ago replayed in my head:
But Michelle knew how to fight.
My cheeks burned and I shifted uncomfortably. “Braden, I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I wasn’t thinking. I just can’t believe that Michelle’s missing. If something happens to her … ” My voice trailed off when my mind refused to consider
the possibility.
To my surprise, Braden reached over and patted my knee. “It’s going to be okay. Kim gave me his pledge. He’ll have Michelle back by sunrise tomorrow.”
I nodded, but wasn’t so sure.
We both stared at the ceiling for several minutes until Braden broke the silence with a sigh. “I have a confession to make.” He cleared his throat and continued. “I used to be so jealous of you.”
I didn’t know what to make of that, so I waited for him to continue.
“A woman samurai on the battlefield was unheard of. Some even said that it disgraced our village. But Lord Toyotomi knew better. How could someone bestowed with gifts from the warrior spirit be a curse? Warning premonitions and ki manipulations are not learned skills. You are either gifted or you are not. My brother and I were not. We were convinced that since you were in such favor with the warrior spirit, you might have the power to bestow those gifts as well. We vowed to keep training hard so that one day you would find us worthy.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “We never got the chance.”