Shinobi (A Katana Novel) (21 page)

34

W
ith my back against the dojo’s rubber mats, I stared
at the ceiling and tried to pretend this was just another training session with Kim and the samurai. Still, I couldn’t help but glance to my right at my unmoving body beside me. “You have no idea how weird this is,” I said.

“I think
I
have a pretty good idea.” Quentin kneeled beside my body’s head. “Don’t worry,” he said when he caught me glance at it for the umpteenth time. “If she wakes up, I’ll zap her.”

I swallowed and watched Gene light the ring of candles he’d placed around our bodies. When he finished, he turned to me with a smile. “Are you ready?”

I clenched my jaw and swallowed. “Let’s do this.”

The door separating the dojo from the lobby squeaked open. I tilted my chin to see Dr. Wendell, Kim, and the other samurai step inside.

“Well?” Gene asked.

“We should have more time than I expected,” Dr. Wendell answered. “I just got off the phone with the Network, and they told me they were delayed in Ohio. Something about having all the tires on their vehicles slashed?”

Gene grinned. “I guess fortune smiles upon us this day.”

I gave him a knowing look. “Fortune? Is that what we’re calling reincarnated daimyos these days?”

“Never you mind that.” He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get started.” He kneeled between me and Sumi and glanced over his shoulder at the samurai hovering by the door. “I’m sorry. This is a delicate procedure, and I’m going to need complete concentration. If you would all be so kind as to wait outside.”

Alarm rang through me like a bell. I didn’t want Kim to leave. If anything went wrong, I needed him close by.

Dr. Wendell opened the door and ushered Michelle, Braden, and Drew back into the lobby.

Kim didn’t budge.

“Kim?” Dr. Wendell called.

“Can’t he stay?” I asked Gene. “I’d be calmer if he were here. And I know he won’t distract you.”

Gene was quiet so long I was sure he was going to say no. Finally, he shook his head and chuckled. “Like he’d leave even if I said no?” He waved Kim over.

Seconds later, Kim hovered over me. Lines of worry pinched his brow.

“Sit, sit.” Gene patted the mat beside my head. “The only rule—and it’s extremely important—is that you mustn’t touch her. No matter what. Understand?”

Kim opened his mouth to argue, but Gene cut him off with the wave of his hand. “Do not doubt for a minute that I can remove you from this dojo in an instant. This is a delicate ceremony involving the transference of spirit. There’s no telling what outside contact could do. We don’t want Rileigh to accidentally end up inside your body with you, do we?”

My heart quivered against my ribs. “That’s a possibility?”

Gene shrugged. “There’s no telling what could happen. So let’s just plan on being safe over sorry.”

Kim kneeled beside me, his eyes wide.

Gene looked at me. “Rileigh, are you ready to begin?”

My pulse thrummed like an electric current inside my veins. Was I ready? What if it didn’t work? Or worse, what if something went wrong and my spirit bled out for good?

My throat went dry as I considered the possibilities. But then I thought of my mom, and Q, and everyone and everything I’d have to leave behind if I couldn’t get my body back. I had to try, for them and for me. I couldn’t surrender my life to Sumi without a fight.

I bit my lip and nodded.

“Very well.” Gene held his arms out. “Hands?”

Quentin plucked Sumi’s hand from the ground and placed it into Gene’s.

After a moment of hesitation, I closed my eyes and reached out my hand.

A second later, Gene’s fingers gripped mine and an electric current jolted through me where our hands met.

I gasped and arched my back.

“Hang on, Rileigh.” Gene’s voice wavered with strain. “Your spirit may be rooted inside Sumi’s body, but it’s eager to break free. The first thing we need to do is sever the root.”

I wasn’t sure if he was right about my spirit wanting to break free—but I could certainly feel something breaking inside of me. What felt like an invisible rope wrapped around my insides, pulling tighter and tighter until I thought I might burst.

A gasp of pain pushed through my clenched teeth.

“Rileigh?” Worry laced Kim’s words.

“Breathe, Rileigh!” Gene squeezed my hand. “Just try to relax. You might feel a tugging sensation.”

Before I could ask him what he meant, a stabbing pain pierced my chest. Unable to open my eyes, I was sure my insides were being ripped apart by daggers. A scream tore from my throat.

“What’s wrong?” Kim shouted. “This can’t be right.”

“I’m—I’m not sure.” Gene answered between labored gasps. “I think her spirit’s been too deeply embedded inside the body. I-I think it might be ripping her apart.”

A fire erupted inside of me, burning white-hot beneath my skin as it blazed a trail across my body. With an agonized cry, I opened my eyes to find the world around me shifting and out of focus, like I was looking through the glass of a fish bowl. Kim was nothing more than a dark shadow above me.

“Gene!” Quentin cried. “Look! We need to stop this.”

I didn’t have to see to know he was pointing out the trail of blood dribbling from my mouth. I could taste its coppery sweetness as it bubbled up from my throat and spilled over my tongue. No matter how much I gagged, coughed, and spit, I couldn’t rid my throat of blood. I was literally choking in it.

Gene released me. From a faraway place, I felt my hand hit the floor.

“Oh, my God.” Kim’s voice drifted inside my head, sounding
miles away instead of above me. “Don’t do this to me. Don’t
leave me.”

I tried to say his name, tried to choke out an apology, but all I managed to do was cough up more blood.

“No,” Kim whispered. “No!”

“Kim, don’t!” Gene shouted.

I could no longer see him, but the moment his fingers touched mine, the fire inside me extinguished. Inside my head, I could hear nothing but the sounds of my own struggled gasps for air. Everything spun, from the ground beneath me to the space inside my head. I squeezed Kim’s hand tighter, hoping his touch would somehow root me in place, but I only seemed to drift further away.

“Rileigh?” Kim’s voice broke through the whirlwind. “Are you okay? Please, say something.” His fingers pushed back the sweat-soaked hair covering my forehead.

No matter how many times I blinked, I was unable to bring the swirling colors into focus. I opened my mouth to answer him, but I couldn’t force the words through my chattering teeth.

“I don’t understand,” Kim said. “Why is she shaking? Is she cold?”

“No,” Gene answered, his voice full of fear. “I think—I think it may be a seizure.”

A seizure? I knew I should be afraid, but I was too busy trying to fight for control of the body I was trapped inside. My muscles spasmed, my arms thrashed, and my head rattled against the floor.

“Rileigh, listen to me,” Kim whispered against my ear. “You’re going to be okay. When this is over, we’re going to get into the car and we’re going to leave. I meant it when I said I don’t care what body you’re in. To me, you’ll always be Senshi—
my
Senshi. Do you remember our pact? What you promised me? You promised you’d never go where I couldn’t follow.
You promised.
”

Through the tremors shaking my body, a memory came to me, so vivid I could almost smell the smoke from the fire pit in the corner of the room.

Japan, 1493

“You have to promise me.” Yoshido stared into Senshi’s eyes, drawing her in until she felt sure she would fall and drown inside their black depths.

She laughed. “Yoshido, what on earth could I promise you that you do not already claim? You have my heart. What else is there?”

“It is not enough.” He shook his head, his expression a curious combination of desperation and fear. “With you—it is never enough.”

She stopped polishing her katana and set it aside. “What would you have from me then?”

“Promise me that … ” He paused long enough to clench his jaw. “If something should happen to either of us, promise me that you will not go anywhere I cannot follow.”

Senshi frowned and reached for him. “Yoshido—”

He shook his head and sidestepped her grasp. “
Promise me.
”

She snapped her jaw shut. A hundred questions raced through her mind. Why was he asking
now
?
And what kind of place could she go where he couldn’t find her? Still, she would promise. She would always give him whatever he wanted.
He
was and always would be her greatest weakness. “Of course.”

“You have to mean it.” He took her hands within his, his skin rough and calloused from a lifetime of wielding a sword. “Because
this, w
hat we have together—they will build statues of us and write songs about our love.”

She couldn’t help it; a smile tugged at her lips. “Statues
and
songs?”

He nodded. “But the statues will crumble and in time, people will forget the words to the songs. But you and I? We will continue on as long as neither of us goes where the other cannot follow.”

35

Y
oshido?”

“I’m here,” he whispered.

But that wasn’t right. The voice was wrong … and yet it wasn’t.

Everything was wrong … and yet not.

I blinked open my eyes, but couldn’t see past the black hair matted against my face.

Slowly, the pieces fell into place. Gene … the ceremony …
the shaking.

I rolled onto my knees. “It didn’t work?”

“Easy, Rileigh.” The voice was Q’s. “You suffered a major seizure. Maybe you should stay down a little longer.”

I shook my head but it did nothing to dislodge the hair stuck to my sweat-soaked face. “No … can’t … ” The Network would be here any minute. But when I tried to move, I found I couldn’t. Disappointment wrapped around me like ropes, keeping me
anchored to the floor. I’d had one chance at getting my body back—getting my
life
back—and it didn’t work. It looked like I was going to be stuck as Sumi forever.

Kim’s sandalwood cologne enveloped me, rustling the memories of a lifetime ago and making my head swim. “Rileigh.” There was no mistaking the relief in his voice. “It’s going to be okay.”

A lump rose inside my throat and no amount of swallowing could dislodge it. “But it didn’t work.” Slowly, I lifted my head up.

His hand slid under my hair and rested against my chin. “The only thing that matters to me is that you’re all right.” With his free hand, he smoothed the hair away from my face and that’s when he froze, his eyes wide and locked on mine. A strangled sound emerged from his throat.

“What’s wrong?” Gene asked.

“I don’t believe it,” Kim answered, his voice barely a whisper.

“What’s going on?” Quentin rose from his spot beside my old body. He walked toward me only to stop after a couple of steps. “Oh, my God.”

“What is it?” I brought my hands to my face, expecting to feel some sort of disfigurement, scar, or anything else that might be the reason for their reactions.

Gene stretched his hand out. “Give me your hand.”

With a thick pulse in the back of my throat, I placed my hand within his.

Gene jerked upright. But just as quickly, a smile spread across his face. “Now
that
was unexpected.”

“What?” I snatched my hand back. “What’s going on?”

Gene shook his head. “Your soul was too deeply rooted in that body to be removed. But my ki energy must have awakened your ki energy. And when Kim touched you, he reestablished your connection with your past life.”

“It’s amazing. I never would have thought it possible.” Quentin shook his head, his eyes wide. “You’re … you’re … ”

“Not Rileigh anymore,” Kim finished.

I glanced over my shoulder at my old body, lifeless on the ground. “I know. I’m stuck as Sumi.”

Smiling, Kim shook his head. He reached out like he
was
going to touch my face, but stopped as if suddenly afraid.
“You’re exactly how I remembered.”

“What does that even mean?” I backed away from him. “Somebody better tell me what’s going on, like
now.
”

Quentin plucked my sword off the ground and handed it to me. “See for yourself.”

I hesitated. I knew that when I looked at my reflection, it would only confirm my failure. But with Kim and Q watching me with eager expressions, it wasn’t like I could hold off the inevitable. I grabbed the sword and lifted it to my face. I expected to see Sumi’s eyes staring back at me.

I never expected to see my own.

The sword fell from my hands.
Impossible.
Maybe the seizure had messed with my brain and now I couldn’t see correctly. “Something’s wrong with my eyes,” I told Q. “You-you have to heal me.”

“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Kim said. “You’re perfect.” A second later I let out a yelp as he lifted me off my feet. Too surprised to stop him, I allowed myself to be carried swiftly across the dojo before he deposited me in front of the mirrors on the far wall. “You’re … you again.”

Shock froze me in place as I took in my reflection. I couldn’t move—couldn’t breathe. Finally, I raised my hand to the mirror. My throat was tight and my chest rigid as I stared into the eyes of what could only be a ghost.

Not a ghost,
whispered a voice inside my head.

“It’s impossible.” But the moment my palm touched the reflection, a cold spark ignited beneath my fingers. It traveled through my arms like ribbons of silk until my entire body tingled.

My ki was back.

As if to prove the point, a burst of energy escaped my open palm, swirling around me and fanning the dark hair around my face.

In the mirror, I watched Quentin approach cautiously from behind. I spun around to face him, examining my hand as I did.

Quentin’s brow furrowed. “Are you … who I think you are?”

I glanced over my shoulder at the mirror. My reflection smiled back. “Yes.”

“Quentin.” Gene shuffled toward us, his hand extended. “Allow me to introduce you to Senshi.”

“Whoa,” he answered.

I nodded and pressed my hands against the mirror, as if I could somehow reach through and grab my reflection to ensure she was real. Whoa was an understatement.

Kim appeared over my shoulder. “You’ve been through so much. How are you feeling?”

I turned to him and ran my fingers along his arm, curious if he would feel the same to my new skin. “Better than okay.” I looked up at him and smiled. “I feel … ” I searched for the perfect way to describe it. Being Senshi again felt like slipping on a favorite pair of jeans. She was the embrace from a friend after a too-long absence. “I feel like I’m home.”

He placed his hands against my cheek and dipped his head so our foreheads touched. He opened his mouth to say something, but a moan from the back of the dojo jerked us apart.

“I think Sumi’s waking up,” Quentin said. “Do you want me to knock her out again?”

“Please.” Gene nodded. “I wouldn’t want the Network to have any more
difficulties
.”

“You got it.” Quentin jogged to the back of the room and crouched beside Sumi.

Gene sighed as he watched Quentin work. “Such a shame—a young life wasted. I know she’s done terrible things, but I believe she only ever wanted to be loved.” He shook his head and held his hand out to me. “Are you ready to say goodbye?”

No.
But I knew with the Network on their way, I wouldn’t get another chance. With a lump in my throat, I followed Gene as he walked over to my old body. Together, we stared at what remained of Rileigh Martin. An invisible cord ensnared my chest and pulled tight. I knew I wasn’t so much saying goodbye to my body, but rather goodbye to an entire life.

Quentin moved beside me and slid his arm around my waist. “It’s a lot to take in,” he said.

I nodded. “If I can’t be Rileigh—at least I can still be me.”

He nodded and gave me a squeeze. “I can sense a
but.
”

“You’re right.” I nodded. “It’s almost perfect. I’m not Sumi—
but
I still can’t go home. I still lost my old life.”

Quentin was quiet a moment. “Maybe not.”