Senshi (A Katana Novel) by Cole Gibsen

looks like we’re holding things up.”
    Way to go, Rileigh. I scrambled to release my own seatbelt. I couldn’t afford to go all starry-eyed at the same moment I was trying to repair my friendship with Quentin. Besides, I knew Kim wouldn’t mind if I spent less time with him and more time with Q. Kim and I were soul mates, after all.
    Now that we were together, there was nothing that could come between us.

11
    Q uentin got out of the car without so much as a glance in my direction and made his way over to Drew, the oldest member of our group at twenty-one. Drew stood up from his runner’s stretch and shrugged his braid over his shoulder. Even from the car I could see the frown form on his face. He said something to Quentin, who nodded and pointed to his missing eyebrows. Both guys turned and looked in my direction, their expressions unreadable from where they stood.
    I sank deeper into the seat. Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any worse.
    Kim opened the door and the scent of sandalwood enveloped me like a familiar blanket. His mouth twitched, as if he were fighting off a frown. “What is this face you are wearing? I do not like it.”
    I stuck my tongue out at him. “Is this one better?”
    The corners of his lips folded under into my favorite upside-down smile. “Some would speculate that death would break a strong spirit.”
    I smiled back at him. “They obviously haven’t met me .”
    “Obviously.” He reached for my hand and pulled me out of the car into his arms. He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine, igniting a fire inside of me that threatened to burn me out of my body. When he pulled away, it took me several moments before I could remember how to be human—how to open my eyes, how to swallow, how to breathe. “How was school?” he asked.
    If blood could simultaneously turn to ice and catch on fire, that’s exactly what his breath, warm against my neck, did to me. “Oh, you know … school’s school.”
    “ Uh-huh . Want to tell me what’s wrong?”
    I huffed and fell limp against him, pressing my lips against his T-shirt so that my words muffled into cotton. “Not really.” The sooner I could start punching things the sooner I could ignore what felt like acid eating a hole in my stomach. “Can we just get on with training?”
    “ Senshi. ”
    Ribbons of silk unraveled beneath my skin. I leaned back and gave him my best nice try—using my past-life name in a super sexy voice will not get me to swoon look. At the same time I fought off the shivers licking the length of my spine. “ Yoshido ,” I answered in what I hoped was an equally sexy, breathy voice.
    His lip twitched, as if he was having trouble keeping a straight face. “You had another episode today, didn’t you?”
    I turned away from him and pretended to study a hangnail.
    “ Rileigh. ” Kim sighed. “I just want to help. Why does everything with you have to be a fight?”
    Did it? I hugged my arms to my chest. Even if he was right, what could he expect? I was a samurai. Fighting was what I was trained to do—it was all I knew how to do.
    In the distance, Michelle and Braden competed at sit-ups. As Michelle lifted her torso from the ground, Braden leaned over and surprised her with a kiss. She laughed before shoving him away. A pang of jealously dug into my side. It boiled down to this: Michelle loved Braden, Braden loved Michelle, and she hadn’t burned anybody’s eyebrows off recently. Her life seemed uncomplicated, while mine had always been anything but.
    A tingling along the back of my arm pulled me from my thoughts. I spun away from Kim’s outstretched hand in time to see his fingers close on air. “Seriously?” I tsked. “That was just sad.”
    Despite shaking his head, he couldn’t hide the humor in his eyes. “I wasn’t trying to surprise you. I just wanted to get your attention.”
    “Well, you got it.” I placed my hands on my hips and smirked. “Sure you can handle it?”
    Something