Read Senshi (A Katana Novel) for Free Online Page B

Finally, he opened his eyes. “I know.” He patted his hand against the vinyl table where he sat. I jumped up next to him and leaned my head against his shoulder. Maybe Quentin wouldn’t stay mad at me. Hope picked at the knot inside my chest.
    “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me,” he said. “But you need help, Ri-Ri. You’ve been struggling to control this ki thing of yours for what—a month? And this?” He wiggled the skin where his eyebrows had been. “This should tell you that you can’t keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
    “But I haven’t been doing anything.”
    He gave me a pointed look.
    “Oh. Right.” But that was going to change. Before today, I’d assumed the real threat was the ninja; that’s why finding them had been my top priority. Turns out I was wrong. The real threat was me.
    I met Q’s eyes. “I’m sorry I let things get so out of control and put you at risk. From this day forward, getting control of my ki is my number-one priority.”
    “Good.” He smiled, but his eyes remained serious. “Because next time, someone could lose more than their eyebrows. You understand that, don’t you?”
    I sucked on my bottom lip and nodded. I understood. Until I got my ki under control, I was a ticking time bomb.
    No one was safe.

8
    A daimyo was the ruling lord of a village. In my previous life in Japan, Lord Toyotomi had been that man. But to call him just a ruler was like calling Tony Hawk just a skater. Lord Toyotomi had been my teacher, my counselor, and the closest thing to a father I ever had. Like me, he’d been gifted with the ability to manipulate ki. And he was the one who taught me to understand and use that power to my advantage.
    If I had any hope of doing so again, it seemed only logical that I should start with his teachings. And rule number one for controlling ki? Meditation. Easy to do when you’re in a silent courtyard surrounded by cherry trees and koi ponds. Not so easy in the middle of a city full of sirens and flashing lights.
    Don’t get me wrong, our new downtown St. Louis loft was nice, but it didn’t feel like home. Despite the fact they were tinted on the outside, the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up an entire wall of my room left me feeling exposed. Debbie said the new location was only temporary, until we could find a house. The problem was her job as a talent agent and Dr. Wendell’s constant (and annoying) presence kept her too busy to look.
    After tossing my backpack next to the bed, I placed several incense cones on a ceramic plate on my desk and lit them, hoping the citrus smell of satsuma would calm me. But city life made that nearly impossible. As a trained warrior, I couldn’t unwind—as much as I tried—surrounded by steel towers and mechanical noise. In other words, a place of dead energy.
    So, yeah, the meditation wasn’t going so well.
    But I still had to try.
    The entire school had been evacuated thanks to my handiwork in the chem lab. That meant I had four hours of uninterrupted meditation before I had to leave for training with Kim and the other samurai.
    I unrolled my yoga mat and plopped down with my legs crossed. After putting my earbuds in, I picked up my iPhone and a pang of guilt washed over me as I scrolled through my playlists.
    I knew I should call Kim and tell him about my incident, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull up his number. It wasn’t that I wanted to hide what happened. I just wasn’t in the mood for a repeat of the conversation we’d had every day for the last three weeks. The CliffsNotes looked like this: I’d tell Kim about my latest ki-related accident and he’d get all broody and frowny-faced. Then I’d ask if he had any leads on the ninja. He’d say no and get even broodier and more frowny-faced. Then he’d launch into his PowerPoint presentation on all the various ways I should be careful because there were ninja after me. Meanwhile, I’d smile and nod, but would actually be wondering if October