8
" After he'd gone, I slammed the door shut and, after the day I had, wasn't the least bit surprised to see my closet door open and Whitley stick his head out.
"Son of hibachi," I muttered. Now I would have to add burning all of my clothes to my list of things to do.
"What?" He exited the closet with a smile. "I don't even get a hello?"
I held up a finger. "Wait right here."
He shrugged.
I shut the door behind me and marched back into the living room and pointed at Dr. Wendell. "You. Come with me. Now."
Wide-eyed, he rose from the couch and followed me to my door. Before I opened it, I turned to him. "You said part of your job was to protect me, right?"
He nodded, his brow knit in lines of confusion.
"Just to prove how bad you suck at your job, look at this."
I swung open the door and Whitley waved from his perch at the end of my bed.
Dr. Wendell's mouth dropped and he took a step back. "Wait. What is-who is that?"
"That"-I gestured to the boy on my bed-"is Whitley, aka Zeami, aka the psycho who tried to kill me, steal my powers, and burnt down my house."
Whitley smiled. "Guilty as charged."
I folded my arms and glared at Dr. Wendell. "If you're supposedly protecting me, how could you let my past-life murderer walk right into my bedroom and hide out in my closet?"
Dr. Wendell shook his head, his skin a shade paler than it had been moments ago. "But I-I didn't-how-" He looked at Whitley. "How did you get in here?"
Whitley rolled his eyes. "Through the door. Duh."
Dr. Wendell pushed me behind him, bringing his shaking fists in front of his face. "It doesn't matter. If you want to kill Rileigh, you're going to have to get past me. "
― Cole Gibsen , Senshi (Katana, #2)
11
" Go ahead, you guys. I'm not done with Kim yet."
Braden made annoying kissing noises while Michelle giggled.
"Fine with me," Kim said. He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it to the ground. Sweat glistened on the tight muscles of his chest. Standing under the orange glow of the setting sun, he looked like a golden statue brought to life.
"That's not fair." I struggled to swallow past the sudden dryness of my tongue. "That's distracting."
He flashed me a grin that ignited a fire low inside me. "That would be the point. Call it a tactical move."
Braden used the tree to pull himself up. "Well, boys and girls, I think it's time we moved along. This fight is about to lose its PG-13 rating."
Michelle nudged him in the side. "I think it's cute."
Something prickled on the back of my neck and I turned to find Quentin staring at me with a look between confusion and pain. As I tried to decipher its meaning, Kim used that moment to snatch my wrist and twist it behind my back. He pulled me in, pinning me against his chest, and lowered his head to place a kiss just below my ear.
"I may need to take notes." Braden pretended to open an invisible notebook. "So, what do you call this martial arts style, Kim? Kung fu-ling around? How about jujits-you-some? "
― Cole Gibsen , Senshi (Katana, #2)