Samurai's Heart by Jamie K. Schmidt

Author:Jamie K. Schmidt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: paranormal romance, ghost story, samurai, katana
Publisher: Jamie K. Schmidt
Published: 2018-04-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Ashley had barely gotten her breathing under control and felt normal again when the GPS told her to turn, this time taking them down a gravel path that was surrounded by trees and bushes that needed to be trimmed back. Wincing as some of the branches scratched the paint on her car, Ashley concentrated on staying as close to the middle as possible.

The pathway widened to take in a large farm. They passed grazing cows, and Ashley saw a chicken or two strutting around. Aside from a faint pop in her ears and a low-level buzzing sound, all seemed rather normal in the bucolic setting. She pulled up to the big farmhouse. Before they could get out of the car, they were surrounded by white clad figures.

“American ninjas?” Ashley said. “Seriously?”

Terasaka’s lip curled in disgust. “They are a necessary evil. They won’t harm you.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I won’t let them,” he said, getting out of the car.

The ninjas flowed back to give him room. Ashley sighed and grabbed her bag. She nearly tripped over the vibrator as she got out of the car. Hastily stuffing it in her purse, she searched the eyes of the nearest ninja but didn’t detect a hint of laughter.

“We are here to see the abbot,” Terasaka said.

“Follow us,” a disembodied voice replied from the middle of the ninjas.

They escorted them towards a corn maze that had been leveled. Ashley recognized a few kanji twisted into the flattened weeds – enough to know this was probably a protection circle. Terasaka held out his hand and guided her to the center. Once they sat down on a wooden bench, the white ninjas parted to let a woman stride through their ranks.

Ashley grinned at Terasaka’s expression. “You were expecting a man weren’t you?”

“Or at least not an American. I’m Iris.” She walked up to them, and held out her hand. She was handsome, rather than beautiful. In her mid-sixties, Iris’ life was told on the creases of her face. She had laugh lines around her mouth and eyes and skin weathered from the sun.

Iris was dressed as a farmer in dirty overalls and had dirt under her nails, but she moved like Terasaka. Ashley got the same serene aura from her that she felt in the presence of someone who was really comfortable in their own skin.

“Hajimemashite, Terasaka desu.” He got up and bowed to her in the same movement.

“I’m Ashley,” she said, taking Iris’s hand.

A jolt of pure white light screeched through her head. Screaming, Sada burrowed herself deeper below Ashley’s conscious. Pulling her hand free, Ashley staggered back, laying a hand on Terasaka for support.

“Koneko, what is it?”

She shook her head and let go of him. “I’m all right. Thanks,” she said to Iris. “I think.”

Iris gave a brief bow. “She will not rise again until you leave my sanctuary. If you ever need peace from her, you will always be welcome here.”

“It sounds like Sada’s a permanent resident by the way you’re talking,” Ashley said, ignoring Terasaka’s wince at her using the demon’s name.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.