Samurai Game (Ghostwalkers, #10)(60)

“Ms. Yoshiie.” Ryland gestured toward the door after handing off his son to Tucker. “After you.”

Again her lashes fluttered, two crescent-shaped fans, feathery and beautiful, hiding her expression and making her appear fragile and feminine when Sam knew she was made of steel. Sam took a step after her and Ryland shook his head.

“Not you, Sam. You stay here.”

It was a clear command. Sam was a soldier first and foremost and he’d never disobeyed an order from Ryland in his life. Every muscle in his body tightened. Ryland turned on his heel to follow Azami out, but Sam used his speed to cut him off. The effect on his body robbed him of breath, but it didn’t matter. If Azami was facing a firing squad so to speak, she wasn’t doing it alone.

“With all due respect, sir, I can’t do that.”

The room went silent. Everyone turned to stare at him. He didn’t take his eyes from Ryland’s.

“That wasn’t a request, soldier,” Ryland said.

“I’m aware of that, sir, but in this instance, I feel I have no choice but to attend this meeting and request that you rescind that order.”

“And if I don’t, you intend to disobey?”

Before Sam could answer, Ryland stepped close to him, nearly nose to nose. Sam didn’t give ground. They stared at one another a long time in silence.

Tell me what she is to you.

She’s my Lily. I believe in her, Rye. Sam answered his friend and commander the only way he knew how—honestly. She’s one of us whether she admits it or not. I’ve been in her head, and she could never hide a threat to us from me. She isn’t here for Daniel.

Ryland continued to stare at him a few minutes longer before he nodded his head and spun around to stalk out of the room.

“Are you crazy?” Ian hissed. “You’re lucky you’re wounded. Has anyone ever disobeyed an order?”

“He understands I have no choice,” Sam said and dragged a shirt off the nightstand. He didn’t bother with shoes, padding barefoot after Ryland and Azami.

His teammates circled him almost protectively and he found himself grateful for their camaraderie. They might not understand, but they were showing support, hoping Ryland wouldn’t take his head off, or confine him to quarters for the rest of his life.

Sam waited until Azami sank gracefully into a chair before he chose the one beside her. He caught the men exchanging quick glances, but he didn’t care. Azami wasn’t going to be alone when Ryland questioned her. Sam was absolutely convinced she wasn’t Whitney’s ally and that she was no threat to Daniel. If anything, she wanted to help the child.

“Perhaps a cup of tea,” Azami suggested. “If that’s possible.”

She appeared absolutely calm—much calmer than he was feeling. Sam wanted to gather her close and protect her from what was to come, but she clearly didn’t need him to shield her. There was no fluttering of nervous hands; she folded them neatly in her lap and simply waited while everyone took a chair. Ryland nodded toward Gator, who quickly leapt up to make a cup of tea for Azami.

“Ms. Yoshiie,” Ryland began.

She inclined her head in that graceful, demure way she had. “Please call me Azami. I would prefer to learn American ways.”

“Azami then,” Ryland said, in no way deceived by her delicate features. “I think it’s time for an explanation, don’t you?”

“You certainly deserve one,” she agreed. “You’ve been more than patient. Dr. Whitney called me Thorn. He gave the girls names of flowers and seasons, a careless acknowledgment that we had to be called something other than the numbers he gave us in his files. He thought me quite useless as anything other than for experiments, so instead of a Lily, or a Rose, I was a Thorn to him, a constant pain that nagged at him until he threw me away—back onto the streets in Japan. I was eight years old.”

Silence greeted her matter-of-fact revelation. Ryland put both hands on the table and leaned toward her, his piercing steel gaze fixing steadily on her face.

“GhostWalkers recognize one another by the energy surrounding us. I don’t feel it when you walk into a room.” Ryland made it a statement. He looked to Kadan for confirmation.

Sam shoved down anger. He rarely got angry, but Ryland was all but calling her a liar.

Kadan shook his head. “I don’t feel anything at all,” he agreed, “but Sam did. From the very beginning he felt something was off about the Yoshiie family, in particular Azami. He went so far as to scan their faces and send them to Lily to run the facial recognition program.” Kadan too leaned toward Azami, a slight frown on his face. “Why would Whitney find you useless to him and the program when you’re obviously gifted?”

“Whitney is able to recognize those with psychic talents, even when they are mere infants. Unfortunately he isn’t a terribly patient man with children. My ability to teleport didn’t appear until I was ten.”

“There was a mention of a child named Thorn,” Kadan told Ryland. “Jesse, from Team Two, his wife, Saber, talked about her a few times.”

Azami remained quiet, and she held herself away from Sam. He knew what she was doing. If Ryland didn’t accept the things she told him—if this meeting turned bad—she didn’t want him in trouble with his unit or to have to make a choice between them.