My Ninja Girl 4 by Gideon Caldwell (latest novels to read .TXT) 📕

at the door, the older monk’s attendants behind him and holding the two caskets.

“I don’t like seeing you go like this,” Micah’s grandmother said, clearly trying to hold back a tear.

Did she sense something? Micah thought, remembering what Youseg had told him. He smiled at his grandmother, hoping to cast away her fears. Micah didn’t know if his gesture would have any effect, but didn’t want her to later suspect that he had been hiding something from her, especially if…

He shook his head. He couldn’t think like that. If he was going to die, then so be it. But he couldn’t immediately assume that the monk’s vision was true. To do so could alter a decision he would soon be forced to make, whatever that decision may be.

“We’ll be back in a couple of days,” he told his grandmother through gritted teeth at first, Micah trying to relax the tenseness he was feeling in his face. “Just a few days.”

His grandmother took his hand and squeezed it. “You know I love you, right?” she asked. “I love all of you, my granddaughters-in-law current and future, you as well, Choro. I don’t love you,” she told Youseg, “but I appreciate you letting us stay here.”

“It’s my pleasure,” he said as he stepped aside. “I’ll let you say your goodbyes.”

“I just want you to be safe, to come back in one piece,” she told Micah. “All of you need to come back in one piece. There’s been enough life lost. Do what you have to do, and then come back. I was serious when I said there’s no point. If it seems like you’re not going to be able to win, then accept defeat. You can always go back and try again. But don’t do anything that will put you or any of the others in harm’s way.”

Yuri shook her head. “That’s exactly what we have to do.” She approached Micah’s grandmother and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You know I respect you, but…” Yuri settled her breath. “That’s not what we were sent here to do. Now is our chance. Now is the time that we are going to act.”

“Predictable, but I would expect nothing less from a kick-ass woman such as yourself. I just want…” Micah’s grandmother grunted. “Those stuck-up bucketed frat-tards. I hate them all, the shitty little bitches. They have been up to these shenanigans throughout my entire life. They’re responsible for the death of your parents, and…” She never finished her sentence, and as she looked back up at Micah, she finally made direct eye to eye contact with him. “Promise me you’ll come back.”

Micah lowered his head.

“Promise me, sweetie. You have to promise me.”

“I promise that things will be better sooner rather than later,” he said.

“No, that’s not good enough. I want to hear you promise. Promise me you will come back, that you will bring everyone back alive.”

Micah had to lie. He didn’t know what the future held, but he also didn’t want his grandmother to worry. He slowly started to nod. “I promise.” Micah looked to Choro. “Take good care of her while we’re gone.”

After his grandmother gave each of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek, which was somewhat comical to watch considering Bunni’s height, they set out, Micah leading the way back to the underground tunnels that connected to Woodsaka, five of Youseg’s attendants with them, two for each casket, and one to alternate with.

Everyone was silent as they walked, the streets seemingly empty. At first, Micah thought he was imagining it, but they really did seem less active in the district than it had been when they first arrived. The monks carrying the two caskets had a foreboding look about them, all of them in veils, their gazes cast downward. They went wherever Micah and his team went, Soraya in the lead, her tail bouncing just a bit as she walked.

Micah walked next to Yuri, her hand in his, his finger grazing against the ring he had given her. He kept it on there for a moment, and Yuri squeezed even tighter.

They eventually came to the tunnel, where they found the small vehicle Bobi had prepared for Micah’s grandmother, right where they left it. Micah and Liza helmeted up, Bobi chiming in and letting them know that everything was set once they reached the other side. As they entered the narrow space, Bobi’s small robot came alive and started following after them, startling one of the monks that had joined them.

“It’s with us,” Micah assured him as they pressed onward, a dim green light guiding them through the tunnel. Again, no words were exchanged, the group falling into a pattern of almost meditative walking. He bit his lip, hoping that it wasn’t the last moment he saw his grandmother, that Youseg’s vision wouldn’t turn out to be true, and if it did that at least she would be safe; at least the Society of Monks couldn’t get her.

After a long, and quiet walk through the underground tunnel, they reached the exit point in Woodsaka, where they were greeted by more four-wheeled robots, all with lights on their front ends. Their casings were a little rusty, but they seemed sturdy enough, three robots making whizzing noises as they got into place, the all-terrain robot that had met them in Heian joining its counterparts.

“In case you’re wondering, they are for the caskets,” Bobi told Micah in his headset.

“Thank you.”

While Liza relayed the message to Youseg’s monks, Micah stepped aside to make a quick call. “Choro,” he said, once his friend answered. “We have made it back to Woodsaka.”

“Good. I am here if you need me, twenty-four seven,” Choro told him, his voice very thin at the moment, the reception affected due to the fact they were underground. “Be sure to contact me whenever you are on