Schooled in Revenge by Jesse Lasky Read Free Book Online Page A

contained anger.
    Takeda simply nodded. “You have exceeded my expectations.”
    Ava bowed. “Thank you, Sensei.”
    Takeda walked over to the man on the stool, patted his back, and spoke to him in Japanese. The man chuckled and stood, turning for the door.
    “You may all retire for the evening,” Takeda said. He picked the satchel up off the floor and handed it to Jon. “Please, secure this in its proper place.”
    Jon bowed. “Yes, Sensei.”
    The others left, crunching across the broken statue outside the meditation room. Stepping outside, Ava kneeled on the gravel, picking up the porcelain shards.
    “Some things cannot be fixed,” Takeda said, stopping at her side. “We can only let them go.”
    “But it was so beautiful,” Ava said, an irrational burst of sadness rising in her chest. She had walked past the statue a hundred times and never even noticed it.
    Takeda bent next to her, picking up one of the jagged fragments. He studied it before speaking again.
    “Objects are of little value. It is the lessons I impart that will prove long-lasting.”
    Ava looked at the face of the statue, still intact, her green eyes reflected in the angry, expressive face engulfed in flames. “What does it mean?”
    “Acala is said to protect all the living.”
    “Why is he on fire?” Ava asked, trying to fit two of the broken pieces together.
    “It is said that burning away all weaknesses is the only way to find truth. To achieve enlightenment.” Takeda stood. “Good night, Ava.”
    He left on silent feet, swallowed by the night only seconds later.
    Ava rose, wanting to clean up the broken porcelain before she went to bed. She was turning to go when she noticed a small fragment of Acala’s flame on the ground near her feet. She picked it up, the porcelain glimmering in what was left of the moonlight.
    She tucked the piece into her palm and went to look for a broom.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
    Ava let the broken pieces slide from the dustpan into the waste bin. Then she put the broom away and went inside. Jon was still there, tightening the panel onto the wall. He looked over his shoulder at her.
    “Hey,” he said, turning back to the panel.
    “Hey. How’s it going?”
    “I think I’ve just… about… got it.” He gave the panel one last shimmy. A solid click sounded through the room. “There.” He turned to her. “I’m surprised you’re still up.”
    “I wanted to clean up the mess outside before I went to bed.”
    He nodded, his eyes lingering on her face. Ava was suddenly aware of their solitude in the meditation room. Everyone else had gone to bed, the tera and its residents finally settled down for the night. The waves crashed against the cliffs below, a rhythmic lullaby that was the only sound in the still night.
    She had a flash of his lips, warm and insistent against hers, before they’d been interrupted on the cliff. And here they were again, just inches apart, like the universe was conspiring to throw them together in spite of the danger.
    And there
was
danger. Of losing focus. Of opening herheart to someone who was still grieving the loss of his dead fiancée. Of opening her heart to anyone, for that matter.
    She tried to calm the rush of desire in her veins. “I guess we should go to bed.”
    He held her gaze a moment longer before turning reluctantly away. “I guess so.”
    Ava was halfway to the door when she heard Jon’s voice behind her.
    “What the…?”
    Turning around, she saw Jon studying something against the wall. She walked over and leaned in, her eyes finding a tiny crack in the rice paper paneling of the meditation room wall.
    “What is it?” Ava asked.
    Jon reached out, pushing gently against the wall until a huge rectangle seemed to open up in front of them, the panel swinging inward.
    A hidden door.
    Jon grabbed a candle from a nearby altar and stepped toward the dark recesses of the room beyond.
    Ava put a hand on his arm. “Do you think we should?”
    He turned to her,