“You’ve got some seriously overactive hormones.”
“Don’t worry, Sprout, the Chairman’s not home yet.” He handed me my backpack. “There was a girl there and … I got dizzy.” I kicked my toe against the moss between the bricks. He shot me a look, then walked into the middle of the street. “Did you see the girl on the bench?” I pointed toward the park-everything there looked normal. I’m fine-I guess I just tripped.” I forced a smile. “What earthquake?” He touched my forehead. When he pulled me up with one hand, I told him I’d fallen because of the earthquake.
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And why exactly did the protection detail have to give me that particular code name? Couldn’t they have picked something cool? When the bodyguard finally figured out I wasn’t in danger, it still took a while to assure him that “Sprout” was fine. I tried to twist around to see who it was, but all I saw was a hand and the steel-blue semiautomatic it held, pointed toward the street. Sprout? I gasped, my muscles aching and my head spinning. “Sprout’s down, repeat, Sprout’s down!” the man said as he shoved his knee into my back and pressed my head against the bricks. It was quiet except for the sound of someone running toward me.Ī man, vaguely familiar, burst through the gate and skidded into me, slamming me back to the ground. The carriage house still stood, and the cobblestones lay undisturbed. When I could finally think straight, I sat up and looked around to see how bad the destruction was.Įverything looked the same. Then the wave dumped me on the ground and was gone. I tumbled into the swirl of it, fighting the current, feeling the scream of my lungs as I slipped deeper. I sucked in a lungful of air just before it smashed me against the wall, tossed me into the air, and dragged me under its boiling fury. I flattened myself against the carriage-house wall and stared in horror as the cobblestones buckled and rose like a tsunami, higher and higher, racing toward me. The ground began to tremble and flex, accompanied by a terrible roar. I stared until she disappeared behind the bushes. She gave me one last look before she turned and walked away, her short skirt swishing under a black backpack. The girl was still there, but she’d stood up. A long moment later, the feeling vanished, but it left the air clearer, colors brighter. I wanted to slip through and escape into their sanctuary, but my body was frozen. When our eyes met, the space between us blurred and rippled as if the air were a giant tarp and someone had snapped the corner. I saw long black hair and a school uniform. She was sitting on a park bench in the shade of a maple tree, legs swinging, her shoes barely scraping the ground. The street was empty, nothing out of place-except the girl. I turned back to the street and looked around. I was about to enter the driveway when I felt a weird sensation on the back of my neck, a tingling, like hot water hitting cold hands. The Crescent was home to some of the finest mansions in San Francisco, including my grandpa’s. Behind me, the street sloped down a steep hill lined with manicured gardens. A little creepy, I always thought, but convenient. I waved at the security cameras as I crossed the cobblestones and headed toward the arched gateway of the old carriage house, and the wrought-iron gates began to swing inward. Visit their website: First Edition: September 2014 Summary : With the help of a mysterious girl, a San Francisco teenager saves his grandfather’s business empire from a ruthless businessman while discovering things about himself and his family that lead him back to ancient Japan and threaten to destroy the life he has always known.īook Design by Christopher Fisher Cover Design by Pete Garceau Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author. Names, characters, places and events portrayed in this book are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. The Gatekeeper’s Son is a work of fiction. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a database or retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner listed above and the publisher of this book, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by The Shokunin Publishing Company.