Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Still dropping men.
The floor was getting worse.
There was this pull in my chest to go back and help, but Akiro was climbing that staircase.
The kusarigama chain dragged behind him, clanking against each step.
I changed course and cut diagonally across the seats.
The fire mag in my right hand was down to its last rounds. I ejected it mid-stride, slammed a fresh one home, and racked the slide.
Once we got close, two of Akiro's men blocked the base of the staircase and raised their guns.
“Fuck you!” I shot the first one.
Bullets and fire.
The round punched through his shoulder and the flame caught his neck. He screamed and grabbed at the fire.
The second one raised his gun.
Yuki threw his blade. It buried itself in his forearm.
He dropped the gun.
Aki grabbed him by the front of his shirt, headbutted him, and threw him into the seats.
We hit the stairs.
Aki and Yuki flanked me.
We climbed fast.
Two steps at a time.
Then, three.
The stairwell was narrow and dark. Red carpet. Gold trim on the walls. The sounds of fighting below echoed up like thunder in a canyon.
A man appeared at the top of the stairs and fired down at us.
The bullet hit the wall next to my head.
Plaster exploded.
A second shot hit Aki's shoulder. He grunted and stumbled back a step.
Yuki grabbed him before he could fall.
"I'm good.” Aki hissed. “Protect the Dragon."
Blood was already seeping through his jacket.
I clenched my jaw, stepped in front of them, and returned fire. The flame lit up the stairwell like a torch. The man caught it full in the chest and tumbled backward.
“I’ll be fine.” Aki checked his shoulder.
Yuki checked his brother's shoulder, met his eyes, and nodded. “Let’s go.”
We headed up.
Two more men came running down the stairs after him.
Yuki shot the first one.
The bullet took him in the hip.
He fell screaming, rolling down the steps toward us.
We pressed flat against the wall to let him pass and Aki shot him in the head.
The second man leaped forward and came at me with a blade.
Yuki caught his wrist and twisted it.
The knife fell from his hand and clattered against a step.
Aki headbutted him and he went limp in Yuki’s grip. Next, the twins threw him down the stairs.
We raced up.
Once we hit the top, I burst through the door and entered the performance box.
It was one of the grand ones. Private. Overlooking the stage. Velvet chairs. A small table with champagne glasses still sitting on it. A balcony railing wrapped in gold leaf.
And ten men.
All of them armed and waiting.
Another trap.
I looked past them, through the door on the far side of the box, and I caught a glimpse of Akiro.
Just his back.
The chain of the kusarigama dragging behind him as he disappeared into the hallway beyond.
He used them to slow me down.
The door slammed shut behind him.
What a coward! Is this your chosen, Father? A runner?
The ten men closed in.
The first one came at me with a short sword. I ducked the swing and drove my elbow into his ribs.
He bent forward, and I grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face into my rising knee.
Teeth cracked.
I spun him and shoved him into the man behind him. They tangled.
I shot them both.
The fire caught them, the velvet chairs, and two others.
Smoke curled toward the ceiling.
The other men’s eyes widened at the realization I had fire.
Yeah. Pretty hard to fight that. Just run.
One came from my left.
Big.
Wide.
Built like a boulder.
He swung a fist the size of a cinder block.
I leaned back.
Felt the air move.
Grabbed his wrist and used his momentum to pull him past me.
Straight into Yuki—or Aki—who was already moving. His blade opened the man's stomach, and the twin spun away before the body hit the floor.
While I set fire on two more, another grabbed a twin from behind, locked his arm around his throat, and lifted him off the ground. His feet kicked. His blade fell from his hand.
His face was turning red.
Then purple.
"Aki!" Yuki screamed and launched himself across the box, drove his blade into the man's bicep.
The man howled and released the twin.
Aki dropped to the floor, gasping. He grabbed the fallen blade and slashed the back of the man's knees.
The man buckled.
Yuki finished him.
The remaining four came at once.
Two rushed the twins.
Two came for me.
I shot the first one in the chest. The fire caught the second before he could raise his weapon. Both went down screaming, flames spreading across the velvet floor beneath them.
The twins moved as one. Aki swept the first man's legs while Yuki drove his shoulder into the second's chest.
Both men stumbled toward the balcony railing.
Fast, the twins grabbed them by their collars and slung them over the edge together.
Two bodies hit the audience at the same time, and people below screamed.
I reloaded both guns and ran off in Akiro’s direction.