The second fighter came at her now, giving her no chance to finish the first one off. The man was twirling a chakram—a steel ring with a razor sharp outer edge — on the end of a finger and smiling as he advanced.
Mai paused. This man was an adept. Deadly. To be able to wield such a dangerous weapon with confident ease spoke of years of hard practice. He would be able to throw the chakram with a mere flick of the wrist. She quickly evened the odds.
She ran toward him, cutting down his range. When she saw his wrist jerk she dived into a slide, slipping underneath the arc of the weapon, straining her head as far back as she could as the evil blades sliced the air above her.
A lock of her hair fell to the floor.
Mai crashed feet first into the adept, kicking at his knees with all her might. This was no time to take prisoners. With a crunch, she both heard and felt, the man’s knees gave way. His scream preceded his fall to the ground.
So many years of training lost in an instant.
The man’s eyes betrayed much more than personal anguish. Mai briefly wondered what Kovalenko might have over him, but then a third fighter entered the fray and she sensed the first was already up on his feet.
The third was a big man. He pounded the floor toward her like a big bear stalking its prey, bare fleet slapping the concrete. The Blood King urged him on with a series of grunts and then burst out laughing, a maniac in his element.
Mai looked him straight in the eyes. “You don’t have to do this. We are close to catching Kovalenko. And freeing the hostages.”
The man wavered for a moment. Kovalenko was snorting high overhead. “You make me quiver, Mai Kitano, quiver with fear. Twenty years I have been but a myth and now I break my silence on my own terms. How could you…” He paused. “Or anyone like you, ever measure up to me?”
Mai continued to stare into the big fighter’s eyes. She sensed the one behind her also pausing, as if awaiting the outcome of a mental struggle.
“Fight!” the Blood King suddenly screamed. “Fight, or I will have your loved ones flayed alive and fed to the sharks!”
The threat was real. Even Mai could see that. The big man exploded into action, running at her with arms outstretched. Mai reviewed the strategy. Hit and run, strike swift and devastatingly hard, then get out of harm’s way. If possible, use his size against him. Mai let him come, knowing he would expect her to use some kind of evasive move. When he got to her and grabbed at her body, she stepped inside his reach and swept his legs.
The sound of him hitting the floor drowned out even the demented cackling of the Blood King.
The first fighter now struck her hard, aiming for her lower back and landing a painful blow before Mai twisted and rolled, coming up behind the downed man and giving herself a bit of space.
Now the Blood King let out a shriek. “Chop her sister’s fucking head off!”
A fourth man now emerged, wielding a samurai sword. He headed straight for Chika, six steps away from ending her life.
And Mai Kitano knew now was the time to execute the best play of her life. All her training, all her experience, came together in a life or death, last-ditch attempt to save her sister.
Ten seconds of lethal grace and beauty or a lifetime of burning regret.
Mai leapt onto the heaving back of the big man, using him as a springboard to launch a flying kick against the first fighter. His shock barely registered as Mai’s leading foot cracked several bones in his face, but he went down like dead weight. Mai immediately tucked her head in and rolled, landing hard on her spine, but the momentum of her leap carried her far across the concrete floor in minimal time.
She landed farther away from her sister and the man with the sword.
But right next to the chakran.
In a millisecond of pause she centered her being, steadied her soul, and turned, letting loose the deadly weapon. It skimmed through the air, its deadly blade flashing, glinting, already streaked red with Mai’s own blood.
The chakran sliced into the swordsman’s neck, quivering. The man collapsed without sound, without registering anything at all. He never knew what hit him. The sword clattered to the floor.
The big man was the only fighter capable of standing against her now, but his leg kept on giving way as he tried to stand up. She had probably taken out a tendon or two. Tears of agony and helplessness coursed down his face, not for himself but for his loved ones. Mai locked her gaze on Chika and forced herself to run over to her sister’s side.
She used the sword to cut the ropes, gritting her teeth on seeing the purple wrists and the bloody chaffs caused by constant struggle. Finally, she pulled out her sister’s gag.
“Go limp. I will carry you.”
The Blood King had stopped laughing. “Stop her!” He was bellowing at the big fighter. “Do it. Or I will end your wife by my own hands!”
The big man screamed as he tried to crawl toward her, arms outstretched. Mai paused near him. “Come with us,” she said. “Join us. Help us destroy this monster.”
For a moment, hope lit the man’s face. He blinked and looked as if the world’s weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“You go with them and she dies,” the Blood King grated.
Mai shook her head. “She’s dead anyway, friend. The only vengeance you will get is by following me.”
The man’s eyes were imploring. For a moment Mai thought he would actually drag himself out along with her, but then the clouds of doubt returned and his gaze turned downcast.
“I can’t. So long as she still lives. I just can’t.”
Mai turned away, leaving him lying there. She had her own wars to fight.
The Blood King sent her a parting shot. “Run far away, Mai Kitano. My war is about to be declared. And the gates await me.”
CHAPTER NINE
The Blood King’s hands flew to his knife. The weapon had been stuck point-first into the table before him. He brought it close to his eyes, studied the blood engrained blade. How many lives had he ended with this knife?
One, every other day, for twenty-five years. At least.
If only to keep the legend, the respect, and the fear fresh.
“Such a worthy adversary,” he said to himself. “A shame I have no time to test her again.” He rose to his feet, twirling the knife slowly, its edge catching the light as he walked.
“But my time for action is almost here.”
He stopped at the opposite end of the table where a woman with dark hair had been tied to a chair. She had already lost her composure. It sickened him to have to observe her red eyes, heaving body and quivering lips.
The Blood King shrugged. “Worry not. I now have the first device, though I missed Kitano. Your husband should be delivering the second device about now. If he comes through, you will go free.”
“How — how can we trust you?”
“I’m a man of honor. It’s how I survived through my youth. And if honor was questioned…” He showed her the stained blade. “There was always more blood.”
There was a subdued ping from his computer screen. He walked over and clicked a few buttons. The face of his commander over in Washington DC appeared.
“We’re in position, sir. Target due in ten minutes.”
“The device is the priority. Above anything else. Remember that.”
“Sir.” The face moved away, revealing a view from an elevated position. They were looking down into a parking lot, rubbish strewn and practically abandoned. The grainy picture showed a tramp moving around at the top of the screen and a blue Nissan departing through a pair of automatic gates.