AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m saving you for last,” she promised.
“It’s your funeral. ”
She strode across the room with her footsteps barely touching the floor, and Jameson watched her come with no sign of fear.
“Secret?” Nolan whispered as Noriko pulled the blade back into a traditional fighting stance and squared herself in front of Jameson.
“Close your eyes,” I instructed. Both Jameson and Nolan followed my order. “You don’t have to do this, Noriko. They trusted you. ”
“Trust is for fools. You heard what Daria said. ”
“And Daria is nuts. ”
The blade held in the air, and Noriko seemed to contemplate my words for a brief pause. I hoped against the odds she might have heard what I was saying. In the lull, Jameson opened his eyes and smiled a peaceful, resigned smile.
“Daria is the future. The past is dead,” Noriko announced, then her blade sang though the air. Jameson’s head tipped to the side, his eyes still bulging with surprise, and tumbled to the floor with a cracking noise where it hit the hardwood.
“Nolan,” I whispered. “Keep your eyes closed. Whatever happens, I need you to believe I will get you out of this alive. ”
His breath was short and edged with panic.
“I will protect you,” I swore.
“You can’t even protect yourself. ” Noriko laughed, rounding on the chair. She took her blade and wiped Jameson’s blood on my shirtsleeve. “Everyone claimed you were the greatest warrior of them all. You were a legend. ”
I forced a smile. “I have a great publicist. ”
“Tonight your legend dies. ”
I looked up at her, my one good eye locked on her face. “I’ve heard that promise before, Noriko, and from beings a lot scarier than a four-hundred-year-old hooker with a toy sword. ”
Rage contorted her features in an ugly way. Her face wrinkled in on itself, and her eyes darkened dramatically. Her sword stance was less precise this time. She pulled the sword back over her head as if she intended to halve me like a dry log. The blade cut through the air, but I was faster than she was.
“Nolan, pull your hands back. Now!”
He did as he was told and the rope binding us together strained, providing a gap between our wrists. With a hop that made my whole body scream in protest, I shuffled the weight of both our bodies forward a mere two inches.
It was enough.
The blade cut through the ropes, freeing my hands. I pulled my wrists free and looked at my arm. She’d cut me along my right forearm where the blade must have gotten me before I’d pulled all the way forward. Dark blood seeped from the wound, but I could still use my fingers, at least for now.
Then, as deep wounds are wont to do, the pain came as soon as I saw it. But it was no ordinary pain. My skin felt like it was being boiled from within, and the entirety of my arm swam with the burning itch of a thousand fire ants trapped beneath the surface.
Noriko’s sword was made of silver.
My eye darted to her, then back to the wound. She’d paused her attack only long enough to smile smugly at my reaction. My bravado had faded, but not my will to live. She swung again, but I rolled off the chair, which was subsequently sliced clean in half. Nolan had gotten off his chair and was struggling with his leg bonds, but for the time being he was not her concern. Her eyes and her sword were all for me.
As I pulled at the ropes around my ankles, the tingling itch spread to my fingers at last, rendering them useless. My own blood was painting my bare legs a grisly black-red. I freed one leg in time to kick myself backwards on the carpet as she slashed to attack me once more.
“For someone who’s had four centuries to practice, you’re not very good with that thing. ” I hopped to my feet, kicking the loosened ropes off. I must have made quite the spectacle, with one eye swollen shut and my face and legs smeared with blood. The look on Nolan’s face when he saw the front of me for the first time was sobering.
It was probably the same look I’d worn when I met the first vampire ghost outside.
My arm bled onto the floor with a steady dripping sound.
“You will die here tonight,” Noriko snarled.
“If I do, it’ll be from blood loss due to standing around bored while I wait for you to shut the hell up and attack me already. ”
