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“We have to go.” I turned, pulling her with me, darting across the roof as the guards below yelled at us. Leaping from roofline to roofline, we raced down the spine of the buildings, heading for the water.
“We need to get down.” I darted for an escape ladder, knowing we were too visible up here. Chinatown was busy, and Katrina and I were good at getting lost in a crowd.
Scaling down, my feet hit the pavement, my hands going to her waist, helping her jump down. Creeping to the end of the alley, I peeked out, only seeing shoppers and people going on about their day.
“Clear.” I threaded her hand in mine, my head swiveling around as I pulled us out into the lane. We moved quickly and quietly but tried to appear as nothing more than a couple out walking, enjoying the impending evening and cooler breeze.
“Move out of the way!” a man’s voice boomed in Mandarin, horse hooves clipping the road.
Glancing over my shoulder, people parted for Batara’s men, the group leader spotting me. “Get them!”
“Kitten. Run!” I yelped, both of us taking off down the street, shoving and pushing through the crowds. Twisting, I yanked down food stall signs and pushed over crates, trying to put up any roadblocks between us.
Not caring about innocent civilians, the guards fired on us, darting us down alleys and through shops, trying to lose them.
Katrina’s feet hit the ground fanatically, trying to keep up with mine. We wound through the streets, no longer hearing the yells after us.
“Did we lose them?” she panted, glancing over her shoulder.
“I think so.” I motioned her to follow me, feeling the salty air from the bay drifting over my face. We were so close. We just needed to find a boat to “borrow” and get out of Batara’s reach.
“This way.” I retook Kat’s hand. A persistent need to feel her, to know she was right beside me, had me wanting to touch her constantly.
We turned a corner, taking us right along the bay where restaurants and shops had resided before the Fae War. It now felt vacant and abandoned, used only for fishermen and tradesmen to hook up their ships.
Kat came to a dead stop beside me, a sharp gasp hitching her lungs. My eyes took a moment longer to see what she did.
A line of Batara’s human guards waited for us, but the one in front, a stocky man holding a curved katana, was fae. Deep, old magic circled him, itching my skin.
“Gou,” she whispered.
A choked cough came up my throat. “Gou?” I had heard of him. He was a proficient, twelfth-century samurai warrior. Ruthless, with no moral compass or loyalty to anyone. Including fae.
“He murdered Ruby,” she whispered, more to herself than me. “Sliced her throat right in front of me.”
Her fingers went to her father’s dagger, mine to the blade I took off the dead guard on the ship. They were the only weapons we had between us, our guns out of ammo and my real sword back in Budapest.
“Kat.” I swallowed as Gou stepped toward us, the line of guards following him, their guns pointed at us. “I don’t think that’s going to help us very much.”
The thought of fleeing turned my stomach, but I was also a pragmatist. And I didn’t like our chances of survival.
“On three, we run,” I muttered to her. “One. Two. Thr—”
Her feet stayed rooted, her glare still on Gou. I realized she had cut me off, not letting me experience the blinding rage she felt, the overwhelming need to destroy him, to avenge Ruby. She gripped her blade.
“Dammit, Katrina. We can’t win this.” I wrapped my fingers around her wrist, yanking her with me. I got two steps before more guards came around the corner, blocking our escape.
“Fuck.” I stepped back, my eyes going around, trying to find anything to use as a weapon. In the past, we might have had a chance, but nowadays with guns, we were shit out of luck.
Gou came for us, drawing up his sword. He didn’t speak or waste his time. He didn’t get off on prolonging it or torturing his victim.
He just killed.
“Kat!” I grabbed her, putting my body between them. My sword clanked against his katana, the power vibrating through me, rattling my teeth.
Grunting, he twisted around, his blade grazing my side. I barely got out of his way before it came back for me.
I was good, even fantastic with a blade, but he was better.
