Xantoverse Shadowkill (4 page)

She approached the door to the Gear and Sprocket—its sign made from exactly that hung lopsided on the surface. From inside she detected no sounds, which was about right as it wasn’t officially open yet. Though some people who had the ear of Jack, the vul who owned the place, were often given access to conduct shady business.

This would work out fine for Kina.

In, stabby stabby, job done. Then back to Tai.

CHAPTER 3

While no one watched
, she turned her back and picked the lock to the Gear and Socket. She knew it was a four-second operation, having done it a dozen times before. The internal locks wouldn’t be a problem if Linus was inside. Only Jack had access to the keys for those. The door handle clicked as expected and the door opened.

Kina slipped inside, her feet landing on the lush pile of the thick carpet. A narrow entrance lad into a wide circular room with a bar in its center. Usually, Jack would be tending, but today it remained empty. She stayed within the shadows of the entrance hall and scanned the place.

Linus stood at a booth with his back to the bar. From the way he was moving it appeared he was talking to someone. Not good. But she’d have to deal with it. No turning back now. Moving slowly, and keeping her back against the smooth paneled walls, she slipped out and circled to her left, keeping Linus in front of her.

When she got far enough to the left she ducked into a booth and spied out from the edges. Sitting in the booth on the opposite side of the bar, Felek and Evangeline, two of Linus’ cohorts, the former an independent vul crime boss and the latter an assassin, seemed to be in locked negotiations with two rugged female humans—Iron Council members. Yet another of
Haven’s
many crime syndicates. Though the IC as they were known were only behind Cauder Industries and the Blackmarks in terms of influence and number of members.

With those and Linus, that made five.

Too many.

If she had Linus’ Napier machine pistol, then perhaps it was doable. But the Wraiths insisted on quiet kills. Single targets too. This was no good. She considered slipping away, and waiting for Linus to be on his own, but there were no guarantees when that would be, and she still had Tai to deal with.

And now, she couldn’t be sure if Linus had already told these others that he saw her acting weird up on Tai’s level. She had no choice but to wait for an opportunity. She pulled her daggers, crouched into the shadows and edged her way forward until she was crouched below the bar. From her position she could hear and see the group.

She didn’t know how long she waited, but cramp was starting to set into her leg muscles when finally, the meeting concluded and the group broke up. The two Iron Council members slid out of the booth, shook hands with Linus, and headed toward the exit, taking them past Kina.

Now or never.

Kina darted out like a bullet in a gun. She grabbed the first IC woman by the collar and threw her to the ground, face-first. The second one spun, but not fast enough. Kina delivered a high kick to her throat and followed up with a low sweep, sending her crashing down into a heap. Linus and Felek the vul turned to face her.

She readied her daggers, pulled her arms backs preparing to throw them, but a voice stopped her.

“Kina, what the freck are you doing?”

Kina span round. Tai! With Miriam and Hela…

Linus and Felek pulled their guns as Evangeline slinked like an oily ghost from the booth and withdrew a wicked-looking saber. Tai had already drawn his Napier and Dorian revolvers—damn, he was frecking quick on the draw. It never ceased to amaze her. Miriam just crossed her arms over her red-leather jacket as Hela hefted out from behind her back a wide-bore auto-shotgun that put Reaper’s to shame.

Beneath her, the two Iron Council women moaned.

“You two, get out of my sight,” Miriam said. The two nodded and scrambled to their feet, sprinting out of the bar. Tai gave Kina a confused look, raising his eyebrow in a silent question. She shrugged and made to move toward them.

“Stay there,” Miriam said to her and to the others, “Well, isn’t this cozy.”

Felek snarled, the lips of his long snout curling up, exposing his fangs. “You brought an assassin to negotiate for you, Cauder,” he accused Miriam. Linus had already started to edge away from his vul partner. Kina tracked his movements, not letting him out of her sight.

“Now, now, Felek, credit me with a little more intelligence than that—unless you’re suggesting I am as intellectually challenged as the Iron Council bitches you’ve been dealing with.” Miriam raised an eyebrow. Hela’s fierce firearm seemed to punctuate the question with a threat on his life if he were to say the wrong thing.

Tai moved round to stand by Kina, his two revolvers still pointed at Felek and Linus. “What’s going on,” he whispered.

“I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing here?” Kina replied.

“Linus,” Hela called out. “You move one more inch, and I’ll empty a magazine into your useless frecking body. You understand?” Despite her tiny stature, the scars on Hela’s face and the short-sword she kept on her belt told anyone she was not to be taken lightly. Linus, despite standing a good foot and half taller and built like a transport ship, did as she requested. Hela was not one to issue empty threats.

“We’re here on Cauder business,” Tai whispered. “You?”

“Um, not-Cauder business.”

“Felek,” Miriam said. “I warned you only two cycles ago that you were late on delivery. I assume, from the fact that you have Linus and the lovely psychotic Evangeline here with you, that you do indeed have what you owe me. Unless of course, you don’t want to pay and you wish to break a deal?”

The vul stepped forward and growled, his meaty, fur-covered talons gripping a vul-made firearm. He’d been insane to try anything. Hela would cut him down before he could get a single shot off. The crime boss seemed to struggle to get his words out, but eventually, snarling through every syllable, had to back down. “No, Ms. Cauder, I don’t currently have your item. That’s what we were discussing. Wasn’t it, Linus?”

The huge man shrugged, not wanting to get involved. Evangeline only had eyes for Hela. Those two had beef that went back many long cycles. Some dispute over a kill—both claimed credit, but no one could verify.

Bored of the tension, Kina spoke up. “Well, if no one minds, Linus and I have private business to conduct.” She hoped she could extricate herself and hint to Linus it’d be in his best interests to follow along—especially with Miriam and Felek seemingly not on friendly terms.

“No,” Miriam said. “You stay here. We’re done here.” She leaned down to Hela and whispered in her ear. Hela grinned a sadistic smile and nodded her head. “Son, I’ll speak with you more later. I’ll give a thousand credits of your balance for each one.” With that, Miriam turned and left, her leather skirts swishing noisily against the carpet.

As soon as she left, the place erupted.

But not from the expected direction.

Far to their left and behind the bar, a group of six men, all human, burst out from a private room. Gunfire belched out, smashing through glasses and mirrors of the bar. Evangeline pulled Felek into the booth and then ducked and rolled into a crouching position against the bar. Linus sprinted toward Kina and the others, heading for the doors.

Tai opened fire, shooting over Linus’ shoulders. He caught one of the Blackmarks in the chest with two slugs, sending him flying back. The other five fanned out, trying to flank them. Kina backflipped away from her central position and ducked behind a nearby table.

Hela screamed a torrent of profanities as she hefted the auto-shotgun in an arc, firing out half a dozen high-caliber rounds. Each one exploded on impact, sending the gangsters diving for cover as booth, bar, and supporting pillars crumbled under the assault.

Kina tracked Linus’ run as he neared. She aimed a dagger for his chest, pulled back her arm and… a gunshot flew past her air. She spun to her left and saw another pair of gangsters in tatty jeans and grease-stained overalls come out of side-exit that led to the gambling rooms. She loosed a dagger, catching the one with the
Haven
-made pistol in the throat. His friend reached out for him, blood covering his hands.

She quickly dashed forward to them, driving her second dagger into the back of the friend. By the time she recovered, Linus had already left the bar as Tai covered his exit, firing his dual pistols and strafing into cover behind a reception desk near the front entrance hallway.

Hela didn’t need cover.

She just strode forward, demolishing everything in sight with her auto-shotgun. Another half-dozen rounds obliterated the booth protecting the group of five.

When the wall collapsed, exposing them, Evangeline launched herself from the bar top, her saber sliced the air as she gracefully fell into the group.

With a single motion, she spun round, cutting each Blackmark scumbag.

A moment of frenzied blood-carnage later and the assassin stepped out of the booth with a wide, psychotic grin on her face. Blood dripped from her dark blue nanoweave suit.

Hela hefted her gun into her back holster and pulled a pistol from her waist holster. The two women stood five or meters from each other, both working the angles, the odds, figuring out who would have the upper hand.

Kina gave the advantage to Hela. No matter if Evangeline was a trained assassin—Hela was just a bad ass. She really ought to have joined the Wraiths, but then even as she thought that she realized Hela wouldn’t have the mentality—she was as psychotic as Evangeline.

Cleaning her daggers on the clothes of the two Blackmarks, Kina grabbed the dropped pistol, stood and turned round. Tai was looking her way, about to say something when a shadow moved behind him. “Tai!” she shouted, but she was already running toward him as he stared at her confused.

The large form of Felek reared up behind Tai as he readied to attack. Kina launched into the air, somersaulted over Tai’s head and fired twice before she landed just in front of Felek. The first shot missed.

The second caught the huge vul in the left leg, making it twitch off balance. It fired its weapon, but the round flew high and wide. Kina swept low. Felek managed to jump and pulled back its heavy fist.

Kina dodged easily and punched the beast in the side of its ribs where the vuls have a sensitive organ. It crumpled, winced and fell to its knees. Kina flipped over and took its neck, wrapping her arms across its windpipe. She squeezed tight, making it roar and thrash, but she pulled up on the chokehold and Felek soon stopped his thrashing.

With one twist in the right direction, she could end him—and he knew it.

“It’s okay, let him go, Ki” Tai said. Tai had his Dorian revolver pointed at Felek’s chest.

“He was going to kill you,” Kina said, realizing the hypocritical nature of her words, but seeing him here now, with his roguish grin, the expression of someone who lived for strife and scams, but also someone who was loyal to anyone who was loyal to him.

“And she was gonna kill you,” Tai said, rising the Dorian-made weapon over her head. Kina craned her neck round. Hela was there, knife in hand.

The bitch would have backstabbed her.

Where the hell had Evangeline got to? Kina scanned the room—she’d clearly done what she did best and got the hell out of a tricky situation. Kina berated herself for doing the same much sooner in the day.

“You better have the balls to pull that trigger,” Hela said. “Because if you don’t, you’ll be next Cauder, pup.”

Tai pulled the hammer back with his thumb.

“You can let go,” Felek said, his growly voice hoarse. “We’re good here. Let’s live to fight another day, eh?”

The vul had a point. Kina eased her grip on him and eventually they separated, sliding out in opposite directions. Both looked on at Tai and Hela facing each other. Felek snarled at Tai, Kina raised her pistol and aimed at Hela.

Hela and Felek weren’t so stupid and rash to not realize they were at a disadvantage, neither of them had a firearm. Tai’s rep as a quick draw preceded him. Hela knew this. Kina knew this.

“Put the blade down, bitch,” Kina said. “I’ll end you right here right now if you don’t.”

“Your whore’s got balls, Tai,” Hela said.

“Enough,” Tai said, his thumb tense against the hammer. “I’ll give you this one, Hela. You and Felek get out of here. No one needs to die over this.”

Felek backed off, his hands up, leaving Hela on her own. “Don’t think this helps you with your debt, Tairon. You still owe me.”

“And if you don’t find that relic, you’ll still owe Mother, dearest. I think you’ll have the worst of it.”

With a shrug, the vul backed off until he reached the end of the bar and disappeared through a door that led to an elevator shaft. Tai carefully placed the hammer back and lowered his Dorian. “Hela, tell Mother I’ll deal with Felek personally. She’ll get her relic. But right now, I suggest you leave while you still can.”

Ignoring him, Hela turned to Kina and spat at her feet. “Another time, bitch. Lucky you have Tai as your friend today… it could have ended badly for you otherwise. Still might.”

“I’m the one standing here with a gun in your face. I’d be humble if I were you.”

“Hela, just leave. I’ll deal with all this. Jack’s gonna have a fit when he sees the mess.”

Tai moved away and examined the damage. Hela moved away toward the entry hall. Before she left completely, she indicated for Kina to come closer. Kina kept her gun trained on the woman. “What?” she said, whispering, getting from Hela’s body language that she was trying to be subtle.

Hela stepped closer. “Miriam said to take advantage.”

With that, Hela gave her a knowing look before turning and leaving.

Kina spun round to take in the carnage before her. Tai picked through the damage, checking the bodies. Hela’s words rang in her head like the explosive rounds of the auto-shotgun.
Take the advantage.
What did that mean?

The contract pressed against her chest. Was Miriam the originator of the contract? Had she hired the Wraiths to take out her son? It was crazy, but not
that
crazy. Miriam Cauder didn’t get to her position within Haven without being utterly ruthless.