Inside was a dry, and more importantly, dark, space with no windows. Miko pulled the door closed, wrapped a piece of heavy-duty electrical wire around the handle, and tied the other end to a piece of equipment. Miko had no idea what the machine did, but the heavy metal bolts anchoring it to the floor made it perfect for his makeshift door lock.
He lay down behind the machine, as far from the door as he could get, in case someone found his hiding place for the day. He could function during the daylight hours, although he preferred not to. Being awake when the sun was up had always bothered him on some level. If anyone invaded his space, they would not find him an easy target.
This time when the dream came, his mind recognized it immediately. Isamu and Ogawa were gone, along with the mystery man who was so familiar. Heinz stood over him, talking softly.
“Miko; your name is Miko. You will answer to that name only. No matter what other names you might be called, you are Miko. Do you understand?”
He watched himself answer, his body no longer restrained and bearing no signs of the torture he had endured. “I understand.”
“You will not remember what happened before now. If you are troubled by memories from before this time, you will tell me immediately.”
“Immediately,” he mumbled.
“You will obey me in all things,” Heinz ordered. “You are mine to command. My wants are your wants, and you live to do my bidding.”
He watched as his body stood and followed Heinz. They got in a car and a tall bearded blond man drove them to a small airfield, where they boarded a plane.
A few hours later, they arrived at an airstrip in what he recognized as the strip he had used many times over the last few decades, the strip that serviced the lab and base at Acheng.
He woke up for the first time in weeks not primed for a fight and covered in blood sweat. He lay there for a few minutes recalling the dream, or more accurately, the memory. That was the first memory he recalled from the life he had led for the last century.
Miko. Heinz gave me this name. Who was I? Why did he bring me back from death? Surely there is more to this.
More frustrating questions he hoped to answer when he arrived in Japan.
Chapter Forty
Kunshan, China
Yi Zhi kicked the body they had found thrown down an embankment. The twin punctures on his throat left no doubt to his cause of death. “Master Cui, we are still behind him.”
All the teams had been recalled to the nine provinces that made up southwestern China. With the men sent out by Grand Master Peng and the other teams streaming into the area daily, Cui believed the Forsaken was as good as found. Cui had run his team hard the day before and well into the night, stopping only for short rests and to check for messages from Kun. They had made the entire journey in tiger form and had put many kilometers behind them in the past day and a half.
Kun had sent messages through the sat-phone each time an update was received. That information allowed Cui to guide his team to the point where they were close on the heels of the Forsaken. The kill Wu had found had been taken shortly after sunset, which put them less than three hours behind him. They were in Kunshan, less than one hundred kilometers from the southern coast, and had been running along the old expressway since early afternoon. That expressway ended forty kilometers south in Shanghai.
Cui had notified Kun of his suspicions that the Forsaken was trying to get to the port in Shanghai to make his escape several hours earlier. Kun had pulled more radio-equipped teams into the area and set up a network that would alert them when he arrived.
The hard pace Cui had set was wearing on his men, and tempers were starting to flare. They were all tired and angry, wanting nothing more than to find and kill the Forsaken who had caused them so much pain.
“We will have him soon, Yi, and when we do, he will not have a fast or easy death,” Cui assured him. “The Clan shall be avenged for the disrespect he has shown.”
Yi growled. “I will delight in peeling his skin away in small pieces for many days.”
Cui flashed an evil grin. “His screams will usher the spirits of our dead to the temple of the ancestors. They will be pleased.”
Yi nodded as the four set out at a ground-eating pace once again.
Shanghai, China
Miko had his goal in sight. He had pushed himself the past few days to levels he had never been able to achieve before. He had discovered that in addition to being physically stronger, he now had mental abilities that allowed him to read minds on a limited basis. It required strong emotions in his victim such as fear, but he was able to pick up their thoughts as he took them. He had discovered that the more afraid they were, the easier it was to read them since the experience with the family in the barn. He didn’t know if it would continue to get stronger, but past experiences with the serums Heinz had given him had taught him that the effects sometimes did continue to develop over time.
He had passed a sign half an hour earlier that told him he was almost to Shanghai. The past two days had taken a toll on him as he pushed himself ever harder to reach the port city. It was approaching one in the morning, and he was heading down a wide dark street with empty, shattered buildings on each side. The damage was years old, judging from the trees that grew inside of some of the bombed-out structures.
The entire area was devoid of human life. He could sense small animals in the rubble, but humans hadn’t lived there in many years. He had fed an hour earlier on a trio of drunks who had passed out after sampling the brew from a makeshift still they had set up in an abandoned supermarket. Miko’s body was fully healed from the damage he had taken since leaving Acheng, but he was mentally exhausted.
He had picked up the scent of Weretigers several times since he had woken up. The scents crossed his path, causing him to slow and expend energy searching ahead with his senses. He discovered that he had gained more range than he’d had when he’d started this mad dash across China. He put it down to another gain from the injection and that he was exercising the ability more.
Whatever the cause, he had used it three times in the past hour to go around groups of Weres in his path. It annoyed him to have to avoid them, but he knew they had to be the ones the Were he’d killed over a week ago had said were searching for him.
He froze when he heard a cough in the shadows ahead. He reached out with his senses and found two Weres in human form on the ground floor of a multistory building that was relatively undamaged. The windows were gone, but from what he could see, the building had not been hit by any of the bombs that had damaged so many more.
A feral grin crossed Miko’s face. He was tired and angry that these Weres still thought they were equal to a vampire.
He cut down an alley to the next street over, then stopped at the mouth and searched for more Weres. Once he was sure the two he had found were alone, he jumped to the second level, catching the floor where the window was missing and swinging his weight inside.
Miko slowly worked his way through the building, skirting piles of debris left by scavengers who had stripped out anything useable. He entered an open stairwell leading down, carefully dodging the piles of trash dropped there over the years until he was on the ground floor.
The two Weres were still watching the street in front when Miko burst through the open door into the room. He had his butterfly swords in his hands as he rushed across the open space to the first Were, and he swung both swords in a cross sweep, one high and the other low. The first Were was dead before he hit the floor, blood gushing from the wound across his throat, while his hands futilely pushed against his guts where they spilled out of his open abdomen.
Miko allowed his body to follow the direction of the high sword and spun to face the second Were. He had shifted while Miko dispatched the other and was now in the form of a tiger that stood over a meter tall at the shoulder.
The big cat snarled a challenge as he leapt for Miko, who blocked a swipe from one claw-tipped paw with a sword but was
thrown off balance when a pile of trash slipped under his foot.
The tiger missed his throat, but the paw slammed into him. His chest felt like it was on fire when the sharp claws gouged four deep furrows across it. The force of the blow combined with the loose material underfoot caused Miko to fall to the littered floor.
The tiger was on him in a flash, one paw on his shoulder, the claws digging deep into his flesh while the powerful jaws moved in for the kill.
Miko brought the razor-sharp hudiedao up and slammed it hilt-deep into the tiger’s side. The wide blade met resistance when it hit the beast’s ribs, but Miko powered it through until the bones snapped.
The cat backed up and yowled in pain, ripping Miko’s shoulder as it jerked the claws buried in it back. That was the opening Miko needed to bring his second sword into play. The damaged flesh around his shoulder pulsed, sending a white-hot bolt of agony through his body as he stabbed the tiger repeatedly with the short sword.
The cat fell over with a heavy thump, a sword embedded in its side and blood pooling out of the multiple wounds in its chest. Miko rolled onto his back, his breath coming in pained gasps as the flesh on his shoulder slowly knitted back together. As he lay there healing, he heard the snarls of hunting cats echoing in the distance.
The vampire painfully climbed to his feet and listened. The snarls were coming from three different directions, some closer than others, but all were heading toward him. He ripped his short sword from the body on the floor and jumped through the empty window frame. When his feet hit the pavement, he sprinted south, the only direction he had not detected snarls coming from.
Chapter Forty-One
TQB Base, Tokyo, Japan
Akio and Yuko were sitting silently in the command center, still lost in their thoughts of the tale Akio had shared.
“Akio,” Abel announced over the speakers. “I have located the person you seek.”
“Where?”
“He has entered Shanghai,” Abel replied as the monitor above the desk came to life. The screen showed a lone figure walking down a dark street lined with debris and shattered buildings.
“Enhance lighting,” Akio requested. The picture cleared as Abel adjusted the light. “Zoom in on the person.”
The figure on the screen slowly grew larger until his features were clear. He was a sorry sight. His clothes were in tatters, and his bare skin was visible through numerous holes. His tunic was stained with dark blotches, and his hair was matted and filthy.
“Kenjii, it is you,” Akio whispered.
The figure moved warily, stopping every few meters as though checking for scents.
“I’ve located another fixed location in Lu’an. The transmissions all concern the Forsaken,” Abel continued.
Akio smiled. “Kenjii. His name is Kenjii.”
“Acknowledged. Kenjii is now the vampire’s designation.” The monitor switched from his location to a map of the region. “Here is Lu’an.” A blue dot appeared on the screen. “There is a drone inside the facility and a carrier close by to relay the signal.” The map zoomed out and multiple red dots popped up. “The pursuers are converging on a single area.”
“Do they have him in sight?” Akio asked.
“Negative,” Abel replied. “The radio traffic indicates that they know he’s headed to Shanghai. They’ve been following a trail of corpses.”
Akio got to his feet. “Do you have drones on more of the searchers yet?”
“Yes,” Abel confirmed. “I’ve attached drones to twenty-three teams throughout the area. I have audio on all, and video on fifteen of them. One of the groups has been identified as the command team. I currently have four of the enhanced drones above them. That team is presently thirty kilometers north of Shanghai.”
“Bring the Pod down,” Akio ordered.
“It is in the inner courtyard,” Abel confirmed.
Akio rushed to his quarters. Moments later, he was in his black armor and sprinting to the elevator at the end of the hall. The doors opened before he arrived, and the elevator was moving before the doors finished closing. When they opened, he stepped out and into the second elevator that would take him to the ground level. He was in the air and screaming toward China three minutes and forty seconds after he left the command center.
The Pod was crossing the China coast when Abel informed him. “Kenjii has engaged one of the teams I am tracking.”
“Keep the drone shadowing him and keep me apprised of his location,” Akio instructed.
“Acknowledged.”
Kunshan-Shanghai border, China
The satellite phone in Cui’s pack buzzed, indicating an update from Kun in his command post. Cui stopped and shifted to human form. The others dropped to the ground, panting hard from exertion from the continuous sprint he’d ordered.
“We have him,” Cui crowed. “One of the pickets spotted him. He’s only a few kilometers ahead of us.”
He stowed the phone and was about to shoulder the pack when it buzzed again, this time indicating a call. He answered it, “Cui here.”
“Team Six advises that they heard fighting near their location. Team Sixty-Eight’s picket was also close, and they aren’t responding to calls. Teams Six, Twenty, and Nine are entering the area now. It is only two kilometers south of where he was initially spotted,” Kun advised without preamble.
A tiger’s roar erupted in the distance. Seconds later, two more followed. Cui’s head snapped up, his features clouding with rage. “The teams are announcing their presence. I heard three distinct groups on the hunt,” he growled into the receiver.
“I have ordered all teams to engage,” Kun stated. “We have the numbers to end him quickly and with little risk if they coordinate their attacks. There are twelve more teams moving to his location as we speak. I suggest you make haste if you wish to take part. This will be over within the next ten minutes.”
“Yes, Grand Master.” Cui ensured that the connection ended and addressed his team while he stowed the phone.
“Grand Master Peng has ordered the other teams to attack. Three are entering the area where Kun believes the vampire took out another team. We need to hurry before he kills more.”
Cui headed south down the expressway and shifted into his tiger form on the run. One second, a naked human pounded down the road on bare feet. The next, a huge orange and black tiger tore down the road, leaving a cloud of dust behind.
Pod over Shanghai, China
“Akio, Kenjii has been spotted. There are multiple hostiles entering his current area. I’m sending the coordinates to your Pod,” Abel called as the display screen in the Pod illuminated, showing a satellite view of Shanghai with a pulsing red dot on it.
“Do you still have real-time surveillance on him?” Akio inquired.
“Yes,” Abel confirmed. “I have also deployed additional drones to the area where the radio transmission originated. I haven’t located the team that’s following him, but I have located four more groups that are less than five minutes out.”
“Are any of the drones the enhanced model?”
“Negative. All of those are currently engaged. I can divert two from Kenjii if you’d like.”
“No,” Akio decided. “I will be there in a few seconds. Keep me advised of their locations once you have them covered. Also, utilize the enhanced drones to protect Kenjii if needed.”
“I’ve synced the monitor in your Pod to track the drones covering him. As soon as I’ve confirmed the additional hostiles, I will sync those locations as well.”
Akio studied the screen. “Where is the lead team?”
A blue dot appeared on the screen several kilometers north of the red one. It was obvious that it was moving much faster. While Akio watched, several new markers popped up.
“He has engaged two weretigers, and a second group of four is approaching from the south. They will be there in forty-three seconds at their current pace.”
“Put me down on a side street ahead of that team. I wan
t to intercept them,” Akio ordered as he touched the dot that indicated the four he wanted to target.
Akio unstrapped himself and stood. The Pod was descending at a comfortable rate for him to do one last equipment check, nothing like the wild ride into Adelaide the last time he had gone into battle.
Miko stopped, his senses flaring as the wind shifted from behind him. Weres, close behind me.
He slipped through an open doorway and froze. He pushed his senses out, trying to determine the number of Weres and, more importantly, how close they were.
His body had taken damage in that last ill-advised attack. The muscles around his shoulder were healing, but he’d expended so much energy running during the past two days that his healing was slow. He needed to feed.
The tigers he’d heard after he killed the two in the building were converging on his location. He sensed six nearby and heard many more snarls in the distance.
There were two Weres in tiger form running down the street less than a block from where he’d stopped. There was no chance of getting out of here without them spotting him. Miko grimaced as he pulled the short swords from their sheaths. His mauled arm sent jolts of pain through him when he tested it. It had healed enough for him to use it, but it wasn’t going to feel good.
He saw both tigers slow and sniff the air as they approached his location, realizing he was close. He stepped out of the shadows and held his arms out to either side. “Looking for something?”
Both big cats roared and sprinted toward him. The closest leapt at Miko with its claws extended, intending to pull him down. He dodged to the side and brought a sword around, slashing the cat across its front shoulder. The tiger snarled and crashed to the pavement.
The second slammed into Miko, hitting his damaged shoulder, and he twisted to the side, dropping to one knee from the force of the impact. He attempted to lift his injured arm to block a slash, but it didn’t respond. The claws ripped across his stomach, parting the flesh in four jagged lines.
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