Retaliation

by Charles Tillman

  Miko tried to move away as his deadly opponent came in for the kill, but the other tiger slammed into him from the side and knocked him to the ground. He was on his back, staring into the open jaws of the enraged Were. The jaws came closer as he tried to bring a sword up to block it, but a weight pinned his functioning arm. The second cat was on him now.

  Akio was out of the Pod before it stopped. He drew his katana and darted into the street in front of the four rapidly approaching Weres.

  They faltered. They’d sensed the vampire ahead but had no indication that they were facing two. Akio rushed toward them and plowed through the startled group, gleaming steel flashing in lethal arcs. When he stopped, four tigers were dead or dying.

  He turned toward Kenjii’s battle in time to see the vampire go down, pinned by two tigers, with one moving in to rip out his throat. “No.”

  Akio growled as he accelerated to vampire speed, knowing deep down that even he wouldn’t be fast enough.

  Miko felt the tiger’s hot breath on his face as it moved closer. His arm was on fire as the claws pinning it to the ground cut deep into his flesh. Everything was moving in slow motion as the gaping jaws closed on his head.

  The cat’s body jerked suddenly and its jaws moved away from his face, then a heavy weight pressed him harder against the ground. He felt something warm run down his face—blood.

  Were blood.

  The beast was bleeding.

  What? How? Thoughts came slowly as Miko tried to make sense of what was happening. One minute, he was dead, no way to escape, and the next, a heavy, limp form weighed him down.

  The tiger pinning his arm snarled, then excruciating pain stabbed through his arm as the claws penetrating it were torn free.

  Miko pulled his legs close and pushed his body up to free himself from the dead weight holding him down. The corpse shifted slightly and then was gone, lifted and thrown out of his sight. He blinked and looked up to see a terrifying visage—red eyes glowing like fire set in a face twisted with rage.

  Akio saw the tiger’s jaws closing on Kenjii as he raced toward them.

  “Drone deployed,” Abel announced as the Weretiger jerked from the impact of one of Eve’s combat drones punching through its head.

  Akio changed course slightly and grabbed the tiger pinning Kenjii’s arm. He lifted it by the scruff, and all four paws raked the air instead of Kenjii’s flesh. He didn’t hesitate as he brought his katana down, sending a large chunk of the cat’s head spinning into the darkness.

  He flung the cat away from him and grabbed the limp body pinning Kenjii to the ground. Looking down, he saw the torn and bloody form attached to a face he hadn’t seen in decades—one he’d never expected to see again.

  “Akio, I am tracking more than eighty inbound Weres. You’ll be overrun if you don’t leave now,” Abel announced as the Pod landed beside him.

  Akio didn’t hesitate. He leaned down and lifted Kenjii as if he were a child. In one short step, they were in the Pod, and Abel lifted it into the sky.

  The frustrated roars of the tigers below ripped through the air as the door slid shut, blocking out the noise as the Pod streaked toward Japan.

  Miko looked up into the eyes of the man who gently cradled his battered body in his arms, shocked to still be alive, and equally shocked to see the man who’d haunted his dreams and thoughts for the past weeks. The one who’d watched as Isamu and Ogawa tortured him.

  “Who? How? Who are you?” he whispered.

  The man’s voice was raw with emotion. “Akio.”

  “Who am I?” Miko asked, his voice barely audible.

  Akio pulled him into a tight embrace, face pressed tight to his. “Kenjii. Your name is Kenjii.”

  Miko’s head reeled as memories came to him in a kaleidoscope of images. Kenjii! My name is Kenjii. Akio? Oh, ancestors…I remember.

  He remembered everything: his parents, the apartment above their store in Chiba, the toughs who had cornered him in the alley…and Akio.

  “Akio. What? How? Where have you been?” Kenjii whispered, tears rolling down his face. “I remember the night you saved me, and all the nights we spent talking until you had to flee the sun. The hiding, the danger.” His face paled. “The night they came for me—Isamu and that bastard Ogawa.”

  “Hai,” Akio answered softly. “I spent many years remembering it as well. I thought you were dead. I saw you die.”

  “Heinz. That fucking Heinz did this. He told those animals how to keep me alive, and after they took you away, he gave me his blood. He took my memories and compelled me to come to him anytime they threatened to return.”

  Akio closed his eyes, feeling Kenjii’s pain and betrayal by someone he’d thought a friend through the mental link.

  “All of them must die for this,” Kenjii growled.

  “Shh, it’s okay,” Akio murmured. “You’re safe, now. There will be time once you’re healed.”

  “No. They took my life, my name, and my memories.” He pushed weakly against Akio, trying to get out of his grip.

  Akio released him, and Kenjii stepped back. Dizziness overcame him, and he would’ve fallen if he hadn’t grabbed the wall. His eyes went wide and dread shot through him when he spotted the red patch with a white female vampire skull affixed to Akio’s shoulder. “You? You’re the Bitch’s assassin? The Dark One Heinz and Chang talked about?”

  Akio cocked his head to one side, a confused look on his face. “Assassin? Dark One? I serve my Queen Bethany Anne, but those names are not familiar to me.”

  Abel’s voice came over his chip. “The drones in the base obtained that information. Eve thought it best to withhold it. She felt that knowing they were calling you those names would make you unhappy.”

  Akio snorted and shook his head, causing Kenjii to take a couple of steps back. He held his hands flat, motioning for the man to stop as he lightly tapped one ear. “My compatriot only now informed me. I was not aware I had gained the names.”

  After a swift, assessing look, he continued, “You’re injured. Let me help you.” Akio held up a wrist and sliced it neatly, then offered it to him. “Drink. It will help.”

  He warily reached for the offered arm, trying to reconcile his memories of his Akio with the monster Heinz had described.

  The blood hit his tongue like an electric shock, and his body began to heal seconds after taking it. He drank greedily, holding Akio’s arm tightly as he tried to pull in more of the rich and powerful blood. It was over much too soon.

  Akio pulled his arm away. Kenjii held on like a drowning man until Akio pried his jaw open with one thumb.

  “I said, enough.” Although he’d known Kenjii as a human, he’d been a Forsaken under Heinz’s control for many years. Akio couldn’t allow him to take enough blood to become more until he was sure the experience hadn’t changed him. Granted, he had been the kindest person Akio had ever known as a human, but he had been compelled for a long time.

  Kenjii reluctantly stopped, hungrily watching the cut as it healed before his eyes. Akio motioned for him to take a seat against the wall, and he sat on the bench and looked around at the craft, wondering where they were going but too battered and tired to care.

  He closed his eyes, feeling at ease in a way he’d never known until his memories of the time he’d spent with Akio returned.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Shanghai, China

  Cui couldn’t believe his eyes. There were two vampires, one on the ground and the other lifting a Weretiger with one hand and dispatching it with a sword. He watched in amazement as the vampire flung the four-hundred-kilo tiger away like it weighed nothing. The tiger pinning the other vampire to the ground was thrown like the first.

  Movement caught his eye as a black object landed beside the vampires. The one standing lifted the one on the ground and stepped into the object. Seconds later, both were gone as the object lifted into the air, snatching the Forsaken from his grasp.

  Cui roared in frustration as his quarry fled
into the darkness.

  “What the fuck was that?” Pan demanded as soon as he’d shifted to human form.

  Cui also shifted as he watched the sky where the craft had disappeared. “I don’t know,” was all he could say.

  Pod, Over Tokyo, Japan

  “Abel, bring us down at the base,” Akio ordered.

  “Acknowledged.”

  “Akio,” Yuko called over his chip. “Will you need the Pod-doc?”

  He considered the question. “No.”

  The trip from China had been made in silence as Akio watched Kenjii, listening to his thoughts as his memories returned. He was happy to have him back, but he was concerned that he wasn’t the same man he’d known. The videos he’d seen of Kenjii freeing himself from the destroyed Acheng site, the way he savagely took a man’s life that night, and the trail of bodies he’d left across China were concerning, to say the least.

  The fear Kenjii had shown when he saw Akio’s Queen’s Bitch patch, plus his years of living under the control of Heinz and his plans, not to mention the effects of working closely with Isamu and Ogawa, all figured into his decision. He had to remember those as they moved forward. He hoped he had found his lost love, but he was unable to determine if he could be redeemed yet. Kenjii’s thoughts were too scattered and his emotions too raw to make an accurate assessment.

  Yuko was waiting in the courtyard when the Pod landed. She greeted him with a warm smile and a hug when the door opened and he stepped out into the cool night.

  “You found him. Is he…” She hesitated.

  Akio answered as best he could. “He is injured but healing. The rest, we shall see.”

  Kenjii stood in the door of the Pod, cautiously peering at the two.

  Yuko smiled at him as she motioned him out. “Hello, Kenjii. I’m Yuko. I’ve heard much about you. Welcome to our home.”

  “Your home?” Kenjii asked. “Where am I?”

  Akio offered him his hand. “We’re in Japan. Tokyo, to be exact.”

  Kenjii was taken aback. They’d made a trip in only a few minutes that took hours in Heinz’s German craft. He took Akio’s hand and allowed himself to be guided out into an open area surrounded by what looked like an office building.

  “Your home? Tokyo?” he stammered.

  “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” Yuko laughed gently. “Come inside. You can clean up, and then we’ll explain everything. Just know that you’re among friends and safe.”

  Safe? I feel like the little girl in the story about the rabbit hole. Alice, I think her name was.

  Akio smiled when Kenjii thought that, his first real smile in many years. You have no idea, my friend.

  Akio and Kenjii walked hand in hand across the courtyard to a door that led inside. Neither knew what the future held, but for now, they were reunited.

  It would have to be enough.

  THE END

  Akio will return soon in RETRIBUTION!

  Author Notes Charles Tillman

  June 26, 2020

  Thank you for reading this book and continuing to read these notes.

  WOW! Thank you so much to all the fans who have sent me messages and posted in the Facebook groups about Akio Revelations: Reprisal. To say it is humbling is an understatement.

  Telling this story has been a wild ride from the start. I knew it would be tough to take Michael’s character and tell his story in a way that reflected what Michael, Craig, Ellie, etc… had already established as KGU canon. My biggest fear was and is that I wouldn’t be able to do Akio justice.

  This second book was a fun one to do. For those in the KGU Facebook family, I’m sure you recognized a name in this one. Yes, she is the inspiration for this character, and knowing her personally, I can sooo see her doing some of the things in this book. Love ya, Kelly!

  When I started writing this one, I wanted to show a different side of Akio. While I was reading the other books in KGU, I always wondered why he was so serious. Why does he hate Forsaken so much? Why does he let no one get too close? What happened that made him like he is?

  I hope I’ve answered those questions entertainingly and believably for all of you.

  Book Three, Akio Revelations: Retribution is complete and will be out in a few weeks. (How’s that for the “Where’s the next book” questions?) Michael’s words at the end of his Author Notes in Reprisal go back a few years when my friend and author Ell Leigh Clarke called on fans to ask Michael that question in reviews on Amazon. I did it on every book after that. Well played, Michael. Well played.

  Speaking of reviews, they drive all of us who write to create these stories. A review on Amazon or Goodreads, just a few words, makes a world of difference to someone who spends many hours crafting a story.

  Again, thank you all for reading this book and please drop by my Author page and say “Hi.” I respond to messages as fast as I am able.

  Author Notes Michael Anderle

  June 28, 2020

  Thank you all for reading our stories, we can’t do what we do without you!

  Charles is in the afterglow of his first book release and now he can’t pretend anymore.

  He did it. It’s done.

  Forever there is an ASIN (and soon ISBN) with his name attached. (The ASIN is a unique id that Amazon provides a book (ebook). If you stay inside the Amazon distribution system you don’t have to pay for the ISBN.)

  Once we go to paperback (using Ingram POD (print on demand) services an ISBN will be assigned for the paperback version of the book.)

  Now, Charles can’t feign false humility anymore. He. Is. An. Author. Now, I get to give him all of the crap about fans wanting book FOUR (04) (or a new series etc. etc.) that he provided me over the years, in spades.

  So continue doing me the favor of harassing the shit out of him – because he deserves enjoys it.

  Speaking of ISBN’s (which stands for International Standard Book Number) I was working with a database to see what, if any, information I could ferret out of the data just yesterday.

  Diary Jun 28th – July 4th

  I used to do this for a living. Now? You might be forgiven for wondering if that is true.

  In my past life (10+ years ago) I was a professional computer programmer / database ‘guy’ and messed with different software packages. Anyway, a partner had an ISBN file I needed to load into a database that was three (3) gigabytes.

  Not a big deal anymore, the laptop I am using has 4,000 Gb’s of SSD storage and 32 Gb’s of RAM. All of that means it is MORE than big enough to handle a (fairly sizeable) file.

  Well, the file was a RAR (a compressed file, it’s smaller than the real file to save on download speed and costs.)

  I had to go into Windows (I am typically on a Mac) to play with the file because a partner I’m working with uses Windows and I didn’t think it would be challenging for me vs. the opposite. I’m pretty familiar with Microsoft Access database program so, no problem, right?

  Wrong.

  After 20 minutes of screwing around with my Microsoft Office license and downloading Access, I learn it has a 2GB limit.

  (I’m going to compress this story a little. About 4 major downloads later of Microsoft Sql Server, MySQL and Microsoft Visual Studio…)

  I finally download SQLite and locate a front-end program to ‘see’ into the file that I have.

  Here are a few interesting facts:

  •The 3GB file un-compressed to 32 Gb (killing the option of using Microsoft SQL Server personal which is limited to 10Gb.)

  •I could not load the latest MySQL to my machine – not because I’m ignorant (but maybe that’s true as well) but rather the latest MySQL install didn’t. Install I mean.

  •SQLite has a 2,000 Gb limit to the database (I only need about 40.)

  •I found a suitable front end, imported over 18 MILLION records into the file (this took about 10 minutes on my super-duper-macpro-running-Windows laptop) and I can now find the about 50,000 records I need.

  Talk about
overkill.

  I have NO idea if I will need this data in one (1) month, and I know for a fact I’ll never get some of those files I downloaded to try off my hard drive. In fact, if this computer is EVER in a museum for Michael Anderle you will know the latest Visual Studio install is right there in the Parallels Window partition.

  Not being used.

  The Fourth is on a Saturday?

  I’m sure for many of you, the fact that July 4th (for those here in America where it is a holiday) is on a Saturday is not news. For me, I just figured this out like yesterday which is a week from July 4th exactly.

  I heard someone call the lack of knowing what day (or time) it is the new ‘Corona Calendar.’ I completely agree. I have a real hard time knowing what freaking day of the week / month / year it is right now.

  HAVE FUN! Life is hard enough right now. Take a moment for a few deep breaths, calming influence and then crack open that next book!

  Ad Aeternitatem,

  Michael Anderle

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  Books By Charles Tillman

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