Millions

by Pepper Winters

  My heart raced, tasting a plan half-cooked and unproven. The only chance we’d have at stopping this would be to run. And the only one who had a direct line to the open door and freedom was me.

  As a collective group of women—compete strangers but entirely on the same wavelength when faced with monsters in black—I reached backward into the throng and waited for a hand to grasp mine.

  Tess.

  I didn’t need to look to know it was her, and I didn’t need to speak to know she understood I was about to bolt.

  Goosebumps sprang down my arms, filling me with nerves and fear.

  If I ran, I had to commit.

  If I ran, I would suffer whatever consequences came with it.

  But I couldn’t stay.

  We needed help.

  I will bring that help.

  With a squeeze of my fingers, I promised I would come back.

  I sucked in a breath, ordered my legs not to fail me, and took one last look at the men, both alive and dead. I snapshotted the entire scene, a tintype reminder never to fade or discolour no matter how many years I might live.

  I was a woman.

  And I would never wish that away again.

  I squeezed Tess’s hand one last time.

  Then...I flew.

  A shout signalled one man gave chase, but I didn’t look back.

  I forgot everything but the rhythm of how to gallop.

  I leapt from the room and scurried down the spiral stone staircase as fast as I could. Around bends and tripping down uneven steps, I focused only on finding someone. Finding Elder. Finding a weapon I could use to kill two men.

  My breathing came noisy. My throat throbbing from strangulation.

  I ran so, so fast.

  And I would’ve reached the landing if something hard and agonising hadn’t flown from behind and wrapped around my ankles.

  I tumbled headfirst down the final three steps, coming to a smashed heap at the bottom, unable to breathe, move, or speak.

  My lungs stuck together as the force knocked the wind out of me. I blinked back silver stars as a middle-aged Chinmoku with a long goatee plaited with a red ribbon unwound whatever lasso he’d used to ensnare me. His hands on my legs made me shudder.

  The moment I was free, he yanked me to my feet and wrapped his hand around my hair.

  My list of ailments increased from unable to speak from bruising to unable to breathe from falling. I didn’t care about my voice, but I did care about getting oxygen into my frazzled, frightened body.

  Without a word, he dragged me through the house, following the labyrinth as if he’d been born here. How he knew where he was going astounded me, but slowly, parts of the house I recognised appeared, and I inhaled my first deep inhale as he prowled across the foyer, dragging me beside him, and handed me to the oldest man of the Chinmoku.

  A man reeking of refinement and dripping with cold-heartedness.

  A man I knew instantly to be the one in charge and Elder’s greatest foe.

  I was traded from one to another as the leader squirrelled me away into the library. There, he relished in the quiet normality as he regaled me with tales of the upcoming auction they’d arranged to replace the destroyed QMB. He laughed low and smooth as gunfire and curse words were fired and cut short.

  Sitting down with me trapped on his lap, he stroked my hair as anarchy rained outside and spilled every business proposition he’d been working on.

  How his new auction house would never have a name or permanent location so it could never be found. How he was so much smarter in this game than his old competitors.

  He kissed my cheek as men thundered past and murmured that whatever price I earned would go into a fund and ensure Elder’s family was all exterminated because this was personal now and above honour.

  And when he pulled me close, wrapped his fist in my hair, and wedged the sharpest, tiniest blade hooked on his finger to my throat, I’d wanted to tear his heart from his chest.

  Not because I didn’t want to be sold again.

  Not because I believed anything this man said would come true.

  But because if I’d failed in my quest to bring help to Tess and the others.

  I didn’t know where Elder was. I didn’t know if he was alive or dead, but for the first time in my life, I felt whole.

  Whole and healed and furious.

  I didn’t need Elder to complete me.

  I only needed to trust myself and I’d finally remembered how to do that.

  There were no more holes in my heart, no more bruises in my soul, no more breaks in my bones. I was a girl and I was better than all the men who’d dared lay an unwanted finger on me.

  I’ll ruin you.

  Commotion sounded outside and the Chinmoku holding me smiled a knowing smile. “Ah, it’s time.”

  Despite my loathing and newfound commitment to destroy every man, boy, and bastard involved in hurting innocence, I flinched as the leader smiled and brushed back my hair with a condescending look. “Know what time it is, little girl?”

  Even if my throat wasn’t closed from his servant trying to kill me, I wouldn’t have spoken to him. I would never stoop so low.

  He chuckled as if my angry silence was a well of entertainment. Touching my nose with his tiny blade, he grinned. “It’s time to crush the heart of my pupil.”

  Words vanished as knowledge slammed into me.

  Elder...

  Pushing me from his lap, he manhandled me until he shoved me out of the library, just in time to see Elder.

  Elder stumbling over the threshold, bruised and bleeding, worn and weary but still giving everything he had to give.

  Elder barely alive and about to die...because of me.

  And then, I knew.

  I knew I’d singlehandedly caused this. I’d run from the tower when I’d been told to stay. I’d taken the leverage of my existence and used it against the one I loved the most.

  I’d stripped him down to nothing.

  And it’s all my fault.

  I couldn’t stop what was about to happen.

  Because there was Elder.

  Staring at me.

  Loving me.

  Forgiving me even as he prepared to die.

  He collapsed to his knees with a heavy sigh, bowing his head as if ready for an axe to come swinging from hell to end him. He gave up his life for me because I was once again a stupid, stupid girl and I’d fulfilled my purpose.

  While I finally embraced my power, I’d overlooked the one terrible truth.

  I might be powerful in my own right but that power also ensured I made him weak.

  I stripped him of everything because he put me above himself.

  He made me his master and I’d killed him with stupidity.

  I tried to speak, but my throat was still too bruised. I tried to warn him not to trade his life for mine. That I preferred to be dead over what was in store for me. That I would give anything—including my own life—not to witness his be taken from him.

  I can’t.

  I can’t watch him die.

  If he was ready to end this, then at least kill me first.

  Please, El...

  But I couldn’t utter a sound, not a peep. And Elder didn’t look up; he just focused on his ex-leader’s shoes and waited.

  His voice came heavy and strained but etched with a snarl that said he might be kneeling, but he wasn’t cowering. Not yet. “Leave her alone, Daishin-san.”

  It didn’t make me feel any better to have a name for the man holding my life in the tiny blade pressed tight against my throat.

  He waggled the thimble, a gentle reminder for me to behave as he cooed, “I’m glad you remember your manners, even in unhappy circumstance, Miki-san.” Twisting my hair, he made me wince with a fresh flash of pain. “Perhaps all my lessons weren’t in vain, after all.” Dragging me over to the double doors we’d just came through, he pulled out a piece of black rope and wrapped it around my hands before tying it to the door hand
le.

  Focusing on Elder, he blatantly ignored me, happy knowing I was bait and would ensure Elder would obey as long as I remained his. Leaving me bound, he linked his fingers together and stood over his defeated. “Let’s see what else you remember, shall we?”

  I tugged at my bindings, desperate to get free so Elder’s honour-bound handcuffs could be removed. He needed to kill his ex-leader, not submit. He needed to live, not die.

  With another hard jerk, the door merely swung toward me then yanked me back, willing to move a little but not letting me go.

  I cursed my stupidity with every passion I had left. After years of being mute, I hated having the choice of speech stolen when I had the most to say.

  The most to swear.

  The most filthy of responses to distract Daishin from his fascination with Elder.

  Elder’s gaze flickered to mine before settling back on Daishin. “Stop this. We both know who you truly want.” Elder slowly levered himself back to his feet, swaying a little, not putting weight on his braced ankle. Even now—nose bleeding and body broken—he was still just as handsome, still just as majestic and heroic as when I first met him.

  My heart pounded with love even while I drowned in fear.

  “Let her go and I won’t fight when you kill me.” Elder bowed his head, but his eyes blazed black flames. “Do it. I’m tired of this.”

  Daishin laughed, circling Elder as if seeking just how true his offer was. “You’ve given up on trying to kill me already?” He rubbed his chin. “I’m disappointed.”

  Elder cringed; once again, his eyes skittered over me with so much hurt and affection my knees buckled before locking on Daishin and turning void of emotion.

  “You know why I won’t attempt it now.” Elder bared his teeth. “You broke the rules of combat. You have something that belongs to me.”

  Daishin laughed. “I taught you to be above human affection and personal possession, did I not?”

  “You did.”

  “Yet you fell in love.”

  “I did.”

  Daishin circled again. “In that case, I would say goodbye if I were you. It will be the last time you see her. I’ll be generous and give you the opportunity to say farewell. Call it a gift after you didn’t get to share final words with your father and brother.”

  I opened my mouth to scream, to beg, to cry but only a distorted moan came out. Elder’s eyes widened in horror as he searched my lips for signs of blood; his white skin hinting that the memories of carrying me with my tongue half-severed hadn’t left his mind.

  I hated for him to worry.

  I loathed I was the reason he worried, even now.

  Arching my chin, I revealed the heavy bruising I could already feel forming on my throat.

  He clenched his jaw, his hands balling as fury filled him with a final injection of energy.

  Turning to face Daishin, Elder’s posture didn’t change. He didn’t crouch or antagonise. He merely stood ready and supple, a snake in the grass waiting to strike.

  Only I knew something had changed. Only I saw the steely glint that maybe he wasn’t ready to die, after all.

  A resilience.

  A promise.

  A final attempt.

  I held my breath as he drawled, “You know, I always looked up to you, Daishin-san. I believed you when you said you wanted to help me with my habits and idiosyncrasies. I was too naïve to hear the lies behind the promises.”

  Daishin inspected his fingernails. “You weren’t naïve. You knew what you were and what you were doing. You ignored the truth because of one fact, Miki-san.” He speared Elder with a harsh glare. “You were too self-absorbed. So focused on what others could do to fix you that you forgot about fixing yourself.” He tutted. “Don’t blame others for your downfalls. Take ownership and defeat them.”

  “Defeat them like I’ll defeat you?”

  Daishin froze, assessing Elder in the split second before peace switched to chaos.

  Elder charged.

  The two men clashed together bone to bone, body to body. A rumble of determination. A quick explosion of intention.

  I jerked hard against my imprisonment, bashing the door in its hinges, wriggling like a fish caught on a line.

  Let him win.

  Please, let him win.

  My attention danced between Elder and Daishin as I wriggled and snapped, doing my best to untether myself. I bent and gnawed on the rope—nothing. I jerked again—nothing. I twisted and turned and only succeeded in making the knot tighter.

  I failed.

  I just hoped Elder wouldn’t fail as well.

  He grunted as Daishin kicked him in a flurry of high-powered dances. Healthy against wounded. Master against pupil.

  Tears ran down my cheeks. I wished I could help. I didn’t want to see this. I didn’t want to be destined to witness the worst thing in my life.

  I winced every time Elder was struck.

  I rejoiced every time he hit Daishin.

  I grew sick with worry as Elder lost ground, piece by piece.

  This was worse than him being beaten on the Phantom. Worse than watching him be shot by Q. Worse because I couldn’t see any way he could defeat this man, and he was already dying.

  I cried silently as the fight wore on.

  Fists swinging.

  Legs arching.

  Bodies dancing left and right.

  They would’ve been evenly matched if Elder hadn’t been riddled with stitches and fever. Unfair, unright, the outcome was already decided.

  My tears ran hotter as Elder’s spine curled beneath the weight of trying to stay alive. His energy deserted him swing by swing until he was hunched over and breathless with exhaustion.

  Any second now, Daishin would deliver the killing blow.

  Any moment now, Elder would cease to exist, and I would never smile, live, or breathe again.

  A fast-moving shape caught my attention, plummeting down the stairs. For a heartbeat, I didn’t understand what’d happened. I couldn’t marry why baby Lino was screaming in a black-dressed Chinmoku’s arms.

  Blood and claw marks smeared the warrior’s face—the same warrior who’d climbed through the window, speaking of a fierce battle to remove babe from mother.

  Tess.

  What happened to her?

  What happened to the women upstairs who I’d selflessly left and hadn’t returned to?

  Lino wailed at the top of his lungs as the Chinmoku clutched him tighter, marching toward the door.

  No!

  I fought harder against my tethers, jerking and jiving, desperate not to let the Chinmoku disappear outside. If he did, I doubted we’d never see Lino again.

  “Stop—” My voice came out whisper-thin.

  The Chinmoku put one foot over the threshold, smelling freedom.

  A thundering roar sounded, a streak of violence echoing in the darkness.

  Q appeared from outside, bolting into his home and snatching the Chinmoku around the throat. His speed and fury barrelled the Japanese back inside, both of them tripping and stumbling.

  In sheer strength, Q righted him and ploughed his enemy backward. He didn’t look at Elder and Daishin as they continued to duel. He didn’t notice me tied to his library door. All he focused on was the man who’d dare touch his son.

  It only took a few seconds to turn alive into dead.

  Q held his throat with one hand and sucker punched him in the temple with the other. The blow knocked the man out in a single delivery. Q back-stepped as the Chinmoku toppled, ripping Lino from his clutches and snarling.

  The moment the Chinmoku hit the floor, Q crunched his shoe into the man’s throat and pressed down with the blackest, cruellest look on his face. Spools of French spilled from his lips as he slowly suffocated the Chimmoku.

  The man struggled, punching at Q’s ankle, tugging at his trousers, doing his best to get him off. Bored of the game, Q hoisted Lino to his hip, pulled out his gun and bang, bang, bang, emptied three bu
llets into him without flinching.

  Lino bleated and squealed. His chubby cheeks blotchy with terror, but Q was past offering commiseration and sweet nothings to the child. He was in murder frenzy and three bullets weren’t enough.

  He shot again.

  And again.

  But then another blur appeared; this one in a blue jumper and jeans, doused red with blood and tangled blonde hair. She didn’t stop.

  Racing down the stairs, Tess skidded beside her husband, grabbed his gun, and unloaded the rest of the clip into the corpse of the man who’d stolen her baby.

  I had no idea what’d happened upstairs. How the Chinmoku had stolen Lino or how Tess had gotten free. Whatever war had taken place, I knew who’d won and it wasn’t the men.

  My heart vibrated with murder as a final bullet found a new home in the Chinmoku’s skull.

  Only once the air was laced with sulphur and gun smoke did she throw the gun into the face of their dead baby-snatcher and turn to Q.

  She reached for her son, but Q held him away.

  I gasped in horror as he wrapped his fingers around her throat—just like he’d done to the Chinmoku—and marched her backward, stepping over the body as if it was a new rug. His eyes shot black same as hers, lust tainting the air as vicious as violence.

  The moment Tess’s back slammed against the foyer wall, he fell on her.

  Kissing her. Mauling her. Totally savage.

  Lino continued to scream, clutching at air and kicking in Q’s arms as he continued to maul his blood-soaked wife. He devoured her, thrusting into her, grabbing her leg and hoisting it over his hip. Only once Lino’s screams reached ear piercing did Q struggle to pull away—reluctantly crashing back to humanity.

  They both groaned and panted. Her face wild with desire. His trousers tented with arousal.

  And then a noise ripped my attention from them, reminding all over again of the awful fight before me.

  My heart iced over as I looked at Elder.

  As I looked at a man who’d given up everything.

  A man who’d embraced every demon he ran from.

  A man who’d finally had enough.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  ______________________________

  Elder

  I WAS A man born of honour.

  I was a son made of regret.