Chapter Eleven
A nna hurried through Yvgeny’s tunnel system until she reached the hidden door they’d all used to enter the system near the Grand Central subway station platform. She exited the tunnel and hurried through the dark subway until she reached the edge of the platform.
It was crowded with people, all of them draped in cameras, umbrellas, hats, and bags. Their conversations weren’t in English, but in Mandarin.
As soon as she reached the edge of the platform, a group of the tourists posed near the edge while another member of their group took pictures. While that was happening, two shorter tourists stepped back and held their hands out, hauling her up onto the platform with no fanfare at all.
One of them slipped a subway ticket into her hand, while the other gave her a floppy hat identical to the one she wore, a light rain jacket, and a large camera with a long, telescoping lens attached to it.
Anna quickly donned her disguise, then bowed slightly and thanked them in Mandarin.
When the train arrived a few seconds later, she boarded it along with the crowd of tourists, using the camera to scan for law enforcement, Homeland Security agents, or the Italians.
There were a half-dozen police officers scanning the crowd, but wearing the same outer clothing as several other people in the mass of tourists, and with the camera shielding her face, effectively made her invisible.
The two women who’d taken her under their wing, excitedly told her about their next destination, a tour of the High Line, then the warehouse district.
The High Line was an elevated railway in New York City built in the 1930s and used mostly for freight. By the 1980s it had fallen out of use. Some of it had been torn down, but a large section of it had been turned into an urban park. All along it there were art installations, small gardens, water features, and many places where people could sit and relax.
The group got off the subway at the closest stop to the High Line, then moved in large clumps of people up and onto the urban oasis.
Her two new friends expressed their admiration for how lovely it was to have such a beautiful and natural space available for use by people living in the city. Anna took several photos of them, posing with the trees, flowers, and other plants in the foreground and the city skyline in the background.
Once they reached the opposite end of the High Line, they all trooped down the outdoor staircase, which dropped them into the old Meat Packing District. Many of the warehouses here had been converted into other businesses, including restaurants and shops.
Homeland Security’s temporary home was one of these warehouses, its brick facade right across the street from a large restaurant.
Their group’s tour guide informed them of the fact that it was Homeland’s temporary headquarters right in front of them. This caused a stampede of people to run across the street to look through the windows, pose in front of the building, and generally make a nuisance of themselves.
This information wasn’t widely known, but several of the businesses across the street had posted about the number of Homeland Security agents coming and going from the building on social media.
Anna kept with her group of two ladies, though several more glommed onto them as well. She took a few photos of the group, then slid behind them to have her picture taken. Some of the other tourists were doing the same. One group, however, seemed to take the posing thing a little far.
They were posing back-to-back with their hands poised to look like they were guns, James Bond style. Their antics attracted more tourists, Chinese and others who just happened to be there at the same time.
In minutes, the entire sidewalk and one lane of the street in front of the building were full of people, laughing, talking, and calling to each other.
Anna and her group of now six ladies were oohing and aahing over the photos they’d taken. They shared their phone and camera screens with each other, commenting on how wonderful the photos looked and how happy they were with the tour company.
This was an unexpected bonus stop.
The big double doors leading into the warehouse opened and three Homeland Security agents came out. They shouted something, but not loud enough to be heard by more than the closest people.
After a few more tries to get everyone to move, one of the agents went back inside, leaving two to stand by the doors.
An excited buzz went through the crowd, and they shifted closer to the entrance.
Suddenly, two of the younger Chinese tourists dashed in to pose next to the agents. Photos were quickly taken and they dashed away, but that started a whole new exciting opportunity.
Other small groups of people tried to do the same, but the agents, having gotten over their shock at becoming celebrities, were waving their hands and shaking their heads, trying to get people to back off.
It didn’t work. Soon they were surrounded.
The doors opened again, and this time a handful of agents came out, and one of them had a bullhorn.
Which didn’t help, because the majority of the tourists were Chinese and didn’t speak English. Or, at least, they acted like they didn’t speak it.
The new agents got surrounded as well.
More agents came out and a few tourists darted inside, their cameras and phones poised to take pictures.
One of the ladies with her group disappeared for a moment, then reappeared, thrusting something into the pocket of the light jacket she was wearing. The entire group then began a slow slide toward the door. It didn’t look intended at all. They just moved in the direction they were pushed in by the rest of the crowd.
After a few moments, her entire little group went inside. They posed in the doorway, so Anna could get pictures of them standing on the carpet emblazoned with the Homeland Security emblem. Then they posed near the reception desk, and again close to a couple of American Flags that were a little further into the room.
All the ladies flitted about, chattering at each other in Mandarin, exclaiming about how amazing New York City was, just in case someone spoke their language.
The ladies clumped up, pushing Anna toward the back wall as a group of agents strode by, yelling at some of the other tourists to stop taking photos of the reception desk and staff.
Anna handed the camera to one lady while another tugged at the sleeve of the jacket. Anna bent down as if she dropped something, slithered out of the jacket, grabbed the item that had been in the pocket, and shoved her hat into one of the sleeves.
The group of ladies moved away from the wall, taking photos like all the other tourists, while Anna walked deeper into the building. In her hand was an ID badge on a lanyard. Those sweet ladies had picked the pocket of one of the agents.
The Chinese had always excelled in the training of their people.
She reached a closed door with a digital locking mechanism. She flashed her card over it and the door clicked.
She pushed it open and walked on as if she knew where she was going and had a purpose. She needed to find where they might be holding Brian and probably Evan. They had to have seen him coming. He’d been wearing urban camo and carried enough equipment to start a small war.
Something he might actually accomplish if things went wrong.
The scent of coffee attracted her attention, and she found a small kitchen.
Hmm, interrogators needed coffee, didn’t they?
She found cups and a carrying tray in one of the cupboards. She filled four cups, put them on the tray, added some sugar packets, creamers from the fridge, and stir sticks, and headed back out into the hallway.
She continued, looking at the office name plates, trying to get a sense of what was on this floor.
“Are you lost?”
Anna looked up at a woman who was also dressed in business attire. Anna smiled at her. “Yes, I am. I’m new and I can’t remember where the interview rooms are. I’m supposed to bring coffee for everyone.”
“You’re an agent, not a caterer,” the woman said, in a hard tone. “You don’t have to run errands for anyone.”
“Oh, no. I volunteered. I’m the new one and expected a bit of an initiation. Besides, I’m hoping this will help me remember the layout of the building quicker.”
The other woman nodded, though her lips were still pinched too tightly together. “Well, okay. Just don’t let anyone treat you like you’re not an equal.”
“I won’t.” Anna smiled, again. “I’m Ann.” She held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Jessica, welcome to the team.” Jessica gave her directions to the interview rooms and hurried off.
That area was at the back of the building and at the east side. She recalled the map she’d looked at before coming here. The warehouse backed partially onto the river. She needed to keep an eye out for an alternate exit.
She smiled and nodded at people as she passed them, except for a couple of men who jogged toward the front of the building. Her group of ladies must still be causing trouble. They were exceedingly well trained in the art of subterfuge.
She entered the hallway where the interview rooms were located and found one room with a man standing in an open doorway. He was looking at his phone. When she came up to him, she glanced inside the room. It was an observation room with the far wall made of one-way glass.
Brian sat at a table, his hands handcuffed to a metal bar running over the top and through the table. Two men stood over him, one on each side, shouting questions at him over each other. Another man stood in the observation room, watching.
Anna smiled at the man at the door. “Coffee?”
He tore his gaze off his phone and smiled.
The power went out. No warning, just the lights dying. Emergency lights came on, but they were only in the hallway. The observation room and the interrogation room beyond it were completely dark.
The man in front of her swore.
“This is my first day,” she said, in a small voice. “Does this happen often?”
He swore again. “Stay in the hallway,” he ordered.
“Okay,” she said, flattening herself against the wall.
The next door along the wall opened, and a man stepped out. “What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know,” the man next to her said. “Power is out.”
Their phones beeped, and they both looked at them. “Shit,” one of them breathed.
The guy next to her put a hand on her shoulder and steered her toward the observation room. “Stay in here. We have an active shooter inside the building.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
“Who is she?” the second man asked, frowning at her.
“New girl,” the first one said, shoving her into the room. “Clark, stay here with her.”
A light came on, bright white light. The man who’d been observing pointed it at the floor, revealing the source as his cellphone.
The door closed behind her.
She stepped forward, extending the cups of coffee in his direction. “I brought coffee.”
He seemed to study her. “Have we met?”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “This is my first day on the job. Maybe you saw me earlier?” She waggled the drink carrier. “Do you want one? Or should I put these down anywhere special?”
He reached out, took one of the cups, and sipped. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She pointed at the small table where the device recording the interrogation in the next room sat on. “Can I put this down here?”
He shrugged. “Should be fine.”
She moved toward the table.
The door to the interrogation room on the other side of the glass burst open and a figure dressed in dark clothes was briefly outlined by the red emergency light. He rushed inside the room, some kind of fancy military grade rifle in his hands.
Anna froze, staring.
This was unexpected.
“Shit,” the agent in the room with her said, then he ran for the connecting door and jerked it open.
She followed him, still carrying three coffees. She was only a few steps behind him, so she heard him shout at the newcomer, telling him to drop his weapon.
Anna came up behind him, reached around with her free hand, and jerked his hands up.
The man with the rifle, thrust the butt into the agent’s gut. The agent grunted and folded over.
“What are you doing here?” Evan demanded.
She pulled the gun out of the agent’s hand and then kneed him in the face. “I brought coffee.”
“Oh, well,” Evan said, sarcasm dripping off his words. “That explains everything.” He grabbed the agent and zip-tied his hands together behind his back.
“I’ll take some,” Brian said, his voice drowsy, his words slurred.
Anna nearly tripped over the man on the floor. He groaned, but didn’t try to get up. She handed Brian one of the drinks, put down the carrier, and snapped the handcuff off his wrist. “Drink this while we get out of here. You need the caffeine.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I thought you were going to stay where it was safe,” Evan hissed at her as he checked the hallway. He waved at her and Brian to follow him.
“The situation changed. The hotel was invaded by Homeland again, Mason and Magnus were taken into custody. I believe they were going to go after Bazyli as well, but with the NYPD guarding Nika, I’m not sure what’s going on there.”
Evan led her and Brian farther down the hallway until they reached a t-intersection. He turned them left. “So we have nowhere safe to go?”
“I didn’t say that. I had some help getting into this building.”
He snorted. “I don’t think I want to know what kind of help you had.”
Ahead of them there was a red exit sign hanging over a door.
“Where does this doorway open onto?” she asked.
“An alley by the waterfront, we don’t have long before they get the power back on.”
“You didn’t just flip a switch, did you?”
“Of course not,” he said, sounding insulted. “I flipped a lot of switches.”
“Why didn’t you destroy the power box?”
“Because I didn’t want to die,” he replied, still sounding insulted. “Electrocution is not one of my favorite things to do.”
“I don’t know,” Brian said, with more than a hint of giggle in his voice. “I’ve heard it can be quite stimulating.”
Evan and Anna turned to look at him.
“What?” he said, a dopey smile on his face. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
“Did they drug you?” Evan asked.
“It could be sleep deprivation,” Anna said.
Brian pointed at her with his cup. “Yes, that one.”
Evan pushed the door open, allowing the scent of the river and the sounds of the city into the hallway.
The lights came on.
Alarm bells began to clang.
Evan stepped outside, Anna behind him, but Brian seemed to have some difficulty getting his feet to work together. He wobbled, but didn’t actually go anywhere.
Anna grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him outside. They let the door close and walked away from the building. Traffic was light, so they crossed the street.
“We need to get down into the subway system as fast as possible,” Evan said, as he glanced back at Anna and Brian.
“You kinda stand out,” Brian helpfully said. A second later, he tripped over his feet and would have landed on his face if Anna hadn’t kept him upright.
Evan reached under the back of his bullet resistant vest and pulled out a large piece of paper or was it plastic? He flashed the sign at them.
Take a picture with a soldier $10 .
“Are you crazy?” Anna asked. “It’s only going to make you more visible.”
“You’ll see,” he said, with a grin.
Multiple sirens grew louder and louder. She couldn’t see any emergency vehicles, but that would change very quickly. All anyone had to do to consider Evan a suspect in breaking out of Homeland Security’s office with Brian, was look at him.
They came up to a corner, just as a large crowd of people arrived at the corner of the street opposite them. The Chinese tourists.
Several of them were gesturing at her little group, and a half dozen trotted across the street, against the red light, so they could pose next to Evan and take a bunch of selfies.
He helpfully changed his pose as well, showing them some new ideas to make them look badass. At least that’s what she thought he was showing them.
The light changed and the rest of the horde crossed the street, clapping when Evan got down on one knee, propped his gun on his other knee and narrowed his eyes menacingly. The entire group of forty-eight people clumped up in a horseshoe around and behind him.
Once the big picture was taken, they broke up into smaller groups for more pictures as several the police cars and a SWAT team van whizzed by them at breakneck speed.
Huh, he’d been right. No one paid him any attention at all.
A few other tourists requested photos as well and pretty soon, Evan had a pocket bulging with cash.
He managed to move down the street a few feet between pictures, heading very slowly toward the nearest subway station.
Her little group of ladies found her, slipped her the hat and jacket again, and she was camouflaged. Brian was a bit more of a challenge.
He was trying to act normal, but the extreme sleep deprived state he was in meant he looked like he was drunk or high on drugs. Maybe both. He stumbled every other step and spoke too loudly to everyone.
Anna managed to keep him upright, but only because the ladies helped her by hemming him in and giving him no space to fall down.
Their progress was slow but steady. The entrance to the subway came into view, and she allowed herself some hope that they’d go down and slip into the subway tunnel without any problems or delays.
As they approached the stairs down into the subway, she counted three police cars parked along the curb. There were also a couple of black SUVs.
“Evan,” Anna called out, trying to find the right volume to catch his attention without attracting anyone else’s.
He turned to look at her. “I see them.”
“Should we keep going or go down?”
“Down,” he said.
Brian lurched against her, nearly falling to the ground. She had to grab hold of the waistband of his pants to hold him up.
“Brian,” she hissed. “Wake up.”
His head lolled and rolled, his eyes closed, and mouth open.
One of the ladies on his other side waved something that smelled sharp under his nose, and he came awake all at once.
“Oh my God, what is that?” he asked, trying to break free of her grip on him.
“It’s something to wake you up.”
“It’s going to make me puke, that’s what it’s going to do,” he mumbled, his eyes closing again.
She shook him. “Stay awake. We’re going down into the subway, but there are a lot of police cars around.”
“No police officers?” he asked, clutching her with both hands as if she were an anchor and he was in a storm.
“I don’t see any.”
“That’s bad,” he whispered. It was loud enough Evan could probably hear him, though he didn’t stop or slow down.
“They’re probably watching us, waiting for us to get in just the right place, then, bam . We get arrested. Or shot. Or both.” He gave her a brilliant grin. It died in a couple of seconds. “Actually, I’d like to avoid both, if possible.”
The leading edge of their group of people started going down the stairs into the subway station. Evan slowed a bit, so he ended up descending right in front of Anna and Brian.
“Have you got a good grip on him?” Evan asked.
“Yes.”
“Can you carry him? If you have to?”
“Yes, but Evan, we might be walking into an ambush.”
“The station hasn’t been shut down,” he said, looking at the people coming and going on the stairs. “This is our best bet.”
“We’re going to get caught,” Brian said, in a sing-song voice. “Or die.” He laughed. “I’m not sure which is worse.”
“Getting caught,” she said, her jaw clenched so tight she had to spit the words out between her teeth.
They kept walking down the stairs. And walking, and walking. The subway system was quite deep below street level. Do they ever have trouble with flooding .
Finally, their entire island of people reached the bottom. Someone shoved a ticket into her hand and another put one in Brian’s pocket.
Where the hell did they get all these tickets?
They reached the bottom and walked down a wide hall. Traffic continued to move in both directions, and no one seemed to be too curious about them or the group of tourists they were with.
The ladies had surrounded Evan now too, and as she watched, one of them tossed one of their brightly colored rain jackets over his shoulder as if he were a coat tree. Someone else popped open an umbrella, so it mostly blocked oncoming foot traffic from seeing him.
Evan glanced back at her and winked.
They rounded a long corner. The turnstiles to get onto the train platform were just out of sight. Once they were through there, they would be able to slip away into the subway tunnel system.
Hope flared her chest, and for a moment she walked lighter, but as they continued around the corner, hope died. A line of people in dark suits with identical black jackets over top, stood about five feet in front of the turnstiles.
The first few members of their group made excited noises and began taking pictures and videos of the agents waiting for them like their lives depended on it.
Maybe they did.
One of the agents made a hand signal.
Out of a corridor to the right came a group of six people wearing tactical gear and carrying some heavy weaponry.
They expertly cut a group of twelve away from their vanguard of tourists, as if the six were a shepherd’s pack of herd dogs.
But their Chinese tourists weren’t any kind of sheep.
One particularly elderly lady grabbed hold of one gunman’s arm and refused to let go. She smiled at him and told him loudly in Mandarin how handsome he was and was he looking for a nice girl to settle down with?
Despite their cackling, photo-taking silliness, they did end up in a small group off to the right after a minute. That’s when another group of armed soldiers came out like the first and repeated the process.
Homeland had analyzed their tactics and were neutralizing it by removing the cover the group provided.
In a few seconds, maybe as much as a minute, Evan, Brian, and herself would be exposed and vulnerable. They’d be restrained and removed to be interrogated.
Brian couldn’t take much more. He’d break.
Evan...Evan had thrown his whole life away to help her. He’d sacrificed his career, his safety, and his freedom for her.
She was damned if she would let that happen.
Resolve punched adrenaline into her system.
The subway was a relatively enclosed space. Homeland had chosen their ambush site well, but there were almost as many agents as there were Chinese tourists, and she was about the same height as the ladies who were helping her. Wearing her borrowed jacket and the floppy hat, she blended in.
The agents probably hadn’t spotted her yet.
She could fix that.
She elbowed Brian in the gut. “Wake up.”
He folded over her arm and grunted. “Ow. What was that for?”
“To make sure you’re awake.” She tugged on the back of Evan’s vest. “Here, hold this.” She passed him Brian, not letting go until she was sure Evan had a good grip on the young agent.
“Is something wrong?”
“Several things, but hopefully, not for long.”
She switched to Mandarin. “I’m going to be a distraction. If a few of you help these men escape while the rest scatter, I would be grateful.” She took her floppy hat off and plunked it on Brian’s head, then she slithered out of her jacket and stepped out of the group on the left side.
She smiled, a huge, wide grin that showed off her filed canines. She walked toward the turnstiles, holding up her ticket. “Excuse me, I need to catch a train.”
Four of the agents in front of her pulled their weapons out, trained them on her, and started yelling at her.
“Stop.”
“Hands in the air.”
“Get down on the ground.”
“Get down on the ground, now .”
“Well, which is it?” she asked, still holding up her ticket. “Stop, put my hands up, or get down on the ground? Your directions make no sense.”
“Shut up and get down,” one of them yelled at her, while another holstered their handgun and pulled out a pair of handcuffs.
Anna dropped her gaze and began to crouch.
Off to her right, Evan shouted, “Anna, no .”
She brought her head up and smiled into the face of the agent with the handcuffs. A woman who was taller and very fit.
The agent reared back, but it was too late. Anna grabbed the woman by one wrist with one hand and the handcuffs with her other hand.
“Thank you, these will come in handy.” She twisted them out of the other woman’s grip and dropped them down her bra.
The female agent punched her in the throat.
Ouch . That was a good hit. If she’d been a normal human, it would have incapacitated her to some degree.
But she wasn’t a normal human and hadn’t been for eight hundred years.
Still, she could fake it for effect.
Anna let the woman’s strike push her back a step. She made some choking noises, brought her hands up to her neck, and folded over as if about to collapse. The woman followed her, bringing up her foot for a strike at Anna’s knee.
Anna’s hand came in from the side, connected with the woman’s ankle, and using the woman’s own momentum, thrust it past her, putting the agent into a spin.
The female agent collided with the agents who’d just started coming toward her, knocking them all down like they were bowling pins and she was the ball.
Anna slid through the gap she’d created between the agents, using a burst of speed that was slightly faster than a normal human could go. They reached for her, but they were just a little too slow. She hopped over the turnstiles and continued toward the train platform.
Several of them yelled at her to stop. She imagined they were pointing their guns at her and glanced back. Three men had followed her over the turnstiles, their weapons in their hands, but no one fired at her. Yet.
There were still too many civilians around.
She slowed a bit. She wanted them to chase her, to think they had every opportunity to catch her. To forget about the Chinese tourists.
To forget about Evan and Brian.
In front of her, about fifty feet away at the platform, someone screamed. Then several people shrieked while others shouted incoherent words, all of it laced with fear so sharp it pierced her ears and into her brain.
She slowed, then stopped as a few of the people at the back of those waiting for the train turned and sprinted toward the nearest exit and the stairs.
Behind her, the agents pursuing her had also stopped. As the screaming and running got louder and more chaotic, she heard a couple of agents shouting into cellphones for information.
So, this wasn’t something they were behind.
More people tried to run, and some did get away, but not everyone. A body flew through the air on the left and knocked some people down. Then another body did the same on the right.
“What the fuck?” one agent said.
An agent grabbed Anna’s wrist from behind her and snapped a pair of handcuffs to it. She let him do the same to her other wrist. She didn’t bother to resist. She was trying to get a good view of the situation, but she still couldn’t quite see through the roiling crowd of people.
The agent grabbed her around her biceps and tried to move her, pull her away.
She wasn’t going anywhere.
He stumbled back, then tried again. “You need to come with me,” he said, through bared teeth.
Maniacal laughter rose up to circle ceiling high above them, hyena-like and deranged.
Another body was launched into the air, this one flying right at her and the idiot agent who thought he’d arrested her. The arms and legs flailed, telling her that the person being used as a cannon ball was dead.
She tore her arm out of the agent’s grip, broke the chain on the handcuffs, and half dragged, half shoved the agent out of the way. He landed on his back, but quickly rolled to his feet.
The body slammed into the concrete right where they had been standing. The man’s head had been nearly twisted off.
Two men strolled toward her, still laughing.
The Italians. Enzo and Luca.
Shit.
“What the fuck?” the agent said, again.
“We don’t have much time,” she said to him in a calm tone. “They aren’t here for you or any of the public, they’re here for me.” And probably Brian.
“Anna,” Enzo called out to her. “Come and play with us. We’ve been waiting for you.” He reached over his head and pulled out a short sword from what she could only assume was a sheath strapped to his back.
“Get yourselves and anyone else you can out of here,” she said to the agent, meeting his gaze for no more than a moment. She couldn’t afford to take her eyes off the two lunatics for longer than that. “I will delay them for as long as I can.”
Luca also pulled out a sword, then waved it around with a gleeful smile on his face.
They didn’t want to play. They planned on cutting her to pieces.
“I don’t suppose you have a knife I could borrow, do you?” she asked the agent.
“We’ve got guns,” the agent said, sounding indignant and confused at the same time.
She sighed. How to explain this quickly?
A small group of people tried to avoid the Italians so they could get past them and out of the station, but Enzo grabbed one man and hauled him up against his body. He tore open the man’s throat and began gulping down blood.
Oh, how nice . He was showing the entire world what a big bad threat he was.
And a messy eater.
The Homeland Security agents began firing their weapons at the Italians, even the agent next to her got off several shots. But Enzo and Luca weaved and dodged all the bullets.
Their performance made the Homeland Security agents gasp, step back, and look at each other with expressions of disbelief on their faces.
“Where are your boy toys?” Luca asked. “We didn’t get a chance to get properly acquainted with them.”
Anna didn’t dare look for Evan and Brian. She hoped her merry band of ladies had gotten them both away from here.
“Is he a new addition to your stable?” Enzo asked, nodding at the agent she’d pushed out of the way, licking his lips. “He looks tasty.”
“He’s trying to arrest me, Enzo. You’d have figured that out if you had more than two functioning brain cells left in your head, but you don’t so...” she spread one hand out to gesture at the space they were in. One broken handcuff around her wrist. She tilted her head to one side. “Is this your idea of suicide by cop?”
Luca flashed his fangs, which were stained with blood. “We’re in no danger from them .”
The agent next to her slowly holstered his gun, then pulled something out of a sheathe on his belt and put it in her hand.
A tactical knife with a six-inch-long blade.
That would do.
“What is this?” he whispered. “Our intel said you were the terrorist, but you sound like you’re a couple of mob families.”
“I wish I could say these two aren’t interested in terrorism,” she said to him. “But they enjoy nothing more than terrifying people. Please, don’t misunderstand, they’re not part of a religious or ideological group. They just get off on other people’s pain.”
“Why are you explaining yourself to this cockroach?” Enzo asked, but his attention was split, his gaze darting around the space.
She pivoted, pushing the agent behind her, so she could see the Italians and the crowd of regular people.
The crowd was a lot smaller than it had been before Enzo and Luca started their bloody circus act, and she couldn’t see Evan or Brian anywhere. Most of the Chinese tourists were gone, too.
Good, that was good . Now, to keep the Italians’ attention on her.
“They are also insane and very stupid,” she added.
“Bitch,” Enzo snarled. He launched himself into a sprint, coming straight for her.
She didn’t wait for him to reach her, she sprang toward him, her borrowed knife deflecting his sword strike. She didn’t dare block any of his attacks directly. His sword would likely snap her blade right off.
Off to her right, Luca ploughed into a group of Homeland Security agents setting off screams, gunshots, and renewed pandemonium.
God damn it, he was going to kill them all.
“Why do you insist on protecting them?” Enzo asked, sneering at the Homeland Security agents. “Even now when they hunt you? Hunt us all?”
“Us?” Anna asked, dodging another attack. “You’re not here for us . You’re here for you and your brother. You’re here because you’re greedy and it’s made you stupid.”
Enzo smiled, the kind of smile a serial killer had on his face right before he killed someone in a gruesome way.
She dropped to the floor and stabbed up and behind her with the knife. She got Luca in the groin and his screech was suitably high-pitched. He’d tried to come from behind her, but she’d been in a lot of fights, and had expected it.
Had they forgotten that? Idiots.
She kicked Luca away from her, got to her feet, and turned to counter Enzo.
A blade plunged into her right shoulder at a steep angle, driving deep into her chest and piercing her lung. The pain sent a shock through her, bringing everything to a stop: her breathing, her awareness of the chaos behind her, and Luca’s ranting screams.
Enzo was close enough to her to spit in her face, but he just smiled his killer smile and twisted the sword.
This time, the pain elicited the opposite response—her awareness expanded in a dizzying rush.
The Homeland Security agents, those that were ambulatory, were clearing the area and dragging their dead and injured away.
Luca was kneeling on the dirty concrete, his hands over his crotch, his high-pitched squeals making him sound like a stuck pig.
The agent she’d protected had retreated with the rest, but oddly, a handgun rested on the floor where he’d been standing. Had he left it on purpose?
Did it matter?
She coughed and blood bubbled up from her shredded lungs to spray across Enzo’s face.
“I have always wanted to see you like this, Anna,” he said. “My blade in your flesh and your blood on my skin.”
She made an inarticulate noise and allowed her knees to collapse, sliding off his weapon. As soon as she was free, she shuffled back. Then, as Enzo stepped forward to skewer her again, she kicked him in the chest as hard as she could.
He flew backward a few feet and landed on his ass.
While he was still in the air, Anna scrambled over and grabbed the gun. Enzo was right behind her. So, when she brought the gun around and fired it, his momentum kept him moving, knocking her down, despite the bullet hole in his chest.
She thrust his limp body off hers, only to find Luca coming at her, screaming incoherently as he brought his sword over his head.
There was nothing sane in his gaze. Nothing that could be reasoned with. Nothing she could do to change what had to happen next.
She shot Luca twice in the chest. He dropped to the dirty concrete floor, sliding across it for a foot or two.
With both of them down, she could take a bit more time to get to her feet. Which was good, because her pain level was significant. Blood still bubbled in her throat and nose with every breath she took. And every breath was a struggle to achieve.
A heavy weight seemed to have settled on her chest, constricting tighter and tighter. She couldn’t remember a time when it was this hard to stand up. She was even a little...dizzy.
She turned slowly on unsteady feet and saw the Homeland Security agent she’d protected approaching her, his hands spread wide.
“It’s over,” he said. “They’re dead. Put the gun down.”
“Whe...where are Evan and Brian?” she asked, shocked at how slurred her voice sounded. “Are they safe?”
“I’m not sure who they are,” the agent said, with a cautious smile. “Just put the gun down and I’ll be happy to look for them for you.”
Well, if he didn’t know who they were, they must have gotten away. Good.
But things weren’t under control here yet.
“You need to restrain these two men.” She’d prefer to kill them, but couldn’t, not in front of all these witnesses.
“Ma’am, you need medical attention,” the agent said carefully, as if she were someone he needed to keep calm. “And they’re dead.”
“Then why,” she said, haltingly. “Are they both still breathing?”
Her question finally got the agent’s attention on Enzo and Luca.
“What?” he asked, turning to approach Luca who was closest to him. He bent down to put one ear close to Luca’s mouth. “Holy shit,” he whispered.
Luca’s hand moved, and the agent reared back and stumbled away.
On second thought, maybe she should just kill the Italians. This agent, and all the others involved in the fight, had seen too much already.
The agent looked at her, but instead of fear or blind determination, there was respect in his gaze. “Ma’am, please, you’re injured and bleeding. Lay down before you fall down.”
“Clear,” she said, in an almost whisper. “The area.” She had to stop to take a breath. Too many injures, too close together. She pointed at Enzo and Luca. “Those are the real terrorists.” She bent, letting her knees hit the concrete floor, and set the gun down.
Now, what would get all these law enforcement people out of here quickly, without trying to arrest the Italians? She could really only think of one thing.
“I think they’ve planted some kind of device down here or it’s on their person.” She sucked in another tight breath. “Get everyone out and call in...a bomb squad.”
The agent turned to stare at the Italians for a moment, then he yelled at his team members to clear the subway.
Anna quietly rose and walked toward the edge of the platform. As soon as she reached it, she jumped down beside the tracks. She took a moment to steady herself. The pain in her chest suddenly eased and breathing became easier.
“Where do you think you’re going, bitch?” Enzo’s voice came from the platform and it wasn’t far away. Something slid across the floor. The bastard was getting up. Luca would be close behind him.
She needed to get him and his brother to focus on her and not on the normal humans. “I’m going hunting,” she replied, forcing a chuckle and heading down the tracks toward the next subway station. “I’m thinking about eating Italian tonight.”
“We’re going to kill you slowly,” Luca said.
This wasn’t a good idea, because it was extremely likely that Luca would follow through on his threat. But this was the only thing she could think of to keep them busy. “You’ll have to catch me first,” she said, walking steadily into the dark.