Yuko nodded.

  The warriors had started looking around the container, their eyes taking in all the computers and equipment this strange team of renegades had at their disposal.

  She continued, “The man we need to see is Qin Shi. We will most likely find him at the Chinese embassy.”

  Eve was already typing away on the computer. She looked up, pulling Yuko’s attention.

  “What is it?” Yuko asked.

  Eve checked her screen again. “I think the reason we’ll find him at the embassy is because he is the emperor, not some run-of-the-mill official.”

  Yuko pursed her lips.

  Eve held her eyes. “But then, you already knew that.”

  Yuko nodded and paused, waiting for a reaction from Eve. When none was forthcoming, she said, “I suggest we request an audience with His Highness. Could you put in an official request?”

  Eve nodded. “Adding us to his schedule now,” she reported.

  Ichika had a look of amazement on her face. She gazed at Eve in awe. “You’re the Eve. The legend that only a few have ever encountered.”

  Eve thought back to the written account the detective’s family had been keeping, realizing that someone through the generations had indeed been paying attention despite her efforts to cover their tracks digitally. She sighed and confessed, “Yes, I am she.”

  Ichika glanced at Akari. “So cool,” she mouthed, her face alight with excitement.

  Eve continued her work. “Plotting a course for the Chinese Embassy. In Tokyo,” she added, lacing her tone deliberately with a hint of irony.

  Yuko noticed and smiled. “Those human algorithms are working out all right when you use them.”

  Eve shrugged. “I suppose now that we have more people around, I will make more of an effort.” She glanced at the two young men, who had barely said a word. “And maybe in return, they might also feel comfortable in sharing some facial expression with us,” she added cheekily.

  Haruto and Riku exchanged puzzled glances, but Ichika sniggered, understanding Eve’s comment precisely.

  Yuko grinned. “To Tokyo, then,” she concluded, moving to a computer herself to do some research before they arrived.

  Tokyo, Japan, Chinese Embassy

  The group of warriors stared at the embassy building. Like the rest of Tokyo it remained, not just intact, but had been enhanced over the last several decades as the economy here flourished. Though they had arrived in less than fifteen minutes—much to the amazement of the new crew—they waited patiently until their appointment time.

  Now, with the sun low in the sky and many of the embassy personnel dispersing for the evening, they stood outside the main gates.

  “Ok, here’s the plan,” Yuko told them, her eyes still fixed on the building. She rehearsed in her mind where all the exits were from the rapid research she had done on the way there.

  “Eve and I will go in first. We will ask for their help. If and when that fails, we will try more extreme measures.”

  Mark chuckled. “You mean measures Michael would approve of?”

  Yuko nodded, her expression once again blank and matter-of-fact.

  He sniggered. “Why even bother asking them nicely? They’re not going to give up this information easily.”

  Yuko turned to face him. “Because it’s something I need to do before we break hell loose over them. It’s good form,” she said, suddenly aware of Akari and Ichika paying close attention to their exchange.

  She changed the subject. “We’ll move inside the gate now. When you hear the signal, you can come inside and lend assistance.”

  Jacqueline frowned. “What’s the signal?”

  Eve transformed her hand from a five digit implement to the enormous gun she had used in battle previously. “You’ll hear it.” She smiled.

  Yuko couldn’t keep her face straight. It was almost like there were two personalities still duking it out within her. This Yuko— warrior Yuko—smiled with satisfaction at Eve’s Michael-approved response.

  Yuko raised her voice a little so all the allies could hear her. “Jacqueline, you’re in charge. Try not to kill anyone until we get the intel we need.”

  Ichika looked a little put out. “How come she is in charge?”

  Yuko glanced at the young woman and allowed her eyes to flare red. “Because I said so,” she told her quietly.

  Ichika backed down immediately.

  And with that, Yuko and Eve marched ahead of the others to announce themselves for their appointment.

  The rest followed, slipping through the gate behind Yuko, who was readily granted access. Once inside they peeled off in opposite directions, finding their respective ways in the deepening shadows and staying out of range of the cameras despite Eve’s assurance that she had them “taken care of.” Ichika and the others went right, Jacqueline and Mark left.

  Once Eve and Yuko were safely inside the front door, Ichika turned to Haruto. “I thought she was a diplomat, not a dictator!” She hmmpfed, still pissed about not being left in charge.

  Haruto shrugged. “People change, I guess.”

  Mark watched them from the other side of the lawn, debating whether to let them in on Yuko’s decision to become more warrior and less diplomat since Michael’s arrival. He caught Jacqueline’s eye and she shook her head. “Let them find out,” she winked mischievously.

  Mark smirked playfully and kept his mouth shut. He looked back at where the other four had been on the other side of the lawn, but they were gone.

  He grabbed Jacqueline’s arm. “Hey, where’d they go?”

  Jacqueline scanned the area quickly, then sniffed the air. She shook her head. “Ninjas,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Frankfurt, Germany

  The short frumpy Englishman was shadowed by a woman and another man. All wore coats in the middling-cold weather.

  The sun was high in the sky.

  Thomas, in the lead, walked around the corner, his eyes darting to all the possible hiding places along the dark brick street. There were slight shadows under doors and in alleyways where tall buildings stood close together, blocking out the sun.

  There were plenty of people around to provide the feeling of safety, but Thomas had not lived as long as he had by assuming enough people meant enough eyes on their surroundings.

  Some things that went bump in the night could go bump in the day. And furry or not, they were enhanced beyond a human.

  “Third building on the north side,” Thomas said as the three of them made their way slowly down the street, walking at the same speed as others on the sidewalk.

  “Look,” Samantha said softly. Her job was to pay attention to the south side of the street ahead of them. Thomas and Jack both grunted.

  “How could we be so lucky?” Jack asked. His eyes flitted back to his area of responsibility when he recognized the one from the picture.

  “Dammit,” Thomas hissed in annoyance, “he can walk in the sun. Fucker must be stronger than we thought.”

  “I don’t know,” Samantha replied as he walked across the street with a female beside him. “He doesn’t walk like he is weak.”

  “And the female with him doesn’t look subjugated,” Thomas murmured. “Well, we have a challenge wrapped up in a riddle.” He nodded to his left. “Let’s hold there and discuss next steps.”

  “How are we getting in?” Sabine asked as the two of them crossed the street under a couple flying cars that floated above them. They walked up to the three-story stone building, which had definitely been built before the fall of civilization.

  “I believe in knocking,” Michael replied. Sabine’s eyes looked at him in confusion.

  Michael climbed the five steps to the landing and stepped to the door. It had a four-foot covered porch. “Knock,” Michael said as his leg lashed out and slammed into the door near the door handle. The whole door erupted off the hinges and was flung inside of the residence.

  Michael stepped in and moved far enough inside to allow Sabine to come in behind him. “Knock,” he finished.

  “Keep your guns handy,” Michael told her. “We are probably going to encounter more goons.” He looked around. “I see he likes to have multiple homes.”

  Sabine unsnapped her pistols’ holsters and slightly lifted each pistol, making sure they would be easy to yank. “Is that why Akio is behind us?”

  “Yes,” Michael called from another room in the residence. “Oh, and cops.”

  Sabine rolled her eyes. “Great, now I have to fight the men in uniform, too.”

  “No.” Michael’s voice was right next to her, causing Sabine to jump.

  “Dammit!”

  “Situational awareness,” Michael told her as he swung past and went up some stairs that were five feet on the other side of her. “I suggest finding a place to hunker down for a firefight.”

  “Ok.” Sabine looked around the attractive first level of the residence. The floors were made of marble, and the furniture looked like it was centuries old. “What did he do, rob museums?”

  “PROBABLY!” Michael yelled from somewhere on the second floor.

  Sabine moved into the large living room area and looked around. “Well,” she started pushing a large couch, working her way from one side to the other to get it to move, “it’s not like this will need to stay pretty, I suspect.”

  “The woman?” Jack asked.

  Thomas considered the question, then shook his head. “We have enough trouble. If we are all in agreement that she is there of her own free will, then she will be collateral damage.”

  “I think so,” Jack answered. “My intuition says she is on the same side as our mark.”

  Both men looked at Samantha. “Hell, even with no hair that man is flat-out gorgeous. She could be along for the ride.” She slapped Jack when he snickered. “Do you always have to go there?”

  “Do you always have to say something that makes me go there?” Jack asked, eyebrow raised.

  “He’s right,” Thomas added. “You always set up the easy ones.”

  “Whatever, you two. The girl goes whether she knows what he is or is just there to clean the pipes.” She stared at Jack, who looked back at her, confused.

  “What?” he asked.

  “No comment?”

  “No comment,” Jack replied. “That was on purpose. You don’t have to snicker at the obvious ones.”

  “Men!” Samantha huffed and looked toward the large home down the street.

  Thomas glanced down at his watch. “Let’s call everyone to get ready.” He noticed that Jack had a question on his face. “First group to snag the new guy gets an extra share.”

  “Well, why the fuck are we yacking here about sexual innuendos then?” Samantha asked.

  Thomas punched the last button to call in the rest of his group. “Sam, there is always time for sexual innuendos.”

  “It’s how you know you’re alive,” Jack added.

  Sam decided that shooting her two partners would be premature. At least, at this particular moment, it was.

  Akio noticed the three talking in the front doorway of a building three doors down. His eyes continued to roam the street as he stayed in what little shadow he could find on the top of the building one down from the residence Michael and Sabine had gone inside.

  “To run down there and read their minds, or stay here…” Akio’s eyes found another group of two walking down the street from the opposite direction.

  Michael? Akio sent.

  Yes.

  We seem to be attracting a large number of people with long coats.

  Hiding weapons?

  Give me another ten seconds, and two will be in my range.

  I’ll warn Sabine and check the back.

  Hai.

  Michael sped down the steps. Sabine caught his movement out of the corner of her eye.

  “Look sharp,” he told her. “We have an early warning from above.”

  “Goons?” Sabine asked from behind her little fort.

  “Not sure. Only know they aren’t expected to be cops,” he answered as he went to the back of the house. “Be right back.”

  The door opened a little crack and he disappeared.

  Thomas got a response from each of his four team members. Nodding, he punched in the code. “Ok, everyone is set. Let’s drink our juice and bag and tag us a vampire.” He reached inside his coat and pulled out a vial. Like the others, he uncorked it and tipped it back to allow the contents to spill into his mouth.

  “Gah!” Thomas corked the vial and slid it back inside his jacket. “I hate that stuff.”

  Jack grunted an affirmative and Samantha didn’t say anything as she finished her vial and slid it into a pouch around her waist.

  “Love seeing the new colors,” Samantha’s eyes were moving from one tree to another. “It’s a shame I can’t live on this stuff.”

  “Well, technically…” Jack began but then went quiet, when Thomas gave the signal that the operation was starting.

  Thomas had seven green “Go” symbols from his team. He stepped out of the doorway and started down toward the building.

  Ok, definitely hostile. Akio’s lips pressed together. They are looking to bind you and kill Sabine.

  How many?

  Seven, Akio provided.

  I’ve got two here. Seems long coats are not very popular in the early fall in Frankfurt. Makes them stand out.

  I’ve got these two. Akio turned and raced across the roof toward where the outside fire escape went down to the street. In seconds he was halfway down the fire escape, his eyes barely catching the shadows as three humans passed his alleyway.

  SABINE! He yelled through his mind. Shoot whoever enters!

  Moments later, as his feet hit the concrete from his two-story drop, he heard the beginning of a firefight coming from the building next to him.

  SABINE! Sabine heard Akio’s mind voice. Shoot whoever enters!

  Sabine dropped into the zone, the place where she was more than normal, more than who she had been before.

  She aimed her first pistol at the door and squeezed.

  Jack raced ahead of Thomas. While he wasn’t normally a lead-from-the-front sort of person, if he was the one to do the most damage and allow them to grab the vampire, he would earn a second share. From what they had talked about, just one share was probably going to set them up for life.

  All he knew was two of something that would set him for life was going to make his future sweet.

  Thomas was excited; the vampire blood was a damned drug to all of them. Hard to come down when you felt such power in your veins, throbbing and allowing you to effortlessly accomplish feats no human could.

  Over the years, he and others had put down a handful of mercenaries who had become blood junkies. They would do anything for the blood, including stealing it.

  Occasionally they could save those types of people. It was the ones who bagged a vampire and were forcing it to change them that they killed with extreme prejudice. Their people didn’t need new vampires who knew all the tricks and would be out to get rid of the competition when they built up their strength.

  So far they’d had only one instance of all-out war in England. A mercenary by the name of Johann Williams had successfully faked his death, figured out a way to be turned, and started picking off blood-baggers in an effort to reduce the number of those hunting him.

  Thomas remembered it was Jack who took Johann down. He had half-decapitated the man with a shotgun blast. Johann’s head was lolling to the side and he wasn’t as observant as he could have been.

  No big surprise there, when you are trying to hold your head on and allow it to heal. Unfortunately for Johann, Jack was still powered up and swung around behind Johann, shooting his heart out through his back.

  They burned his body. No one wanted that tough sonofabitch coming back.

  They saw that the door had been kicked off its hinges as they raced up the stairs.

  Jack would go through the door first and head left, while Thomas would go right and Tina would go forward if possible.

  Thomas was almost to the door when Jack’s body, blood spraying from a damned hole the size of Thomas’ fist, was tossed violently into him, clipping him and throwing him back.

  What the hell had gotten through Jack’s body armor?

  Tina jumped over the two of them. Once committed, you trusted the plan. Besides, her inertia was going to carry her in some even if she tried to slam on the brakes, so to speak.

  As Thomas rebounded off the side of the front entryway, he heard Tina’s guns fire and then stop.

  “Tina?” he called. He had two more coming from above, and two from the back. He needed to support his team.

  He flipped the semi-auto fire switch off and was pressing the trigger as he turned the corner. He was laying down enough pain to keep anyone with sense hiding behind some protection or give those without sense the option to stop his bullets with their heads.

  He made it around the corner into a large room full of living room furniture and saw Tina—her head was gone. Something had hit her so hard her skull had exploded.

  His speed was still jacked up and he sprayed the little fort of protection with the last of his ammo. With his off hand he grabbed a magazine and readied to switch them out.

  When he was reloaded, he would walk up on the protective little fort and finish whoever was on the other side.

  Sabine watched with little emotion as the first person she shot with her Jean Dukes special was blown back. His body armor took some of the kinetic energy and transferred it to throw him back out of the doorway, following his guts that were leading the way.

  A moment later a female came around through the door, having jumped the body Sabine had shot. The mercenary turned in her direction and shot from her hip. Sabine barely registered that the wall close behind her was showering her with pieces of plaster.