Page 133 of Night's Reckoning
Kendra was on the floor, blood pouring from her wounds, but none of them had pierced her spine.
The man looked relieved for a second, until he saw Tenzin raise the blade again.
“But this will.” Tenzin brought the sword down, severing Kendra’s head from her body. Blood splashed up, and she could feel it hot on her cheek. She turned to the man, who was screaming and trying to stand, one hand clutching the bleeding wound at his side. He searched the ground, probably looking for the gun.
Foolish vampire.
Tenzin walked over to him, rose in the air, and swiped her sword across his torso in one swift motion.
Blood poured down his chest.
“Tell me who sent you,” she said. “And I will make your death swift.”
He shook his head. “None of this makes sense.”
“You were very foolish to try to use a gun on me. So that is not an illogical sentence.”
Tenzin brought her blade up again, and this time she removed his head in one sweeping stroke. The body fell, and Tenzin didn’t wait. She knelt down, cleaned her blade on the man’s jacket, and rose again.
Scanning the room, she noticed another staircase in the corner. Moving silently, she spiraled down from the upper deck, not even touching the rails, only to be met by two more bullets that missed their mark.
She made herself small and looked for where the shots had originated, swiftly gathering air in her hands. Her amnis was still rich with the typhoon’s power. She was in a kind of hallway. It was carpeted in red, and doors branched off on either side, six doors in all, with a reading nook at the far end.
Tenzin stayed completely motionless, crouched under the stairs and watching the room.
“I can smell you, Saba’s daughter.”
She saw movement from the corner of her eye. A fraction of a second later, Tenzin flung a torrent of wind in that direction. The wind knocked paintings off the walls, vases off shelves, and pinned Johari to the wall behind the bookcase where she’d been hiding.
The vampire struggled to break Tenzin’s hold, but Tenzin only pushed on her amnis harder, doing her best to break Johari’s ribs. Doing her best to hurt the vampire who had ruined everything. Tenzin heard a quiet snap, and Johari shrieked in pain.
Satisfaction flooded her body.
Tenzin smiled. “Hello, Johari. Where is my father’s sword?”
“I don’t understand this!” The vampire struggled to speak. “We only… we did as you asked!”
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Tenzin was so shocked that she loosened the wall of wind holding Johari to the wall. “What was that?”
“I was doing… what you asked!” She struggled against the wind and managed to work herself back down to the ground.
Tenzin walked over, shoved the bookcase across the room, and put her hand around Johari’s throat. “Who told you that?”
“Saba.” Johari choked out the words. “She told us… you didn’t want him dead. Just wounded so he would have to turn. She said… said it was what you wanted.”
Tenzin had heard the phrase “stone-cold bitch,” but she didn’t think it had ever described anyone as well as Saba. She loosened her grip on Johari’s throat. “What else did she tell you?”
“You wanted the sword gone.” Johari rubbed her throat. “But you needed cover for your sire. She said you didn’t want peace between Arosh and Zhang any more than she did.”
“She told you I said those things?”
Johari looked confused. “She said… it was what you wanted.”
A fine distinction Tenzin would have to examine later. “Where is my father’s sword?”
Johari didn’t say anything, but her eyes went to the right and Tenzin followed. She kept one eye on Johari as she walked to a chest that was acting as a coffee table for the cozy sofa. If looked like the kind of thing Chloe would have bought for the loft and filled with soft blankets and maybe a pair of slippers.
