"So, how much do you know about the history of Japan?" He asked when we were safe in his motel room. I had an adjacent room, in case someone tried to kill me again. I was trying to open the package Arianna had hidden. Seriously though, what was in the thing? The ten commandments?!
"Kai, I'm American," I told him.
"I thought you were Israeli," he said.
"Dual citizenship," I said.
"Right, so it's safe to assume you know nothing?" He asked.
"You know nothing, Jon Snow."
He smiled. "I like that show."
"Yes, I can see why you like it," I said. "Lots of bloodshed and a crazy body count."
He clipped a magazine of bullets into his gun. I was standing near the door of the room, prepared to bolt out if something went wrong. Knowing me, there's a good possibility something would.
"Come in and shut the door," he said, dumping the loaded weapon into his drawer.
I stepped in and shut the door, staying close.
"You're not very discreet in your expressions of mistrust, are you?" He sighed.
But my mind was already somewhere else.
"What's that?" I asked. I dumped the package onto the dressing table of the small room and walked up to pick up the silver star shaped object.
"That's a shuriken. A ninja star? Please put it down, you'll be at a disadvantage with both your hands injured," he advised, eyeing me nervously.
"It's pretty," I said, examining the sharp edges of the star blades. It was surprisingly heavy.
"Surprisingly people would disagree if it got too close," he said. He seemed to reconsider that. "Actually no, they wouldn't. They'd be dead."
With a tight smile I put the weapon down.
"The Shadow Circle?"
"Right," he said, moving over to sit on the bed. I stayed standing. I knew he wouldn't kill me, yet. But that didn't mean I was at ease, my body's natural instinct told me to stay the fuck away. Plus, I'd seen him kill when he was lounging on the couch in my living room with just a flick of his wrist.
"There was a period in Japan when the Kingdom was being ruled by the Shogun. A military commander," he started.
"I've read about that!" I said suddenly, memories of stuff that I'd read somewhere or seen on television fell into place slowly. I went and sat on the bed, next to him. I'd have preferred to stay standing but I was too tired.
"Do you know what the Sengoku period was?" He asked.
"Not exactly," I said. The name sounded familiar.
"It was a period of unrest where the local landlords or the daimyo rose up in rebellion against the Shogun. The Shogun had an entire army, spies and everything. How do you think the landlords won, then?" He asked.
I thought about that. "They had to have extra help. From the locals?"
"In a way. They hired their own little band of spies," he said. "Ninjas. But in actuality, the word 'spies' is sugarcoating their true purpose, they were more like mercenaries, assassins."
I shivered.
"That's when they realized that money could be made in secrets." His voice had taken a deeper tone, unintentionally dangerous. "That's when a group of them came together and formed the Shadow Circle. An order of spies who live in the shadows," he said.
"They're more than three hundred years old. They were smart enough to survive all the wars and other disasters, and they dominate international crime, in Asia and small parts of Europe, they make Dean look like a small time gang leader" he said. "That's who wants you dead, Kestrel."
My mouth was dry. I gulped and found my voice. Kai's black eyes shone with amusement. With him so close, I could make out a thin silver line running from the bottom of his ear to the corner of his lip. Because of his fair skin, it wasn't immediately obvious. It wouldn't have been deep, but it was made to torture, not kill. Part of me wanted to reach out and run my fingers along the silver line.
The more rational part of me reminded me that the man threatened to kill me. And since I wasn't as ditzy as I seemed, that was the part I listened to.
I wasn't going to let him know I was afraid.
"Not just me. Didn't you disobey an order to kill me?"
His face paled and a familiar smirk crept across my lips. My first thought was: Woohoo! I'd successfully threatened an assassin! My second one was when my above average intelligence kicked in: Oh fuck! I just threatened an assassin! I truly lacked any sense of self-preservation. I should have thought this out before revealing my cards.
Kai's eyes became hard as onyx. "Yes, but I hope it is worth it."
Subtitles: If something goes wrong, you're dead.
"Just before you get any ideas, if it came to it, I could still kill you," he said.
"If it came to that," I reminded him.
"Of course," he smiled charmingly as if he hadn't just threatened my life.
"Why does the Circle want me dead?" I asked. If Kai noticed the unease in my voice, he did not show it.
"To teach Arianna a lesson," he said.
One more question and I'll lock the door to my room and get my shit together.
"How did she get involved?" I asked.
"Dean, she was working for him. The Circle won't harm her. They're not that merciful," he said.
I nodded. That was my last question. I didn't want to stay in the room anymore so I squared my shoulders and walked out. Don't run. Don't let him know you're scared.
"Kestrel?" He called suddenly.
I looked over my shoulder. "What?!"
He handed me a gun, grip first. "In case I'm not around," he said by way of explanation.
"I don't know how to use it," I said bluntly.
"Point it at the offender and pull the trigger?"
"Thank you so much for that monumental help. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to Google how to use this thing," I said.
"The thing is called a gun," he said.
"Wow, I didn't know."
"It's a Beretta point two five calibre if you prefer? It's the same one I took from you that day when you decided to have that eventful fourth of July party with five mercenaries."
"As far as I remember, you're the one who went all George RR Martin on them and killed them, not me," I said.
"Of course, you're completely innocent, wouldn't hurt a soul," he said. "Especially not some insolent guard who wouldn't let you in."
"Eh, he was behaving like an ass," I said.
"Bye Kestrel," he said and went back to sorting out his weapons. I walked out and back to my room. Suddenly I remembered that I left Arianna's package inside.
Stupid package ruining my dramatic exit.
I darted back in. Kai was on making a call on his cellphone. He glanced at me and held a finger to his lips. He said something in Japanese before disconnecting the call.
Caught you. I wish I could speak Japanese.
"What did you say behind my back?" I demanded.
"You're dead," he told me.
"Um...what?"
He sat down on the bed. "I told my employer you're dead. You're safe for now."
"Your employer?" I asked.
"King of the Shadow Circle," he said. His lips curled into a slight, almost imperceptible snarl but if I wasn't looking for a reaction, I might have missed it altogether.
"What if he finds out I'm alive?" I asked.
"Then we both are dead," he said. "Happy? My life is now tied to yours."
"So as long as we live, he'll be behind us?" I asked.
Kai stared into a distance and absently ran his thumb over his lower lip.
"Kai?!" I asked.
"I don't know," he said. "There are a few people who I know that can help us, but it's going to take a lot of convincing."
"I have a feeling we have different definitions of convincing," I said.
"We probably do," he agreed with a smirk.
"You seem like a real charmer, what do you do as a hobby? Set furry animals on fire?"
"Nope, but they do taste delicious," he mused.
I stared at him, he shrugged. "I'm Asian."
"Is there anything that's not on the menu?"
"Humans."
Right. Back to the topic
"So our plan of action is to find your questionably helpful acquaintances and then rescue Arianna?" I asked.
"You don't like waiting that long," he noted.
"No," I agreed.
"We won't take long, we can focus on that till then," he said gesturing to the package. "But I'm not marching in to rescue the damsel in distress without back-up."
"Okay," I said. I was still trying to get the blasted thing open untill Kai pulled out one of his knives and slashed the blue plastic with a single swipe.
"Whatever," I muttered.
A small notebook tumbled onto the bed.
Kai grabbed it before I could react and flipped it open. I snatched the book from him.
"Is your sister mentally stable or does your craziness run in the family?"
"What?" I asked. Then I opened the book and started to question the sanity of my own sister.
The first few pages were filled with doodles.
Doodles.
DOODLES!
Well, I was not expecting that.
"Maybe it belonged to someone important?" I asked.
"Or maybe it's encrypted?" He offered.
The pages were filled rows of circles, seven in each row. Some were filled with ink, some weren't. It looked like the doodles I used to make in math class but the book was clearly Arianna's.
"I hope it isn't a dead end," I said.
"Morse code?" He asked. "Two coloured circles in a row represent a dash?'
"Seems a bit too obvious," I mused.
"Thankfully my partner has above average intelligence and a close connection to Arianna," he said.
"Partner?"
"Would you prefer target?"
"No, partner is adequate," I said. "So where are your... friends? And what exactly do they do?"
"They're criminals," he said bluntly.
"Unsurprising."
"They're... you'll see," he trailed off, unsure of himself for the first time.
"I also have a feeling that your definition of 'friend' is very different from mine," I said.
"They're more like... acquaintances," he confessed.
"So they don't want to kill us?"
"Not exactly, let's say our relationship is strained," he said.
"Strained."
"I tried to kill one of them and the other one tried to kill me," he said.
I feel so safe.
"Maybe I can team up with them," I said.
"Three against one seems a bit disadvantageous in your favour, don't you think? Maybe you don't understand the gravity of the situation? I did kill five mercenaries last time," he said.
"Your ego is big enough to have its own gravitational field," I said dryly.
"So figure out what's written on the book," he said tossing the notebook to me before sprawling on the bed. "I'm going to sleep."
"I'm hungry," I told him.
"Order room service," he said. "It's safe."
"Kay," I said, picking up the notebook and walking out. "If someone gets me and I die, you can join me in afterlife."
I entered the room. The rooms here weren't much but now that we were on the run, I wasn't expecting the Ritz-Carlton or anything. The basics were there, a bed, an air-conditioner, television and freakishly fast internet. Plaster peeled off the wall in strips.
I pulled out my laptop that I packed and googled 'hyrdoelectric projects in the Himalayas' there were more than a thousand results. Looks like I was going to have to ask Kai about that.
I picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"How may I help you?" A feminine voice answered.
"Can you send up some lunch to room 602, please?"
"What would you like?"
"What do you recommend?" I asked. She rattled off an array of dishes and I picked the most interesting ones.
Within five minutes I had a double pepperoni mozzarella breadsticks and some french fries sitting on my bed with Wikipedia open on my laptop screen. I dug a bit deeper into the Shadow Circle. Whoever was in charge of the publicity of the Circle had done an excellent job hiding anything.
There were garbled references to ninja's having survived and conspirational theories, but the only proof I had of its existence was the Ninja next door.
I dumped the gun in the backpack, in a pocket by the side so I could draw it whenever I wanted really quickly. I still had to rely on Kai for protection though.
The door flew open and I whirled around pointing the gun at the door.
"Haven't you heard of knocking?" I demanded.
"Let's go, take whatever you have, we won't be returning," he said curtly. He was dressed in the black shirt and leather jacket I'd always seen him in, the only difference now was the black leather gloves on his hand. He too had a black backpack slung across one shoulder.
"What's your obsession with black?" I asked.
"Easier to hide in the shadows, blood doesnt show," he replied absently.
Okay...
I slung the backpack on my shoulders and walked out with him.
"Cracked the code?" He asked.
"It wasn't Morse code for sure," I said.
"Did you try it at least? What did it say?"
"Psmrvhsowkebihdkfsjjwg," I told him honestly.
"What?!"
"Told you it wasn't Morse code. I couldn't even tell where one letter end and the other one starts," I said.
"Okay," he said. "You didn't have to spell it out for me."
"I don't think I could," I told him. "P-s-m-r...?"
We walked out of the motel gates. Kai had already settled the tab.
"Why are you wearing gloves? You never wear gloves," I stated.
"There's no law against keeping your mouth shut, just saying," he said.
I got into the drivers seat. "Directions?"
He gave me the address of a coffee shop.
"Public place?"
"Yes. You're learning," he said. "Not sure if that's a good thing or not."
I got us there in record time. The awkard silence was getting too awkward and I couldn't stand it. Kai wasn't making things any easier. The bloody assassin was half asleep.
Assassin.
Lol.
"Wake up! Felony time! Let's break some laws!" I yelled.
"You broke at least two red lights, that's against the law," he drawled.
"If I gave a singular fuck about the law, I wouldn't be here with you," I told him.
"Fair enough. Now why exactly did you wake me?"
"No reason. I felt like."
"Do you have any sense of self-preservation?" He asked again.
"Do you think I have any sense of self-preservation?"
"Of course not. On a serious note, these people are going to be dangerous. If they haven't killed each already, I'll introduce you to them. Don't provoke them. Don't piss them off. Don't say anything that can be remotely considered offensive-"
"What's next? Avoid eye-contact?"
"-On second thoughts, if you can shut up, that would be supremely helpful. I didn't save your sorry flat ass so you can get yourself killed."
"Flat ass?"
"So do you think you can handle that? Not talking?"
"No," I said honestly.
"Good, let's go," he said.
We were ambushed the minute we stepped out of the car.
Don't forget to vote! How do you like Kes and Kai?
What do you think the clue is?
Who are these... acquaintances that Kai wants to meet?
Kai's team is coming together, starting with Kes and they're going to kick ass..
Next Chapter onwards the real deal starts. Guns, fights, hacking, stealing, blackmail, car chases and secrets. Poor Kes.
*Laughs evilly*