Free Icarus; The Kindred (A Paranormal Romance) by J. S. Chancellor Page B

are levels one through fifteen and I am fairly confident that he'll be fine. Better safe than sorry.
    "Level thirteen or so."
    I nod. I'd figured as much. "Let's go, then. If all hell breaks loose, or I should say if all Hades breaks loose, just point me in the right direction and get out of the way."
    "You've changed so much," he whispers. "What level are
you
?"
    I smile widely. "Let's just say it's in the double digits." It's actually sixteen, but we won't go there. I don't want to be overly confident. I fear we are in over our heads as it is. I gesture toward the door. "Here goes nothing."
    We walk for a bit longer than I'd expected. No one says anything to us, but the place is night and day to where we just were. People are everywhere. Finally, he stops in front of a young uniformed guard who looks to be in his early twenties.
    "Open the doors," Quinn says authoritatively. I'm somewhat awed. This doesn't sound at all like the playful man I was just speaking to. "When is the other one scheduled for termination?" He references Blake, who stares at us mutely from his chair.
    "Eight a.m., sir," the guard says.
    Before I can process what's happening, Quinn has the kid against the far wall and knocks him out. Blake doesn't seem to believe what he is seeing as Quinn goes to him. I am watching from just inside the doorway, wondering what to do from here, seeing as Quinn didn't exactly choose the subtlest way to take care of the guard.
    "Jessica!" Quinn yells just as I feel something swipe across my back.
    I turn and stare at a creature I can't believe actually exists. He—I assume it's a he, though I really don't care to check for certainty on that—has little left of his face—just bone and muscle, and I am wondering at this point why Quinn didn't mention this guy. And why didn't we bring more than our brains for weapons if we were going to run into him? I know better than this—I'm an assassin, for crying out loud.
    I fend off three successive blows, but this thing is kicking my ass. He drives a single talon into my upper thigh and simultaneously rakes three from his other hand across my breastbone.
    You would think I would collapse at this—I do, too, but something snaps. I feel that newfound power that Trinity was referencing in our Tithe as being a result of our combined blood and I am furious. At this point, I stop focusing on merely the physical and start dealing out mental blows, one right after the next. The creature barely budges and I watch in horror as Quinn comes up beside him.
    Damn it, Quinn, get out of the way!
I know he can't hear me, but it's all I can think as I watch the creature break his leg and leave him shaking on the floor.
    Now, before we continue, let me explain something. Being an assassin doesn't mean that I carry around a bat-style utility belt—I wouldn't know how to effectively use a grappling gun if you gave me one. I don't brandish huge gothic-style swords—they're a bitch to keep polished—and though I carry bigger guns than pistols from time to time, I don't normally because, oh yeah, they don't work against vampires. Wound, maim, piss off, sure, but they don't do much more than complicate things. We are taught to use our surroundings. And knives. Most of my professors specialized in small blades. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the above and that whole bit about using my surroundings is useless when I'm in a room that's essentially empty.
    I hear footsteps and armed assassins flood the hall beyond the door, so now not only am I fooling with the creature, I have his little friends to worry about, too. And I have two grown men with me who are, for all practical purposes, utterly useless. I back up until I am in the center of the room as a plethora of commands are barked at the creature that is waiting on my next move. I close my eyes and call on everything I've got.
    I hold my wrists loosely crossed above my head and envision two blades. To those around it will appear as though I am