Free The Lostkind by Matt Stephens

body blow to each opponent, smacking out at joints and eyes and throats, knowing every weakness, moving too fast for them to evade or block.
    The Gangs of New York were tough as any young people could get, but Yasi had five of them completely outdone.
    They rushed her, all at once, trying to keep her from getting around them through mass of bodies. She dashed backward two feet and planted her foot on the wall, flipping over them like an acrobat, sending the biggest of them sprawling down the alley, the smallest of them running into the brick itself.
    Mohawk got to his feet first, and pulled out a switchblade.
    The click of steel springing open drew Yasi's attention instantly. All of a sudden there was a break in the combat, leaving Yasi and Mohawk staring at each other, with four bodies writhing at their feet.
    There was another switchblade click, and Mohawk suddenly had two blades, one in each hand. He flashed the switchblades back and forth over his knuckles, clearly experienced with them. It was a show meant to frighten the opponent, showing off the blades in elaborate ways.
    Yasi sized him up as the Gang Leader settled into a combat crouch. Her eyes blazed at him demonically, and she reached over her shoulder. An instant later the streetlights flashed off a samurai sword, gleaming wickedly in the night.
    Mohawk took in the blade and quickly realized he was outclassed. Putting his knives away, he drew back two feet and held his hands out, palms up. Yasi lowered the tip of her sword, and made no move to stop the five of them as they rolled to their feet and retreated. They all stayed well away as she moved to stand between them and Wotcha. Message sent, Message received.
    Yasi kept her sword low, the shining blade covering the entire width of the alley, gleaming against her shadowy silhouette, as they retreated with as much dignity as they could muster.
    Once they were gone, Yasi sheathed her blade and turned on the elderly Watcher. "You missed the meeting." She said lightly. "I wondered what was going on, but now I understand you were doing this !"
    Wotcha ducked her head, nervous before the younger woman. "I am… sorry Shinobi."
    "What the hell were you doing here?" Yasi demanded, waving at the deepest end of the alley. "The entrance is right there. Why didn't you take it?"
    "Solving a mystery." Wotcha defended. "By now you'll have heard that there's trouble on the lower levels, on the way into Market."
    "The Riverfolk? What about them?"
    "They aren't coming from the lower levels." Wotcha cracked. "They're coming from up here."
    "From the Above?" Yasi repeated, shocked. "How is that possible?"
    "There are bodies… At the Hudson." Wotcha reported. "They're Riverfolk."
    Yasi reacted. "Are you sure?"
    "Positive. I let myself in to look at the reports. They died of nitrogen narcosis."
    "They got the bends?"
    "Result of pressure change. Nobody can figure out how they died, so they're writing it off as amateur scuba divers being stupid, but the one thing they can't explain is why the three bodies are so pale. Three corpses that never saw sunlight before."
    "Riverfolk." Yasi agreed. "How did those monsters get to the surface?"
    "I don't know. They don't even come up four levels in the Underside, let alone to the Hudson River. Someone had to drag them up. Which means someone had to get to them." Wotcha waved to the entrance. "And as you say, the entrance is right there."
    "Someone found an entrance to the Underground?" Yasi got to the point. "Vincent?"
    "No, I can't believe that."
    "He may have been starstruck, but he's not one of us." Yasi countered. "It's been a year. A lot of things can change in a year."
    "More than you know." Wotcha said. "Vincent… he's different."
    "Different how?"
    "Well, back before you went and kidnapped him, I was the one watching. I can tell you, seeing our world changed his whole view."
    Yasi was more interested in that than she should have been. "Oh?"
    ~oo00oo~
    The cold snap that year was very