Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
But that was later. First, they had a job to do.
His claws cut through the bricks as if they were nothing more than fatty flesh. In the blink of an eye, he’d scaled the building to the top floor. The address on the note delivered by the child was for an apartment on the top floor, number 526. Haru peeked through the filth-encrusted windows until he found the one that led to a dimly lit stairwell. The window let out a horrible squeal as he pried it open. With ease, he slipped inside.
When Adrian arrived a couple of minutes later, puffing from climbing all the stairs in a rush, Haru was leaning on the wall near their target, wearing a smirk.
Adrian glared. “You flew up here.”
“Literally? No, I did not.”
“Then how?” he snapped, his voice a harsh whisper.
Haru lifted his right hand and brandished his talons. “I climbed.”
Adrian rolled his eyes and motioned for him to get rid of that dragon-y attribute. “Should have made you carry me.”
“Anytime you wish, my Adrian.”
The royal guard ignored him and took a step closer while being careful not to block the light that would have leaked under the door from the hallway. Haru had also inspected it prior to Adrian’s arrival, but he could see no wires or gadgets that would make this apartment any different from the others. If the culprits were holding a prisoner here, there should have been some sign of a security system. That there wasn’t felt like an ill omen.
Adrian’s grim expression showed that he felt the same. He stepped aside and waved to Haru. “Kick it in and move away from the opening.”
Haru slammed his booted foot into the wood. A loud cracking noise shattered the silence of the hall. The door tore from its flimsy lock and flew open, crashing into the far wall. Haru leaped back, expecting gunfire to race out of the apartment like a swarm of angry bees, but nothing happened.
The darkness in the room was deep, seeming to swallow up the thin light from the hall. Nothing moved, but Haru could hear several people breathing within the depths of the room.
“May I go first?” he inquired.
“Sure. But, Haru, incapacitate. Don’t kill. Dead men don’t answer questions.”
With a wicked grin, Haru zoomed into the pitch-black apartment. He reasoned that the bad people wouldn’t be able to see what he was doing in such conditions. If he just happened to move faster than a human could, or was stronger than any human could be, well…how would they know?
His eyes shifted to his vertical-pupiled dragon eyes once inside, allowing him to see more clearly. At least a dozen men were scattered about, half-hidden behind broken and flimsy furniture. They each held a weapon of some sort, whether it was a gun or a blunt object. Their goal was obvious—to hurt his Adrian.
Never.
He’d never let that happen.
A low growl rippled up his throat, and he lunged at the closest man, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. With little effort, he flung the hefty man into three of his companions, knocking them all to the ground as if they were a pyramid of empty wine bottles. Men shouted and gunshots rang out. Haru dodged bullets, leaving them to pelt the drywall and even the other bastards who’d come to ambush them.
One after another, he took out the attackers. Bones cracked and men screamed, but he was very careful not to tear anything. They were left unconscious but still breathing. The sour scent of piss and sweat choked the air, along with mold and dust. Haru sniffed and tightened his grip on the last of the scoundrels, preparing to slam his head against the wall.
“Wait!” Adrian bellowed.
Haru stopped and jerked his head around to find Adrian standing in the center of the room with a small flashlight attached to the front of his shirt, illuminating the chaos he’d left behind him. He pinched a silver blade between the fingers of his right hand, which he was pointing at the man Haru was holding.
“We need one conscious for questioning.”
Haru looked at the man who was glaring at them both. Blood streaked down his narrow, sweaty face from a shallow wound on his forehead. His bald head glistened in the glare cast by Adrian’s flashlight. “You will answer our questions,” Haru stated, giving him a hard shake.
“Fuck off!” the would-be attacker barked.
Adrian stepped close and held up the picture of Shey he’d been showing to every coroner and shopkeeper for days now. “Have you seen this man?”
“Fuck. Off.” He enunciated and finished with a curl of his fat upper lip.
Adrian sighed.
“He’s not frightened of us enough,” Haru murmured. “May I strike fear into him?”
Adrian lifted one eyebrow. “Without the wings, right?”
“Of course.”
His companion made a dismissive wave of his hand as he tucked the photo safely away in his pocket. “Sure. Go for it. The other option is to kill him and wake up one of his companions. We’ll try it your way first.”