Dragon Gate

by Gary Jonas

  “Maybe not tonight,” Kelly said.

  Jenkins entered the room with a large tray that held a pitcher of tea, two cups, and an assortment of crackers. He stopped when he saw everyone. “I’ll bring more teacups.” He set down the tray and backed out of the room.

  Graham glared at me. “You two need to go now. This is a family matter, and you aren’t wanted.”

  “There were thirteen men,” Kelly said. “You need us.”

  “We’ve been over this. The answer is no.”

  “Thirteen men,” I said. “You really want to face off with them alone? You really want them to kill Rayna too?”

  “How dare you!” Graham said. He rose and approached me with clenched fists.

  I stood toe to toe with him. “You need us.” Sometimes if you say something enough, it will get through someone’s head.

  He struggled with himself for a moment. I knew he wanted to hit me, but the look in my eyes told him it wouldn’t be a wise decision. Graham was in good physical shape, but he knew that he was out of his league if he wanted to get into a fight.

  “We can protect you,” I said. “Both of you.”

  “We don’t want protection.”

  “Nobody wants it. Most people just want quiet, peaceful lives.”

  “Boring,” Kelly said.

  “But when the shit hits the fan, you need people like us on your side. Or would you rather watch some asshole lop off your sister’s head?”

  He stared at me. He tried to look tough again, but I wasn’t buying it. He obviously realized that because he turned away and backed off. “This isn’t how we do things.”

  “It’s your call, sport.”

  Graham glared at me for a long moment. Finally he turned to Rayna. “Do you want bodyguards?”

  Rayna hesitated.

  “Be honest,” Graham said.

  She nodded. “I like my life here, and I don’t want to die.”

  “It’s a violation of the Creed.”

  “We violated the Creed when we came here.”

  “Be that as it may—”

  “I want to live, Graham. If Jonathan and Kelly can keep us alive, I say we let them.”

  “They won’t be able to protect us.”

  “You don’t know that. If Mr. Endar thinks they’re qualified to handle a threat like this, I think we should give them a chance. Would you prefer death?”

  “We’re going to die regardless.”

  “Then there’s no harm in allowing them to stay. Maybe they can give us a few more days to live and breathe. Who knows? They might be able to save us.”

  Graham glanced over at Kelly. “Ms. Chan seemed to think she could take on the entire Clan by herself.”

  Kelly gave a half grin.

  “It can’t hurt to let them do their jobs,” Rayna said. “Please let them. If not for you, then do it for me.”

  “You’re sure about this?”

  She nodded.

  Graham sighed. “Very well.” He slowly turned back to face me. “We shall allow you to accompany us in public. You’ll need to sign nondisclosure agreements in case you learn anything about our businesses. You will also give us privacy when we request it.”

  “Provided that privacy doesn’t endanger your lives.”

  “We are in control of our lives, Mr. Shade.”

  “Let’s get this straight, Dr. Noble. Until the threat is eliminated, you’ll do as we say. We’ll do what we can to not cause problems for you, but for your own safety, you’ll need to follow our directions.”

  “I don’t—”

  “That’s not up for debate. We can’t protect you if you decide to do something stupid. You are not to go anywhere in public without one of us.”

  He looked at the ceiling for a moment then exhaled. “Very well but if you cause too many problems, I’ll fire you.”

  “It’s your life, pal.”

  Jenkins returned with more cups. “Shall I prepare guest rooms?”

  “Three of them,” Kelly said.

  “Three?”

  “We have one more guard to bring in tomorrow.”

  Graham frowned and opened his mouth to protest, but after glancing at Rayna, he said, “As you wish.”

  I sat down and Jenkins brought me a cup of tea. Danger aside, I could get used to this.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  JONATHAN SHADE

  That night, I lay in a king-sized bed wrapped in silk sheets. When I closed my eyes, I found myself drifting in and out of consciousness. My head spun with memories of intense training with various masters around the world interspersed with images of the shadowy demons that haunted the ether. Part of my training had included learning to release my spirit into the realm of those demons via remote viewing. Now it felt like every night, I fought to keep myself attached to my body because those demons were always there, waiting for me. If I ever slipped out again, I knew they’d tear my soul to shreds.

  I’d faced them and escaped once, but I knew that was a one-time dance. They hadn’t expected me to come at them the way I had. Now they knew better. As I’d done every night for the past few months, I reinforced the walls that kept my soul trapped in my body. Maybe I worried about it too much, but I had a feeling that if I didn’t build that wall strong enough, the demons could reach into me while I slept, and that would be the final song of the show. No encore.

  The rest of my training had been mental and physical. I was in the best shape of my life, but facing off against thirteen men seemed a bit much. Kelly and Brand could do it, but they felt no pain and didn’t get tired. I hoped Rayna’s life wouldn’t depend on my being as solid as my magically engineered Sekutar friends. I might be fast, and I might be strong, but I was still only human, and I felt like I wasn’t up to the task. I’d lost Naomi and I wasn’t able to save Miranda. I didn’t want to lose anyone else. To be fair, Miranda was probably dead before I ever met her. In that regard, perhaps she didn’t count as someone I’d lost. But that wasn’t how it felt.

  I tossed and turned, trying to get my thoughts to stop churning. My job was to protect Rayna, and one way or another, I would keep her safe. Failure was not an option because I knew I couldn’t take another loss at this point in my life.

  Sleep finally took me, and when I awoke four hours later, bits of a dream where I’d been unable to save Rayna from her assassins flittered across my mind then thankfully drifted away.

  I crawled out of bed, stretched, then approached the window. The blinds were drawn, so I parted them with two fingers to peek out. The sun started to pull itself above the horizon, shooting orange streaks through the clouds. Movement in the yard caught my attention, and I yanked down on the blinds to get a better look.

  Graham Noble clad in a blue jogging suit darted across the yard toward the gate.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. Fortunately, I saw Kelly slip out of the trees to follow him.

  Good. I ran my hands through my hair and grabbed my jeans from the chair as I looked for my shoes. I wanted to catch up to them, so I threw on my clothes and bolted out the door.

  Esther smiled at me when I entered the hall. “I love your hair.”

  I patted my head and could tell I had a serious case of bedhead going. I shrugged. “Nice. Can you keep an eye on Rayna for me?” I asked.

  “Only if you gave her a typewriter key. What’s going on?”

  “Graham evidently thinks it’s all right for him to go for a morning run on his own.”

  “What about Kelly?”

  “She’s on it.”

  “You know which way he went?”

  “Shit.”

  “Just a second. I’ll check with Kelly.” She popped away.

  I raced down the stairs and out the door. As I approached the gate, Esther popped back to me.

  “Go right. He’s on the bike path heading north. Just be aware that Kelly says she doesn’t need you. She’s got it under control.”

  “But Graham doesn’t know she’s there. He needs to kn
ow he can’t go running off like this.”

  Esther sighed. “Don’t yell at him too much when you catch up. I want to be able to stay in this house for a while. It’s got a style to which I’d love to become accustomed.”

  Being dead might interfere with that style, but far be it from me to say that to Esther.

  Instead, I gave her a wink then slipped out the gate and turned right. Two blocks down, I saw a dirt trail leading up to the paved bike path. I raced up the incline and made good time racing down the trail. Two minutes later, Kelly slipped out of the trees to join me on the path.

  “I told Esther you didn’t need to come,” she said, matching my speed.

  I ran at a fast clip, but Kelly kept pace as if it were nothing. “Yes, I did. He needs to know—”

  “Nothing,” Kelly said as she grabbed me and made me slow down. “I’ll keep him safe. You’ll just piss him off, and he’ll tell us to go home.”

  She had a point, but I wasn’t ready to relinquish it. “In order to protect them, we need to have control over where they go and when they go there.”

  “That’s not true. Go back to the house. Take a shower. Your hair is trying to get a starring role on a TV sitcom.”

  “You don’t like it? It’s the latest style.”

  “Right. Go eat breakfast. There’s a good chance Graham doesn’t need to know anyone is following him. Let him think he’s pulled a fast one. That way we can get paid and we can keep him and his sister alive. He might complicate the job, but I can easily keep tabs on him, and I can handle any danger he might encounter.”

  “I hate it when you’re right.”

  “You should be used to that by now.” She grinned and slipped back into the trees.

  I stopped and listened for her movements, but all was silent. How did she do that? I couldn’t see Graham up ahead either, but I knew Kelly would stay close enough to him that everything would be fine.

  It’s not like the Marshall Clan had a sniper on the payroll.

  I jogged back toward the house, enjoying the cool morning air. I found myself wondering if Rayna was awake yet. Pieces of my nightmare crept back into my mind, and I saw an arrow pierce her chest, but I reeled the image backward like a film playing in reverse. When I let it start forward again, I caught the arrow and snapped it in two. I would keep her alive, and to do so, I needed to be in the right frame of mind. No room for doubt. I anchored that positive image in my mind as if that would automatically keep her safe. I knew that wasn’t the case, but I also knew that operating from a position of confidence limited the mistakes. The fewer mistakes, the more likely I could protect her.

  GRAHAM NOBLE

  Graham loved his morning runs. He thought of them as his daily hour of power, something he’d picked up from listening to a Tony Robbins CD set about getting the edge. When Graham first came to this world, he had trouble fitting in. There was so much to learn. Fortunately there wasn’t a language barrier because, while there were changes to the language—slang and turns of phrase—most of it had bled across the veil or had been taken there by his ancestors. As for the slang, he mastered that quickly thanks to television and movies. To the casual observer, he seemed like a normal person. Normal was relative, of course, but he cultivated that image.

  He also cultivated an attitude of normalcy. Attitude was sometimes tough to maintain. At first, things were so different. He’d grown up with horses and nature. This place had shopping malls and cars. The culture shock messed with his image. He’d been a master of his old domain, but this place was so strange, it nearly defeated him. When he was twelve, he discovered the Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. John Clayton, Earl Greystoke, was master of the jungle, and he mastered the city too. Graham wanted to be like Greystoke.

  Then late one night, he saw infomercials about gym equipment for the home to get in shape and workout routine DVDs you could order and motivational speakers who claimed they could help you master every aspect of your life. Of course, Graham knew it was all about what you brought to the table with you.

  Graham brought everything to that table.

  He listened to the steady slapping of his running shoes on the pavement. He kept his breathing in check. He could run for hours, but he kept himself to his standard route, which would be nine miles. No need to push himself.

  When he rounded the next curve, he saw Thomas Marshall standing in the center of the path, sword in hand.

  “Good morning, Graham.”

  The rest of the clan stood behind their father.

  Graham slowed and stopped well out of range of the sword. He realized he should have altered his routine. The Marshalls were expert trackers. If he’d gone the other way, he’d have been able to simply enjoy his run. Now he wasn’t sure what he could do. He realized this was a domain he had not mastered.

  “I didn’t expect to see you so soon, Thomas.” Graham glanced behind himself, but the path was clear. The danger was only in front. He considered running but that would be cowardly. Graham was not a coward.

  “We don’t like this world,” Thomas said. “One of those rolling metal contraptions nearly ran me down this morning. I figured, why wait? We’ll kill you, your sister, and your uncle’s family today so we can go home.”

  “There’s no need for this.”

  “Will you face death with honor?” Thomas asked.

  Graham sighed and looked at the men behind Thomas. They used to be his friends. Honor dictated that he not fight back. He was clearly in the wrong here. He’d supported Lucas. Lives were lost. Fleeing only proved his guilt and cowardice. To maintain honor was more important than anything else. He nodded to Thomas and met the eyes of his former friends each in turn. None of them turned away. They all stared at him without compassion.

  “Honor is everything,” Graham whispered and dropped to his knees. He lowered his head, exposing his neck but thinking he should fight back. He didn’t have to take this. He wasn’t bound by the old ways anymore; he could change the outcome. He looked up at Thomas. “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

  Thomas stepped forward and raised his sword. “Honor means silently accepting your fate, Graham. It doesn’t mean pleading for your life like a woman.”

  Kelly Chan stepped out of the trees, startling everyone. “Pleading like a woman?” she asked.

  Thomas glared at her. “This doesn’t concern you.”

  “Am I supposed to go home and fix breakfast for all the big, strong men in my life?” she asked as she approached.

  Graham noticed that she was empty handed.

  “Go away, Ms. Chan. They want only me, but if you interfere, they’ll kill you too.”

  Kelly ignored him and stepped right up to Thomas. “That blade looks awfully sharp. Someone could get hurt.”

  “Back up or I’ll cut you down, woman.”

  “You’d stab a poor, defenseless female? Really?” She opened her arms, presenting an easy target. “Show me how a real man handles a sword.”

  “As you wish.” He drove the sword into her chest.

  Graham saw the blade punch right through her.

  “You dick,” Kelly said. “This is a new shirt!”

  Thomas Marshall’s eyes widened, and Graham saw fear creep across his features. “What witchcraft is this?” Thomas tried to pull the sword free.

  Kelly slapped him across the face so hard, she knocked him off his feet. She turned to the men and smiled as she gripped the sword, drew it from her chest, and whipped it around, flinging blood at them.

  “Hi, boys. Anyone care to dance?”

  Thomas pointed at her. “Kill her!”

  The eldest son, Jacob, stepped forward, drawing a blade. “I’ll cross swords with you. Devil or not, I’ll have your head!”

  Kelly tossed the sword to the ground and leaned forward. She swept her hair away from her neck. Graham couldn’t understand why she’d throw away a perfectly good weapon.

  Kelly smiled at Jacob. “Let me see if I have this right. You have a silly no-fi
ghting-back code where you accept death with honor. I’ll play but I’m not going to kneel before you. Take your best shot.”

  Jacob swung the sword at her neck, but at the last instant, Kelly’s hands flashed up and caught the blade between her palms. “On second thought, maybe I won’t play by your rules. Fights are only fun if both parties are actually in the battle.”

  Jacob tried to pull the sword free. Kelly smiled at him and slowly twisted the sword around and pushed it toward his neck. She drove him backward until his back pressed against a tree trunk.

  Graham watched the other men, but they were following their code, allowing one man at a time to face the opponent. To interfere in a challenge was not honorable. Jacob had volunteered so this was his fight.

  Kelly kept the smile on her face as she pushed the sword into Jacob’s skin. Blood trickled down his throat, across the blade, and dripped onto the ground. The drips grew into a steady stream.

  “Weakling or not, I’ll have your head,” she said and drove the blade through flesh and bone. She grabbed his hair as the sword pushed through and yanked the head from his neck.

  Graham blinked. He’d never seen anything like that. He didn’t know what to think.

  Kelly turned toward the other men, holding the head high. “That was so much fun, I may have to start a collection. Who’s next?”

  One of the men stepped forward, but Thomas pushed himself to his feet and raced over to shove him back. Thomas spun around to face Kelly.

  “You killed my eldest son.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “This isn’t over.”

  “I certainly hope not. I’m not even warmed up yet. Can I kill you next if I say pretty please?”

  “We shall allow Graham to leave unharmed for now.”

  “Mighty kind of you, but what if I don’t allow you to leave?”

  “Ms. Chan,” Graham said, “please let them go. It would be improper to kill them.”

  “Improper? Even though they were going to kill you?”

  “Yes.”

  Kelly shrugged. “It’s your call. But just so you know, I’d be happy to kill them all right now.”

  “There’s no honor in that,” Graham said.