One Last Breath

by S. C. Stokes

  The thug’s finger tightened on the trigger. "You lie to me one more time, and I'm going to put a bullet in you. If you aren't going to tell me where my money is, simply tell me which kneecap you'd prefer to live without.”

  Kasey was reluctant to give up the hard-won money, but she could see the writing was on the wall. She needed to stall for time. If the thug learned that most of it was already gone, he’d likely shoot them both.

  Kasey knew that at any moment, Sanders might return, but until he did, or she saw an opening, she was stuck following the killer’s instructions. From the thug's temperament and his cold dead eyes, she doubted he would bat an eyelid before pulling the trigger.

  "It's in the safe," Kasey replied. “We couldn’t leave that much cash just laying around."

  “Get it out," the thug said. "Move slowly or you die. Reach for a weapon and you die. In short, try anything at all—"

  "And I die," Kasey finished the sentence. “I think I get it.”

  She stood slowly, and the thug followed suit.

  "Stay there,” the thug said to the housekeeper, who still trembled helplessly on the couch.

  The housekeeper nodded slowly, avoiding any eye contact with Kasey or the thug.

  Kasey shuffled into the bedroom. The thug followed her but hovered at the door, where he could both see Kasey and the housekeeper.

  He's smart.

  She had hoped the opportunity would give the housekeeper a chance to run for her life. Kasey had few qualms about putting down a murderer like the Night Crewman that loomed behind her, but the thought of an innocent woman dying simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

  She opened the built-in robe revealing the safe and glanced over her shoulder. The thug hadn't moved, and his weapon was still pointed squarely at her. She wondered if she could raise a shield in time at this distance but drove the thought from her mind. He was still too close and the risk too high. She just needed to stall for long enough for Sanders to arrive. Or, if she could distract the thug for long enough, she might be able to shield herself and retaliate.

  The thug might have been immense, but if she could take the gun out of play, it would at least level the playing ground, and give her a chance to use her magic. Her powers were potent, but she had no desire to race a bullet.

  "Open it. What are you waiting for?" the thug said.

  "Oh, nothing. I just didn't want you getting trigger happy when I reached for the keypad," Kasey replied with a shrug.

  "Open it now. I want to see our money.”

  "Alright, alright.” She punched in the combination code. On the fourth digit, the lock clicked and rolled back into the unlocked position.

  She pulled open the safe, revealing the black duffel bag she had carried with her from the Night Crew bunker.

  "Easy now,” the thug called. “Don't give me a reason to shoot you."

  She slowly lifted out the duffel. Holding it aloft in one arm, she turned to face him.

  "Where do you want it?" she asked.

  “Set it on the bed. Then open it slowly.”

  Kasey gingerly made her way from the safe to the bed and set the duffel on the corner of the mattress.

  “Unzip it slowly.”

  Kasey drew open the zipper and parted the duffel, so that the thug could see the stacked notes inside.

  “There you go,” Kasey replied. “Obviously, it’s short a few dollars for the room."

  The thug grinned but there was nothing happy about that smile. It was a sinister sliver of a grin that seemed to perk slightly at the corners of his mouth.

  "Our surveillance shows you carrying two bags from the bunker. Where is the second bag?"

  "This is all I have," Kasey lied. “I don't know anything about a second bag."

  If the thug was expecting it to be in the hotel, then only one of the bags must've had a tracker unit. However the Night Crew had placed the trackers, clearly it was sporadic. Not every stack of bills, would have one. It was fortunate that it was Kasey's bag and not Sanders’ that they had tracked. Kasey didn't doubt Hades would have frowned on them leading the Night Crew into the heart of his lair.

  The thug exhaled slowly.

  “There were two bags. That is only one. Tell me where the other is, or I’ll shoot you.” His voice grew in volume with each sentence.

  "I'm telling you, that's all I have," Kasey replied. "You can see the safe, look for yourself. There's nothing else in there."

  “I can see that,” the thug snapped. "I can see that it is empty. I want to know where the money is and I want to know now!” He advanced on her, gun still at the ready. "Tell me, or I'll put a bullet in that pretty face of yours.”

  The sound of footsteps from the adjoining room took them both by surprise.

  The housekeeper is making a dash for it.

  As the thug turned and bolted for the adjoining room, the hotel room door opened. She charged around the corner as the thug raised his pistol to fire. Without hesitation, she dove after him. With both hands, she grabbed the outstretched, pistol shoving it to the side.

  Time seemed to slow as the thug’s finger squeezed the trigger. The shot flew wide, slamming into the wall next to the door. The housekeeper screamed as she ran for her life. Kasey and the thug collapsed in a heap on the hotel room floor.

  Kasey hit the ground hard. Wincing in pain, she forced her mind to focus. Her bruises from the night before with Dozer were still fresh. She closed her eyes and shut out the pain. Only one thing mattered now, and that was the gun in the thug’s hand. She knew that if she let go of the gun, it would be the last thing she ever did.

  She wrapped herself around his arm and kicked him in the ribs. He jerked back, and she changed her grip. Pointing the gun clear of herself, she squeezed down on the trigger.

  Shots hammered past her, into the hotel wall. She continued jerking the trigger.

  A hollow click signaled the last round had been fired.

  Safe from imminent death, she grabbed the thug’s wrist and slammed it into the floor. As his fingers loosened, she twisted his wrist in on itself and the gun came free. She picked up the gun and raised it, ready to pistol whip him.

  He reached over with his other meaty arm, grabbing her with both hands, and rolled, throwing her as he went. She slammed into the table in the suite.

  Like a cat, she rolled to her feet as the thug struggled to his own. She grabbed one of the hardwood chairs and swung it with all her might. The chair struck the thug and broke across his flank. Still he came on, charging like a bull.

  He grabbed her, lifting her off her feet, and slammed her down onto the tabletop. Kasey felt her head slam against the wood, almost losing consciousness.

  Oh, no.

  With only moments before the thug crushed the life out of her, she placed her palm on his chest. “Poen.”

  As the words passed her lips, the thug’s face twisted in horror.

  Before Kasey could finish her spell, he released her and drove his right fist straight into her guts. Kasey doubled over in pain as the punch forced the air from her lungs. Gasping for breath, she fought back tears.

  The thug reached for her again. She drove her right leg into his ribs, but he shook her off and grabbed her throat.

  His hands closed around her windpipe, choking the life from her.

  If I can't speak, I can't use my magic, and if I can't use my magic, I'm dead.

  The exhaustion of the recent days threatened to overwhelm her. On a good day, she might have given the thug a run for his money, but today she was tired and worn down.

  She felt the life being forced from her.

  As her world went black, something stirred within her. It wasn't magic; this was no whispering of the arcane ready to aid her. No, this was much older than that. It was a throbbing sensation, resonating from deep within her soul. The primal manifestation of her inner feelings. It was an emotion that had plagued mankind since the beginning.
r />   It was rage. Kasey was furious at everything that had brought her to this point. Furious at the Shinigami and their foul plot. Furious at the ADI who hunted her. Furious that she'd been driven to fight for her life in a cage to amuse others, furious that she'd had to go toe to toe with a criminal syndicate just to stay alive, and furious that their hired gun was right now squeezing the very life out of her.

  Today, that rage was her ally.

  She struggled as the thug's grip tightened around her throat. Her hands raced across the table top as she searched for anything she could use. At last, her fingers found purchase. She felt the cool stone of a ceramic bowl resting in the middle of the table. Grabbing it with both hands, she heaved it off the table and into the thug's head.

  As the ceramic antique shattered against his skull, his grasp on her loosened. She rolled free, then kicked the man in his face.

  Doubling over, she sucked in a deep breath, filling her lungs with much-needed oxygen. Her chest burned but so did her anger.

  The thug reached for something inside his jacket. Kasey slid off the table as the thug drew out a blade. It was long and slender, some sort of switchblade. The light in the room flickered off its keen edge.

  The thug lunged forward, slashing at her. Kasey leapt backwards, and the slender blade sliced through the air, barely missing her stomach.

  Flicking his wrist, the thug changed his grip and swung the blade once more. This time, the strike was higher, towards Kasey's neck. She ducked underneath the blade and drove a solid right into the man's throat.

  The thug gasped for air. As he did, she reached for his wrist and in one deft motion turned it in on itself. As his wrist gave under the pressure, the blade dropped from his hand. Kasey caught it in her right hand, flipped it, and sunk the blade into the thug's chest.

  As the blade drove home, she felt sick to her stomach. She'd inflicted pain before, but this reminded her of Danilo Lelac whom she had impaled on the Spear of Odin. The feel of a blade breaking flesh wasn't a sensation she enjoyed at all.

  The thug's eyes went wide, as his blood pooled. He clutched both hands to his chest in an effort to stem the flow.

  Kasey grabbed him and shoved him backward onto the sofa.

  The thug growled in pain as he hit the cushion. His hands closed around the knife as he made to pull it out.

  "I wouldn't be doing that,” Kasey warned, wiping blood from her mouth. "Pull it out and you'll bleed to death. Leave it in there and there is still a chance you might survive long enough for the paramedics to get you to a hospital. Doubtless this racket has already been reported to the police, they will be on their way, so it’s your choice. Follow me or live to fight another day.”

  She made her way over to the duffel and drew out the stacks of bills. Checking each one at a time, she set aside several that had trackers hidden inside the wads of cash. She threw the clean stacks back in the duffel and shouldered the bag. As she made her way through the suite, she caught the Night Crewman staring her down.

  “Don't be so disheartened,” she said with a shrug, “this could have gone much worse for you."

  The man struggled to speak. "When my employer finds you, he will kill you."

  "He'll have to get in line," Kasey replied, "and that list gets longer every day. If I'm gonna be honest, your boss is the least of my worries right now. I left some of the cash on the bed as a consolation prize. Tell him to take it and cut his losses. If I see any of you again, we’ll burn another stash house to the ground and another and another. We’ll continue until you decide to leave us alone or kill us. Either way, it’s going to be bad for business, so you decide, but I have other, more pressing issues I need to focus on.”

  With that, she hurried out of the penthouse. She hit the elevator’s call button, and a moment later, the gilded doors parted. She stepped inside. Taking care not to stare at the camera, she instead stood beneath its arc of vision.

  The illusion she'd been utilizing for the past few days wouldn't serve her now. Jen Kaswell was as good as dead. As soon as the police arrived, she would be a wanted woman. Whispering her incantation, she shifted her appearance once more.

  As the elevator reached the lobby, Kasey stepped off. Her new face meant she could walk straight through the lobby without suspicion. No doubt the hotel security was already responding to the disturbance. As they bustled about, Kasey crossed the lobby and stepped onto the street. Lights and sirens signaled the approach of the police.

  Kasey strode down the busy New York street, leaving the chaos and the carnage of the penthouse suite behind her.

  As the emergency service vehicles rolled past, Kasey reflexively looked away. It took a moment to remember that they would have no chance of connecting the face she now wore with what had transpired in the hotel room, or with her own appearance for that matter.

  Reaching into the duffel bag, she drew out another burner phone and dialed the number for Sanders’ last remaining burner. With the hotel room being compromised, she needed to make sure he didn’t walk straight back into the waiting arms of the police, or worse yet, the ADI.

  They avoided using it where possible but now it was a matter of life or death. Kasey dialed the number and waited.

  The dial tone repeated tediously in her ear.

  "Come on, Sanders, pick up," Kasey muttered as she made her way down the street

  "Hello?" Sanders asked, answering at last.

  "Hey, it's your wife," Kasey said. “How did your visit with our friend downstairs go?"

  "Well, from the look on his face, I'm thinking he didn't expect us to be able to come up with the money, but he assures us he is good to his word. He promised us the use of eight of his men. Turns out he's a little invested in upsetting the Arcane Council."

  "Excellent," Kasey said. "Where are you now?"

  "On the way back to the hotel, why?" Sanders replied.

  Kasey fidgeted with the duffel bag as she walked. "You can't go back there. It’s burned."

  "What happened?" Sanders asked with concern.

  "Turns out, those stacks of cash we looted from the Night Crew had trackers in them. At least my bag did, anyway. One of their enforcers paid me a visit."

  "Kasey, are you okay?"

  Kasey bit her lip. "I’m okay, I guess. It's just been, well, you know. I guess I was just hoping I could take a nap and not come face-to-face with a hired killer."

  "You’re not okay. I get it,” Sanders said. “Where are you? I'll come to you."

  "I’m alright. It was just close, that’s all. He certainly got the worse end of the deal. I left him in the suite bleeding all over the sofa. I think it’s safe to say we won’t be getting our security deposit back. I find it a little ironic that the damages are going to be paid for out of the money the Night Crew sent him to retrieve."

  Sanders laughed. "Just a bit. Where are you headed now?"

  Kasey looked up to see Central Park looming up ahead. She had to clear her mind and a little nature would serve her well.

  "I’m just headed to the park to relax and catch my breath. Besides, I still haven't had a chance to locate our friend. All the allies in the world won't do us much good unless we can find our target. I’m about to make some calls to see what I can dig up.”

  "Okay, sounds good. Rest up and stay safe. Let me know when you want to meet up. We’ll find somewhere quiet we can crash for the night."

  Kasey nodded. "Sounds good. I’ll see you soon."

  Kasey cut the call but didn't put the phone away. She still had one more call to make. They needed the Chancellor's whereabouts and there was no way anyone else in the Arcane Council would be willing to speak to her.

  She called the one person on earth she thought might still give her the time of day. Slowly, she punched the number into a cell.

  The phone rang twice before it was picked up.

  A man’s voice carried down the line. "Hello, this is John."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kasey stood there on the busy New Yo
rk street, John's voice echoing in her ear. She knew she had to make the call and yet no matter how much she had thought about it, she still didn’t know what to say. How would she explain being with Sanders? How could she protect John from the knowledge that his father was dead, and the Shinigami impostor was sharing his dinner table?

  "Hello?” John said. “Is anyone there?"

  Kasey exhaled slowly. "John, it's me, Kasey."

  "Kasey, where are you? Are you ok?

  "John, I can explain everything. It's not easy, though. It's a long story. I need you to hear me out."

  "I'll say,” John replied with a groan. “You told me someone was going to try and kill my father in the cathedral and then you disappear only to be seen days later carving a path through the Arcane Council with the traitor, Sanders. How could you do that, Kasey? How could you work with him after everything he did to Theo? After everything he did to me? That attack on the manor. He could have killed me."

  It was everything Kasey was afraid off. John had so many questions. And most of the answers would put John squarely in the firing line.

  "It's not like that, John," Kasey replied. “Sanders didn't kill Theo. I can tell you that much. We only broke into the Arcane Council so that I would be able to examine the body and get to the bottom of all this."

  John's temper flared as his tone rose. "I see he got to you, Kasey. Sanders was always a persuasive one. How did he get to you?"

  "It's not important right now, John. I just called to talk. I wanted to tell you that I was okay, and that I was making progress in finding the Getz killer. The Council is after Sanders and now they're after me. They’re barking up the wrong tree. I just wanted to make sure you knew, because the real killer is still out there. They are a danger to you, your family, the Council, everything! John, whatever you think of me, don't let your guard down with anyone else. I believe the killer is inside the Council. We know that much. They are using their resources to cover themselves and blame Sanders. It’s just a distraction to throw everyone off the scent. We’re getting close, we just need a little more time."