“I know,” Shin said, lowering his head as well, trying to hide.
At the next table, Tristan asked, “Who could those men be to cause our two youngest to react in such a way?” He smiled in mischief as he leaned across and teased in delight. “What have you two done? Why are you hiding?”
Daniella shook her head in the negative while Shin hastily said, “We didn’t do anything.”
* * *
Standing there at the door was the wealthy, powerful, handsome trio of Zach Hasting, Connor Hasting, and Jeremy Anderson. Dressed in fine clothes fit for a ball at Carlton House, they didn’t belong in this part of the world and indeed were considered excellent dessert for the gangsters’ killing spree.
As they entered and nonchalantly ignored the crowd’s murderous, silent stares directed at them, which would have sent most dandies running and screaming in fear, they surveyed the room with interest, noting every individual currently in the tavern, where they sat, which street gangs they likely belonged to, and what their strengths and abilities were.
Zach, always a step ahead in any situation, had the habit of sizing up the territory and his opponents. He counted fifty men and five women. Ten men were around middle age, twenty between the age of thirty to forty, while the rest were somewhere between late teens to early thirties. Most of the men looked like laborers who had finished work and were here to enjoy their drinks, while the ones under the age of thirty were likely groups of notorious street gangs that ruled the streets in this part of London.
The women, Zach noted, were all waitresses, aged between twenty and thirty, dressed in provocative gowns that would entice the male customers to stay longer. He noted that two were in the arms of a certain blond-haired man sitting near the hearth, along with his three other comrades. Two of them were still chatting away animatedly, as if nothing of importance had happened. Indeed, they weren’t paying Zach and his companions any attention, which was unlike the rest of the patrons who were still giving them an unwelcoming glare. Then there was the one sitting farther off from the other three who, oddly enough, was reading a thick book and seemed to be enjoying himself tremendously. He was smiling with amusement.
Even at this distance, Zach did not miss the powerful life qi emitted from those four men and knew they were the ones to keep an eye on.
As they headed toward the hearth area, a table was immediately made clear, especially for them, which was, of course, to the left and next to Tristan and his team.
On the right side of Tristan’s table, Daniella cursed under her breath that the newcomers had to sit so close to them, while Shin went as pale as a ghost. Ren eyed the three young men with interest as a waitress eagerly rushed over to serve them.
“What would you like for drinks, sirs?” the woman asked.
Connor gave her a dashing smile and said, “How about you, my love? Are you available on the menu?”
The young woman giggled in delight at Connor’s teasing, while Jeremy shook his head in aggravation.
Daniella gave Shin a surprised look because the younger Hasting brother reminded her of Tristan. Meanwhile, Shin pulled a face to indicate that he found Connor’s behavior rather distasteful. He whispered, “I told you he’s a rake.”
“Port for me,” Jeremy said.
“London dry gin for me,” Connor said, giving the waitress a wink.
“Madeira,” Zach said.
After their drinks were ordered and the waitress had left their table, Zach took his sweet time eyeing the gangsters once again, challenging them. After a few rather intense staring contests, the crowd resumed what they had been doing prior, and the room was once against buzzing with noises.
Of course, Zach had not missed the fact that their table was merely one down from where their subject of interest was sitting and, indeed, couldn’t be happier at their turn of luck.
As per usual, Connor chose the most inappropriate place, time, and situation to make friends, and now was no different. He got up from his seat and wandered about the tavern; making friendly conversation regardless with whom he spoke, which, of course, both irritated as well as piqued the interests of some of the gang members.
A moment later, he happened to spot Tristan, who was indeed having a fine time with the two lovely waitresses on either side of him. Connor thought this was certainly the type of man that he’d get along with and decided to invite himself to join the party. He came over and stood at the head of their table, which happened to be right behind Shin, who groaned in despair at the close proximity.
Daniella asked, “Shin, are you all right?”
Shin shook his head. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
Behind him, Connor said to the waitresses, “What are you serving there, sweethearts.”
One of the waitresses happily replied, “Port, sir.”
Tristan chuckled and said, “The name’s Tristan, friend. What’s yours?”
“Connor,” Connor replied. “Mind if I join in the fun?”
Tristan said, “Of course not. Make yourself at home.” He turned his attention to the girls and requested, “Move along now, my dears.”
The two girls shuffled along the bench, thereby allowing room for Connor to take a seat.
As he sat down, one of the waitresses poured him a glass of port.
While both Michael and Jude introduced themselves to Connor, at the next table, Daniella knew they couldn’t risk being caught by the Hastings brothers here. Shin looked as though he were about to pass out all of a sudden.
She leaned toward Ren and said, “Let’s leave.”
Ren raised his brows. “Are you sure? It’s hasn’t been half an hour yet, and our suspect still hasn’t turned up.”
She chuckled uncomfortably and said, “He might not be coming after all. Let’s leave it to Tristan and his wonderful team. Besides, Shin looks like he needs to get out of here.”
Ren glanced at his younger brother and then nodded in agreement. He said to Shin, “You and Dan leave first. Wait for me outside. I need to talk to Michael before we go.”
Shin nodded eagerly in agreement and hastily got off his seat. Daniella followed suit.
With her cap low over her head, hiding the majority of her face, Daniella silently made her way toward the exit behind Shin, hoping the loud noise of the inn would distract the Hasting brothers’ attention from them.
Suddenly, a foot appeared in front of her, as if out of nowhere. Daniella didn’t have time to evade the trap and tripped over it. She fell face first to the floor and landed with a hard thud.
She groaned as pain spread across her body. As she prepared herself to resume her escape, Theo’s face appeared above hers. He said in greeting, “Allo, Dan.”
Daniella stared at the young man before her for a moment and then swore under her breath. She hastily gathered herself, her action so quick that she staggered back and bumped into, not surprisingly, Theo’s gang members who had surrounded her.
“What do you want, Theo?” she asked with a sour expression as she repositioned the cap on her head.
“What? Didn’t you get the missive, Dan? You and I were supposed to have a duel tonight,” he said.
Daniella raised a brow mockingly. “You and I were supposed to have a duel? Are you sure about that? God, why can’t you leave me be, Theo? It’s rather tiresome, this nonstop dueling thing, you know. What? Are you a child? Like I told you many times, I’m not interested in your sister, and I certainly didn’t do anything to her.”
Without further ado, she ignored the bothersome Theo and turned to leave.
Theo would have none of it and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back. Daniella’s reaction was quick. In her graceful motion, she moved back, did a half spin of her body, and freed her arm from Theo’s captivity. Then with her other hand, she sent her fist forward and punched the man in the face, thus sending him staggering backward. Another kick of her leg into his middle dispatched him onto the floor with a hard thud.
Theo found himself l
ying on the wooden floorboards, his body in a load of pain. Of course, this hadn’t been the first time he was beaten in the first few seconds by the child of a notorious grand thief.
Feeling as though he had failed yet again in front of his gang members, not to mention numerous other people here in the tavern, embarrassment set in. He growled in anger and snapped, “Get him!” to his men.
In an instant, Theo’s underlings, fifteen or so of them, came rushing forward and started for Daniella. They swarmed around her, ready to take her down. But of course, Daniella was ready for it. Street fighting was nothing new to her since she was considered a veteran in that regard. Hence, she conveniently forgot all about her endeavors to escape the Hasting brothers and started sending her fists flying toward a bunch of menacing-looking faces instead.
She sent one fist to her left and another to her right, smashing in faces and body parts that came her way. Then she kicked high and low, her motions quick and precise. Her body was elegant and smooth to evade any friction, as was taught by her foster father Marco.
Shin, who was already at the exit, finally turned around and witnessed the chaotic scene before him. “Dan! What happened?”
Daniella shouted through the thick, rowdy bunch of men, “It’s Theo. He’s picking a fight with me again.”
Shin sighed and muttered under his breath, “Jesus!”
Forgetting about his sickly feeling the moment he had seen the notorious rake Lord Connor Hasting entering the tavern, he headed toward Daniella, intending to end the chaos, when two men appeared before him, stopping him in his tracks. One of them was punching his bulky fist against his palm while the others were giving him an intimidating sort of grin that would send most boys running in the opposite direction.
In a mere moment, both of them charged toward him. Before the two were any the wiser, however, Shin used his levitation ability, jumped high, and grabbed the two thick heads, and as he bashed them together, he forced an emission of his life qi through his palms, causing a collision of powerful energy. When he lightly landed on his feet again a split second later, the two men fell to the floor, unconscious.
As he tried to make his way toward Daniella, more men came his way, and Shin made an expression as if to say, Here we go again.
On the other side of the room, Chris rested his book on his lap and sighed. “I knew this was going to happen. I can never read in peace.”
Jude said, “Who reads in a tavern anyway?”
Chris retorted. “I do.”
Tristan chuckled. “As always, our Dan is in trouble.”
Jude shrugged. “In this case, it’s Dan’s fault for laying a hand on Theo’s sister. I can understand Theo simply wants a duel to settle things.”
“Duel?” Tristan asked. “Don’t you mean duels? I have no idea how many unofficial matches they have had already.”
Chris said, “I believe, counting this one, it is number ninety-nine since the occurrence of the unfortunate incident one year ago.”
Connor, who was drinking Tristan’s offered port, nearly choked on the alcohol. “Ninety-nine duels?”
Jude nodded. “That’s right.”
Connor said, “So this young Dan is quite the notorious playboy, eh? He must be… to have men requesting so many duels in honor of defending their women’s reputation.”
Tristan chuckled proudly. “What can you say? That child learns from the best.” He meant himself, of course.
Chris said, “Personally, I do not believe that Dan would do such a thing. Dan is, after all, the sweetest child I have known. I’d rather say it is that woman who came on to our Dan. She seduces and kisses every pretty boy who passes her fancy.”
Jude nodded. “I believe so. Dan is so damned innocent and adorable. Who wouldn’t want to tease that rascal just a little? You know, a peck or two on the cheek. Ah… such lovely cheeks. Even I wouldn’t mind.”
Chris said, “Don’t you let Ren hear that. He’d beat you into a pulp.”
Jude chuckled nervously and glanced around. Tristan noticed and said, “He’s talking to Michael in the kitchen. You’re safe this time around.”
Jude seemed relieved, while Connor was amused.
“So this is common?” he asked, eyeing the chaotic scene before him with interest.
Chris said, “Very.”
“Well, what do you expect from the child of the Grand Thief?” Jude said, getting off his seat enthusiastically.
“Fighting never solves anything,” Chris said. “But it is a sin to just stand by and watch while your family members get bashed.” He flipped the book shut and put it on the table. Then he stood.
Connor watched as Chris and Jude headed toward the thick crowd and, not so surprisingly, joined in with the fight. In a mere moment, the two knocked down six bulky men that came their way.
Meanwhile, Tristan took the opportunity and pulled the two waitresses into his arms. “Don’t worry, my loves. I’ll protect you.”
The waitresses giggled. Then one continued pouring him drinks while the other fed him a grape.
It was then that Ren and Michael finished their private talk in the kitchen and returned to the table. The moment they saw the frenzied scene before them, Ren was flabbergasted, while Michael was rather amused.
“What happened?” Ren asked Tristan.
“Oh, you know, the usual,” Tristan replied. “Your beloved Dan is in the midst of a duel again.”
Ren’s face darkened, and Connor did not miss the powerful life qi that exuded from within the young man’s being. For just a moment, he felt threatened, and he knew that this Japanese boy had the ability to annihilate everyone in this room if he so chose.
Connor flicked his gaze to Zach and Jeremy at the next table and noted that both felt the same.
“Baka!” Ren muttered as he headed toward where Daniella and Shin were, which was in the midst of it all. His intention was to stop the fight, but he didn’t get very far because a big, menacing-looking man suddenly appeared before him and threw his mighty fist toward Ren’s face.
Swiftly and smoothly, Ren move slightly to his left, causing the man’s fist, and indeed his big body, to stumble forward past Ren onto the table behind him. Another man appeared from his right, and Ren’s reflexes took over. He stopped the man’s flying fist with a gentle flick of his hand. Then with his other, he exerted a light qi through his arm and then his palm as he propelled the man away from him, thus sending the man flying back in the air across the room and crash-landing against the brick wall of the tavern.
Ren growled in Japanese again, “Baka!” and charged toward Daniella, still swamped by at least another ten gangsters.
He really disliked fighting in a tavern. This was because there simply wasn’t enough room to move freely, and sending men flying would only damage the property, for which he felt sorry to the tavern owner. But of course, beggars couldn’t be choosers, and therefore, he started sending his fists bashing into men faces and body parts that came his way. Some weaker ones couldn’t handle the force of the life qi he released and were sent flying across the room to crash-land onto tables and chairs.
Suddenly, all hell broke loose and war within the inn ensued. Only, there were no clear sides. Everyone was fighting everyone else, and nobody seemed to care who they were fighting with.
* * *
Zach said, as he watched the chaotic brawl before him with amusement, “Well, this certainly is entertaining.”
Beside him, Jeremy said, “Where in God’s name is that port of mine?” as he scanned around the scene of the tumultuous crowd, looking for a server.
Across the next table, Tristan was feeling rather generous and held up his bottle of wine. “Have some of ours.”
Jeremy gladly accepted.
A moment later, a body was thrown their way, which, not so surprisingly, was the result of Ren’s powerful punch. The man crash-landed on their table, breaking its legs, and he and the broken table smashed onto the floor, where the man proceeded to fall uncons
cious.
Zach folded his arms across his chest as he eyed the comatose man by his feet. The fact that he was used to this type of situation was apparent, as shown by the expression on his face and his demeanor. Indeed, most pompous lords would have cowardly escaped such a dangerous and life-threatening place where malicious street gangs, thieves, and murderers gathered, but not Zachary Hasting nor his brother and cousin. Rather, they found the current dire situation amusing.
“We just lost our table. Now where are we going to put our food and drinks?” Jeremy sounded rather annoyed at having encountered such an inconvenience.
Tristan eyed the man on the floor and chuckled. “Looks like he’ll be out for a while.”
Michael, who was still standing behind Tristan, said, “Thank God Ren didn’t use his full strength. Otherwise, I don’t think this man would have survived.”
This comment drew Zach’s attention. Then he couldn’t help but wonder exactly how powerful this Japanese young man named Ren was.
Tristan said to Zach, which drew his attention from his thoughts about Ren, “You’ve lost your table there.” The man made an offer. “Do not worry, my friends. Come join ours.” In which case, both Zach and Jeremy politely accepted by moving over and took the bench Jude and Chris had vacated.
Seeing that the two men were wondering who he was, Michael introduced himself. “The name is Michael.”
After Zach and Jeremy had, in return, introduced themselves on a first-name basis so as not to reveal their identities, Zach said, “The owner doesn’t seem to mind that there’s a brawl in his tavern. Is this common here?”
Tristan chuckled. “It is, I believe. But then again, he does get quite a handsome compensation for the damage from the parties involved.”
Michael sighed. “Dan is going to be in big trouble after this. I count twenty broken chairs and five tables already. He will have to work doubly long at the restaurant to make enough money to pay off all these damages.”
Tristan chuckled. “Well, there’s no helping it. It is a duel in a tavern after all.”
Michael frowned. “They could have taken it outside.”
The Blood Alchemist Chronicles Page 12
