Page 101 of Dragon 7

The rest picked their men. Two were left.

Reo crossed his arms over his chest. “And I’ll take both orange and gold.”

Kenji looked at him and lowered his voice. “And your ribs?”

“Our Tora’s cheese is healing.”

Even with the mask on, I could see Kenji rolling his eyes.

I put my attention back on the assassins.

Akiro had brought professionals. That told me something far more important than how dangerous these ten were. It told me that Akiro and our father were tired.

War exhausted everyone eventually. The weak grew afraid. The proud grew reckless. The grieving grew desperate.

And the tired?

The tired gambled. They pushed harder. Risked more. Committed resources they would normally keep in reserve.

A tired man stopped thinking about the next battle and started thinking about ending the current one in the most desperate way. It shrank a man's vision until he could only see the finish line. The possibilities between here and there disappeared.

Traps vanished.

Warnings faded.

Patience died.

The desire for an ending became stronger than the instinct for survival.

And tonight. . .Akiro had basically emptied his hand onto the table.

Good. We’ll use that against you this evening.

Then Akiro stepped to the top of the ramp and scanned the field. The kusarigama rested in his hands. Chain and sickle. Curved blade gleaming under the moonlight. Ten feet of chain dragging behind him with the heavy ball at the end. His favorite weapon. The same one from many days ago that he had spun lazily through the burning theater while his men died around him and he smiled at us from a safe distance.

A growl tore out of my chest before I could stop it.

Kenji's hand landed on my shoulder. "Be patient, brother. Soon."

I forced my breath out slowly through my nose. I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste copper through the honeyed yuzu. The lollipop stayed whole in my mouth.

Come on down, Akiro. You’re tired, and I’m ready.

Five men headed down the stairs with Akiro. They must have been his main guards.

I leaned toward Kenji. “Are you sure our father is on the plane?”

“Definitely.”

“Do you think he will come off?”

“No. Too much of a coward. We’ll have to go on and get him. He has guns.”

“You know this?”

“My dragon-shadow told me.”

I sighed. “I hope that’s true.”