Page 127 of Emperor of Wrath

I grab my grandfather’s sword off the ground as I rush Ulkan. The steel flashes, and his lifted arm suddenly drops to the floor, severed clean from his shoulder, the hand still clutching the machete.

Annika shrieks as I grab Ulkan and send him crashing to the floor. I whirl on him as he stares blankly at the gushing stump of his shoulder where his arm was a second ago. His eyes bulge as his gaze swims up to me.

“I told you what would happen if you ever called my wife that again,” I mutter.

He tries to say something. But my blade stabs forward with a flash, sliding into his mouth, severing his tongue, and emerging wetly out the back of his neck.

The light flicks off in his eyes as I yank the blade out again and he topples over into a heap on the ground.

“Kenzo…”

Annika runs to my side, catching me before I collapse. I turn to her, groaning as I pull her tight against me.

The front door kicks in. Wincing, I force myself to turn, sword raised.

Mal slides to a stop halfway through the doorway, his blood-soaked blade ready. His eyes lock with mine as my legs start to give out.

“Easy there, brother,” he grunts, darting forward and catching me alongside Annika before the two of them wrap their arms around me and walk me out the front door.

“The woman who lives here,” I choke when I catch sight of her hiding with some neighbors who’ve come out to see what the fuck is going on. I bow my head to her and then glance at my brother. “See that she and her children are taken care of. Get them a new house; a nice one. And give her whatever she needs for life money-wise, plus enough so her kids can go to school.”

He frowns. “Okay, but how about we get you home first?—”

“Get it done, Mal.”

He nods firmly. “All right, it’s done, you have my word. I know how you feel about Yakuza shit disrupting the lives of civilians.”

“And now can we please get you home?” Annika mutters as she hugs me close.

26

ANNIKA

Blood.

So much blood.

I stand under the warm spray of the shower, my hair slicked across my face and my arms crossed over my chest.

Pink water trickles down my body. Red swirls at my feet and spirals down the drain. But there’s still so much of it.

So much fucking blood.

The image of Ulkan roaring in my face and trying to grab me while his lifeblood gushed out of his chest plays on a loop, making me flinch and shudder. I squeeze my eyes shut, breathing in steam as I try to shake away the memory.

A hand touches my side. I flinch, whirling with a scream in my throat before my eyes lock with Kenzo. Naked, his own wounds still bleeding, he steps under the water with me.

Wordlessly, his eyes lock with mine. And that’s when I worry that I’ll see it: the look.

Like I’m broken. Faulty.

Damaged goods.

He knows everything now. He knows the worst part of me, my disgusting history with Valon.

Kenzo reaches for me. But I flinch again and retreat against the tiled wall at my back.

His brow furrows.

---