Page 46 of Emperor of Wrath

…And the shadowy figure quickly springing along the edge to crouch down for a better vantage point.

“FAR ROOF!” I roar.

Keeping Annika pinned down with one hand, I bring up my gun and squeeze off three shots. Tak and Mal do the same, jumping up to aim better. Isaak and Kir both have their guns out too, and the shadowy figure quickly drops back.

I snarl, finally letting Annika go as I jump to my feet. I can just see over the lip of the far roof. The guy is trying to break his rifle down quickly.

He’s going to run.

And I’m sure as fuck going to give chase.

“Stay with Sota!” I roar at Hana, who nods curtly. Kir hangs back, too, though not out of cowardice. The man is the head of the Nikolayev Bratva. With his only heir on life support in the hospital, he doesn’t have the luxury of jumping across rooftops chasing down a shooter.

But we do.

Mal, Takeshi, Isaak, and I sprint across the roof and make a wild jump to the private roof deck of the building next door. From there, we spring to the next building, which is still under construction and has a crane attached to the side of it to lift heavy materials to the top floor.

The crane sticks out over the street, forming a bridge to the other side…if you’re fucking crazy enough.

Turns out the four of us are.

Isaak hits the roof last, and we take off back in the direction we came. We move silently—Tak, Mal, and me because stealth is something hammered into you in the Yakuza. But I have to say, I’m impressed with Isaak’s speed and silence as Kir’s tall, built number two keeps pace with us.

“Down!”

Mal tackles me, dropping me to the ground just as a piece of the brick wall behind me explodes. Up ahead, we catch sight of the sniper as he quickly breaks his rifle down again. But this time, we’re much, much closer.

He’s fucking ours.

“Head right!” I hiss at my brothers. The two of them nod and take off to the neighboring roof, moving to flank the shooter. I glance at Isaak, and he gives me a stern nod.

“You on me?”

“Ten years special forces?” he grunts back. “Yeah.”

That’ll do.

“Go!”

We both take off toward the shooter as he drops to one knee and brings his rifle to bear. Then he flinches and ducks as Takeshi and Mal make a run at him from the side. He never saw them coming.

Got you, you fucker.

“Drop your weapon!” I yell as we charge at him.

He does so. Then, he does something completely unexpected.

He drops his rifle, stands, whirls, and then sprints to the edge of the five-story building.

“Wait—!”

He hurtles over head-first, arms to the side. I rush to the edge and look over, grimacing as I catch sight of him hitting the pavement below and his skull splattering like a melon.

“What the fuck?!” Tak grunts, also peering over the edge, his face twisted. “Why the hell would he do that?”

“Didn’t want to get caught,” Isaak grunts, shrugging as he calmly holsters his weapon.

“Yeah, but…seriously?” Takeshi mutters.

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