THE DISCARDED SON-IN-LAWS GOD-LEVEL DOMINION SYSTEM

Chapter 13

The river road was dark and empty.

Vanessa drove with both hands tight on the steering wheel. Her eyes burned from crying. The wipers moved slowly across the glass, pushing aside the thin mist. On her left, the black river slid along under the lamps. On her right, tall warehouses stood in a long gray row with their windows broken and their doors chained.

She did not usually take this road. Tonight she had turned onto it without thinking, only wanting a quiet place and a long stretch of road to breathe. She touched her cheek and found it wet again. She wiped it with the sleeve of the borrowed coat.

"Stop it," she whispered to herself. "Stop crying. You did this."

Headlights flashed in her mirror.

She glanced up. A black van had appeared behind her, very close. Its lights were high and bright. She slowed a little to let it pass. The van slowed too.

A cold feeling crept down her neck. She pressed the gas pedal and her small car jumped forward. In the mirror, the van jumped with her. A second pair of lights appeared far back. Then a third. Then a fourth.

"No," Vanessa said. "No, no, no."

The van hit her bumper.

The whole car shook. Her head snapped forward and the steering wheel jerked in her hands. She screamed and fought to keep the car straight. Another hit came from the left. A black sedan had pulled alongside her and now pushed hard against her door. Metal screamed on metal. Sparks flew past her window like tiny orange insects.

She tried to brake. The sedan pushed again. The small white car spun across the wet road, hit the curb with a bang, and stopped with its front wheels hanging over the edge of the riverbank. The engine coughed once and died.

Everything went quiet.

Vanessa sat frozen. Her ears rang. A thin line of blood ran from a cut on her forehead into her left eye. She could hear the river moving below her, only a few feet away.

Car doors opened behind her. Heavy boots hit the wet road.

Twelve men walked out of the four vehicles. They wore black coats and carried iron bars and long knives. Their leader was a short thick man with a scar that ran from his ear to the corner of his mouth. He walked up to her window and tapped on the glass with the tip of his knife.

"Miss Whitmore," he said with a smile. "Get out. Boss Tiger wants to talk to you."

Vanessa locked the door with a shaking hand. Her voice came out as a thin thread. "I do not know any Boss Tiger. You have the wrong person."

"No mistake." The scarred man laughed. "Mr. Kane said you would be at the Cross boy's tower tonight. He said you would leave crying. He was right about everything. Smart man." He tapped the glass harder. "Open the door, little princess, or we open it for you."

Two of the men stepped to the front of the car and put their hands on the bumper. They began to push. The wheels slipped on the wet grass. The car tipped forward, and she felt the river reach up toward her.

"Wait!" she cried. "Please wait!"

A deep, clear voice cut through the night.

"Let go of the car."

The men froze. They turned together.

A black sedan had stopped at the far end of the road with its headlights off. A tall figure stood in front of it, dark against the dark. Slow footsteps came toward them on the wet stone. The man's coat moved gently in the wind. His hands hung loose at his sides.

Vanessa pressed her face to the glass. Her breath caught in her chest.

"Ethan," she whispered.

The scarred man squinted into the dark. Then he laughed again, louder than before. "This is perfect. Boss said you would come running. Look at him, boys. The dog came to save his bitch."

Ethan did not answer. He kept walking. When he reached the circle of light from the broken street lamp, he stopped about ten steps away from the group. His face was calm. His eyes were black and sharp.

"This is your last chance," Ethan said quietly. "Walk away now. Tell Black Tiger I will find him tomorrow."

"Kill him," the scarred man said.

Twelve men rushed forward at once.

[War God Template activated.]

[Duration: Ten minutes.]

[Cooldown: Twenty-four hours.]

The night slowed down. Ethan saw every raindrop hanging in the lamp light. He saw the first iron bar swing toward his head. He stepped inside it and drove the flat of his hand into the man's chin. The man's head snapped back and he fell like a cut tree.

A knife slashed at his chest. He caught the wrist and broke it with one twist. The man screamed. Ethan took the knife from his hand, threw it into the river, and kicked the man into the two behind him. All three went down in a heap.

An iron bar hit his shoulder. He barely felt it. He turned and caught the next swing with his bare hand, holding the bar still in the air. The man holding it stared at him with huge frightened eyes. Ethan pulled the bar out of his hands and swung it once. The man flew across the road and hit the side of a van with a hollow thud.

The men began to shout. They tried to circle him. Ethan moved before they could finish. He ducked under a punch, drove an elbow into a stomach, spun and kicked another man in the knee. Bone cracked. Men dropped on every side of him. In less than two minutes, eight lay in the road groaning or silent.

The scarred man stood back with his knife shaking in his hand. The three remaining men looked at each other. One of them dropped his iron bar and started to back away.

"Do not run," Ethan said.

The man froze.

"All three of you. On your knees."

They dropped at once. Rain ran down their faces. Ethan walked toward the scarred man. The man tried to stab him. Ethan caught the knife in his bare hand, closed his fingers around the blade, and bent it in half. The metal groaned. He let the ruined knife fall to the ground.

"Who sent you?" Ethan asked.

"Boss Tiger," the scarred man gasped. "Black Tiger! It was Damien Kane who paid! He said the girl was bait! He said you would come!"

"Where is Tiger?"

"Harbor Nine! The old casino! He never leaves it!" The man was almost crying. "Please! I only follow orders!"

Ethan looked down at him. His eyes were cold. "What does Tiger want with me?"

The scarred man hesitated. His eyes darted to the side. That small movement was enough.

Ethan grabbed his collar and lifted him off the ground with one hand. "I will ask once more."

"The pendant!" the man shrieked. "He wants the jade pendant! Mr. Kane told him about it! No, not Kane. Somebody else told Tiger. A man called last night and said the pendant was in the city! He said whoever brought it would be paid more than a hundred million dollars!"

The night went very still.

Ethan's grip tightened. "Who called?"

"I do not know! I swear I do not know! Boss only said it was an old man. A very old, very rich man. That is all I know!"

Ethan stared at him for a long time. Then he opened his hand. The scarred man fell to the road and curled up with his arms over his head.

An old man. Last night. Just hours after Old Mr. Whitmore had stood in the chairman's office and begged for the pendant.

Ethan turned away.

The car at the riverbank was still tilting. Vanessa had managed to open the door and was crawling out onto the wet grass with blood on her forehead. Her coat was torn. Her hands trembled so badly that she could not stand.

He crossed the road in five long steps and caught her arm before she could slip.

"I have you," he said.

She looked up at him. The street lamp lit her face from one side. Her eyes were wide and full of tears and fear. For a moment she did not speak. Then she grabbed the front of his coat with both hands and pressed her forehead against his chest.

"I thought I was going to die," she whispered.

"You are not going to die."

"They knew I would come to you. They were waiting." Her shoulders shook. "I am so sorry, Ethan. I am so sorry. I am sorry for all of it."

He did not hold her. He did not push her away either. He stood very still with her shaking against him and looked over her head at the dark river. The rain had thinned to a soft drizzle. In the distance, far down the road, he heard the faint wail of police sirens.

The System screen glowed quietly.

[Mission complete: Rescue Vanessa Whitmore.]

[Reward: Black Tiger intelligence file.]

[Dominion Level increased to 2.]

He read the words without feeling anything. Then he lifted his eyes to the faraway lights of the harbor.

Tomorrow he would visit Harbor Nine.