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

Chapter 25

Ghost came across the floor like a thrown knife.

There was no warning. He was ten steps away, and then he was not. Ethan barely had time to throw up his forearm. The blow struck it like a hammer, and a shock of pain ran through his bones. He stumbled backward. A second strike came at his ribs. A third at his throat. Each one was perfectly aimed, perfectly timed.

[War God Template: Full power. Duration: Ten minutes.]

The world slowed down.

Ethan caught the third strike on his palm and turned it aside. Ghost's fist slid past his cheek. Ethan drove his own fist toward the other man's stomach. Ghost twisted and let it pass, so close that the cloth of his coat tore. His elbow rose in a quick sharp arc toward Ethan's jaw. Ethan ducked. Their bodies spun apart.

For a single breath they stood facing each other across three steps of wet concrete. Rain fell through the broken skylight between them.

"Impressive," Ghost said. A small bead of blood ran from the corner of his lip where Ethan's knuckle had grazed it. He wiped it away with his thumb. "Most men do not survive the first three moves."

Ethan said nothing. He circled slowly. Ghost circled with him.

Then they met again.

The warehouse filled with the sound of blows. Fists and elbows struck forearms, knees and shins. Each time Ethan found an opening, Ghost closed it. Each time Ghost advanced, Ethan turned him aside. The two men moved around the pool of light like shadows, so fast that Mrs. Tan, bound in her chair, could hardly follow them with her eyes. A heavy iron beam leaned against the wall. Ghost snatched it up with one hand and swung it in a brutal arc. Ethan dodged under it. The beam smashed into a machine and the metal shrieked.

"Your stance," Ghost said suddenly, striking and stepping back. "Where did you learn it?"

"The System taught me."

"The what?"

"It does not matter."

"It matters." Ghost's eyes had narrowed. He lowered the iron beam slowly. "That stance. The turn of the left foot. The low guard. That is not a street fighter's style. That is the Dragon Guard's form. Alexander Cross's own bodyguards."

Ethan blinked. For a moment he forgot to attack.

"You know the Dragon Guard?"

"I was one of them." Ghost laughed bitterly. The sound was like glass breaking. "Twenty years ago. I was the youngest. I stood outside Alexander's door every night for nine years. He taught me to read. He fed my mother when she was sick." His face twisted. "And the night of the fire, I was not there."

The rain drummed on the roof.

"Where were you?" Ethan asked.

"In a cell." Ghost's voice trembled. "Drugged. The Pillars arrested me two weeks before. They told me if I joined them, I would be spared. If I did not, they would burn my mother's house." He stared at the floor. "I chose my mother. I have lived with that for ten years."

Ethan stared at him. The world seemed very quiet around them.

"Then why are you here?" he asked softly. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I have no one left to be loyal to." Ghost lifted his head. His eyes were red. "My mother is dead. The Pillars hold my debt. And you wear Alexander's jade around your neck." He raised the iron beam again, slowly. "I cannot give it to you. I cannot give it to them. All I can do is stand between you and the end."

"Ghost..."

"Fight me, Ethan Cross." The man's voice cracked. "Fight me as if you were him. Fight me as if you were Alexander. Or I will kill you and you will die as a boy."

He struck.

The beam came down like a falling tree. Ethan stepped inside it and caught Ghost's wrist with both hands. For a moment the two men stood locked together, trembling with strength. Then Ethan twisted. The iron beam fell from Ghost's fingers and rang across the floor. Ghost struck him in the ribs with his free hand. Pain shot through his side. Ethan did not let go. He drove his forehead into Ghost's nose. Blood sprayed across both their faces.

Ghost staggered back. Ethan followed him, throwing three fast blows. Each one landed. Ghost blocked the fourth, and Ethan swept his legs from under him. The captain of the Shadow Guard fell onto the wet concrete and lay on his back, gasping.

Ethan stood over him.

The rain fell between them through the broken skylight. For a long time neither moved.

Then Ghost began to laugh.

It was a soft, broken laugh. Tears ran down the sides of his face into his gray hair. "You fight like him," he whispered. "You really do."

"Get up," Ethan said.

Ghost did not move. "Kill me. I deserve it."

"No." Ethan reached down and offered his hand. "I am not going to kill you. I am going to ask you to do one more thing for the Cross family."

Ghost stared at the outstretched hand as if it were a mirage.

"What thing?" he whispered.

"Stand beside me at the Pavilion."

The warehouse was very quiet. Outside, the foghorn sounded once. Mrs. Tan, in her chair, had stopped breathing.

Slowly, Ghost reached up and took Ethan's hand. Ethan pulled him to his feet. They stood facing each other, bloody and soaked.

"You are mad," Ghost said hoarsely.

"Possibly."

"The Pillars will have me killed."

"They will have to find you first." Ethan let go and stepped back. "I will not ask for loyalty. I will only ask for your help. What you do after that is your choice."

Ghost looked at the floor for a long time. Then he walked slowly across the concrete to the wooden chair. He drew a knife from his sleeve and cut the ropes at Mrs. Tan's wrists. She slumped forward and he caught her gently before she fell. He pulled the rag from her mouth.

"Forgive me, madam," Ghost said quietly. "I did not wish to hurt you."

Mrs. Tan stared at him with wide, trembling eyes. Then she turned her head toward Ethan and began to cry.

Ethan knelt in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It is over, Mrs. Tan. You are safe."

"I knew you would come," she whispered. "I told myself you would come."

"Always."

The System glowed softly around them.

[Mission complete: Rescue Grace Tan.]

[Reward: Intelligence Network level two.]

[Recruit: Ghost. Loyalty: Unstable.]

[Dominion Level increased to 4.]

Ethan stood up. A small trickle of blood ran down his temple. His ribs ached. The skin of his knuckles was torn. Yet he felt strangely light. For the first time in days, something tight inside his chest had loosened.

He walked to the door of the warehouse and raised his right hand into the rain.

From the shadows by the containers, Victor Whitmore stared at him. Then slowly, almost in disbelief, he lowered his weapon and began to run.

He came through the warehouse door with three guards at his heels and stopped dead. His eyes found Mrs. Tan, wrapped in Ethan's coat, trembling but alive. Then they found Ghost, standing with bloody hands at his sides. Victor's gun came up in a heartbeat.

"Step away from her," he said hoarsely.

"Victor," Ethan said. "Lower it."

"That man took her! That is the man who..."

"He is also the man who cut her free." Ethan stepped between them. "He will not harm anyone tonight. You have my word."

Victor's hand shook. He looked at Ghost, at the tall scarred man who stood very still and did not raise a finger, and slowly the weapon dropped. "Why?" he asked. "Why would you trust him?"

"Because he was once a man I would have trusted without asking," Ethan said. "And because I think he wants to be again."

Ghost lowered his eyes. His voice was low. "Your family had a good man at its head, Mr. Whitmore. I was among those who served him. I am sorry for what I did."

Victor stared at him. Whatever he had planned to say died in his throat. He turned away and rubbed his face with both hands. Then he turned back to Mrs. Tan, took off his own raincoat, and wrapped it carefully around her shoulders over Ethan's coat.

"Come," he said gruffly. "I will take you home."

She looked up at him, startled, and nodded without a word.

Ethan watched them walk out through the door into the rain. Ghost stood beside him in silence. After a while, the older man said very softly, "That boy has more of his sister in him than he knows."

"Perhaps," Ethan said. "Come. We have days to prepare, and the Pillars do not yet know you are with us."