Shadow Flight (Shadow Riders 5)

“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” he snapped. “I haven’t given you anything to cry about yet. Put your fucking head on the ground. I’m going to give your face road rash.”

Mariko walked right up behind him. She didn’t use the shadows. She didn’t need to. He was fully concentrating on the waitress. He liked hurting people. He’d all but forgotten his fellow gang members in his eagerness to degrade and hurt the waitress.

Mariko had to reach up to position her hands on his head, but she was used to height differences, and she’d trained endlessly for that. She waited a heartbeat to make certain she had them just right before she gripped and wrenched hard, using the signature move she’d practiced hundreds of times daily since she was a toddler. The neck snapped with an audible crack. She lowered the body to the ground as she murmured, “Justice is served.” She then simply stepped into the nearest shadow and rode it to the café’s doorway.

“Sooner or later, someone will come looking,” she whispered to Ricco, nuzzling his neck.

He stroked his fingers lovingly down her throat. “Said the spider to the fly.” He bent his head to brush a kiss into the shine of her blond hair. She had given him life back. She brought him to life. She made herself vulnerable to him and, in doing so, allowed him to do the same with her. She’d taught him how to love.

He kept his arm around her waist, breathing her in. That scent that was all Mariko. She had a taste that was unique to her. He would be able to find her in the dark, know her no matter how many other women were there with her. There was always an innocence about Mariko, and when he watched her perform her duties as a rider, he found her breathtaking. She was a double-edged sword, a beautiful, dangerous woman, and he wouldn’t have her any other way.

The door to the café was thrown open and a man stomped down the two cement stairs, but still held on to the door to keep it open. “Cleto, Emidio says to get your ass inside if you want to eat. He wants to be on the road in five minutes.”

Silence met his demand. He peered into the alley. The light was waning, and in the poorly lit alley, it was much darker. Light streamed from the café, but it only lit the fence. The waitress was still on her hands and knees, head down on the asphalt, wailing. Cleto lay on the ground behind her. The Demon member scowled and let go of the door to walk closer.

“Cleto, what the fuck are you doing? Emidio is pissed. You know how he gets.” He took two more steps.

Ricco glided up behind him and dropped him fast, not giving him a chance to turn around. There were five down and nine more to go. Now it was going to get tricky. If they were lucky, they might manage to get two more, maybe three, before someone realized there were dead bodies lying around and the Demons were under attack. It was extremely important that the two civilians not see Ricco or Mariko.

The waitress suddenly turned her head, no doubt shocked that Cleto hadn’t raped her. She realized he was lying on the ground behind her and even then, she stayed where she was, afraid to move, frozen with terror for a few more minutes. Very cautiously she turned around, still on her hands and knees, and shuffled forward until she could look closely at Cleto. She gasped and drew back, realizing he was dead.

“Oh my God,” she whispered and stood up abruptly. She flipped her skirt down and felt in her pockets for her keys. She looked wildly around and spotted the other bodies. She let out a high-pitched scream and ran for the tiny employee parking lot way in the back, where the alley opened up to four spaces.

Ricco and Mariko could hear her screaming the entire way to her car, which was a good distance away. They knew those inside the café and any of the neighboring businesses would put the screams down to whatever crimes were committed daily at the café. Women were often assaulted there, and no one cared.

The café door was flung open. At the same time, there was activity in the front of the café and more around the side lot. Emidio, the leader of the group headed to Chicago, had given the orders to leave, apparently with or without those in the alley. He must have sent others one last time to retrieve them.

“Cleto, Emidio is leaving now. He wants you in the fucking truck with him now.”

Two men stepped out together, providing a menacing appearance. Both wore weapons in plain sight, apparently to convince Cleto to come with them. They slammed the café door behind them, as if that might give them more authority, and stalked right up to the two men lying on the ground.