Unknown 9 by Layton Green (each kindness read aloud txt) 📕

with parked cars and three-story apartment buildings. The Chinese assassin threw off his helmet for better visibility as a shocked pedestrian, a young woman in a black dress, returning home from a bar or nightclub, backed against the side of a building and raised her smartphone to call for help or film the encounter. Jianyu turned and shot her dead, holstered his weapon, then withdrew a short stick that expanded like a switchblade into the hilt of a three-foot steel sword.

Sickened by the murder, Zawadi snarled and removed her helmet before pulling out a long boot knife in one hand, and a smaller dagger in another. She spat on the ground. “Monster,” she said as they circled each other, gauging the other’s movements. “You’re all monsters.”

“I kill out of necessity, and belief in my cause. The woman saw my face. Why do you kill, mercenary? To protect your employer? Who is the monster here?”

She ignored the jab. “You’re so sure I don’t have another gun?”

He gave a thin smile. “Daiyu body-scanned the contours of your clothing. I know everything about you.”

His answer chilled her. She knew Daiyu was watching through a bodycam on his person right that very moment. “Two against one is hardly an honorable fight,” she said.

“My sister and I are one, not two. And honor in battle is the province of the fools you work for.”

“The person I work for is no fool—though the same can’t be said for you. As I said before, you should have shot me.”

Zawadi pressed her attack with a vengeance, knowing Jianyu was buying time because he still wanted to capture her. She could hear the rumble of motorbikes in the distance and knew his allies were close by.

The Chinese assassin’s longer blade forced her to adopt a different fighting strategy, performing a deadly dance with her dual blades as he parried. Zawadi edged closer and closer as Jianyu tried to pierce her defenses with powerful lunges. She finally got inside, but he drove her away with a snap kick that almost ended the fight. The kick was incredibly fast, and landed right on her damaged rib. It took all of her training and experience to maintain control as he pressed the attack, thrusting with the skill of an expert fencer. Again and again, Zawadi twisted to the side at the last moment, feeling the blade whisk against the side of her clothing.

She had to admit he was better with the blade. Zawadi was an expert martial artist; Jianyu was a savant. But there was more to her skill set than pure artistry. After a glance to the left, she made a sharp cut to retrieve her gun. He moved just as fast, threatening to cut her down from behind unless she turned to engage. She spun to block his blow at the last moment, and again they danced, neither able to gain an advantage.

The metallic scent of blood from the murdered girl enraged her. Her nerve endings vibrated with adrenaline as the motorcycles in the distance drew closer and closer.

Enough. It is time to teach this pup a lesson in street fighting.

Jianyu had been attacking on her left the entire fight, knowing she had been hurt by the fall. She took a step forward and feigned a wince from her rib, then disguised it almost as quickly, hoping to draw him in. He took the bait and pressed the attack. She pretended to take a step away. As he closed the gap with a lunge, she dropped flat on her back on the pavement and drove the dagger deep into the side of his calf. Instead of howling in pain, Jianyu shocked her by thrusting downward, trying to run her through—and almost succeeded. The maneuver had left her vulnerable to a return thrust, and she deflected his sword at the very last moment with her blade, millimeters from her side. Without pause, she executed a leg sweep while still beneath him, pushing on the side of his knee with one foot and sliding his ankle back with her other.

Jianyu crashed to the ground, taken by surprise by the clever tactic. Somehow ignoring the stab wound in his calf, he used his superior weight to shake her off and jump to his feet, prepared to thrust downward and end the fight.

But Zawadi had another trick in store. During the brief tussle, she had stripped Jianyu’s gun from his holster. As he held the sword over her supine form, his smile of victory turned to shock as she fired twice into his stomach. The force of the powerful weapon threw him backward.

Knowing he was wearing body armor, Zawadi stood to put another bullet in his head when another bike rounded the corner right in front of her, and she was forced to shoot the rider instead.

She glanced to the side. While holding his stomach, Jianyu had scrambled against a wall to put distance between them. As the whine of more motorcycles approached, she cursed, wishing she had time to end their little spat. Instead she raced for her bike, shooting out Jianyu’s tires as she passed.

Zawadi jumped on her machine and fled through the narrow winding streets. As with most European cities, a secret world of tunnels and dungeons lay beneath Granada, and she knew a variety of entrances. But with Daiyu watching, able to repurpose security cameras, Zawadi feared being trapped underground. Instead she decided to leave the city as quickly as possible and lose herself in the mountains of Andalucía.

Still wondering how they had found her, she pushed the bike to its limits, leaning over so far on the curves she could have touched the pavement. She was trying to think it all through when it hit her. I stepped on a piece of gum right before Jianyu appeared. The Alhambra, especially the Palacios Nazaries, is always impeccably clean.

A piece of gum.

A tracking device.

A tool in the hands of Daiyu.

With a snort of disgust, Zawadi leaned over as she rode and