Book 03 - Cold Copper Tears Read Online Free Page B

a
distinct region. Maybe call it the Safety Zone. Members of all
species mix there without much friction—though humans have to
put in overtime to be acceptable.
    There was a little light still in the air. The clouds out west
hadn’t quite burned out. It wasn’t yet time for the
predators to hit the streets. I was no more than normally wary.
    But when the kid stepped into my path I knew I had trouble. Big
trouble. It was something about the way he moved.
    I didn’t think. I reacted.
    I gave him a high kick he wasn’t expecting. My toe snapped
in under his chin. I felt a bone break. He squealed and ran
backwards, arms flapping as he tried to keep his balance. A
hitching post jumped in his way and gored him from behind. He spun
around and went down, losing his knife as he fell.
    I slid toward the nearest building.
    Another came at me from what had been behind. He was an odd one,
kid-sized but clad in a cast-off army work uniform. He was an
albino. He had a nasty big knife. He stopped eight feet away,
awaiting reinforcements.
    There were at least three more, two across the street and one
back up the way, standing lookout.
    I took off my belt and snapped it at the albino’s eyes.
That didn’t scare him but did give me time to frisk the
building.
    The buildings around there were a week short of falling down. I
had no trouble finding a loose, broken brick. I pulled it out and
let fly. I guessed right and he ducked into it. I got him square in
the forehead, then jumped him while his knees were watery, took his
knife, grabbed him by the hair, and flung him toward the two coming
across the street. They dodged. He sprawled.
    I screeched like a banshee. That stopped the two. I feinted
left, right, came back to fake a cut at the knife hand of the guy
with the blade I’d taken, then snapped my belt at his eyes.
He saved himself by jumping back.
    He fell over the albino. I shrieked again and flung myself
through the air. It never hurts to have them think you’re
crazy. I landed with both knees on the guy’s chest, heard
ribs crack. He squealed. I bounced away as the other came at
me.
    He stopped when he saw I was ready. I sidestepped and kicked the
albino in the head. That’s me, Fairplay Garrett. At least I
was going to get out alive. I looked around. Broken Jaw had taken a
hike, leaving his knife. The lookout had opted for discretion.
    “Just you and me now, Shorty.” He was no kid. None
of them were, really. I should have seen it sooner. Kids that size
aren’t out roaming the streets of TunFaire, they’re in
the army. They keep taking them younger and younger.
    They were dark-elf breeds, half elf, half human, outcasts from
both tribes. The mix is volatile: amoral, asocial, unpredictable,
sometimes crazy. Bad.
    Like Morley, who’d managed to live long enough to learn to
fake it.
    My short friend wasn’t impressed by the fact that he was
alone against somebody bigger. That’s another problem with
darko breeds. Some don’t have sense enough to be scared.
    I went back for my brick.
    He shifted stance, held his knife like it was a two-handed
sword. I teased him with the belt and tried to guess what
he’d do when I let the brick fly. He was deciding to come at
me when I did.
    I went around and head-kicked the others to make sure they
stayed down.
    That got Shorty pissed. He came. I threw the brick. He dodged.
But I hadn’t gone for the head or body. I’d gone for
the foot I’d hoped he’d push off from. The part of him
that would be last to move.
    I got his toes. He yelped. I went in after him, belt, knife and
feet.
    He held me off.
    Hell, we could dance all night. I’d done what I needed to
do. How fast could he chase me on a bad foot?
    I looked at the two guys down and heard my Marine sergeants:
“You don’t leave a live enemy behind you.”
    No doubt cutting their throats would have been a boon to
civilization. But that wasn’t my style.
    I collected dropped knives.
    Shorty figured I was going to pull out.