Regret (Lady of Toryn Trilogy) Read Online Free Page A

was made of some burnished orange metal- but it irked Ashlyn to see
anyone using a single large bo shuriken when she had been the one to engineer
the technique as a pre-teen. Most ninjas carried several small bo shuriken in
place of the small hira throwing stars, but Ashlyn had come up with the idea to
forge a larger bo shuriken and use it as both a stabbing and throwing weapon.
    And now this little creep had
stolen her idea. She frowned, but didn’t move towards him. Her wounded pride
wasn’t worth blowing her cover over. Instead, she quickly moved towards the lit
corridor at the other end of the cavern, keeping her chin down as she walked.
    “You! Scout!” one of the soldiers
against the wall called to her in Toryn, and Ashlyn’s next step faltered, but
she didn’t stop, ducking into the corridor in the following instant.
    She broke into a run, keeping her
steps soft and silent, and turned with the corridor as it veered sharply to the
left. She collided with another person, coming from the opposite direction, and
spun as she fell, landing hard on her butt.
    “My apologies, Elder,” she said
hurriedly in Toryn, wrinkling her nose to make sure that the mask was still in
place. “I trust you bear no…” She trailed off as she looked up, finding herself
face-to-face with a man she never thought she’d see again.
    What?!
Impossible!
    She’d watched him fall, watched
his body tumble into the ocean below Na Michico.
    Kou’s ebony eyes narrowed as he
stared at her, and Ashlyn froze, unable to think of any excuse for her
presence, any way out of this situation. How was it even possible that he was
alive? It wasn’t! Even if he’d survived the fall, even if he’d survived the
gunshot wound, how had he gotten out of the ocean alive?
    Maybe he didn’t recognize her.
The entire lower half of her face was hidden. Ashlyn quickly averted her eyes
and murmured another apology in the lowest voice she could manage, inclining
her head as she picked up the knapsack she’d dropped in the collision and
slowly got to her feet.
    “Wait,” he said as she moved to continue
down the corridor, and she stopped, heart pounding so loud that she was sure he
could hear it.
    There was the scuff of his boot
against the sandy floor, and she felt his breath on her neck through the fabric
of her hood.
    “Tomiko Yasu, of the clan Yasu?”
he said, a playful lilt to his tone as he repeated back to her the false name
she had given him the first day they’d met.
    Oh, crap.
    Oh , crap.
    “Did you really think you’d make
it in here without anyone noticing?” he murmured. His lips were close to her
ear.
    Ashlyn shivered with revulsion,
fists clenching at her sides.
    “No,” she said through gritted
teeth. “That’s why I came prepared.”
    She tore the shuriken out of her
knapsack and whirled, slicing at his throat. He jumped backwards, the blade
missing him by a hairsbreadth, and attempted a punch, which Ashlyn easily
blocked. She threw a jab into his stomach, making him cry out, and she followed
up with an elbow to the gut. He tried for a leg sweep but she jumped over it,
smashing her fist into his face as she came down.
    “You dog,” she hissed as he crumpled to the floor. “How dare you make
claim to share the blood of the Li clan? How dare you?”
    He rolled over onto his back,
still gasping for air, and suddenly there was a gun in his hand, one of the old
DEMON antiques from her father’s display case. Ashlyn backpedaled, but not
quickly enough to escape the noise, and as he squeezed the trigger the BOOM reverberated through the corridor
deafeningly, bouncing off the walls and shrilling in her ears. The bullet went
wide- thank you Drago- and Ashlyn
kicked the gun out of his hand, stomped on his stomach and leapt over him,
intent on reaching her father before it was too late.
    There were three- no, four
soldiers coming down the corridor towards her, blocking the route that would
take her deeper into the cave. Ashlyn turned and