Daughter of Treason Ch. 06

On other days, she would have found the idea of proximity with that back repulsive, much less contact; Kei did not, on a calm day, like people touching her. But these were no longer people to her; these were enemies, targets to be terminated.

Kei put a hand on his shoulder, and the man pulled back, confused at the sudden contact from behind, and had just enough time to wonder if he broke a rule before his throat was slit. The girl beneath him gave a shriek, but the sound was not out of place in that setting, and after that one outburst, she apparently thought better of calling for help. Instead, she pressed herself against the wall and curled up into a ball, escaping the arterial spray of the body Kei rolled to the side.

As Kei took in the scene, her calm mentality cracked, and rage boiled up inside her. The girl could not be more than twelve, and though the blood on her bare chest was room the arterial spray in first moments after Kei's intervention, (and last moments of her assailant's life,) the blood between her legs was surely her own. The helpless terror in her eyes was only compounded by the chain around her neck, bolted firmly to the wall. For this girl, there was no escape, and she knew it.

Kei had been aware of the nature of the situation; she had extracted the details from the guard but they had been intelligence, tactical information. The knowledge had spurred her to act, yes, but here, seeing it before her eyes, the reality of the situation provoked her unbridled anger and, with it, another shift in her mind. Enemies were entities to be removed, without emotion or prejudice. Even prey demanded a certain level of respect. But now, in her mind, these men had become vermin, to be exterminated and terminated with extreme prejudice. 'No part of his life,' she recalled the quote, 'became him better than the ending of it.'

Crouching down, she asked quietly, "If I let you go, do you have anywhere to go?" Mutely, the girl shook her head. Kei frowned, then did the only thing she could think of. She gave the address of her house. "Can you find your way to 12 Burgundy Lane, in the Industrial Shore?" As she pulled out the key-ring captured from the guard, the girl nodded. "Good. Go there. We'll take care of you."

The lock came open with a click and the girl, not realizing for a moment that she was free, stared blankly. She touched her neck, her eyes widened, and without wasting another moment, she stood and ran through the curtains and out the door.

Rising, Kei didn't even bother to clean her knife. She had a lot of work to do.

Author's Note:

Special thanks to my editor, BC Tom for all the help.

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