Hooded Man (73 page)

“I did not catch that. You will have to beg louder.” The voice was close now. Very close.

Mary lashed out with her fist, connecting with Adele’s cheek. She heard a surprised shriek, then a
bang
close to her ear as the Peacekeeper went off. There was a ringing in her head, but she said the words again, louder, not knowing or caring whether they were heard: “I said, shut your filthy mouth or... or I’ll shut it for you!”

Then she opened her eyes.

I
T HURT LIKE
nothing he’d ever felt before. Not even having his little finger cut off compared.

Because that was quick, over in a flash, and although the pain lingered, it dulled to a throb eventually. This? This was different. Every time he moved his leg it felt like someone sticking a knife into it. Not a knife. A giant splinter. Mark hissed through his teeth as he shifted position and the bolt in his thigh moved again.

“Oh, my God, Mark. Shall I pull it out?” asked Sophie, squatting next to him.

Mark didn’t know. Were you supposed to pull them out? Would he bleed to death if she did that? Mary would know, but... Mary was out of it at the moment. Better than dead, he reminded himself, as he’d told Robert she was. Imagine, thinking the woman you loved was –

That’s why Mark acted when he saw Tanek pointing his crossbow at her. The same reason he’d protected Sophie back at the castle, and even when they’d first met. At least he’d had a chance to tell her. At least if they bought it, she knew. He looked into her eyes. Now she was really looking at him, and all the panic, the fear he saw in her eyes was gone. He saw only one thing. One thing that made him want to fight. That made him want to survive this and keep Sophie safe.

“Aaauughh!” he cried out, the moment broken.

The bolt was being pulled, and he thought, to begin with, it was Sophie going ahead with the makeshift operation regardless. When Mark looked down, he realised his mistake.

There was Tanek, pulling and twisting the bolt, then shoving it back in. “How does it feel, boy? What you did to me?”

It felt bad, really bad. Not because of the pain, or because he’d shot Tanek back on that platform. Mark was actually regretting not being a better aim, not having another chance.

Tanek didn’t look like he was going to give it to him. The big man had finishing playing with the bolt, and had slung his crossbow over his shoulder. He grabbed Mark by the scruff of the neck, dragging him round and hoisting him up.

Tanek whirled him around like he weighed nothing. He lashed out, his fist catching the side of Tanek’s head, but Mark suspected it probably hurt him more than it did the giant. Where was Jack when you needed him?

As if reading his mind, Tanek suddenly said: “First you, then the farmer... Nostalgic. Pity your tall friend is not here, but I think I broke him during our torture session.”

Having been on the receiving end of one of those, Mark could well understand how. Now, on top of everything else, he was worried about what this sadist had done to Jack.

“Now, boy, I break you.”

Tanek lifted Mark up sideways, facing the sky. Although he couldn’t see it, he imagined Tanek had raised his knee, in preparation for dropping Mark across it. A thigh wound, he might be able to get over, but a broken back? No chance.

“Yah!” Tanek let out, and Mark thought it was a cry of victory before dropping him. He fell, sharply, and Mark braced himself for the impact... which never came. Instead, his whole body fell and smacked flat against the concrete of the car park. It winded him, but at least he could still move.

For some reason Tanek had let him go. As Mark raised his eyes he saw the figure of Sophie on the giant’s back, riding him like he was giving her a piggy-back.

She was clawed the sides of his head, raking his eyes with her nails. Tanek shouted again: “Gah!” Mark bet it was the closest they’d ever get to hearing him scream.

He was reaching up to grab Sophie’s wrists, to prevent her from doing any more damage, but she was holding on like a rodeo rider. Desperate to keep Tanek away from Mark.

Saving him.

T
HOUGH IT WAS
agony, Robert hefted his sword aloft, threatening to tear the rough stitches in his shoulder wound.

But he caught the other twin’s blade just in time. Robert twirled, still locked with her blade, but she did the same and disconnected them. Then she took a swipe at his midriff, which Robert only just stepped away from. She was definitely pissed at their treatment of her sister. So much so that she’d left her master’s side to come to her aid, probably fearing Robert would kill her twin. Which would be no more than she deserved, but only as a last resort.

Probably should have, though, he thought when he saw the first twin getting up again. She retrieved the sword and turned it on Tate. He blocked it with his stick, which was just about thick enough to take it – but splintered nevertheless.

They had to end this, and quickly, before either he or Tate wound up being skewered.

Meeting the blows of the second twin’s sword – which, if anything, were harder than her sister’s – Robert tried to manoeuvre her around. He hoped Tate could see what he was trying to do, but didn’t have time to make sure. He was too busy trying to keep himself alive.

Clang, clang.
Robert blocked another swing.
Clang!
And another. He couldn’t keep it up for much longer.

He felt something press against his back. “Reverend, time for evil to face itself again.”

“Agreed,” panted Tate.

“On three... one...” Robert lashed out at the twin in front of him, expecting Tate to do the same on his side. “Two...”

“Three!” shouted Tate.

Robert dived to the left – he had no idea whether Tate was going that way or the other. It didn’t really matter. The result was the same. Both twins had gone in for the kill, lunging in retaliation to Robert and Tate’s swipes. Their blades entered each other at the same time – the one Robert was fighting taking hers slightly higher than her sister, just beneath the ribcage. They remained like that for a moment or two, eyes wide, staring at each other. Perhaps they couldn’t believe they’d been caught out by such a simple trick. Or perhaps they were relieved they’d die together?

Simultaneously, both pulled their swords out. And, simultaneously, they fell.

Robert looked over to where Tate lay. The Reverend nodded that he was all right. Switching his attention to what was happening in front of him, Robert spotted that Mark and Sophie needed help. But his main priority was Mary.

He gestured for Tate to help with Tanek, while he made for Mary and Adele... even as he heard the Peacekeeper go off.

Robert feared he might already be too late.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

F
ROM HIS POSITION
inside the AFV, the Tsar had witnessed everything.

The death of his men; his precious Xue and Ying, killed by their own hands. He’d warned Xue not to follow her sister. Now they were both dead, and who would protect him?

You’ve spent too long letting people do that anyway,
he told himself. Why, even now he was hiding inside this hulking metal beast while others fought. What had happened to the warrior who’d fought in Afghanistan? Who’d been one of the Mafia’s most dangerous men? Who’d gone onto the streets armed only with a pistol and machine gun (all right, a huge PK machine gun) and built his own kingdom from the ground up? Was he hiding inside the Tsar?

If so, he wasn’t coming out right at that moment. Ordering his driver to put the AFV into reverse, the Tsar set about giving the players in this little drama a leaving present. There was nobody left out there he cared about. Even the woman Adele was a delight he would have to do without savouring. She would probably have remained loyal to Tanek anyway.

The Tsar could still remember how to load up a shell.

He would blast them all to high heaven, then return to the castle where the rest of his army was waiting.

It was a grand plan, sure to succeed.

B
ILL SHOOK HIMSELF.

It felt like a rhino had hit him at full speed, throwing him up and over into the trees. For a few seconds he’d flown without the aid of his helicopter. Might even have broken some ribs, if it wasn’t for one of those vests Robert had given him. That Tanek was as strong as he was fast, and he was mad as hell. Hardly surprising, seeing as they were responsible for almost killing him.

Bill tottered to his feet. He felt like he was still in the air, unable to feel the ground beneath him. His hand was killing him, but he bit back the pain. Thank God the bolt had grazed it rather than going through. He started walking in the direction he’d come from, picking up his pace when he reached the edge of the mist and saw what was going on with Mark and Sophie. Tate looked like he was coming to help, but it’d probably take all of them to bring down Tanek, and even then it wouldn’t be a walkover.

He spotted his discarded shotgun and snatched it up, then raised it, hoping to get a clear shot at Tanek. But the big man kept dancing round, desperate to dislodge Sophie from his back. Bill couldn’t chance hitting her by mistake.

By the time he reached them, Tate was already there – and had delivered a blow to Tanek’s stomach with his stick that should have doubled him over.

Tate nodded a welcome to Bill as he joined him, and they both set about attacking Tanek; Tate with the stick, Bill with the butt of his rifle. He jabbed the man in the places he thought might hurt the most – including a wound on his upper arm that was still bleeding.

At last, Tanek managed to get a grip on Sophie, bending forwards and throwing her over his head to land in a heap on the floor. He was about to stamp on her when Mark crawled between them and caught Tanek’s foot.

Grimacing, he pushed and, with the help of Tate and Bill’s battering, toppled the giant. Bill struck him in the face with the butt of his shotgun. “Ram me, would ye?”

Tanek took the beating and more, holding up his huge forearms to protect himself. Then he reached up to swat away the annoyances. He grabbed Tate’s stick and shoved, knocking the holy man over backwards. Then he rose and took hold of Bill by the throat, squeezing hard as he got first one knee beneath him, then both legs.

“Now, I finish this,” he said, his face only inches from Bill’s. So near he could smell the big man’s fetid breath.

It was then they both heard the whistling sound.

R
OBERT WAS ON
his way to help Mary.

Not that she needed it. Somehow she’d come to, and was grappling with Adele. Mary was trying to wrestle the Peacekeeper out of the short-haired woman’s grasp. And, as Robert watched, Mary punched her in the face, hard. He recognised that look; Mary was furious. Enough to spur her on, tackling the woman who’d been a thorn in her side since day one.

Then came the noise. The sound of one of the armoured vehicles backing up, its eight wheels spinning, creating smoke that was soon lost in the mist.

Someone is still inside one of those things. Has to be the Tsar...

Robert saw the cannon on top swinging in their direction. The mad Russian was going to fire; obliterate him and his core group in one decisive stroke. Robert guessed Tanek and Adele didn’t mean a thing compared with a win like that. Anxiously, he looked from Mary to the AFV.

He started after the vehicle, running as best he could with a leg that was far from healed. The AFV was reversing, backing into the mist. But it drove into the hidden wooden posts on the left-hand side of the entrance, where it juddered to a halt.

At the moment of collision the cannon spat its load, and Robert dropped to the ground. All he could do was watch as the shell flew overhead, whistling as it went. But the cannon’s aim had been spoiled by the prang, and it flew over the top of the group. It cut through the mist and exploded somewhere off in the trees beyond. But it was enough to blow those who weren’t already on the ground off their feet, dust mixing with the mist coming in from the forest.

He had no time to check whether Mary, or indeed any of the others, were okay, because the hatch of the AFV was opening. A soldier – probably the driver – was climbing out. Or rather, was pushed out. He was armed with a pistol, and began shooting in Robert’s direction. Robert rolled over, bringing his sword close to his body. The bullets pinged off the concrete. Robert glanced up and saw another figure climbing after the first: the Tsar, using the driver to cover his own escape.

Robert swore loudly, then got up on one knee. The bullets came again and he rolled, sideways this time, so that he would end up underneath the AFV – out of the driver’s range.

He waited under there, knowing the man would come down eventually, knowing that he would have been issued with precise orders to finish off the Hooded Man. Robert was only one guy, after all, and he had no gun. Sure enough, he saw two boots drop to the ground and the driver crouched, shoving his pistol underneath the machine.