Mob Sorcery 2 - Ch14

Chapter 44

“You’re not going to collapse, right?” Fia asked Vince while wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

He shrugged her off, but she forced herself around him anyway. Pola bit her lip while limping along with them. Once Fia spotted her boss’s movement, she slowed down.

“I’ll be fine,” Vince lied.

He’d dropped his barrier and the magic thirst had yet to return, but he knew he had pushed his limits. The migraine had faded to a dull ache, which he ignored for now. At some point, he’d collapse and probably sleep for a week.

Nina would kick his teeth in for being so damn stupid. On the other hand, what the hell else could he have done?

“You sure?” Fia asked. “I have no idea how you’ve used this much magic. I’m demihuman and I feel tapped out. My entire body aches, I have a splitting migraine, and my legs are like lead.”

“I’m used to this after big jobs,” he said.

Well, he’d felt this a few times. The last time had been the main street incident. Although he’d stopped short of the headache he currently had.

At least this time he’d be rewarded rather than fined.

“Where are we going, anyway?” he asked as Fia walked through the corridors.

“Alessia holed up in her father’s old study. The defenses on the inner sanctum are stronger than bank vaults,” she explained. “Convincing her to leave…”

Pola clicked her tongue. “She should have known better than to stay here while under assault. That wasn’t the plan.”

“There was a plan?” Vince asked.

“We do have escape plans,” Fia said. “There’s an escape room here to keep someone like Alessia safe, but it can also teleport her away if necessary.”

“Then why not teleport?”

Pola grimaced. “I bet they also blocked teleportation. I couldn’t get through to anyone. As soon as Fia stopped responding, I tried calling Sis, but nobody answered.” Her expression twisted.

Then she sprinted off down the hall, ignoring her wounds. Fia called out after her, to no avail.

Vince paused while Fia sighed and scratched her head. She leaned against him for a moment.

“Tired?” he asked.

“I just told you that my everything aches,” she muttered. “Fucking hell, if you hadn’t turned up when you did… Thanks, Vince. I know I gave you shit for rocking up, but you saved us all. Too many people died here tonight.”

Bloodstains filled the corridors as they continued, splattered among the shattered furnishings and picture frames. Not many bodies, save for those of a pair of unknown enforcers. The rest of Juliet’s team.

“I can’t believe she rustled up an even stronger team for this raid,” Fia said as they passed the body of a woman with fifty or more tiny holes in her chest. “We didn’t even realize Juliet was with them at first, they were that strong.”

He frowned. “None of her ‘crew’ are wearing the symbol of the Retributive Night, unlike the guys who jumped us on the weekend. Is it possible somebody hired a hit squad full of top-notch enforcers?”

“Shit, that’s…” Fia’s expression darkened, before she grinned and bumped an elbow against Vince’s side. “Well, if they were top-notch, what does that make you? I bet you fought your way up here.”

He ignored her. Now wasn’t the time to celebrate his “power,” although he had to admit that he felt better about the Golden Path’s future intervention after tonight.

She clicked her tongue and her expression returned to normal. “Hard to say who disrupted communications, though. I reckon one of them used a fancy tool.”

Vince pulled out his phone. No reception.

“Definitely,” he said. “Juliet’s gone and I can’t get shit here.”

“We’ll have to search their bodies for whatever they used. Alessia won’t want the police rifling through our shit.”

They reached the war room from yesterday. Most of the enforcers Vince assisted downstairs crowded into it, foci raised and ready to hold off any intruders.

No sign of Pola still.

“Is it over?” the security head asked as she waved everyone down. “Pola sprinted past, so I had no clue.”

“It’s done,” Fia said, before stepping inside and beginning to give out orders.

Stuff Vince wouldn’t usually think of. First aid, searching for the communications jammer, retrieving magic tools from the fallen, moving the critically injured to the exits. Fia proved why she might take over after the Lionetti sisters.

In his mind, he wondered why she wasn’t sottocapo. As powerful as Pola might be, she lacked the managerial side that seemed necessary when handling so many enforcers. One of the pair tore through the floor in an emotional search for her sister, while the other took control.

Then again, Fia’s sister wasn’t the one at risk of death and her family hadn’t been slaughtered years ago by Houou. Vince told himself to be less harsh.

After a few minutes, Fia rejoined him as the enforcers trooped out. A handful remained behind. That was when he saw the bodies piled up in the room. Some were laid out cleanly to help with first aid, as they’d only been wounded.

But many other enforcers had breathed their last breath. He recognized more faces than he cared to admit from his brief time with the Lionettis. Quite a few had flirted with him or drunk with him the other night at the shopping mall bar. He hardly knew them.

Yet he still disliked what he saw.

“Come on,” Fia said, placing a hand on his arm. “It’s not as bad as it looks. Most of us were well clear, either with Vanna or Pola.”

“Pola turned up covered in scratches and wounds,” he said while matching her pace.

She shot him an odd look. “Because of the fighting downstairs, right?”

He shook his head and Fia bit back a curse.

“Fuck.” Her hand ran through her blonde hair. “I thought as much but this wasn’t fucking Kaziern. Juliet never told us who hired her, right?”

“What? Yes she… Fuck.”

“Thought so. Houou took matters into their own hands. No wonder she turned up with so many hotshot enforcers.” Fia’s eyes burned. “Those fucking foxes tried to pull a repeat of what they did five years ago. Take out the Lionetti Family with a decapitation strike. Use a mole in the branch families and enforcer ranks and hit both Pola and Alessia at the same time. This stinks of their garbage.”

Vince bit back a comment he nearly made about the Golden Path attacking early.

Mostly because even Nina hadn’t quite expected this. She’d flip her shit. Hell, she might know some of the people who participated in the attack.

They reached an open door and heard bickering from beyond it.

“You were supposed to stay put, Pola,” Alessia said, voice raised. “We knew they’d attack one of us. Now we nearly lost Lionetti Tower and we don’t even have the depot to show for it.”

Pola stood in front of her sister, hands pressed against her sides as her tail and ear stood on end. “I’m not fucking leaving you to die. Fuck your stupid plan to have me succeed you! We live and die together, not—”

Alessia snapped her fingers when she saw Vince and Fia enter the room. Both sisters stared at them. The room turned out to be a small reception to another room, with an old desk and some family photos spread on the walls. One appeared to be of the sisters when they were little. Others included a man he vaguely recognized as their father from old news reports, often with a bright smile on his face with his little girls.

“Ahem. Vince, Fia,” Alessia murmured.

She looked perfectly fine, save for some stained makeup from where she had almost certainly been crying. Vince wisely chose to say nothing about that.

“I don’t think we should waste time talking about plans from the past,” Fia said flatly. “Houou just tried to assassinate both of you and nearly succeeded. Isn’t that right, Pola?”

If Pola’s tail and ears weren’t already standing on end, they’d have shot up. As it was, they nearly hit the roof.

“How do you…” She trailed off and licked her lips. “I mean, a small team of enforcers tried—”

“Pola, what?” Alessia asked, voice ice cold. “Is that why you’re so scratched up?”

“A little,” Pola mumbled. “I got hit on the way here. Lost my phone and a couple of vehicles. The girls made it out fine, but no blackshirts showed up to hassle us.”

Alessia’s expression turned thunderous. “That’s even worse. Open assassination, an assault on our private property, one-sided harassment of our enforcers in the turf war—I’ll have June string Kochhar up for his corruption. He’s become Houou’s pet.”

Vince shifted his weight from foot to foot, aware that this problem had become one of city and corporate politics.

As if sensing his disinterest, Alessia stepped past her sister and faced him directly. She even curtsied in her fancy dress.

“I owe you a great deal for helping us, Vince,” she said. “More than I offered earlier this week when the topic came up. At the time I was…”

Fia cleared her throat. Alessia winced and looked away, her hands twisting the edge of her dress.

Now both Lionetti sisters appeared to be embarrassed and lost for words.

“I underestimated the opponent and made plans that perhaps reflected my own lack of experience,” Alessia said after a long pause. “You don’t need to worry about the size of your bonus. I’ll ensure it reflects what you’ve done tonight. But I am going to need to lean on you for more support. Nothing we’ve done matters if we let Kaziern take back those facilities. We must—”

“Alessia, we’re fucked,” Fia snapped.

“No, it’s fine,” Vince interrupted, before the women could start a new argument.

All three wolves looked at him, their tails falling as one.

“I left the teleport beacon in the office building turned drug lab when I left. If you can still use your teleportation device, then that will be relatively easy to seize,” he explained. “They don’t have protective barriers there. Although the place is a mess.”

“Our teleportation magic is good enough to handle some rubble,” Alessia said, sticking out her chest. “But that’s the consolation prize, I’m afraid. The depot…”

“I’m sorry,” Pola muttered. “I’ll head out and—”

“No,” Fia and Alessia thundered together.

Pola bared her teeth at them.

“I’ll grab a lift from Nicki and take it back,” Vince said, consigning himself to a very bad week if he needed to summon his dragon again. “I’m all but certain I took out Kaziern’s elites at the drug lab and blew a hole in Luscarne, so they’re out of action. If I took it once, I’ll do it again.”

“But its defenses might be active,” Fia said.

“I’ll batter them down,” he lied.

In truth, if Kaziern had taken the place back and put up a barrier, he might need to bail. Especially with corrupt cops in the area. But he’d deal with that bridge when he had to cross it.

If he could help it, he’d rather not have to repeat the same job again. Especially with Houou trying to outright murder him. The foxes wanted the Lionettis gone and he’d come down on the wrong side of one of the largest conglomerates in the city. Extending the job was a death wish.

Yet, he still wondered if he’d take a second job from Alessia. The way she beamed at him for being so willing to help caused a twinge in his heart.

Nina’s pride might grow a little in size. Not that he had a chance with Alessia of all women.

His phone buzzed, pulling him from the moment. Fia looked at her pocket as well, while chimes came from the door behind the desk. Presumably, Alessia’s phone was in there.

“We’ve got reception back,” Fia said.

Vince saw a billion missed calls. A couple from Ronin.

Most of them were from Nina, plus a bunch of voicemails and messages.

Fia looked over his shoulder and let out a low whistle. “You’re in the doghouse tonight.”

“I can’t be in the doghouse if I get home late enough that she’s asleep,” he said.

Then he looked up to see Alessia and Pola staring at him. Neither said a word, though. Their expressions and gazes were eerily similar and a reminder that they were indeed sisters, despite their differing personalities.

“Um…” He gulped.

Pola rolled her eyes and took a step toward him. “You’re fucking somebody else, I know. You think I can’t smell that lion all over you? Doesn’t mean I can’t prove I’m way better than her. Why settle for her when you can enjoy a Lionetti in your bed every morning and night for the rest of your life?”

The grin on her face suggested she was dead serious. A strangled laugh escaped Fia and she muffled it in Vince’s shoulder, much to Pola’s annoyance.

“Impressive flirting,” Alessia said flatly.

“I looked it up,” Pola said, sticking her chest out. Despite the similarities between the sisters, Pola pulled off the gesture better than her sister, mostly due to her superior chest size.

Keen to follow up on her flirting, the younger Lionetti strode toward Vince. Her sashay returned despite her injuries and the blood and dried tears marring her face. Once she reached Vince, one arm stroked his chest while the other wrapped around the back of his neck.

“Did you look this up too?” he asked, all too aware of Pola’s warmth and the presence of the other two wolves in the room.

“Oh, no. This is all instinct.” Her eyes glimmered as she grinned.

Then she yanked his head down into a rough kiss. Déjà vu, Vince though.

Unlike last time, he returned the kiss enthusiastically, and his hands gripped her curvy yet muscled sides. Her tongue battle with his as they fought over whose mouth should be the battleground.

Maybe he should have pushed back. Perhaps he merely felt tired, or was feeling an euphoric high from victory. He rationalized his behavior with Nina’s comments about forming a pride.

This is what she meant, right? Vince, uh, probably should have clarified her position before making out with Pola. Nina might have her limits, especially if they included a mafia wolfgirl with a reason to kill Nina.

Pola pulled away with heady breaths after far too long, and far too little. Vince nearly followed her face and kissed her again, but caught Fia grinning at him out of the corner of his eye.

“You didn’t reject me this time,” Pola mumbled. Her fingernails drummed against the back of his neck as she stroked his stomach through the hole in his shirt. “I could still taste her in you. You gave her a goodbye kiss. Now she’ll have to taste me when you get back.”

Oh. Shit. He hadn’t thought of that.

Fia burst out laughing. Most likely he’d made some strange face.

Pola simply pouted as one of her hands fell lower on his body. “You should want to taste like me. It’s part of the fun of spending the night with me. Imagine all the smells and tastes that—”

Alessia practically ripped her sister off Vince, causing Pola to yelp in surprise as her tail swung around wildly.

“I’m sure you’ve staked your claim, Pola,” Alessia said, a terrifyingly fake smile plastered on her face. “Both of you have so much to do tonight that I must insist you get to it. You should leave Vince to his work and help me clean things up here.”

“What? But I—” Pola tried to say, her face a mask of confusion.

A flash of darkness overcame Alessia before her own mask returned. Pola pouted, then licked her lips while looking at Vince.

Something told him that staying here might be an unwise idea.

“I, uh, think I’ll finish up my job.” Vince pointed behind him.

“Try to come back here later so we can go over what happened tonight,” Alessia said, still wrangling with her sister.

“And drinks,” Pola chirped. “You promised to drink Dom Perignon with me. Tonight will be so much better with some good champagne by the bed.”

“He promised what?” Alessia’s eyes nearly popped out of her skull.

Vince chose to run away at that moment. Fia chased after him.

She howled with laughter once they retreated a few corridor lengths. “Holy shit, tonight has been awful, but that was fun at least. I’ve never seen Alessia act like that.”

“I thought she wanted Pola to be interested in me,” Vince said.

“I imagine Alessia is thinking the same thing.” The broad grin on Fia’s face suggested she knew something more.

Shrugging her off, he tried not to think about what might happen when he returned here. Or what all those messages from Nina might mean. He simply messaged her, Still working. Safe. Be home late.

Surprisingly, she sent him a thumbs up in return.

Had somebody replaced Nina with a doppelganger?

When they reached the elevators, he stopped. Not because of all the enforcers trying to help their wounded friends in the chaos and devastation, though.

Fia gripped his arm and tugged him away. She pulled him into a quiet corridor, away from the others.

“Are you fine? Actually fine?” she asked, her red eyes searching his for the answer. “I don’t think Alessia really understands how bad things have gotten. She hasn’t seen the tower yet. Once she does—”

“She’ll lose her will and panic?” he asked

Fia bit her lip. “I don’t know. This is the first time she’s ever had to give orders in such a genuinely awful situation for us. Even I’m a bit at sea. Just going through the motions. You’re… Well, you’re a fucking rock right now, Vince. Part of me understands how you can be an independent enforcer, because you put up with this insanity.”

“And the other part?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

“You nearly died for us, after Alessia stiffed you over dealing with a vampire who nearly wiped us out. I can see why the demons take advantage of you so easily. You really should be part of our pack, because we’ll treat you right, unlike them.” Fia rubbed his arm. “Although maybe you should take up Alessia on that marriage offer. If you’re going to do dumb shit, at least get the bag by joining the family.”

He choked out a laugh and felt a tear fall from his eye. “I don’t think Alessia wanted me to do much fighting after marrying Pola. Mostly a lot of fucking.”

“After tonight?” Fia smirked. “Maybe, yeah, but you can do both. Maybe wake up next to two Lionettis every morning, given the way Alessia just acted.” Fia’s eyes glowed. “Or more wolves…?” She licked her lips and kept rubbing his arm.

A couple of seconds passed, with Vince unsure how to proceed.

“Fia, are you down there? Somebody needs you on the comms now that they’re back and I need to focus on protecting the boss,” Lucia called out.

Then she stared at Fia and Vince, who stood right on top of each other, with Fia’s arms all over him.

“Um, don’t mind me.” Lucia formed lips with her hands and pressed them together.

“Oh, for fuck’s…” Fia rolled her eyes and stalked toward Lucia.

The capo shoved the bodyguard, who glowered in return.

“I’m not here to stop you from fucking the shit out of him,” Lucia said.

“That’s not what was happening,” Fia said, then looked back at Vince. “Make sure you come back tonight. We’re not done celebrating.”

Was that the invitiation he though it was, or just her usual words? Vince suddenly found himself a little lost when dealing with Fia.

The idea of doing anything with her hadn’t truly occurred to him. Fia felt comfortable. Like an old friend he’d just met. She reminded him of simpler times. Of bad decisions and amazing nights of years without much to worry about. No rent, no shitty jobs, no assassination attempts.

Just a lot of fun.

Fia had turned out to be a lot of fun. So had Pola, and the rest of the Lionettis.

Damn, maybe he had joined their pack by accident.

Fia vanished around the corner, leaving him alone. Lucia rubbed the back of her neck and muttered an apology, before ducking off.

Vince found Nicki waiting in the atrium. Police enforcers and paramedics moved with purpose around her, although he had no clue what the cops intended to do. Lionetti enforcers kept any uniformed personnel well clear of the elevators and fire stairs.

“This is a fucking disaster, isn’t it?” Nicki asked as he approached, her wings flaring.

Then she looked at him and her jaw dropped. He raised an eyebrow.

“What the fuck happened to your clothes?” she asked, pointing at the gaping hole in his shirt. “Did…” Her expression fell. “Did somebody cut you open there?”

“Uh, close enough,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “Don’t tell Nina.”

“She’ll know what happened the moment she sees that.”

True. If Nicki knew something had happened to him, like hell he could keep the secret from Nina without changing clothes.

The plan hatched in his mind—

“I’m not helping you get new clothes at this time of night.” Nicki crossed her arms in front of her body. “It’s late. I’m around way too many cops. It’s cold. I’m worried my meal ticket nearly fucking died. At least Fia let me know she’s fine. Let’s just get you home and safe in your big lion’s arms.”

“Uh, about that. I need to make a final trip back to the depot. Kick out any squatting lions until the Lionettis rock up, then go home.” He raised his hands defensively. “It’ll be fine.”

Nicki glowered at him. “I am charging you so much for tonight. You’ll wish you decided to use me for your egg laying fetish instead of a flier.”

A whole bunch of Lionetti enforcers looked over at them, and he shooed Nicki away. Damn her big mouth.

The flight toward the depot went smoothly. Lionetti Tower remained lit up and would presumably stay as such until Alessia manually deactivated the defenses. Other than the police presence around the tower, he saw little other activity nearby.

Right up until they reached the depot. The defenses of the main building remained down, but other activity concerned him.

Eight black vans lurked in the well lit yard of Kaziern’s facility, surrounded by a large group of black-clad individuals. At this distance, Vince struggled to make out who and what they might be.

What he knew was that they didn’t wear Kaziern’s bulky and tacky enforcer uniform. If pressed, he’d guess they were Immanuel’s thugs.

Hell, they might be. Immanuel loved to stick their head into disputes between other companies and seize the spoils.

If Quintus got involved here and Vince blew away his enforcers, how much shit would he be in? Would Alessia let him?

He might need to call this in.

“Nicki, pull up,” he said. “I don’t recognize the folks around the depot.”

“Neither do I. They’re really weird looking,” she said. “Not the usual demihumans.”

“That’s because they’re…” he trailed off.

Nicki should know what demons look like.

Did that mean these weren’t Immanuel’s thugs?

“Land on a nearby rooftop and we’ll scope them out,” he said.

“Got it.”

Then a shriek escaped her. Vince felt inertia slam into his body as Nicki dove sharply to one side, before she jerked in another direction. His eyes barely caught what panicked her.

A black and red blur shot toward them, moving too fast for Vince to track. Unlike the police hawk from earlier in the night, he had no clue what this enemy might be.

As such, he drew his staff and summoned his magic. Fire burned in his mind.

Then the figure stopped dead in front of them, revealing herself to be a suited birdgirl.

No, not a birdgirl. He’d never seen one that looked quite like this one. Curved yet narrow black wings arched behind her, far smaller than most birdfolk. Her frame looked as lithe as Nicki’s, especially in the form-fitting jet-black suit she wore. A little black and gold button pin adorned her lapel.

She hid her face behind a bestial red mask. That of the mythical tengu with the elongated red nose.

“You’re the Lionetti’s dragon,” she said, voice distorted as it echoed in the very air around them. A whisper of Japanese in a far softer tone also reached Vince’s ears.

He realized she was using a translation spell combined with magical voice projection, likely built into her mask.

“Come with me. The number-two boss will speak with you,” the tengu woman said.

Vince felt certain that “number-two boss” was a translation of a specific term spoken in Japanese. Something equivalent to how the Lionettis called Pola sottocapo, which roughly translated to underboss.

Which told him everything he needed to know.

These unknown individuals were the Yakuza.

Without confirming his agreement, the tengu turned and shot back down to the depot. Nicki hovered in the air while flapping her wings.

“Follow her,” Vince said. “I don’t want to fight the Yakuza. Something’s up if they’re out here.”

“I thought you said they were weak,” she said.

“They were.” His mind recalled the foxes from TV the other night. “That might be changing. Let’s go.”

Nicki brought them in to land beside the tengu. At least thirty suited enforcers stood around the yard, all carrying magical focuses. If Kaziern had tried to retake the depot, Vince saw no sign of any attempt.

Next to the tengu stood another woman, and she was also of an unfamiliar race. She stood seven-foot tall, with an appearance that he struggled to place from any one Asian country. A single twisted gold horn poked up from one side of her head, and it crackled with lightning. As did her vivid blue eyes. Long, perfectly straight silver hair cascaded almost to her ankles.

Like the tengu, she wore a form-fitting black jacket and a black and gold pin on her label. Unlike the tengu, hers struggled to contain her form, and only the white business shirt beneath her jacket kept her abundant cleavage at bay.

She blinked at Vince as Nicki dropped him off before landing behind him.

“You’re the one from the news the other night,” the unicorn woman said, pursing her lips. Then her eyes widened and she bowed stiffly. “My apologies, Mister Keys, and good evening. It is an honor to meet you, although I am afraid I cannot introduce myself in these circumstances.”

“I’m told you’re the number-two boss.” Vince studiously didn’t look at the tengu.

Nobody reacted to his words.

“That’s the English translation, as cumbersome as it is. In Japanese, I am known as the wakagashira. Although that’s only of the affiliate we have established here,” the unicorn explained. “Back home, my position is somewhat more inferior. I hope to prove myself here and therefore earn a vastly greater status in my homeland.”

“The Yakuza haven’t done too well in Aulfair so far.”

She shrugged. “That isn’t my problem. And if I were you, I’d wish for things to change.”

“Really? Because it looks like you’re taking something that’s mine.”

A laugh burst from her, deep and soulful. So soulful that Vince felt it electrify his very body. It ran along his nerves and caused his hairs to stand on end and blood to rush to his face and a certain other part of his body, which he willed to calm down. Next to him, Nicki’s wings flapped involuntarily.

Even the other Yakuza shifted uncomfortably. The tengu clicked her tongue.

“Ahem. My apologies. That happens sometimes,” the unicorn said. “No, Mister Keys, I’m not here at all. Not officially. When I leave here, all that will be left behind is some goodwill that I hope you recall in the weeks to come. After all, I hope to enjoy a long, fruitful relationship with you, should you continue with your currentemployer.”

The stress on the word “current” made it clear that whatever interest the Yakuza had in Vince ended if he returned to Immanuel.

Many things began to make sense. Especially the words Quintus spoke the other night.

“So you came out here to… stand around?” he asked, playing dumb.

She gave him a condescending smile. “You don’t need to play dumb. Our interest here is simple. Some traitors once thought to escape the judgment of their homeland, and I am merely placing my hand on the scales to balance things out tonight. Your employer shall enjoy the fruits of… well, your labor as if those traitors never intervened.”

“And in the future?”

“That will be for your employer to decide. And for you.” The woman raised a hand in the air and spun it around.

The yakuza members began piling into their vans and Vince heard the vehicles revving up.

“My advice is simple. When a tsunami comes, there are only two options. Ride the wave as soon as possible, or get out of the danger zone.” Her eyes locked onto his. “What I’ve seen of you suggests you aren’t foolish.”

She held out a hand to shake.

Vince suspected a trap, yet took it anyway. The tiniest current ran between them and the unicorn bit her lip.

“Yes. I can tell. I do quite like your dragon, by the way. Very inspired.” Her eyes twinkled. “Have a good evening, Mister Keys. Try to enjoy your celebrations tonight.” She winked.

Then the yakuza left. The rumbling of their vans faded swiftly into the night, leaving him and Nicki all alone.

“What the fuck was that?” Nicki asked, waving her hands in the air. “They seemed to know all about you?”

“I was on the news,” he said drily.

Yet that wasn’t the issue. That unicorn woman had sensed something about him when he held her hand.

The lightning she used wasn’t truly lightning. He rubbed his fingers against his palm.

An immortal, he realized. Quite possibly both her and the tengu were immortals. Or, at least, something equivalent to whatever the mystic foxes were.

“Quintus said there’s a greater world swimming beneath the surface,” Vince said. “I get it. He knew that the Yakuza had deployed far greater forces here.”

Somehow, Vince found himself caught not just between the Lionettis and Immanuel, or the Lionettis and Houou, but between a struggle between the Old and New Worlds of magic. One in which the Lionettis had found themselves an unexpected backer due to their war with Houou.

“Forget it,” he said. “I’ll tell Alessia later. I just want tonight to end.”

Alcohol might be a great way to end this extraordinarily long night. The first half of this massive job had finally ended.

Somehow, the second half appeared to be twice the size. A problem for another night.

He had drinks to enjoy and a lion girlfriend to deal with. Oh, and whatever he’d started with Pola, and maybe Fia.

- - - - -

Commentary: This chapter needed some last-minute edits, so hopefully there aren't any continuity errors I missed. Originally, Vince starts a relationship with Fia, but I switched to Pola as it seemed more fitting (and Fia has more slow burn potential, given her baggage).

The Yakuza finally show up, and they get to have different races. New immortals and the like. The "unicorn" is a qilin/kirin, for those curious, but Vince doesn't recognize her. She appears the way she is because the mythical creature is common to all of East Asia, rather than just Japan. I plan to have a couple of Yakuza terms in Japanese, but I'm trying to keep them limited given there are already a few mafia ones to recall.

Anyway, this wraps up the huge action scene. There's one more chapter left of what I've written, before the series goes on hiatus until post-Spellblade.