Dragon's Blood (Black Planet Book 1) by Belinda McBride Page A

The katana was ancient, the weapon of a Japanese Samurai. It had been hand-made by a master artisan and in her family for many generations. The Japanese katana was a lethal weapon, and not at all suited for her style of fighting. It remained on the wall.
    She glanced over at the window. The sun was setting, gliding toward the horizon. She’d slept late into the day.
    Time to go out and find her missing lover.

    * * *
    “ I know you’re there . Step out where I can see you.”
    She put every bit of authority that she could muster behind her voice, not betraying the tiniest bit of fear. Of course, the thing could smell her and that would tell a different story. But she could control her fear, just like she could control her voice. There was no shame in being afraid. There was shame in fleeing. So she stood her ground.
    “Come out now .”
    She’d gotten just a block over and down before sensing the presence in the shadows. It was fully dark now, plenty of places to hide. The shadow moved slightly. Automatically, Annie moved back, luring the thing into the light.
    As the shadow grew closer, it became smaller, finally solidifying into the shape of a man, the man who’d stood outside her fight, anger blazing in his eyes.
    Not particularly tall, compact and lithe. He moved with the grace of a cat. She started at the ground, taking in simple lace-up tennis shoes, black cotton pants and a white button down shirt. A triangle of golden brown skin showed at the unbuttoned neck. Humble clothing. A strong, angular face with high, prominent cheekbones, an arched nose over a small, perfectly sculpted mouth. Black, chin length hair fell back from his face in a center part. A face of timeless, unearthly beauty.
    “Oh my God… oh my God…” Her breath froze and her heart stopped, just briefly. Annie dropped abruptly to her knees, head bowed. “ Sifu Lee? Guo Lee?” She wouldn’t have believed it except for a small, triangular scar on his collarbone.
    “Get up, Annie, you’re embarrassing me.”
    She stole another look at his face. How had she not known him the other night? He hadn’t wanted her to know him. He hadn’t wanted her to see him.
    “ Sifu Lee…”
    “What did you call me when you were a girl?”
    “Papa,” she whispered. “I wanted to call you Grandfather, but you said I should only call my Grandfather Tanaka by that name.”
    “So what do you call me now?”
    She remained on her knees, her body’s processes slowly returning. “Papa Lee.” She brought one foot up, then the other, rising without her usual grace. She stole another look. He hadn’t aged a day. His golden brown skin had the look of varnished wood. In repose, he looked still, unapproachable, his eyes hooded like those of a lazy cat. But now he smiled, great dimples creasing his cheeks, all the way to his eyes.
    “Come on over and sit here.”
    She lowered herself to the cinderblock retaining wall that he gestured to. Her hands trembled, her knees bounced from nerves. Gradually, the shock of his appearance began to wear down, and calm spread through her soul. The calm that always accompanied his presence.
    From where they sat, they looked over a good deal of Wharf. The place he’d created nearly a century ago.
    “It’s still ugly, but beautiful in its way.” He slipped a cigarette between his lips. From the time she was a child, she remembered him and his cigarettes. Most people didn’t smoke these days. She wondered where he bought them.
    “Most ugly things have beauty as well,” she said.
    “That’s very true.” His voice was low and husky, the accented English a pleasure to listen to. His mother language was Mandarin, but he spoke many languages.
    “I came to check on my students. I followed some noise, only to find my little girl in a cage, fighting for money.”
    “That’s why you were so angry.”
    He nodded, inhaling deeply. “But then I remember my Annie’s got a job to do, she’s a cop. And I hear there’s something