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

bad after the Nano fighters. I knew you’re just doing your job. You and that half-blood fighter.”
    “That’s Aiden Chen. He grew up here part time. His mom lived outside.”
    “I see. Is he a good man?”
    “He’s one of the best. He used to be my partner.”
    “That’s good. Annie Tanaka deserves the best man to love her.”
    She bowed her head, her cheeks going warm. “He left the force when his wife was killed.”
    “By one of those monster things?”
    “I think there’s only one, Papa. But yes. It hurt me as well.”
    He shook his head. “Lots of those things, Annie. They’re in China as well. They want blood and flesh. Bad things, Annie, but I taught you what you need to know. You’ll catch it.”
    “You think so?”
    He chuckled and stubbed out the cigarette. “I know so. You had me and your Grandpa Tanaka to teach you right.”
    “Grandpa mostly taught me to train Bonsai.”
    “Good skill. Not many people left that know how to do it. And that big katana on your wall isn’t for pruning little trees, Annie. And I know old Kazu Tanaka didn’t die without passing on his skills.”
    “You’re my sifu , Papa. I couldn’t have a sifu and a sensei .”
    “No, Annie, but while I was your papa-teacher, he was your grandfather. He was honor bound to teach you.”
    “You knew? Did you mind?”
    Guo Lee shook his head slowly. “No. We talked, back when I first started teaching you. He knew you had a gift, Annie.”
    She smiled and looked down at the now steady hands clasped between her knees. He’d always grounded her. “Did he mind that you taught me?”
    He stood up and began walking. She rose and followed, and to her surprise, they ended up on her roof. On a bench lay her grandfather’s katana . Guo picked it up with reverence, unsheathing the long sword. “I don’t know how to use one of these. Perhaps my student will show me?”
    “I have a bokken …” She kept her wooden practice swords up here on the roof.
    “No, the katana . Please demonstrate with your grandfather’s sword.”
    For a moment, she was at a loss. She wasn’t dressed properly. Finally, pragmatism settled in. She took the long sword in hand and began the kata . He sat quietly, watching her move through the formal sword forms.
    She finished, bowing deeply before returning the sword to scabbard.
    “He taught you karate as well?” She nodded. Guo bit his lip, walking to the edge of the building, looking at the rows of bonsai there. “That was very beautiful, Annie. In its way, very lethal.” He stood there for a long time, watching darkness fall over the city. He was possibly the most powerful man she’d ever encountered. Lethal, and from the looks of him, perhaps even magical. He wore cheap cloth sneakers and smoked old-fashioned cigarettes and taught little orphaned girls kung fu.
    He looked over at her, his face inscrutable. “You make sure you don’t kill him, all right?”
    Fear gripped her gut. “How? How do I defeat it without killing it?”
    He stood, looking critically at his student. “I don’t know, Annie. But you just remember he was human… still is. It is very sick. It’s very tragic.” He turned to face her. “You use everything you know. What I taught you, what your grandfather taught you. What you have learned on your own.”
    She nodded.
    “There are big things happening in our world, Annie. Things are going to change very fast. This place…” he gestured over the expanse of Wharf, “it’s like the Walled City of Kowloon. It’s had its time. It’ll be gone soon.”
    The thought made her ill, but she saw the truth of it. It wasn’t governed by city or state. It was a dangerous no-man’s land to outsiders, a haven to the residents. Of course it would eventually be slated for destruction. “How sad that will be.”
    He nodded in agreement. “But good, too. Things can be better. Change doesn’t always mean bad.”
    “What do you know, Papa Guo?”
    “Nothing. I don’t know anything.