The Fall (Book 4): Genesis Game Read Online Free PDF Page A

them. He had been stupid to react without observing. Any of the groggy, confused people he was seeing could have just as easily been guns pointed at him.
    Then again, his dark skin and dark gray clothing made him the same sort of moving shadow Emily had been. Even someone fully alert would have had a hard time picking him out.
    Taking merciless advantage of that fact, Kell whipped the metal baton from its sheath on his belt, flipping the weapon around into a reverse grip as he closed the last few yards and lunged for the nearest open window.
    Coming at it from a strongly oblique angle, the man peering out into the night only saw Kell at the last possible second, eyes widening and mouth gaping in horror as a piece of the night rushed toward him.
    That, or he was just super racist and the sight of an enormous black guy bearing down on him with a metal stick was enough to have the poor, doomed bastard clutching at his metaphorical pearls.
    It made no material difference, of course. Kell brought his baton down as Lee had shown him, treating it more as he would a blade rather than a blunt weapon. It was the only way to assure contact since the window was barely larger than the face Kell targeted.
    The man screamed as Kell made the only move he could, slamming the baton through the window and into the face of the still-groggy marauder.
    As Kell moved to pull the baton back out a few seconds later, a sharp pressure on his side caused him to turn in shock. Someone had managed to sneak up on him. Worse, they'd gotten in an attack. By sheer idiotic luck the attacker had slashed with a killing blow right into the heavily armored right lower portion of Kell's coat. It still hurt like hell since the armor was meant to allow for flexibility and didn’t provide a rigid barrier from blades.
    The baton clanged down inside the window, lost to Kell for the moment. In his surprise he'd let it go, and the slick metal had still held firm inside the face of Kell's victim by suction.
    He jumped back as a cold glimmer of steel arced in the night, catching the thin light enough to give warning. Kell was careful to keep his right side toward the enemy. The sight of his restrained arm had done its job and tempted the enemy to go for the obvious attack, just as Lee had planned. Kell had been less than enthusiastic about making himself an easier target, but thought as he leaped backward that he might see if he could find Lee a bottle of good bourbon.
    He fumbled at his lower back, trying to find the heavy stick Lee had correctly guessed Kell would keep as a backup weapon. The thing was too big and unwieldy to be out of the way anywhere but strapped to his back, but even with the custom sheath Laura had designed for it, the damn thing moved around.
    The figure trying its best to introduce Kell's blood to the air resolved in single images as he glanced from the attack to his surroundings. His full attention fell onto the attacker when his left hand finally wised up and found the thick bottom of the wooden weapon's haft.
    It was a girl. She couldn't have been older than twelve.
    Seeing that round face framed by the darkness stopped Kell short. There were few things capable of putting him off his game outright, and fewer still that could manage it while his blood was up in the middle of a fight.
    His pause stretched on for seconds. The girl obviously possessed the strong instincts of a survivor, because she sized up the situation and struck like a viper.
    Kell tried to block, but was too slow. The slap of the baton on the girl's weapon arm lacked power and coordination, only knocking the blade off course rather than pushing it away entirely. Kell's universe went red as his clumsy defense sent the blade burrowing into his injured shoulder.
    Fabric and flesh parted with equal ease, which Kell seemed to feel in slow motion. The scream ripped its way out of his throat with a will of its own, no more stoppable than the blood pumping through his veins.
    Pain, so