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space, giving her the use of the main apartment and shower while she retired to the bedroom. Even today, she had much to do. Sitting on the bed she stretched her back and made a call, managing a smile when Dai Hibiki answered.
    “Mai? Is that you?”
    “It is, my friend. I hope you are well.”
    Hibiki knew what was supposed to happen today and had never been one to waste time. “How is Grace?”
    “She will be all right. The fight inside that one is beyond anything I have ever seen. Her will to overcome . . .” Mai paused, surprised at herself.
    Hibiki’s smile was obvious despite the distance. “I know of one other who might come close.”
    “One day again, maybe. But life drains the fight out of you, Dai. If you’ve done something that deprives you of all the best feelings—passion, struggle, victory, humor—how do you get past that?”
    Hibiki sighed. “Are you coming to Tokyo?”
    “Yes. We leave tomorrow. I will see you then.”
    “Okay. And Mai, before you ask—no, they haven’t yet found Emiko. I know you killed her father but that girl can no longer be found. She’s not trained. Not a fighter. The wolves will swallow her whole and probably already have.”
    Mai didn’t appreciate the bluntness of his delivery but knew what Hibiki was trying to do. She ended the call before he could try anything else. Behind her, the small window looked out over a small park. Sounds of normality drifted through the barely cracked-open window—dogs barking and the groan of swing-chains. Laughter. The whooping of children. The warning shouts of adults.
    Something she had been keeping from Grace now swam back to the forefront of her brain. Two days ago Hibiki had gotten word that the Yakuza had held another meeting to decide the fate of their newest nemesis—Mai Kitano. Although the original, rigged trial hadn’t finished before Drake rescued her, the warriors dispatched to kill her hinted that Komodo’s death may be enough, but the Yakuza figureheads had now decided that satisfaction had not actually been gained. Komodo’s death was not enough.
    Instead, through Hibiki, they had offered a final resolution. An ending of sorts.
    They would send their best trained warrior for a showdown at a place of Mai’s choosing. Only a victory would save her. Mai had instantly acquiesced to their offer, seeing a way out for her sister and Hibiki and the entire SPEAR team. The Yakuza were formidable opponents and needed to be placated. The showdown would give Mai a chance to fulfil her obligations and maybe even earn a little redemption. Life might yet return to normal.
    Survival is not necessarily essential for any of that to happen.
    Her mind flicked back to the night Komodo died. Yes, she had been willing to die. Yes, she had almost accepted it. Then Komodo saved her from a death she could not have saved herself from. How did such an act change a soul? Was there more of her story yet to be written?
    The warrior was coming.
    Mai had yet to decide on a venue but she knew it would be Tokyo. If she died she wanted to be close to her sister and Hibiki, and far from Drake. The Englishman had to get on with his life. Their future had died the moment she killed a man called Hayashi.
    The healed bullet wound throbbed. She realized that she didn’t want to die. She would kill the warrior if she could.
     

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    Drake jumped out of the black SUV amidst a scene from hell. Darkness had fallen and the San Jose electrical substation stood like an alien outpost—a sparse car park led to a perfunctory wall and then what appeared to be a tangled mass of short pylons and large transformers, beyond which stood a series of small buildings. Sounds of gunfire and an explosion rocked the night even as the SPEAR team began to move, adding to the feeling that they had entered some kind of hostile extra-terrestrial movie set. Drake saw where the wall had been breached. Amassed around it were a bunch of dark-clothed figures, their