Badass in Disguise (Shadow) novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148

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Warren’s eyes narrowed, calculating. In one swift motion, he grabbed his walking stick and lunged at me. I dodged easily, but was impressed by his speed–not bad for a man his age.

“You think you can kill me?” Warren sneered, twirling the walking stick with practiced ease. “People better than you have tried. The assassins who could kill me haven’t even been born yet, little girl.”

I circled him slowly, a predator sizing up wounded prey. “Is that what you think?”

He attacked again, the walking stick transforming into a deadly weapon in his hands. I blocked his strikes, our movements creating a deadly dance across the cabin. The rich scent of polished wood mixed with the acrid smell of gasoline as we fought, furniture splintering under our combined force.

For a few minutes, we were evenly matched. Warren’s decades of experience compensated for his age, each strike precise and efficient. No wasted movement. Classic Shadow Organization training.

Then I noticed it–a slight tremor in his left hand. The poison was beginning to work.

“Feeling a bit sluggish, Warren?” I taunted, easily sidestepping his next attack. “Maybe you should have checked your drink more carefully.”

Rage flashed across his face. He redoubled his efforts, but his movements were becoming increasingly uncoordinated. His walking stick swung wide, missing me by inches. I caught it mid–swing and yanked, sending it flying across the room.

“Too slow,” I said, landing a precise strike to his kidney.

Warren grunted in pain but recovered quickly, throwing a punch that would have shattered my jaw if it had connected. I ducked and swept his legs from under him. He managed to roll away and stagger back to his feet, but his breathing was becoming labored.

“Still too slow,” I commented, delivering a series of rapid strikes to his torso.

Warren stumbled backward, his face contorting as he fought against the poison’s effects. “You’ve been… trained,” he gasped, recognition dawning in his eyes.

“By the best,” I replied, landing a crushing blow to his right knee. The crack of bone breaking echoed through the cabin.

Warren collapsed to one knee but refused to scream. Even now, his training held. He attempted to grab me, but I easily avoided his grasp.

“Not fast enough,” I said, breaking his left arm at the elbow.

This time he couldn’t suppress a howl of pain. I circled behind him, snapping his right arm next. He fell forward,

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11:13 Wed, Sep 24

Chapter 148

face contorted in agony.

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“You know,” I said conversationally, “this is nothing compared to what I endured in that lab of yours for six months.”

I methodically broke his other knee, then stood over him as he lay helpless on the polished floor.

“You… who…” Warren’s eyes widened in sudden recognition as he stared up at me. “That fighting style… you can’t

be…”

“Can’t I?” I knelt beside him, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at me. “Don’t you recognize me, ‘Father‘? I was your proudest child, after all.”

Horror dawned in his eyes. “Shadow? Impossible… you died in the explosion.”

“Oh, but I am,” I whispered. “And I’m going to make sure you and every other old guy of Shadow Organization pays for what you did. You’re just the first, King of Hearts.”

With surgical precision, I crushed his throat, watching as the life drained from his eyes.

I stood up, surveying the room. Umbra and Silhouette had already stopped breathing, their faces frozen in expressions of agony.

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