Page 82 of Circle of Death
I glance around for something I can grab. Some way to defend myself. Something to even the odds. But there’s nothing in reach.
I lunge forward and take a swing. Khan darts away and my momentum throws me off-center. His leg whips around and catches me in the shoulder, knocking me down again. I flash back to our battles in the sand pit in Mongolia. Back then, whoever lost the fight had to go three days without food.
Now I could loseeverything.
Khan moves forward and lands two quick punches to the side of my head. I back off, dazed. He just keeps coming. I spin around and land a hard kick in his solar plexus. For a second, his diaphragm is paralyzed. I see his eyes go wide as he gasps for breath. While he’s reeling, I throw a jab to his jaw, but it’s like hitting a brick. He rushes me and grabs me around the waist, flipping me onto my back. I hit the floor hard.
The pain spikes from my tailbone to my skull. I turn toward my family. I can see them shouting, but my brain is numb. All I hear is a loud hum.
I feel myself being lifted by my neck. My hearing clears. My eardrums throb. I feel Khan’s hands around my throat. I kick against him, but he just shakes me and squeezes harder. I see Maddy wrest one hand loose and thrust it forward. I pray for a fireball or lightning bolt—even if it blasts Khan and me both.
“Do it!”I grunt.
But nothing comes. The guard pulls Maddy back again. And Dache still doesn’t move.
Khan’s face is an inch from mine, his teeth bared like a crazed animal. His thumbs are compressing my carotid arteries. I feel myself blacking out. In the fog, I hear Maddy scream.“Why can’t I help him?”
“Not the time,” says Dache firmly.
Time!That’s it! My external powers are gone. But I have one last chance. One final forbidden skill. Nothing physical. Just my brain. With my last spark of consciousness—in a single instant—I throw myself into the past.
But this time I’m not just an observer, seeing through somebody else’s eyes.
It’s me. I’m physically here. Hundreds of years ago.
Along with the man who’s trying to kill me.
CHAPTER 101
WE FALL TO the ground—on bare earth. The mansion is gone. Everybody else is gone. It’s just the two of us, long before the mansion was built, or even thought of. We’re near the top of the cliff, surrounded by raw dirt and boulders. Khan looks around. For a second, I see the confusion in his eyes—then the cold realization. He gets to his feet and regains his balance.
“I salute you, Lamont. You’ve learned to manipulate time.”
I pick myself up slowly. “It’s just you and me now. Do you miss the audience?”
“There’s a reason this was a forbidden skill,” says Khan. “You do realize that when you die here—and you will—everybody you love dies with you. Margo will never conceive your child. Your descendants will never be born. The girl will never exist.” He moves in closer, eyes flashing. “Too bad. I think she showed real promise.”
I shut him up with a punch to the gut. It doubles him over for a second. It’s about all the strength I have left. Before I can reset, Khan launches himself into a spinning kick. I feel a crack in my ribs, like a stick snapping. The pain brings me to my knees.
“This is how I remember you, Lamont. On the ground. My foot on your neck.”
I remember it, too. The taste of sand in my mouth. But that was before I had other people to fight for. “Times change,” I gasp, holding my side.
Khan moves in and takes a hard swing. I duck, then ram my fist up under his jaw. He staggers back, grinning like a madman, his teeth coated in blood. I move in for another strike, then another, backing Khan toward the edge. He ducks into a crouch and whips around. My reflexes aren’t fast enough. His foot catches me on the side of my leg and I hit the ground again, panting for air.
My leg feels numb, maybe broken. I watch as Khan picks up a boulder nearly as wide as his shoulders. He lifts it over his head and holds it there, sighting my skull, looking to crush it. There’s one thing I’ve known about Shiwan Khan since the day we first met. Winning is never enough. He always goes for overkill.
This is my last chance. Myonlychance.
I have no powers left—just the strength in my one good leg. I lunge at Khan, forcing him off-balance. With a furious grunt, he heaves the rock. It grazes my back and lands in the dirt behind me. The cliff is only a few feet away now. With my final burst, I ram my shoulder into his chest. He grabs me as he topples backward. There’s nothing I can do. His grip is too strong and the momentum is too much.
We go over the cliff together. A hundred-foot drop.
CHAPTER 102
I SEE THE ripples glitter for an instant before we hit. My head glances off something hard underwater. I’m dazed. Sinking. I try to kick, but I can’t. Helpless. No fight left. The water is cold and black. All I can see is my pale arms suspended in front of my face, weak and useless. Then the darkness closes in from behind my eyes—a rapid fade. My breath is gone. My lungs are burning. My mouth opens. I suck in water, cold and gritty. My throat spasms, trying to keep the water out. But it doesn’t work. I’m drowning and choking at the same time.
My bad leg hits the bottom and I barely feel it. I’m limp now… just suspended in the flow… drifting…
