The ninja advances, slashing and thrusting, and Daphne somehow manages to retreat from each attack until her heels hit the front tire of the compact and she falls over the hood. Lifting his blade, the man makes to impale her clean through the heart, but she seizes his wrist with both hands just in time. The tip of the sword is an inch from her chest, and the katana quivers as he struggles to drive it into her body.

Electrified by adrenaline, I know what I have to do. Diving under the SUV, I grab the lost blade and scramble to my feet. I’ve never even thrown a punch before, but Daphne is fighting to save my life—I’m not running anywhere. Wrapping my fingers tight around the hilt, I blank my mind. I hope I don’t run him through and end up stabbing Daphne; I hope that if he dies, his ghost doesn’t haunt me; and I hope I don’t fuck this up.

But I do, of course. I don’t make it two steps before he swings around, swiping his katana at mine so hard the blade is knocked from my half-numb hands. He lunges at me, and I almost fall on my ass again, but Daphne springs up from the compact’s hood with a vengeance. Kicking the back of his knee, she drops him into a kneel, and in a flash, the wooden stake she brandished at Jude appears in her hand again. Plunging it down, she buries it in his shoulder.

The masked man emits a guttural screech, toppling sideways. Blood splashes the pavement as he scrambles away, one-handed, dragging himself to his feet and limping into a run. Daphne scoops up his sword from where he dropped it and flings it after him as hard as she can, but it crashes against the side mirror of a sedan as the man vanishes behind it.

“Damn it.” Daphne bends over, her hands on her knees. “Damn it.”

“I can’t … I can’t…” I can’t figure out what to say. “I can’t fucking believe that! That was an actual fucking swordfight, and you were amazing!”

“I’m a warrior, Auggie.” In spite of everything, she actually manages a faint laugh. Her hair is disheveled, her coat is ruined, and she very nearly got killed by a ninja in the parking lot of a dying mall, but somehow she’s smiling. “You’ve got no idea how long I’ve been training for a fight like that.” Then, looking around, “We really need to go.”