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Jumping down, he landed heavily. The tiles broke on impact and Jack lost his footing. He tumbled down the slope, past the ninja, towards the edge.

The ninja dived for him, catching hold of his arm as he went over.

Jack now hung from the eaves, swinging high above the ground. Below him, he caught a glimpse of Dragon Eye leaping from the donjon’s lower level to the roof of a nearby building. The distance seemed impossible, but the assassin landed with stealth and disappeared into the night. Jack wouldn’t be so fortunate if he fell from his height.

His heart hammering in his chest, he looked up to see a gloved hand holding his wrist tightly. As he swung in the darkness, two eyes gazed down at him through the slit of the ninja’s hood. There was a moment of recognition.

Then the ninja let go.

45

DOUBLE LIFE

Jack plummeted through the air, screaming in terror as the wind whipped past him. A second later he crashed, not into the ground, but on to a lower roof of the keep.

He lay there a moment, too shocked to move.

As he recovered from the fall, he noticed a gleam of steel beside him. His katana was caught in the gap between two rows of tiles. Cautiously, he shuffled to the edge and grabbed hold of the handle. With his sword back in hand, he felt his strength return.

Jack got to his feet and sheathed his katana. He now had to climb all the way back up to the sixth floor via the precipitous maze of interconnecting roofs. He carefully made his way along the ledge to the corner of the keep. Peering round, he spotted the ninja coming towards him. Unseen, Jack crouched low, hiding in the shadow of the eaves above. He withdrew his tantō and waited to ambush the assassin. As the ninja turned the corner, Jack jumped out. He forced him against the wall, holding his knife to the ninja’s throat. The demon blade shone white in the pale moonlight, hungry for blood.

‘No!’ cried a girl’s voice.

Stunned, Jack stared into the ninja’s eyes, black as ebony.

‘Akiko?’ he breathed, almost too scared to utter her name.

The ninja nodded once. Pulling off the hood, Akiko’s long dark hair fell round her shoulders.

‘I… I can explain,’ she stuttered, glancing fearfully at the knife still held to her throat.

‘You’re a traitor… like Kazuki!’ said Jack, his hand starting to tremble in shock.

‘No, No! I’m on our side.’

‘Then why dress like a ninja? Why save Dragon Eye?’

‘No, I saved you back there,’ Akiko insisted. ‘Dragon Eye had the tantō up his sleeve. He was about to kill you.’

‘But I had my sword to his throat. And you attacked me! Why should I believe you? You dropped me off the roof!’

Akiko shook her head vigorously. ‘If I’d wanted you dead, I’d have simply let you fall. Instead I swung you to safety,’ she explained, her eyes pleading with Jack to believe her. ‘Remember the ambush in the bamboo forest? I was the third ninja who saved you.’

Jack felt his heart being torn in two. He dearly wanted to believe her, but his eyes couldn’t deny the truth.

Akiko was a ninja. The enemy.

‘Why not just warn me that Dragon Eye had a knife?’

Akiko looked away, unable to meet his gaze. ‘I couldn’t let you kill him.’

Jack’s mind reeled. Not only was she a ninja, she was protecting Dragon Eye, his father’s murderer. Jack felt a throb of rage and the demon blade in his hand seemed to beg him to draw its razor-sharp edge across her throat.

‘Please take that devil knife away,’ she whispered, terrified by the look in his eyes. ‘I’ll explain everything.’

Jack suddenly became aware of what he was doing. This was Akiko. His best friend. He had to trust her. As if a spell had been broken, he felt his anger ebb away.

‘You can’t kill Dokugan Ryu,’ she said as Jack slowly lowered the blade and put it away. ‘He’s the only person who knows where my brother is.’

‘But Jiro’s in Toba,’ challenged Jack.

‘I’m talking about my baby brother, Kiyoshi.’

‘You told me he was dead.’

‘I said he was no longer with us,’ corrected Akiko.

‘But you pray for him at the Temple of the Peaceful Dragon.