Read Online Raiju: A Kaiju Hunter Novel (The Kaiju Hunter) by K. H. Koehler - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: K. H. Koehler
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I touched it and was surprised by her coolness. I traced the contour of her cheek and the shape of her lips. She closed her eyes and laughed nervously. “Your hands are very warm, Kevin,” she said. “That doesn’t mean you have a cold heart, does it?”
I glanced down and wondered if I was seeing things correctly—my hands seemed to be glowing with a faint golden light. It had to be the poor neon lighting here, I thought. There was no other explanation. I dropped my hands to Aimi’s shoulders and drew her gently to me. We leaned in close and she tilted her head. My world was filled with her scrumptious perfume in the seconds before Snowman suddenly appeared right beside us.
I swear I never saw him coming. He just materialized out of nowhere. I thought for sure he would push me, the way he had at school. But I guess he’d had enough. This time he executed a right hook that impressed the hell out of me even as I went down hard on the gravel. I didn’t feel a thing—that would come later, after the adrenaline rush had worn off.
I sat up immediately.
Snowman’s tall, sweating, shaking form loomed high over me, both fists clenched. I noticed with some perverse joy that he had broken knuckles and was bleeding all over his fancy outfit. “Told you, hothead,” he warned. “Leave. Aimi. Alone.”
I tasted the blood of my broken lip. “Yeah, well,” I said as calmly as possible, “fuck you, chief.” I climbed slowly to my feet, swaying slightly. He was standing between me and Aimi, so I got up against him. “Get out of my way, Snow White.”
“ Make me.”
“ Stop it!” Aimi screamed at us both. “Just stop it!”
He punched me again.
He was good. I went down hard on my hands and knees, a buzz of pain in my head. The parking lot shifted slightly, like the world was on a giant cosmic pendulum. I heard voices. The rest of the band was gathering around our private little Fight Club, some of them yelling at Snowman to cut it out, that he was acting like a jerk, others edging him on. I ignored them. They didn’t exist. Only Snowman existed. I spit a penny-sized droplet of blood onto the pavement and began climbing slowly to my feet again.
“ Just stay down!” Snowman yelled.
I got up, instead.
He tried to kick me in the ribs with his monster plats, but I moved too fast. I wasn’t that chubby kid who played video games and read books all day. Not anymore. I threw myself against him, grabbed him by the cravat, and together we crashed back against the chainlink fence behind us. Snowman grunted as he took the full force of the impact. I was going to say something smarmy before busting his teeth in, but something brushed the back of my neck, distracting me. At first I thought it must be a fly, then I realized the hairs on the back of my neck were standing at full, rigid attention. My skin was crawling like it was on fire…
A moment later I found out why.
Because a moment later, the street exploded behind us, and a kaiju rose screaming like a thing from hell above the inferno.
C H A P T E R T H R E E
Break Stuff
1
The explosion that heralded the end of my life and the beginning of my nightmare rocked the entire street from side to side. All of us went down, clutching the pavement, as dozens of car alarms went off, adding to the rising cacophony in the night. Something told me we were in trouble—the type of trouble that would cost us our lives if we didn’t keep our heads together. I sat up, gritting my teeth with determination, and scrambled backward. I didn’t stop until I hit the fence.
Something had happened, something that was going to change the world. Again.
The street was full of smoke and the raw smell of sewage. Ironically, the first thing I thought of was not that some creature was responsible, but that a gas main had exploded on the avenue or a bomb had gone off. This was New York. Crime happened in New York. Terrorists set fire to buildings.
Then
I glanced down and wondered if I was seeing things correctly—my hands seemed to be glowing with a faint golden light. It had to be the poor neon lighting here, I thought. There was no other explanation. I dropped my hands to Aimi’s shoulders and drew her gently to me. We leaned in close and she tilted her head. My world was filled with her scrumptious perfume in the seconds before Snowman suddenly appeared right beside us.
I swear I never saw him coming. He just materialized out of nowhere. I thought for sure he would push me, the way he had at school. But I guess he’d had enough. This time he executed a right hook that impressed the hell out of me even as I went down hard on the gravel. I didn’t feel a thing—that would come later, after the adrenaline rush had worn off.
I sat up immediately.
Snowman’s tall, sweating, shaking form loomed high over me, both fists clenched. I noticed with some perverse joy that he had broken knuckles and was bleeding all over his fancy outfit. “Told you, hothead,” he warned. “Leave. Aimi. Alone.”
I tasted the blood of my broken lip. “Yeah, well,” I said as calmly as possible, “fuck you, chief.” I climbed slowly to my feet, swaying slightly. He was standing between me and Aimi, so I got up against him. “Get out of my way, Snow White.”
“ Make me.”
“ Stop it!” Aimi screamed at us both. “Just stop it!”
He punched me again.
He was good. I went down hard on my hands and knees, a buzz of pain in my head. The parking lot shifted slightly, like the world was on a giant cosmic pendulum. I heard voices. The rest of the band was gathering around our private little Fight Club, some of them yelling at Snowman to cut it out, that he was acting like a jerk, others edging him on. I ignored them. They didn’t exist. Only Snowman existed. I spit a penny-sized droplet of blood onto the pavement and began climbing slowly to my feet again.
“ Just stay down!” Snowman yelled.
I got up, instead.
He tried to kick me in the ribs with his monster plats, but I moved too fast. I wasn’t that chubby kid who played video games and read books all day. Not anymore. I threw myself against him, grabbed him by the cravat, and together we crashed back against the chainlink fence behind us. Snowman grunted as he took the full force of the impact. I was going to say something smarmy before busting his teeth in, but something brushed the back of my neck, distracting me. At first I thought it must be a fly, then I realized the hairs on the back of my neck were standing at full, rigid attention. My skin was crawling like it was on fire…
A moment later I found out why.
Because a moment later, the street exploded behind us, and a kaiju rose screaming like a thing from hell above the inferno.
C H A P T E R T H R E E
Break Stuff
1
The explosion that heralded the end of my life and the beginning of my nightmare rocked the entire street from side to side. All of us went down, clutching the pavement, as dozens of car alarms went off, adding to the rising cacophony in the night. Something told me we were in trouble—the type of trouble that would cost us our lives if we didn’t keep our heads together. I sat up, gritting my teeth with determination, and scrambled backward. I didn’t stop until I hit the fence.
Something had happened, something that was going to change the world. Again.
The street was full of smoke and the raw smell of sewage. Ironically, the first thing I thought of was not that some creature was responsible, but that a gas main had exploded on the avenue or a bomb had gone off. This was New York. Crime happened in New York. Terrorists set fire to buildings.
Then
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