Will and the others had been waiting for news at Clark's home when the arbitrator's team surrounded the property. Ava led more than a dozen men into the main hall.
Jeffrey stood to confront them, and she struck him with a savage backhand without even looking at him.
Furious, Will stepped in front of the towering woman. "How dare you—"
His words were cut short by another strike from Ava. She wasn't as powerful as Alex or as skilled as Kenneth, but she was still extremely dangerous.
Rufus's face was grim. "What do you want?" he asked.
Will was enraged. He started to get to his feet, ready to fight, but froze when several men pointed their weapons at him.
Ava didn't even look at Rufus. "Don't waste my time," she said. "Get Alex out here."
"What do you want with him?" Dennis asked as he helped Jeffrey to his feet. "He's injured."
"He's lucky to be alive," she snarled. "It's more than he deserves. I've got orders. Tomorrow afternoon's the big event, and we're supposed to watch him until showtime."
Rufus was surprised. "It was supposed to be tomorrow night," he said. "How did you change the time?"
"Todd renegotiated on the Baltimore chapter's behalf," she said. "He thinks a daytime fight would be more transparent. And it'll be more fun. So be a good boy and get him out here now, or we'll tear you apart."
She looked around and shouted, "Alex, your babysitters are here."
There was no response.
"He's not here," Jeffrey said.
"Search the area," she said, gesturing to her men. They scattered around the house, moving from room to room and kicking down doors to find him. Each room was torn apart and turned upside down while Will and the others watched helplessly, eager to fight but well aware that they wouldn't stand a chance. They were comforted by knowing that Alex was safer wherever he was than he would be if he were there with them.
Clark's compound had two basements. One was under the garage outside, and the other was under the hall stairs. The former was about a hundred square feet, and was used for storing sundries, while the latter was partitioned into three rooms as extra living spaces.
After searching every inch of the Fairfax compound, Ava's men returned empty handed.
"Where is he?" she said, unsheathing the sword at her hip.
She was done playing games. She grabbed Dennis and held her blade to his throat. "If you don't tell me what I want to know, I'll cut out your tongue."
Will glared at her. "You're going too far," he said. "He's still a member of the Baltimore Martial Arts Association. And I don't doubt for a second that he'll be there to face Jacob. Why are you doing this?"
She struck him again and said, "I don't care. He's coming back with me, or you're about to have a very bad day."
She looked up and shouted, "Alex! Get out here, or whatever happens to your friends is on your head."
She knew her men had covered the entire building, but she was certain he was hiding somewhere in the compound. It was the dead of winter outside, and he wouldn't be on the grounds.
Fine, she thought, we'll take a more direct approach.
She nodded to her men and shoved Dennis at them. "Make it hurt," she said.
He tried to fight back, but he was outnumbered. Ava's men punched and kicked him savagely. Soon, he was bleeding and battered.
Rufus fought to keep from rushing in to help, but he was surrounded by eight of her team members, their hands on their weapons.
"Tick tock, Alex," she called. "I'll give you ten more seconds. I can't be held responsible for whatever damage my boys do to your friend."
She gestured to the men with her sword and called out in a singsong voice, "No one will be safe."
The house was silent except for the noise of Dennis's beating.
"Not coming out?" she said with a cruel smile. "Fine with me. Let's see if your friend here really needs both eyes."
She placed the tip of her blade under Dennis's eye. He was terrified, but he didn't make a sound. He was willing to die to protect Alex.
Meanwhile, Ava wasn't afraid of Alex at all anymore. She thought that he had been broken by Jacob to the point where even a child could take him out.
"You can't hurt your own people," Rufus yelled.
"It's not like I didn't try diplomacy," Ava said with a grin.
A sudden boom shook the place, and dust fell from the rafters. The doors swung open, and everyone was momentarily blinded by the sunlight that poured into the hall.
Alex's voice rang through the room like thunder. "You're all going to die," he said.
***
Alex had spent the last six days in deep training, completely cut off from the outside world in the Downs. He had been sitting in a clearing, meditating and chanting.
The sun had shone brightly over the sparse wintery ground. He hadn't felt the cold. He had only been aware of the sunlight on his skin. He had felt his aura, his inner power, begin to drink in the light. It had moved around him like pale smoke, drifting into his nostrils with each inhalation. He had learned to draw down the essence of the sun.
As the Baltimore marital artists and Ava's men were locked in a standoff inside of the house, Alex finally stood up and began moving through his fighting stances. With each repetition, he moved faster and faster until even his breathing appeared to stop. More and more energy poured into him, as if his body were drinking it up with an unquenchable thirst.
The energy rushed through him and around him. The real inner power of his body was flowing at high speed. He could feel the limits of his own essence falling away. But it still wasn't enough. He could feel he was on the verge of a breakthrough, but he had hit a wall.
He sat down to meditate and contemplated this new boundary. I'm not the first person to walk this path, he thought. What would my predecessors do?
He thought back to when Celia had offered him a powerful healing seed, and it gave him an idea. He could still feel the sun's energy filling his body. Although everything around him was dead for the winter, he ruffled through the crumpled leaves on the frosty ground and found a dried buckeye seed.
Holding it close to his belly, he closed his eyes and reached out for his inner essence. It surged, exuberant, into his hand, and he guided it into the seed. In his mind's eye, he watched his own inner force meet what remained of the seed's essence.
The seed drank in his power, and he felt it change. It flared to life, but it wasn't a buckeye seed anymore. On instinct, he popped it into his mouth and swallowed it. He felt it move to his stomach where it seemed to explode into a shimmering wave that washed through his body.
He opened his eyes and smiled. The barrier had been broken.