Something warm struck me in the center of the chest, knocking me backward and sending my blade flying away in the darkness. A small, solid body leaped heavily onto my stomach, straddling me and taking my breath away. Then small hands seized the sides of my head as the woman bent down and kissed me firmly on the lips. Smiling down at me, Emily reached into her battered leather jacket and withdrew from it the finest vat-grown red rose money could buy.