The Chaos Kind (John Rain, #11, Livia Lone, #5)

by Barry Eisler

“And remember,” Livia said, “you can also just open your guard. Because what does Jorge need to slam you?” “He needs to lift me.” “Right. And what does he need to lift you?” “My closed guard.” “Yes. You decide whether someone can slam you.”

“It doesn’t matter who it starts with. In the end it’s the Three Musketeers, or four, or however many. One for all and all for one. How many rounds of this game are we going to play before someone gets killed or winds up in prison? I don’t want to save the world anymore. I want to be normal. I want some peace. Don’t you?”

Because when order is your enemy, chaos is your friend.”

Rain was wearing black 2XU compression tights and a sleeveless compression top and looked, as far as Livia could tell, like any other prosperous local serious about keeping in shape. He had grumbled uncharacteristically about the superhero-tight clothes, but Kanezaki had argued that the point was threefold: come across as a serious runner, look like you’re not doing anything to avoid being noticed, and wear something under which it would be nearly impossible to conceal a weapon. All of which Rain reluctantly agreed was well calculated to help get him close enough to remove the target silently. Naturally, as soon as Rain was suited up, Carl had taken advantage by declaiming, “Very attractive apparel, if I may say so, and shows off your package to full advantage, such as it is.”