Page 100 of Neon Flux

“Don’t I?” The man sneered, pulling a knife from his belt.

“Cy, don’t—” I tried to warn him, but he was already moving.

He threw the baton like a spear, and I felt my hair shift as it barely missed me and struck my captor square in the nose. The man yelped, releasing me as he stumbled back, clutching his bleeding face.

I hit the ground hard, the breath knocked out of me. Cy was on him in an instant, slamming him onto the floor with a vicious snarl.

But the delay cost him. The man drove his knife toward Cy’s face. I cried out as Cy threw his hand between them, and I watched the blade sink straight through his palm to the hilt. He didn’t even slow down. He twisted his wrist—and the blade with it—ripping it from the man’s grasp as blood dripped down onto his face. Then he pulled back his opposite hand and struck the man so hard his teeth cracked.

There were too many of them. Another guard blindsided him, landing a solid blow to his ribs. A second tackled him from behind. He was fast, but not fast enough. A blow to his shoulder staggered him, and he faltered, his face finally contorting in pain.

“Run, Eon!” he shouted, even as another man swung at him, the impact driving him to his knees.

I scrambled to my feet, my body screaming in protest, but before I could take a step, a pair of arms locked around me from behind. I struggled, kicking and clawing, but it was no use.

Pain exploded through my skull as someone struck the side of my head. My vision blurred, the room spinning wildly.

“Eon!” Cy’s voice reached me, raw with desperation—but it felt distant, like it was coming from underwater.

I tried to call out to him, but the words wouldn’t come. My knees buckled, and I felt myself falling, the world tilting as darkness closed in.

The last thing I saw was Cy—still fighting, bloodied but unrelenting—before everything went black.

CHAPTER 36

CY

Eon collapsed onto the floor.

Fuck.

Something must have happened with the device for her to blow our cover like that, but I didn’t have time to think about it. I had to get us out.

But that was an impossibility.

Didn’t matter. I would do what I always did—fight.

My ribs ached as I threw myself into the attackers, sharp pain flaring in my hand as I pulled the knife free and hurled it into the neck of an incoming guard. He went down with a garbled cry. I spun, but three different men grabbed me from behind.

I twisted, but the hands on me were ironclad. One thug on each arm, shoving my shoulders forward until my bad one burned like fire. My knees buckled, breath hitching through my teeth, but they kept me upright. Like they wanted me to feel every bit.

One of them yanked my head back by my hair, forcing me to look up. Hinokawa stepped into view, casual as ever, adjusting the cuffs of his silk jacket like he had all the time in the world.

“Why don’t you tell me what this little whore was up to?”

“Bitch is just a mule. Didn’t know anything. Thought it was a sex toy.”

“Is that so?” Hinokawa held the device in his palm, and I could smell the burnt plastic and carbon of destroyed tech. “Well, I’m sure the boys will enjoy her then.”

I tried not to react. It would only make things worse. But I felt my Flux pulse, and my implants along with them. Hinokawa saw it and knew what it meant. “Attached to this one, are you? Perhaps your time in luxury has made you soft, Cyanos. Or maybe she’s more than meets the eye?”

“I’d just broken her in. Seems a shame to waste all that effort.”

“If you want her intact, I suggest you tell me exactly what you intended with this little device.”

One thug wrenched my arm, pushing my shoulder past its limit. A choked sound tore out of me before I could stop it. Stars burst in my vision. The pain nearly made me black out.

“Tell you what,” I gritted out, “I’ll shoot my boss an email and let him tell you exactly what POM wanted.”