Page 107 of Neon Flux

“Could you do that to your dampener?” he asked.

I…hadn’t thought of that. “I could try.”

“Do it. Then we’ll—” He was interrupted as footsteps rang down the hallway. He shifted his body, and once again, he put himself between me and our adversary. “I’ll distract them. You get that chip off and fry them.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.” I wasn’t sure if I was talking about the chip or the harm.

“Then it was nice knowing you, doll.” He shifted himself between me and the cell bars.

The footsteps stopped, and I could just barely make out a man in the shadows outside the cell.

“Long time, no see, kirakirashita.”

I heard Cy mutter, “Shit.”

The man stepped out of the shadows beneath the harsh fluorescent light. He had long, dark hair pulled back into a bun, and a mask that covered only the right side of his face, accentuating the scar that ran along his jaw. The hair above his ear was burned away, the scarring stretching across the back of his head and down his neck.

So many of the Kitsune were pyrotekniks—I found it strange to see one with burn scars, their skin naturally resistant. But as the man stepped forward, I realized these weren’t burns from flames. The scars were laced with veins of fractal patterns, and I immediately knew who had done this to him.

Shitwas right.

“Haruto? Who let your ugly face back in here?” Cy asked in his usual irreverent tone. God, we were so dead.

“Lot has changed since the flood, Cy. Since you disappeared. Kitsune needed men who weren’t afraid to do what needed to be done.”

“Yeah, you always had a knack for the hard work, huh? Like taking on kids half your size, five to one. How’d that turn out for you?”

Haruto slammed his fist into the bars, and I jumped. “Always thought you were so fuckin’ funny. Well, you don’t have your little light show to help you now.”

“Always liked the odds stacked in your favor. Whatever you’re gonna do, can we get it over with? I don’t have all day.” Cy let out a long-suffering sigh, and even I had to stare at his audacity.

Haruto’s eyes flicked to me, and I saw the flames swirling in them as he gave my legs the usual rake.

“Who’s the bitch?”

“Just some shofu.Sorry you got dragged into this, doll.” Cy leaned against me dramatically, tilting his head back onto my shoulder, his weight pressing into me, blocking my body with his.

“It’s coming out of your time,” I muttered.

He pinched my thigh. Oh right, I should probably play the part.

Haruto was still staring, and I made my eyes as big as I could. “Please! Let me out, I’m not with this guy…he said we were just going to…”

His eyes flashed. “I knew I recognized you. Rook’s got you down at Hellfire, doesn’t he? Damn, today really is my lucky day.”

I couldn’t help it—I flinched. Knowing this guy had wrapped some robo flesh around his cock and had me riding him pissed me off. But fuck if I was going to let this asshole be the last thing I ever saw. I held onto that feeling—that indignant anger. Deep in my core, my Flux roiled with it.

“I’ll have time for you later. Let me take care of this asshole first.” He opened the cell and grabbed Cy by the collar. Cy locked eyes with me one more time, and I knew this was on me.

I backed up against the wall of the cell, and I didn’t need to act afraid. I was terrified, my hands shaking so badly I pinned them behind me to the wall.

Haruto ripped Cy’s jacket and shirt off, and I heard Cy murmur, “Could’ve at least taken me to dinner first.”

That earned him a swift punch across the jaw that snapped his head to the side so violently, I gasped. Cy barely reacted.

My heart was racing, and pain laced down my neck as I tried messing with the chip. I took a deep breath as Haruto strapped Cy to a chair and I tried again. White-hot pain shot through my brain stem.

Focus!My pinky shook, but I blocked it out. I blocked everything out and let the technology talk to me—the way it always had.