Page 46

CY

E on 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.”

To my surprise, Hinokawa’s ancient face twisted into a grin. “Oh, Cyanos, there are some things in this world even more powerful than that badge of yours.”

“I doubt it.”

The old fucker smiled. “Angels who have been banished from heaven become devils, isn’t that right?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He waved his hand. “I’ll give you some time to think on it.”

An ice-cold prick hit my neck and everything went blurry. It wasn’t a neurodampener. Tech was too expensive when a good old-fashioned dose of ketamine would do the trick. A few accidental deaths didn’t matter much.

I fought it.

I vaguely recalled being dragged down a hall, the Kitsune neon signs flashing and distorting as they came to life, their hideous laughter mocking as my shoulder twitched.

Time sped up.

Stilled.

Didn’t matter much at all.

Eon’s face floated in front of me, filled with an emotion I didn’t recognize.

I didn’t want to kill you, she said. I don’t want to kill anyone.

Her purple hair swirled into smoke. Kitsune laughed in the shadows, their neon eyes guiding me—until their faces changed.

Faces I knew.

Faces from my past.

The first time I killed someone, it was like watching a machine shut down. No gasps for breath. No cries for help. Just a switch flipping off.

And in this city, there are a lot of switches.

I was fourteen again.

A different dark alley. Twitching even worse.

I’d only had my Flux for a year, still learning to control it. Still getting used to the implants I’d been given—and I hated anyone seeing me practice. I always twitched like hell when they glitched.

I was behind a dumpster in Magenta. I kicked a hole in the rusted metal, and a dozen fat rats tumbled out, trying to scurry away.

Sparks fizzed at my fingertips. At that age, it didn’t take much to piss me off, and my own incompetence was more than enough. Bolts of electricity shot from my fingers, ricocheting off the alley walls as the rats scattered. I lashed out again and again, the hairs on my arms raised from static.

More.

More.

Eventually, more from luck than anything else, one rat got hit.

I leaned against the alley wall, panting, waiting for the surge to pass. Then I walked over to the rodent.

The smell of burnt hair and flesh overpowered even the rot of the alley. It looked like it had been left on a grill for ten hours too long—charred black from the inside out.

I nudged it with the toe of my boot. Nothing.

The crackling hum of my Flux had faded, but my hands still tingled with leftover energy. My fingers twitched, like they hadn’t gotten the message that the surge was over.

I should’ve felt something. Pride. Disgust. Relief.

But all I felt was hollow.

Then, footsteps, slow and deliberate.

I stiffened, pulse spiking as I turned toward the alley entrance.

Three boys stood there, silhouetted by the sickly neon glow from the street.

They weren’t much older than me, but I’d never had a proper meal in my life, so I was still waiting on my growth spurt.

The seams of their jackets glowed orange, and I caught flashes of a flaming neon kitsune—young Chrome Kitsune initiates.

“Heard the elders talking about the blue-haired freak with EM Flux. Thought you might be something special.” The speaker was clearly the leader of this little gang. “I heard they even paid for your fancy EM implants.”

Fancy indeed. My face ached every day, and my left arm still twitched uncontrollably all the time.

“Nah, I heard its ’cause his mom fucked Hinokawa-san. Must have some sweet pussy on her.”

“Not that sweet, she still owes him money.”

They laughed, and I ran at the leader. He clocked me so hard I hit the ground, my vision going completely black.

“You think you’re something special, huh, kirakirashita? Just look like fucking gutter trash to me.”

Funny. After all this time, I still don’t know the kid’s name. But I remember his face. I’ll always remember his face. Dark hair pulled back in a messy bun framed his square jaw, and beneath his monolids, his eyes glowed molten orange.

Flux was notoriously difficult to control during puberty, and this kid didn’t know what the fuck he was doing either.

Didn’t matter.

He lit his fist on fire and struck me across the face.

The searing pain cut through the haze, and I screamed, clutching my cheek.

Before I could react, the others descended on me—fists and feet flying.

Each blow was a reminder of my worth. They were relentless, their laughter mixing with the sickening thuds of fists against flesh.

“Not so special now, huh?” One of them sneered, delivering a brutal kick to my ribs, and I felt them crack. I gasped for breath, curling into a ball as the beating continued. Copper coated the inside of my mouth, but I wasn’t about to fucking cry.

“You’re nothing,” the leader spat, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking my head up. His molten-orange eyes burned into mine. “Remember that.” He slammed my face into the filthy alley ground. The still-new implant in my face shifted, and the pain that shot through my skull was white-hot.

I remember thinking there was nothing worse he could do to me.

I was wrong.

I heard his zipper as his friends continued their assault, another rib cracking. Warm piss splattered across my back and dripped down my neck.

The stink filled my nose, mixing with the coppery taste of blood in my mouth. My cheek was pressed to the ground, my breath coming in ragged gasps. All I could hear was my heartbeat—erratic, unsteady—as white-hot rage built inside me.

The bastard laughed, his grip still tangled in my hair. “You really are nothing.” He sneered. “Just a—”

I didn’t let him finish.

The piss was still dripping, seeping into my torn shirt.

That was all I needed.

Flux surged through me—sharp, volatile. My skin prickled as I sent the charge down, letting it crackle through the liquid pooling beneath me.

The reaction was instant.

The leader’s laughter twisted into a strangled scream as the current struck.

His body locked up, muscles seizing. His glowing eyes went wide with shock.

Smoke curled from his mouth as the electricity ripped through him, cooking him from the inside out.

His hands jerked, trying to let go, trying to escape—but it was too late.

He convulsed once, twice. Then went still.

I shoved him off. He hit the ground like a sack of dead weight, steam rising from his slack jaw.

In the end, he smelled exactly like that fried rat.

I pulled the Kistune jacket off his scorched body, shrugging off my piss-soaked one.

The other two stumbled back, horror plastered across their faces.

“What the fuck—” one of them choked out.

I grabbed the side of his face, so high on adrenaline that my Flux acted before I could think. It wasn’t as strong as before, but his flesh sizzled beneath my fingers as electricity etched into his tan skin.

“Tell your boss, I’ll work off whatever debt mom’s got. She’s out, you understand?”

He whimpered, and I dropped him. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, tasting metal and bile. My body ached, my ribs screaming, but I ignored it. I stepped over him, and he ran—followed closely by the other.

For the first time I could remember, I didn’t feel hollow. Their fear gave me a power I’d never known before. And I knew I would do anything to feel it again.