Noctura

sixty nine

jinwoo

MY TEETH dig into a Noctura's throat. I bring my head upward, ripping the man's throat out. Immediately, I turn to another Noctura behind me and pounce on her.

Once she's dead, I stand up and look around for any other Nocturas to attack, adrenaline and rage pulsing through me, my eyes burning black and violet.

Someone grabs me from behind and I immediately whip around, ready to attack.

"Jinwoo! Stop! It's me!"

I stop myself from attacking a second before I'm about to grab Minho's throat.

"We need to go," Minho says. "I'll explain everything. But we have to go."

He takes me away from the battlefield. I look back to see Alliance members and AAN members fighting side by side, finally, to kill the Noctura gang members. From here, it doesn't look like either side is winning. And this is only one battle, in one section of Kraephis.

Who knows how well we're doing across the entire city?

I follow Minho through alleyways and mostly empty streets. Every now and then, there's a crazed Noctura running by or a human scared for their life.

But mostly, all the fighting is happening the other way, near the smoldering AAN building.

"So, why are we leaving?" I ask Minho as we're moving through the streets. "What did Mariela say?"

"She... she wants a life for a life."

I stop dead in my tracks.

"Wait, Minho..." I trail off, trying to form words. "I know you and Seunghoon are best friends but..."

"No, Jinwoo, I'm not going to give you to Mariela," Minho assures me. "I mean, I am, but I have a plan."

"What plan?" I ask. "What are you trying to do?"

"Look, Mariela wants you to help her fight the humans," Minho explains. "She wants you to help her and—"

"She wants two of us," I interrupt. "Did she tell you? She has someone with her, someone who's a Noctura but was once a human."

"How do you know?"

"She told me. When me and you and Yoon went over to her house to ask her to help us. She kept me in the kitchen and told me she has a friend who is just like me and if I want to meet her, all I had to do was ask." I sigh. "But I didn't trust her and I didn't trust the proposition. And it's a good thing I didn't."

"Well, she wants you and this other person to fight for her, against the humans. And she told me that I have to deliver you to her and she'll hand Seunghoon over. She told me where to meet her and everything. I think she's going to bring the other Noctura."

"So you're just gonna hand me over? She's not going to give Seunghoon up, you know. She'll probably kill him."

"I know," Minho says. "That's why I have a plan. We're going to do the switch at the exact same time and then as soon as the switch is over, you attack Mariela. I'll keep Seunghoon safe, and I'll go after the other Noctura if I need to."

I shake my head. "Minho, I don't know if I can—"

"You can, Jinwoo," he says. "I'll give you the signal. As soon as the switch happens, you go after Mariela. We'll get her, Jinwoo. She's one of the leaders of the Malums. We have to take her out."

I take a deep breath.

"Come on, we have to go."

"Where?" I ask. Minho starts moving.

"An empty space somewhere, down by the train tracks. Come on, we have to go."

Reluctantly, I follow.

. . .

We come up on the space and I immediately recognize it.

It's not the exact same place, but it's similar to where I was forced off a train before being transported from cell to cell until I wound up in an arena.

There are train tracks above asphalt and concrete beneath our feet. The buildings around us are somewhat far away, behind us and on the other side of the tracks.

Near the tracks, I can see three people.

One of them is wearing a long, red jacket, matching her red lips. The other is a little shorter, with long, chestnut hair. The third is Seunghoon, being held by Mariela.

As we get closer, I can see that Seunghoon's hands are tied in front of him and Mariela has a gun in her hands, pressed against Seunghoon's side.

The girl with chestnut hair is standing next to Mariela, staring at us. Her eyes are black and violet.

Minho and I stop a few feet in front of them.

Mariela's dark red lips pull up into a grin.

"Hello, Minho. Hello, Jinwoo."