Cove's POV

Ai jumps from the table, retracting the plasma blade, dropping it to the floor like it's heavy in her hands. An enforcer weapon, one she must have grabbed from the body of the guy on the floor, before slicing Dias's head off.

She kneels to him, two fingers at his pulse.

Her boyfriend?

Then she's pulling at the straps around his calves, opening a myriad of pockets, searching for something she can't find. Her hair is wild and blood crusted to the ends. Her neck, still a little red and swollen, has healed enough for the wound to seal.

"Yeah, save the boyfriend first. I'm good." I mumble, before I'm even aware I'm talking out loud.

Ignoring my wisecracks, she whips out a silver cylinder from one of the belts, and then struggles to roll the dead-weight enforcer onto his back. Lifting his shirt to expose a well-muscled chest, she jams the end of the cylinder on to the area where his heart should be, in one fluid, fuel-injection motion. The impact makes a hissing sound as it releases whatever-is-inside-of-that-thing directly into the big guy's blood stream.

I do nothing but stare at this whirlwind of a girl as she moves.

She's the eye of the storm passing through us all.

Must have been some bad ass viper blood.

The enforcer sits up suddenly, gasping like the dead come back to life. Ai chucks his gun at him, telling him they need to get going. It hits his chest making him wince.

Then she's making eyes at me, frowning so her brow furrows – in that cute way girls are capable of.

Did I notice how cute she was earlier?

"You're coming with us." She states simply. No arguments.

My head moves in slow assent. I'd much rather lie down, but I find the reserve, hidden deep in the recess of my own stubbornness, to stagger to my feet. Bloody hand clutched to my chest, loose in a cradle, as I catch my breath.

The pulsing ache in my suffering hand is stronger now, coming in thick and fast. Shooting in waves. A knife's edge of serrated confusion clouding all and any thought. I couldn't care less if she wanted me to drop-dead into eternal hell. I'll do whatever she wants.

The enforcer pulls himself to standing as I do, half drunk on adrenaline and drugs, surveying the mess we've made. He grips the edge of the desk.

He glances at Ai. "Looks like you've been busy."

"Yeah, while you were sleeping.'" We both watch as she takes the gun I took from her from the desk, blowing the dust off, before holstering it into the belt of her jeans. And then scoops up the hilt of the fallen plasma blade. Jamming the thing in her pocket so it weighs it down.

Only moments ago, she was half dead; now she's flipping comments and packing heat.

The enforcer doesn't say a word. Instead, he leans to pick up his own lost weapon at his feet. Then he tracks past me to the hall, barrel raised, to peer out. He sees me watching and gestures to a globe like device in the top corner of the room, tucked behind the door. A state of the art damper.

"Is that thing fully functional?"

"It's on," I nod. As far as I'm aware. If anyone heard anything this place would be knee-deep in fang by now. I close my eyes for a second and concentrate on my breath, beyond the hurt that's starting to creep up my whole arm.

"Can you walk?" I hear him ask.

I open my eyes. The room is a haze until I blink a few times. "Sure."

"Alright, then let's go. Both of you keep behind me. Heads down. Ai zip up your jacket. We might be able to just walk out of here."

"Unless there's another exit?" It takes me a few seconds to understand she's asking me.

"There's a delivery port. Through the kitchens."

The enforcer gives me cop eyes. "Ok, which way is that?"

"Down the corridor. Take a right. You'll see the emergency exit stairs. Kitchens are on the left." My voice breaks at the end.

He looks at her for confirmation. Can I be trusted?

Ai just shrugs. I guess I deserve that.

"Wait." I glance back at Dias's smiling head.

Ai looks down at my bloody hand. "What's wrong? You said you could move?" She glances at the big guy "There's a medi-kit in the cracker, right?"

"No, I mean yes... My chip." I motion to Dias. "It was in his mouth."

They both follow my eyeline to Dias's head on the floor.

"Do you think it's still viable?" Ai asks, wrinkling her nose.

"As long as the sensor doesn't detect a drop temperature, and the boy holds it in place. It's designed to function in tandem with NRs in his blood."

"NRs?" I don't know why the hell I'm asking. But it's something to focus on.

"Nano-receptors. They prevent someone else taking your chip and using it as a front door key. Once it's removed from your body the chip starts to die. But it could still work if we keep it intact."

"So, we take it with us." She says, and walks over to where the severed head of Dias Vasquez is resting on its side. After a pause, she shrugs off her jacket and wraps it up in it, tying the arms in a way to sling it over her shoulder like a makeshift sac.

A firm hand on my shoulder stops me mid-sway. Grateful, I give the enforcer a weak smile.

"Alright, enough playtime. Let's go."

He leads the way, down the hall, and we trail after him. Barely keeping up his strides are so long. Putting one foot in front of the other is an effort, but I dare not stop or I might pass out.

When we reach the kitchens – empty except for the lingering scent of raw meat – we have to pass single file between the counters, to get to the delivery hatch. Two large, double doors propped open, take up most of the far wall.

The enforcer grabs something off the counter as we move through. I start to wonder what it is, but then don't care. I'm all of a sudden extremely tired and the lights are way too bright, burning my eyes.

Through the gap of the door is a hybrid.

He's not looking at us, not at first.

As he turns, the enforcer aims his gun. Plasma fires at the hybrid. It dodges in an arc, snarling. But a kitchen knife spins out of the enforcer's other hand and sticks him squarely in the chest. It crumples to the floor in a wounded heap, but still moving, crawling and smearing blood in a wide-line to get to us.

A shot to the head takes him out dead.

Finally, we walk out through the exit, and over the newly dead hybrid and the skid of blood smeared behind his fresh corpse. A swish of doors close behind, locking us out into the darkening night.

Just as the silent alarms, dotted around the club, begin to flash the boldest of reds.

***

Author's Note - 

[Thumbnail image credit the amazing Dwayne Johnson as Jax, because what adventure isn't complete without The Rock!]

And another shortie, to allow for the natural break point!

Sorry for not posting AT ALL last week. :( I was ill. Had an allergic reaction to something and my both my eyes swelled up ><

Thank you all for sticking around and waiting patiently! Im going to work out how to schedule so it doesn't happen again! 

Thanks to all my new subs!!

Love and donuts,

Lisxx