Casey vanished in Tim's arms.
One moment her weight was there — warm, trembling, soaked with sweat. The next, nothing. Just blood streaked across his chest and empty air where she had been.
His scream tore out of him, jagged and animal, echoing through the Nomerci hall.
The sound drew every enemy.
"Leader!" Yuko's sharp voice snapped him back. She slashed a guard's throat in a blur, blood spraying across her bare thighs. "We move!"
Tim blinked, vision blurred, grief and rage locked in his chest. Jenny staggered against him, half-naked under her torn blouse, her chains finally shattered. He shoved her behind him and raised his blade.
Tidam answered.
The hall turned into slaughter.
Lacey surged first, her fists pumping like a CrossFit champion in overdrive. She slammed a guard into the wall, her chest bouncing with each vicious blow. Her tank top was torn, sweat dripping down the curve of her cleavage, but she didn't care. She was all power — a gym-rat fantasy turned into a bloody storm.
Amy clung to Jenny, but when a guard lunged, she turned feral. She leapt at his throat, biting and clawing, her petite frame writhing like a girl in a viral street-fight clip who shocked everyone by tearing down a man twice her size. Her hoodie slipped off her shoulders, flashing pale skin, but her kitten face was twisted with rage.
Yuko danced between them, knife flashing like strobe lights in a nightclub. Her skirt rode up with every slash, flashing thigh, her expression cool and detached, like a gamer mid-stream pulling a perfect kill streak. Blood spattered across her cheek and she just licked her lips, smirking as she cut down three more.
And Tim —
Tim was pure wrath.
Every kill was Casey's voice in his head. Every slash was her whisper. Jenny really does love you. Please cherish her.
He didn't fight like a soldier. He fought like a man possessed. His blade hacked through torsos, severed arms, split faces. His shirt was shredded, his muscles slick with sweat and blood, veins bulging like he'd stepped out of a fight-night poster.
Jenny staggered after him, her torn blouse hanging low, clinging wet with sweat and blood. She stared at him in shock — her boyfriend drenched in gore, but more dangerous, more magnetic, than she'd ever seen.
"Kill them all!" Hussain's roar shook the chamber. He cracked his whip, leather snapping across stone. Two Tidam members screamed as flesh ripped open. Hussain's grin stretched wide, chest bare and glistening like a sadistic athlete stepping into a cage match.
From above, Genny leaned over the balcony, her corset gleaming in torchlight. "Dance for me, little brother," she purred. "Let me see what you're worth."
Tim didn't answer. He drove his blade into another man, ripping it free with a grunt.
But the torches flickered.
The sky outside was changing.
"Leader!" Yuko's voice cut sharp. "Sunrise!"
Tim's head snapped up. Dawn's first glow crept in through the cracks of the ceiling.
"Push!" he roared, voice ragged. "To the gate! Now!"
Tidam surged as one.
Lacey grabbed a fallen spear, twirling it like a pole-dancer turned warrior. She spun in wide arcs, blood spraying as her hair stuck to her sweat-slick face. Amy tugged Jenny along, her small hands gripping hard, her hoodie slipping lower like a schoolgirl fighting to carry her queen to safety. Yuko carved marks into the wall as they ran, just like Casey had taught her, her knife leaving bloody slashes like nightclub graffiti.
Tim led. His body was pure fury, blade carving open a path, each strike throwing gore across his already blood-streaked chest.
At the gate, Hussain blocked their way, whip cracking like a spotlight. "Going somewhere, toy soldier?" His grin was feral, his torso gleaming like a boxer walking into round twelve, feeding on pain.
Tim bared his teeth, his chest heaving, eyes blazing. He lunged.
The whip lashed his arm, tearing flesh. He roared and yanked Hussain forward. They collided chest to chest, close enough to taste each other's blood. Tim's knife drove into Hussain's shoulder. Hussain bellowed, then laughed through the pain, sweat dripping down his bare body like he craved the agony.
"Leader!" Yuko screamed.
The first beam of sunlight slashed across the floor.
Tim's eyes widened.
"Move!" he roared.
They surged as one. Lacey shoved Jenny forward. Amy pulled with everything in her small frame. Yuko darted ahead, knife flashing, carving their final path. Tim slammed his boot into the gate, the wood splintering, and they burst through.
Behind them, the chamber filled with screams as dawn's light hit those who hadn't killed enough. Bodies turned to ash, shadows shrieking as the sun claimed them.
Tidam spilled into the alley, gasping, blood-soaked, alive.
Tim fell to his knees, Jenny in his arms. His blade dripped onto the cobblestone, crimson pooling beneath him.
And through the chaos, Casey's voice echoed in his head.
Jenny really does love you. Please cherish her.
His hands shook. His eyes burned.
But all he could feel was the empty space where Casey should have been.