Sasha peeled his eyes open. Light seared his eyes, splintered into starbursts. Inches away, Seven-A glared back at him. He shoved his sword into Sasha’s throat. The blade nicked his skin and drew a thin line of black to the surface.

“Come back, or die here?” Seven-A growled. The light in his eyes faded slowly, until it finally blinked out, star brilliance swallowed by night dark.

Sasha swallowed. His neck bobbed against the blade. Color drained from his face.

Seven-A slammed his hand against the wall, trapping Sasha completely. “Answer, now!”

Silver flashed. Sasha dug his mechanical fingers into Seven-A’s side. “Let me go.”

“Three told me you can only use that shock attack once a day. Give up,” Seven-A scoffed.

Sasha smirked. He opened his mouth. His lips moved, but the words were too soft to hear.

“What?” Seven-A leaned in.

“Five times,” he whispered.

Seven-A looked at him, brows furrowed.

Sasha gulped one last time. A shudder passed up his spine, and he vomited all over Seven-A’s head.

Seven-A stumbled back. The blade dropped from Sasha’s neck. He wiped at his hair and stared at the gunk on his hands. “What is this?”

Sasha pushed off the wall and sprinted for the door. The men raised their machine guns, startled.

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Seven-A shook off his hands, disgusted at Sasha, disgusted at himself. Hatred morphed his face into a glower, brows sharp as sword, eyes slitted, lips so tight they were white. “You scum. I’m going to destroy you.”

He barely took a step to chase after Sasha when a massive boom shook the building. Fire spouted from the wall vents and the floor shuddered like a giant flinching awake. Seven-A missed a step and threw his weight forward to keep from falling. Ahead of him, Sasha stumbled and caught himself against the wall.

Seven-A’s face twitched. “Shit. Out of time.”

Another explosion rattled the building, then another, the noise rolling together like thunder. The floor lurched under them again, harder than before, a bucking horse. Underfoot, the building swung. Debris rained down from above. Glass shattered as the windows gave out and fell away. Cracks bit through the floor and the walls around them.

The two men flailed. One fired wildly, while the other tripped and fell against the wall. Gathering himself, Sasha lunged past them and slammed through the doors. They swung wide behind him.

“Stop!” Seven-A shouted. He chased Sasha into the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a smudge of black and red where Sasha had thrown himself through the door.

Wind whistled through a shattered window. Papers fluttered around the room. Men staggered here and there, lurching with the building. At the far side of the room, against the window, Laredo held Arelia by the wrist. She stared at him, and he stared at her, face twisted with hatred. Tears flowed down Arelia’s face, and her lip trembled, but she couldn’t say a word. They didn’t notice Sasha, didn’t notice the floor crumbling under their feet. The two of them were trapped in their own world, far from reality.

Sasha cut a line through the center of the room, already adapted to the wobbling. Seven-A chased after him, sword lashing out, barely too short to reach.

The whistle of Seven-A’s sword caught Arelia’s ear. She looked up, abruptly, and found the two racing at her. Arelia startled, then grabbed Laredo around the waist and threw herself out the window.

“The hell?” Seven-A muttered.

Sasha didn’t hesitate. He ran to the window and jumped. Wind raged around him as he fell, debris tumbling alongside him. He dropped like a stone, chasing after Arelia.

Seven-A came to the window and stopped, one hand on the ledge, and peered down. After a moment, his lips twisted into a smile and his eyes lit up.