I froze, my hands raised, keeping my breathing steady.

“What are we doing, Biff?” Tweedle Dum whined, his voice grating. “Just waste the girl and shoot him already. He’s unarmed, for hell’s sake.”

Of course his name was Biff. But he was staying Tweedle Dee in my head.

“Shut up,” Tweedle Dee snapped, his gaze never leaving me. “This guy’s mowed through a lot better men than you, dumbass.” Then his expression twisted, a mix of anger and something more personal. “At Murphy’s. The guy you... bit into? He was a friend of mine.”

I vaguely remembered it, the details hazy, like trying to piece together the aftermath of a night drowned in too much whiskey. Not exactly my proudest moment, but I hadn’t figured everything out yet back then. I was just a baby undead, stumbling through the mess of this new existence.

“Yeah,” I said, my voice low and steady. “Well, your friend interrupted my lunch.”

Tweedle Dee’s jaw tightened. His finger twitched on the trigger. I stayed still, keeping my sword in the corner of my vision, just close enough.

“Now, I’m going to give you one chance. Let her go and walk away,” I growled.

Tweedle Dum shifted his grin into something sharp, the scar pulling his face into a twisted smirk. “Look at this guy,” he said, voice full of mockery. “Hands in the air, trying to play hero.”

Tweedle Dee waved his hand dismissively. “Here’s the deal, Jack. You’re gonna lie on the ground, nice and slow, and my men are going to bind you. And, if you’re a real good boy, we’ll take a little walk upstairs to see Mr. Catigan. Unless you’d rather your girl here ends up as an unfortunate result of your bad manners.”

“And if I don’t?” My eyes flicked to Ashley. She stood frozen, every muscle tight with fear.

His smile stretched thin. “Then your little friend finds out how sharp bad luck can be.”

The growl in my chest barely stayed in check as I crouched, setting my pistol on the worn carpet.

“Fine,” I said, straightening slowly, my hands still raised. “If you insist... I guess that means you all have to die. But hey, don’t say I didn’t try to do this the nice way.”

Tweedle Dum barked a laugh. “Oh yeah? Who’s gonna stop us? The Invisible Man?”

I tilted my head, letting a slow smile creep across my face. “Nah. Just Al.”

Their confusion lasted a beat too long. I ducked to the side as the crack of a revolver split the air, and Tweedle Dee’s head snapped back, a perfect red bloom blossoming between his eyes. His body hit the ground like a dropped sack of potatoes. Ashley stumbled free, almost tripping as she escaped his grasp.

Al grunted as he rolled toward cover. His smoking gun looked satisfied with its work.

I didn’t wait. Grabbing Ashley, I yanked her behind another row of slot machines. Coins clattered to the floor.

“Stay down!” I ordered, pressing her flat. My voice softened, just a little. “You’re safe now. I’ve got this.”

Ashley’s wide, terrified eyes locked on mine, but she nodded, biting back a sob.

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The room burst into a whirlwind of sound and motion.

Tweedle Dum roared, his shotgun blasting holes through anything unlucky enough to be in his line of sight. Lights flickered. Coins rained like confetti. Somewhere, a slot machine jangled out a cheery tune, oblivious to the blood painting the carpet.

And me? I was already moving, my hand closing around the hilt of my sword as I snatched it from the floor.

Backup flooded the room from side entrances, their guns raised, their movements sharp and coordinated. The muzzle flashes lit the chaos, and bullets whined past me like angry hornets.

I vaulted over the slot machines, landing hard in the thick of it. My blade moved faster than thought, slicing through the first gunman before he could even aim. Another fired wildly, but I ducked low, sweeping his legs out and finishing him with a clean thrust.

A third raised his weapon, but I was already inside his reach, the blade cutting through his wrist with a precision that left his gun clattering uselessly to the floor. Blood sprayed, and he staggered back, choking on a scream.

Their guns made noise, but my sword made the silence that followed. One by one, they dropped, their bodies piling in the wreckage of what they thought would be an easy kill.

Al, despite his injury, was a force of nature. He leaned out from cover, his revolver booming.

A goon rushed me with a baton crackling with riftsurge. I sidestepped, grabbed his arm, and twisted, the bone snapping under my grip. I spun him around, using his body as a shield as his comrades opened fire.

The roulette table splintered under the onslaught, chips and cards scattering. I kicked a fallen gun to Al.

I used the lifeless body as a shield against a barrage of bullets, then tossed it aside and moved, fluid and fast. My short sword gleamed in the casino’s flickering lights, the vorpal edge slicing clean through armor and flesh alike.

Tweedle Dum charged, his shotgun raised, but I ducked under his swing, driving the hilt of my sword into his gut. He staggered, and I slashed upward, the blade cutting across his chest.

He fell back, clutching the wound, his face twisted in rage.

Guards kept coming, but so did I. A slot machine exploded behind me, sparks flying as bullets tore through the delicate mechanisms. I scavenged a gun from the fallen and fired back, each shot landing true.

Al covered me with brutal precision, mowing down anyone dumb enough to get too close.

Finally, the chaos ebbed, leaving only the sharp tang of blood and gunpowder in the air. The last guard collapsed in a heap, his weapon clattering uselessly beside him.

I turned to Tweedle Dum, who was still alive—barely. His breaths came in shallow gasps, his blood pooling beneath him in a dark, spreading stain. He looked up at me with wide, fearful eyes, as if realizing too late that this was a fight he never should’ve started.

I crouched down, wiping blood from my face, and smiled. “Now, where’s Cat?”

Tweedle Dum coughed, blood spilling from his lips, and laughed. “You think you’ve won?”

I leaned closer, my voice low and dangerous. “You tell me.”

His laughter faltered, his eyes glazing over.

“Stupid bastard,” I muttered, patting his cheek lightly. His eyes fluttered, but he didn’t have enough left in him to respond.

I shook my head, a flicker of something almost like pity sparking deep in my chest. A part of me tried to feel sorry for them—for their families, for the wreckage we’d left behind, for all the death and destruction that seemed to follow wherever I went.

But I shoved that part down hard, burying it where it couldn’t slow me. No time for that now.

I stood, sheathing my sword.

Al limped over, his shotgun resting against his shoulder. “You good?”

“Better than him,” I said, nodding toward the mess behind us.

Ashley peeked out from behind the slot machines, her face pale but determined.

“You okay?” I asked, my voice softening again.

She nodded, stepping forward cautiously.

“You’re going to want to hide,” I said, restocking a few guns from the fallen. “It’s not over yet.”

Al grumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “you’re gonna be the death of me.”

We turned toward the stairs leading to the penthouse.