The cracked highway screamed beneath their tires.
William's black SUV swerved between burnt-out husks of cars, its rear bumper dragging sparks like a dying firework. Evelyne gripped the dashboard as Raito floored the accelerator, their own vehicle rattling with every pothole.
"He's pulling ahead!" Evelyne shouted, her voice slicing through the engine's roar.
"Not for long." Raito's eyes narrowed, knuckles bone-white on the wheel.
William's SUV lurched over the carcass of an overturned truck, suspension shrieking as it slammed back onto all fours. Through his shattered side mirror, William caught sight of Raito's car and bared a bloodied grin. Dust and smoke swallowed them as Raito swerved, tires screeching.
"Fuck!" Raito slammed a fist against the steering wheel.
"He's cutting into the suburbs," Evelyne said, jumping out to spot his turn. William's SUV disappeared down a narrow alley. She slid back into her seat. "I've got an idea. Hit it."
The chase funneled into the alleyway. William, breathing ragged, snatched up his walkie-talkie.
"This is William," he rasped.
"Sir, Master Thorne is asking for you," a tinny voice replied.
"I need pickup. I'm—" He glanced into his mirrors. "—stranded."
Out the corner of his eye, headlights flared. Raito's car roared from a perpendicular street, closing the trap.
SCRRREEEEECH—
BAAAAAAM!
The impact was bone-shattering. Raito's car T-boned William's SUV, metal grinding against concrete as the black vehicle crumpled sideways. Sparks burst as it flipped, spiraling through the air before crashing on its roof with a guttural CLANG.
The impact rattled Evelyne's skull. Her vision blurred as the airbag exploded in her face, a burst of powder choking the air.
Raito's head cracked against the steering wheel, blood streaking down his temple. For a moment, silence—just the hiss of steam from ruptured pipes and the tick-tick-tick of cooling metal.
Then blackness swallowed them.
---
When Evelyne came to, her ears rang like broken bells. She pushed herself upright, shards of glass falling from her clothes. Her head throbbed, but she forced her gaze toward the wreck.
William's SUV—mangled, upside down, still smoking. The driver's door hung open.
Empty.
"No…" Evelyne's whisper rasped through her throat.
She stumbled toward Raito, shaking his shoulder. He stirred, coughing, eyes flickering open.
"Where… where is he?" Raito croaked.
Evelyne turned her head. In the distance, not far beyond the suburban stretch, Obsidian's front gates loomed—towers of reinforced steel wrapped in flickering spotlights. And there—staggering toward it, bloody but alive—William.
He raised his arms to the guards. "Take me to Thorne!" His voice cracked, echoing faintly across the night air.
Raito cursed under his breath, forcing himself to his feet. Evelyne steadied him.
"If he makes it inside, we'll lose everything," Raito growled.
Evelyne's eyes hardened. "Then we don't go back."
They took one step forward—then froze.
Shadows peeled from the ruins around them. Half a dozen Obsidian goons closed in, rifles raised, masks glinting under the floodlights. The metallic clack of a safety being switched echoed in the dark.
Evelyne's heart pounded. Raito flexed his fingers over his blade.
Cornered. Outnumbered. Nowhere left to run.