★ FL's POV ★
I turned to him, bleeding but not dead. With the remaining strength I had, I drove the knife one final time into his chest. The light in his eyes flickered and died, as he breathed his final, choked breath.
With a satisfied smile on my face, I
reached for the table, climbed onto it, reaching for the vent in the middle of the room, lacing my blood all over it. I then moved to the bed and bolted through the opened window, trying hard to contain my blood from trailing along with me, clenching to the mattress I had snatched.
With each inhale my chest burned like a shard of glass slicing through me.
"I have to get out of here. I can't get caught!"
But how was I supposed to manage that, when I couldn't even run properly with this busted left hand, snapped like a chicken wing and dangling uselessly at my side?
Even pressing my side, where that fucker stabbed me, was a luxury.
I cut into an alley from the main street. Dogs and gunshots echoed behind me.
Every movement, every step hurt. Blood kept running down my thigh like someone turned on a damn faucet on my side, and my dress was soaked.
"Dammit, I'm losing too much blood!" And those Zenkai dogs were still on my heels. The echoes of their voices and footsteps splashing in puddles were getting closer.
"Those bastards. They really won't give up, would they?"
"Guess killing their precious boss isn't exactly a friendly hello."
The fact that those numbers of his companions were at the door meant they were backups and the initial waves were wiped out.
"Screw them."
If Zenkai died, even his allies would be thrilled and gladly dismantle his assets.
But that is not for them to touch, it is mine.
And after this report, I will be returning to my rightful place as the Godfather of Kawagashi region, with no one left alive to threaten our existence.
In any case, I've got to shake off these rats. I pushed forward, stumbling through the dark alley.
As I turned sharply, my knees buckled, my broken arm slamming against a dumpster, and a scream threatened to spill out, but I bit hard on my lip, swallowing the scream.
"Fuck! My head is spinning."
"I can't get caught. Not here."
"So fucking keep moving, Butterfly, don't stop, you can't die here."
I staggered back, sliding through the narrow passage to the next alley, my heels scraping against the wet concrete.
Even as the pain kept sipping in, I turned left, then right. I won't stop. I can't stop now because if I slow down… I die.
I pressed the earpiece in my ear, hidden under this disguised face. "I'm close," I said in a voice that I could barely even hear.
A voice crackled back, "On standby. Three blocks up north at the pinned location, we are waiting. Five minutes from your spot."
"Damnit. Five minutes feels like an eternity right now."
I ducked into another alley, moving with every precision since I'd scouted this area before. "Just a few more turns."
"Just hold on, Butterfly. Nothing would happen."
And then, through the haze of pain and exhaustion, I spotted it—the SUV. "You just need one last stretch, Butterfly, you can do it." I tried to focus my gaze solely on the vehicle as I staggered toward it, blood dripping from my cracked head and side.
The rear door burst open even before I reached it, and Akaru jumped out, his brow furrowed, face alarmed and filled with concern, as he rushed towards me.
"Over there!"
That phrase shook my core. My heart trembled as my legs almost froze.
As I ran, I caught the silhouette of five men on my tails. Three with a gun and two with what seemed like a camera.
"Don't tell me! Is that a thermal camera. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I have to get out of here."
In that moment, the men behind started firing, each one an inch to my body.
I took another sharp turn, my lungs threatened to ignite, my breath ragged, my heart beating like it's seconds from stopping.
"Don't lose the bitch!" One roared.
My vision kept blurring. I shook my head, trying to focus on the brick wall along my path, using it as a guide.
Before I could take another turn, a numbness spread over my entire body, then a cold, before the agonizing pain registered: a bullet had found peace in my leg.
I dropped to the ground, smashed by the alley muds, as I tried crawling myself forward.
Tears I hadn't shed in the past five years found its way down my chest as the sense of dread washed over me.
"I can't get caught. I can't!"
"They are the ones who would get killed while they make me watch. I can't." My chest tightened.
With a sickening pull, I was yanked back by my hair, as a skull-splitting strike with a gun landed on my head. Warm liquid rushed down like an overflowing fountain, as blood stained my vision.
"Take her, second in command request her alive." One said.
"Is this the slut that sent the boss to the hospital." Another said, landing a jaw-shifting smack on my face.
At their words my world tilted.
Not because I was caught, but because of what I was going to lose.
"He should be dead! I gave the last blow! No. No. No. No. NOOOOOO!"
"HE SHOULD BE DEAD. HE HAS TO DIE."
"No."
If he's alive, before his gaze would even flicker in my direction, it would settle on my little brother and my fiance—my reason to breathe. The only light in this shadowed world.
And what truly terrified me, beyond my life, is their lives.
He can't see him, he can't touch them. Because if he does, his signature will be all over them… experimental specimens.
No. My heart sunk.
If I don't escape now, everything will collapse. Their lives, my mission, our future.
I have to get out of here.