Two by two, the cars in front of me pulled out into the night. As they did, I started to see a trend. The jankier, less expensive cars were in front, with increasingly better ones filling in the back. Scattered through the middle were the bikes. Since Minnie was behind me in Felix's other car, she would be leaving after me. We wouldn't be racing together.

As stupid as it felt, that fact made me more nervous. I was out there on my own, and while I had faith in my own abilities, I had yet to really do anything on my own yet.

"Hey sweetheart, why don't you and me make a bet?"

I looked to my right at the guy hanging out of his window to yell at me. His steel blue-gray hair blew in the slight, rubber-scented, breeze that wound between the vehicles. His big eyes were creased from his full-lipped smile.

"What have you got in mind?"

His smile grew even bigger. "I'm Taewoo. How about we race for slips?"

I chuckled and looked ahead. There were only two rows of cars ahead of us. Two heats before ours. "This isn't my car."

"Then the loser pays for the winner's meal."

I laughed outright. Taewoo rested his chin on his arms in the open window. Since I wasn't planning on making it back around before the end of the race, I saw no harm in humoring the guy.

"Sure. Why not."

Taewoo clapped his hands together and grinned like the devil before the flagger in front of us waved us forward. The rumble of the car's engine vibrated in my feet and hands as we pulled up to the staging line. When we got close to the line, a couple young kids came out to make sure we were both even.

"I'm gonna warn you," Taewoo yelled over the noise of dozens of engines, "I eat a lot."

I realized that the flagger was one of the girls from Everglow. Yiren, I think. Her eyes flashed when she recognized me. Then she grinned and winked.

"So do I," I called back just as Yiren dropped the flags and I spun out. Taewoo hesitated a half a second too long and I was already a couple lengths in front of him by the time he realized it. I chuckled at the ease at which I'd thrown him off, taking the turns indicated on the screen without a care as I worked through the gears. The cool night air was glorious as it whipped through my hair. I leaned on the gas and relaxed into the seat, enjoying the sensations brought on by the suped up engine and just the feeling of control from driving such a powerful car. It might not have been pretty, but I had no doubt I would've won the race anyway if I hadn't had another agenda for the night.

The trajectory painted on the dashboard screen took us through deserted city streets toward the outskirts. Skyscrapers gave way to squat office buildings, which eventually became low, aging houses. The city wasn't the best for anyone outside the wealthy elite and it was painfully obvious as we left the stacks and entered the poor residential area. The sounds of our tires and engines echoed off the houses around us, but nobody seemed to notice. Either they were too scared to see what was going on around them, or they'd heard it so much they'd become desensitized to the sound.

The shocks on the car got a workout as the smooth road gave way to more and more potholes. I gripped the wheel tighter and did my best to avoid the trash that had blown into the path by storms earlier in the evening. I absently wondered why the racers would choose such a difficult path through the city, but quickly realized it had probably been chosen through an area the police were least likely to patrol. Less of a chance of the night getting spoiled.

When I saw that I was far enough ahead of Taewoo that he wouldn't see me, I tapped the emergency break, dropped the car into third, and drifted around a turn. As soon as I popped the clutch, the torque of the car slammed me into the seat and I laughed at the rush that filtered through my blood. Sex was great, but the rush of driving a fast car was a close second.

Before long, the city fell away entirely and I was reminded of the night I'd gone with Tae to check up on Monsta X. That night hadn't been anything I'd expected between the shootout with Shownu and his crew and what happened with me and Tae later in the garage. My face heated at the thought of his hands and mouth on me, but I pushed the thoughts away so I could focus on the job at hand. Too much was riding on me getting this right.

Just as I was opening the car up on the deserted road in front of me, something caught my eye. There was the glint of something across the lanes ahead of me, but I was going so fast it took me entirely too long to figure out what I was seeing. By the time I realized it was a car, I had precious little time to react.

I crushed the breaks and spun the wheel as I slid. Someone was propped up against the hood of the car I was sliding dangerously close to, but they didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that I had been going way too fast and saw them way too late. The smell of rubber and unspent racing fuel filled the car. I eased up on the breaks and fought the wheel for control, not taking a breath until the wheels stopped screaming and the only movement was the vibration of the idling engine.

When I looked over my shoulder out the window, the guy was still in the same place he'd been when I first saw him. He hadn't even flinched. I couldn't make out any features, but he was tall and had shaggy hair that hung at least part of the way down his face. The only other thing I could make out was the rifle strapped to his back. Considering the fact that he'd strategically parked his car in the shadows of the streetlights, I had the feeling that's what he was going for. I reached down and grabbed the handgun I'd been given before we left. My best hope was that I could draw mine before he could his.

I stepped out of the car, keeping it between me and the stranger with the death wish. "You're lucky I saw you in time. You were almost a bug on my windshield."

The guy didn't say anything as he turned his head toward me. He gave me the creeps, but something about the way he held his body even when relaxed was achingly familiar. My car was nearly perpendicular to his, but canted slightly from the slide so that our hoods were pointing in roughly the same direction. The angle gave me a pretty good chance of using the car to block the worst of his shots, depending on what he was shooting with.

I let out a slow, shaky breath as I tried to force my body to lose the adrenaline that was only making it harder to focus. Something continued to needle at my subconscious, but my conscious mind was still in fight-or-flight and couldn't hear the warning bells going off.

I caught the snap of a twig behind me and immediately spun around with my gun pointed at roughly center-mast. I still couldn't see shit, but if he was taller than me, I'd at least get in a good enough shot to maybe get out of there alive.

Though the second guy was in the shadows as well, I could see the glint of his own handgun pointed at my head. He was taller than me, though not by much.

"I knew when we first met you that we shouldn't trust you," the guy in front of me spoke. My hand trembled as I recognized the soft melody of it. I could just picture mischievous eyes over a coffee cup and impossibly full lips as he whimpered about the dead girl he still loved.

"And now that we know you're working with the other side, it all makes sense."

"What are you talking about," I demanded. I took a gamble and dropped my gun, genuine confusion clouding my better judgement. "I'm still on your side. I always have been."

Jimin stepped out of the shadows, the harshness of his anger painting ugly lines on his beautiful face. "Don't you dare lie to me," he hissed. "Taehyung saw you with that traitor, Kai. Were you playing us the whole time, or was it something you decided to do on the spur of the moment?"

"Okay, wait. Exo is on your side. Kai was the only one I could trust to get me information on..."

I stopped. Who had he been spying on me for? Bangtan.

Every conversation we'd ever had flashed through my mind. Suho had Hwasa and Wonho, but he gave them back to AT3. Government contracts. Jin and Suho cutting ties. Jin furious over me and Kai.

But that didn't explain why Jungkook, who saw everything, hadn't been mad.

"No. Kai wouldn't do that. He wouldn't betray me."

Jimin laughed cruelly in the starless night, but dropped his gun at his side. "You can't be so naive that you would believe that. Kai is just as soulless as the rest of Exo and he played you like a game of chess."

My breathing was so unsteady, I had to reach back and brace myself on the car. Footsteps echoed on the wet pavement as the guy from the car walked around to join us. When I looked up, his rifle was in his hands, but it was pointed at the ground. Ready if he needed it, but not an immediate threat.

"Tell me you didn't know," he said softly and I nearly broke at the sound of betrayal in his deep voice. "Tell me Jimin's wrong."

The faint glow of a streetlight illuminated Taehyung's onyx eyes and I could see them pleading with me. Begging me not to be something else he had to get over. I stared back at him with every ounce of love I ever felt for him as I breathed out, "I didn't know."

"She's lying," Jimin said a heartbeat later, his voice devoid of human emotion.

"Just shoot her and be done with her."

Any 1the9 fans out there? I just heard their song, "Blah", today and I really liked it so I had to put them in the story. Lol, writing be like that sometimes.

Also, if you like fantasy novels, I'm writing one of those at the same time. It's centered around ATEEZ, but it's becoming more and more multifandom every day. BTS has slipped their way into pivotal roles, so if you like pirates and fae, go check out The Eye of the Ancients!

Take care, fam, and thank you for all the comments, votes, and reads. You're all the GOAT!