Nara didn't remember the last time she'd said yes to a club. That alone should've told her the night wouldn't be ordinary.
The club was chaos in its most intoxicating form. Neon lights cut through smoke and heat, music pounding so hard it felt like a second heartbeat. Bodies pressed together, laughter sharp and reckless. Cameras flashed constantly because Zuri was there, and where Zuri went, attention followed.
Nara stood close to her, fingers curled around a drink she hadn't touched much. She smiled, laughed when expected, moved when pulled, but something in her chest refused to settle. Too loud, too crowded and too exposed.
Zuri leaned close, shouting over the music. "You're thinking again! Tonight you're not allowed to think."
Nara forced a grin. "I'm trying."
They danced and laughed. For a moment, the world blurred into color and sound, and then, the music cut. Not faded but. The sudden silence was violent. A second later, the lights flickered once or twice before plunging half the club into darkness.
Screams erupted. At first, people laughed, thinking it was part of the show. Then the emergency lights snapped on and panic took over.
Someone shouted, "Gun!"
Someone else screamed, "Bomb!"
Nara felt Zuri's hand clamp around her wrist.
"Zuri....."
A loud crash echoed near the back exit. Not an explosion but heavy enough to sound intentional. Tables overturned. People surged toward the doors all at once. The crowd became a weapon.
Nara was shoved hard from behind, stumbling forward as bodies pressed in from all sides. Her heart slammed against her ribs. This isn't normal or an accident.
She caught a glimpse of two men near the bar, not panicked, not shouting. Watching. One raised a phone. The other nodded slightly and then they were gone.
The emergency exits slammed shut automatically as part of lockdown protocol. The club manager's voice cracked over the intercom, trying and failing to calm the crowd. Outside, sirens wailed. Inside, fear spread faster than smoke.
Zuri was pulled away by security trying to shield her, but she fought it. "Nara don't let go!"
Nara didn't answer because suddenly, a hand closed firmly around her arm, not rough or panicked, just controlled.
"Come with me," a low voice said.
She didn't recognize him but something about his stance, his calm in the madness, told her this wasn't another club guard.
Before she could protest, another figure appeared, blocking the surge of bodies with practiced efficiency. The two men moved her sideways, not toward the exits everyone else was rushing, but toward a staff corridor hidden behind the DJ booth. Everything happened too fast.
One moment she was suffocating in bodies and fear. The next, she was in a quiet, dim hallway. Zuri appeared seconds later, pulled in by another man. She was shaking, furious, eyes wild.
"What the hell is going on?" she demanded.
No one answered because at the far end of the corridor Keigh appeared. His expression was lethal. No fear but pure focused rage.
"Nara," he said sharply, already reaching her.
She didn't realize she was shaking until his hands steadied her shoulders.
"I've got you," he said. "Both of you. You're safe."
"Keigh...what....."
But before he could say more, one of his men spoke urgently into his earpiece.
"They're gone."
Keigh's jaw tightened.
"How?" he demanded.
"No trace. No vehicles. No digital trail. Whoever extracted them, wiped everything."
Keigh's eyes darkened.
That wasn't possible. Not without serious power.
He pulled Nara and Zuri closer, shielding them as police and emergency responders flooded the building. Outside, cameras were already rolling. Phones were raised. News vans were pulling up.
By morning, the headlines would explode.
CLUB SHUT DOWN AFTER PANIC INCIDENT
ZURI INVOLVED IN MIDNIGHT SCARE
SABOTAGE OR THREAT? QUESTIONS RISE
The club was closed indefinitely. Investigations launched. Rumors spiraled, but no suspects, no explanations and no one, not the police, not Keigh, not the media, could identify who had initiated the extraction before him.
As Keigh watched the chaos from the safety of the car, his hand tightening around his phone, one thought settled heavily in his mind, someone else, someone powerful is watching her and they don't want to be seen.
Beside him, Nara stared out the window, unease curling in her chest for the first time she couldn't explain away. This wasn't just bad luck. This looked like a warning.
And somewhere far beyond the borders, forces far older and far quieter had just confirmed something important.
She is wanted dead.