The subway air tasted like scorched copper and wet rust.
Cattleya didn't wait for them to close the circle. The moment the second hunter cleared the rail trench, she swung the heavy iron pipe with all the raw, kinetic fury of a body that refused to be cataloged. The metal caught the lead predator square across the collarbone with a sickening, wet crunch that echoed over the wail of the overhead sirens.
The hunter staggered back, its pale face twisting in sudden, genuine shock. It wasn't expecting a human asset to hit back with the weight of a falling beam.
"Kill it," a cold voice hissed from the shadows of the ticket kiosk. "Quietly. The city council won't absorb another cleanup fee for an unregistered feed."
Cattleya spun away from the stumbling predator, her bare feet splashing throu
