"jeno!" "thunderbolt!"

the so-called boy turned around, facing renjun and jaemin.

"why are you this panicked?" jeno asked, taking a sip of the drink he had ordered at the bar.

"we need to leave, right now." jaemin said, taking the glass from jeno's hand and placing it on a table nearby.

"what? why?" jeno raised a brow as he was being pulled away.

"they found us. dozens of monsters are roaming around las vegas at the moment." renjun explained.

"how do you know that?" jeno gasped.

"his owl warned him." jaemin told. "where are the others?"

"inside the casino." jeno replied. "let's get them."

the three boys ran across the hall, entering the casino part of the hotel.

the place was full of people, men and women of every age, spending their money carelessly.

the whole place was so big, they wondered how they would find the four other boys because of the large crowd.

"there, i saw chenle!" renjun exclaimed before pulling both jaemin and jeno in that direction.

they reached chenle, jisung and donghyuck in an instant. the three boys were around a poker table, donghyuck having the cards in his hands and playing with chenle's advice.

"guys, let's go." jeno said quickly, taking the cards of donghyuck's hand and throwing them on the table.

"hey! i had a full!" donghyuck exclaimed, as he was suddenly jerked of his chair and placed on jaemin's back.

"we need to go." renjun stated simply as they started heading out.

"why?"

"they know we're here, and they'll enter this hotel soon." jeno explained. "wait!"

the five boys stopped in their tracks, looking at jeno.

"what? we're on the rush, right now." jaemin said, jumping so that donghyuck was settled better on his back.

"where is mark?" jeno asked, looking around.

"he was with us a few minutes ago..." jisung told, looking around as well.

"let's start heading out, he'll eventually- "

before renjun could finish his sentence, the glass windows on the side of the casino part of the hotel exploded, creating a wave of panic inside.

"fuck! go out!" jeno yelled, running towards the exit.

the boys heard a loud growl, as well as humans screaming and yelling.

they immediately understood that a creature had entered the casino, but which one?

"w-what the hell is t-that?!" donghyuck exclaimed, pointing behind them at the giant red lion with the face of a human and a snake-like tail.

chenle turned around and gasped.

"a manticore!" he exclaimed. "we need to get out."

the five boys kept running towards the entrance of the hotel, but they all stopped when they saw the many creatures that were standing outside, waiting to devour them alive.

"they're blocking us!" jisung exclaimed.

"GUYS!!" donghyuck exclaimed when he saw the manticore jumping towards them.

thankfully, something hit the monster as it was about to attack, making it land meters away.

the six boys turned towards this person who had saved them only to see mark standing there with his scythe in hand and his aura creating a dark smoke around him.

"where the hell were you?!" jeno yelled at mark.

"in the toilets! i saw a sphynx entering so i was looking for you!" mark replied on the same tone.

"well, you're late!"

"guys, they're approaching!" chenle interrupted them. "stop arguing and start fighting!"

"there are too many, we won't make it!" jisung told, snapping his fingers as a trident materialized in his hand.

"we need to leave, but they're in front of the door." jaemin added, readjusting donghyuck on his back.

"the parking!" renjun exclaimed. "the door leading to the parking is next to the lift."

the seven boys ran in that direction, opening the door and running down the stairs.

they could still hear the mess outside, the screams of the humans, and the loud growls of the monsters.

"chenle, we need a car." renjun said.

"as if it was done." chenle nodded, approaching a huge range rover.

he placed his hand on the door, just next to the place you were supposed to enter a key.

the boy then took his necklace out, using the long and thin pendant to stick it inside the keyhole. magically, the car clicked, signalling that the doors were unlocked.

"let's go!"

jeno took the wheel, mark and jisung sitting on the passenger seats next to him as the four other boys sat at the back.

"chenle, i don't have the key to start the engine!" jeno said, opening the glove box and looking everywhere for the key.

"use this!" chenle told, handing jeno his necklace.

jeno furrowed his brows, inserting the long metallic stick that chenle had as a pendant inside the keyhole. after a second, he was able to turn it in the lock and make the engine roar.

"it worked!" he exclaimed before pressing the accelerating pedal and driving his way out of the parking.

"don't take that one!" renjun exclaimed, making jeno slam on the brakes.

"renjun, we need to get out!" jeno told, looking in the inside mirror at the other boy.

"this exit leads in front of the hotel's entrance. there will be monsters everywhere!" he told.

"but it's the only way out!" jeno yelled.

"going out there is a suicide mission!"

none of the boys talked for a few seconds after this.

they all knew that renjun was right, he was a strategist, and he always knew what to do.

but what else could they do?

"mark, you can control the ground, right?" renjun asked after a while.

"yeah." hades' son replied. "why?"

"we'll go out by the bottom of the parking." renjun declared.

"what?!" both jaemin and jeno exclaimed.

"the monsters were circling las vegas to catch us. they are now circling the hotel we were in. if we dig a tunnel from the bottom of this parking to the furthest boulevard of las vegas, we can go away without them noticing." renjun explained.

"this shit isn't possible, renjun." jaemin declared.

"we have to exit there; we'll fight if we need to." jeno assured.

"there are too many monsters, we won't survive."

there was another silence in the car.

this time, mark broke it.

"he's right, drive to the bottom of the parking." he said.

"are you sure?" jeno asked.

"it's our only option." mark nodded.

jeno sighed before pushing on the pedals and driving thought the parking, getting to the deepest part of it.

"we're on the last floor." he declared.

"mark, create a tunnel for us to pass over here." renjun pointed at one of the parking's walls.

mark concentrated, holding his hand out open in front of him as he visioned the earth moving under his commands.

the six other boys looked at him sceptically as nothing happened to the wall.

"i'll continued digging when we'll be inside the tunnel." he declared.

"there is no tunnel there, mark." jaemin told, looking at the intact wall with a brow raised.

"i can control earth, or grounds, but not cement." mark said. "so, one of you do something about it."

"i can create earthquakes. i'll go." jisung declared, stepping out of the car and walking to the wall.

the boy placed both of his hands on the concrete wall, closing his eyes before sending a wave of shock through the wall.

the earth trembled a bit as the wall in front of him cracked and soon fell down in crumbs, revealing a neat tunnel dug in the ground.

"see? beautiful tunnel." mark said.

jisung ran back to the car and hopped in as jeno drove slowly inside the tunnel.

"are you sure driving in there is safe?" jeno asked, hesitating to press the accelerating pedal too much.

"can't you trust me for once?" mark tsked, his hand still held out in front of him as he continued digging the tunnel with his thoughts.

"i am starting to, but i'm risking my life too much for it right now." jeno replied through gritted teeth.

"stop worrying, thunderbolt." jaemin rolled his eyes. "i know how strong you are, making it out of this alive is a piece of cake for someone like you."

jeno stared at the boy that had just talked in the inside mirror of the car.

jaemin noticed it because he winked at jeno quickly, making the driver blush.

could jaemin stop making his heat beat this much seriously?