Chapter Twenty Seven: Scent Of Death, Whisper Of War

The morning air tasted like ash and fear.

I gunned my bike through the empty streets of Ravenridge, Jace riding beside me. The town looked like a ghost had walked through it. Boarded windows. Drawn curtains. Even the birds felt like they had stopped singing.

"Thought we'd find bodies by now," Jace called over the engine noise.

"Day's still young."

But he was right. After last night's threats, I'd expected blood on the streets by dawn. Instead, there was just this sick quiet. Like the whole town was holding its breath.

"They're messing with our heads," Jace said as we slowed near the town square. "Playing the long game. Fear makes monsters out of men."

Smart bastards. A scared and tense enemy was easier to control than a dead one.

An old man swept his porch and nodded when he saw me. Mrs. Chen waved from her flower shop window. A group of teenagers gave me thumbs up from across the street.

These people trusted me to keep them safe. And I was failing them.

"Axel! Axel, please!"

A woman