Karma Has Teeth!

Katherine

Troubled.

Shhhhhhhh.

The sound of the shower hissed over me like white noise smothering a scream. It was the only thing that didn’t lie to me.

It didn’t ask questions. Didn’t dig. Didn’t accuse. Just poured. Rained. Cleansed.

Water pounded on my skull like a warning I wasn’t ready to hear. My clothes clung to my body, soaked through, but I didn’t care.

I hadn’t stripped them off because I didn’t want to feel bare. I wanted to drown in the fabric, in the pressure. It helped me pretend I still had control.

I stood barefoot on the cold tiles, letting the chill climb my legs like the consequences I’d been outrunning for years.

I used to be a ghost in this world. Untouchable. Untraceable. But now?

Now Thorne was looking for me again.

Why?

Elena. She was supposed to be dead by now. The plan was airtight, leave her in his path, let her die with my name in her mouth.

I knew Thorne. He wouldn’t ask twice. He wouldn’t believe in coincidences or innocence. If she said she wasn't Zoey, he'd call it lying. And he'd cut her down.

Unless… he didn’t.

Unless she got to him first.

Unless something had changed.

No. No. He wouldn’t fall for her tricks. He wouldn’t hesitate.

And yet, my gut twisted.

I pressed my forehead to the wet tiles. The water poured down the back of my neck like regret. And still, I couldn't shake it, something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

And for the first time in a long time... I wasn’t sure I was ready to face it. Even with Raven on my side.

Raven called my name from outside the bathroom door, his voice low but clear.

I stilled, recognizing the tone, calm, composed, masking the storm beneath.

I reached for the knob and turned off the shower.

Water slid down my body as I stepped out, my soaked clothes clinging to every inch of me.

I didn’t bother to dry off. Let the floor feel my unrest. Let the air shiver around me.

Everywhere I walked, droplets followed like a trail of ghosts.

He was on my bed, legs crossed, completely at ease. A pair of glasses sat in his hand, juice, probably spiked with something smoother.

Raven never drank plain.

“Still worried?” he asked, eyes following me with too much interest, too little concern. As if none of this touched him.

As if he hadn’t helped bury the past that was now clawing its way out.

I didn’t answer. Just stood in the center of the room, soaked and silent, my hair dripping onto the carpet.

He raised a brow. “You look like you showered with your clothes on.”

“Because I did,” I said flatly.

He chuckled, setting one glass down on the nightstand. “You know I’d kill him if he touched you.”

I met his gaze. “Thorne doesn’t touch. He destroys.”

Raven’s smile faded for half a second. Just enough for me to notice.

“And you,” I added, “are pretending not to be afraid.”

He stood and walked to me, slow and deliberate, his shoes avoiding the puddles I left behind. “I’m not afraid,” he whispered, brushing a strand of wet hair from my cheek. “But I am… interested.”

“In what?”

“In whether you’re going to run,” he murmured. “Or finally show me why Thorne still loses sleep over your name. I'm guessing he's also scared.”

My breath caught.

Because I wasn’t sure which answer scared me more.

Raven’s eyes flickered, a dark glint flashing through his calm exterior as I walked past him, water dripping from my body.

I didn’t care. If he wanted to circle like a predator, I’d let him see just how unbothered the prey could be.

“I brought two news,” he repeated, voice low as I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist, turning back to face him. “One might make you smile. The other…”

His gaze dropped for a second, and then met mine again. “Might make you pack a bag.”

"Are you here to mock me?" I asked, wringing the wetness out of my hair.

He gave a half-smile, still circling me like a hawk. “Why don’t you hear me out first? Don’t go unloading all that fear and fire on me like I’m Thorne.”

“Stop acting like I’m the only one who’d burn if Thorne finds out I’m with you,” I snapped, not loud but sharp enough to cut.

He raised an eyebrow. “So, do you want the news, or should I walk out and leave you to your paranoia?”

I exhaled through my nose, annoyed by how easily he knew how to push me. “I should say get out… but you know how curiosity is.”

I moved past him without looking back, went straight for another towel. The fabric felt rough against my skin as I pulled my drenched clothes off, water dripping down my legs.

Left in just my bra and panties, I turned slightly toward him. I wasn’t offering anything, but I also wasn’t hiding.

His eyes stayed on me, unreadable.

"Talk," I said flatly. "Before I change my mind."

“We were wrong. It wasn’t Thorne looking for Zoey,” Raven said with a slow, mocking clap. “Now you can smile.”

And I did, just a little.

Relief loosened the tightness in my chest. My lungs opened. My heart stilled. For a moment, it felt like I could finally breathe again.

“Now give me the other one,” I said, not wasting time.

He leaned against the dresser, watching me like a cat with a caged mouse. “Oh, it’s true someone’s looking for you. Someone you tore the world apart for. Someone you left bleeding… but alive. Guess who?”

“I don’t do guesses, Raven,” I said, voice sharper now. “Say it, or get the hell out.”

He smirked. “Reid.”

The name hit me like a slap. My breath caught. The water still dripping from my hair suddenly felt boiling.

“Yeah,” Raven continued, enjoying the twist of my silence. “He’s back. Asking questions. Stirring old ghosts. Why now, hmm? Any clue?”

Clue?

What clue could I possibly have? I destroyed his life. I burned it to ash. Out of thirty-two people with the same blood as his, only one lived, his daughter.

The only one Thorne spared, not out of mercy, but strategy.

Because Thorne thought Reid sent me to kill Luna.

Now Reid is back?

I didn’t realize I was shaking until I clenched my fists.

It was a storm, one I might not survive this time.