SavannahI sat there with the phone on the counter, my heartbeat loud enough to fill the room. For the first time in weeks, I actually wanted someone to walk through the door and tell me this was all a bad joke. That I could go back to being a normal college student and not the girl a dozen dangerous people wanted to recruit or crush.The more I thought about that woman’s words, the worse it felt. “We want you to oversee Tyrant’s zone.” They didn’t even bother with subtlety. It wasn’t an offer dressed up as a threat. It was both at once. A polite hand wrapped around a chokehold.I paced, and every step replayed the same scenarios in my head. If I said yes, what did that even mean? Wearing some kind of badge that made the dealers keep the peace? Sitting in a posh office while men I’d never met decided who lived and who didn’t? My father’s name on a letterhead and mine dragged through the mud? The thought of Ethan Ford’s face if he ever found out made bile rise in my throat. He’d never
Savannah“Hello?” My voice sounded again, though my chest was tight.But this time, there was nothing for a second, just a faint static and then a woman’s voice slid through the line, smooth and sharp at the same time. “You already know who I am Savannah.” She rasped.My brow furrowed. “Do I?”She chuckled lightly, like she was enjoying herself and then heaved a sigh. “I’ll do you the favor of reintroducing myself then.”She paused for a moment, then continued. We had a balance in this city. Different networks, different zones. Each of us ran our piece, and kept things together. Tyrant had his wing. The others had theirs. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. Then you came along, and thanks to you exposing him, that balance is gone. Now his zone is wide open.”My grip on the phone tightened. “What does that have to do with me?”She paused and I could almost hear her lips stretching into a thin, slow and deliberate smirk. “I thought I’d made it clear already. We want you, Savannah, to overs
SavannahFor days now, the note sat on my nightstand like it was mocking me. Every time I tried to close my eyes, my gaze drifted back to it. I’d already read it a hundred times, and it still made no more sense than it did the first night. My chest tightened as I turned it over in my hands again, fingers tracing the edge of the paper like maybe I’d missed something.I thought about telling Jack. I really did. I almost picked up my phone a dozen times, but every time I stopped myself. Jack would take it too seriously. He’d storm off, drag the mole into another interrogation, or worse, he’d tell me to back out. And deep down, I knew he’d be right. But I couldn’t do it. Not yet.I even thought about telling Leo about Noah. But they’d been through enough because of me already, and the last thing I wanted was to drag them back into this chaos. So I swallowed the lump in my throat, stuffed the note back under a book, and forced myself to smile through the next morning like nothing was wrong
SavannahThe next few days passed in a blur, but nothing felt normal. Every time I stepped out, every time I was alone, I felt a shadow pressing against my back. I started changing my routes, doubling back on sidewalks, even slipping into random buildings just to make sure no one was following me. Maybe I was losing it. Maybe it was all in my head. But still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that eyes were on me.Eventually, Jack had caught on and noticed. He always noticed.“You’re jumpy,” he said one morning as we left campus.I forced a laugh and waved it off. “Midterms. Sleep deprivation. Coffee isn’t working anymore.”He gave me a long look, like he didn’t buy it, but he didn’t push. That was the thing with Jack, he knew when to press and when to give me space. Still, I could feel his suspicion hanging over me, and part of me wished I could just blurt out the truth: I was scared. But fear wasn’t something I could afford to show. Not now.And maybe I was also too scared to admit that
SavannahThe night air outside the warehouse should have felt like freedom after Tyrant was arrested, but it didn’t. The sirens were fading now, flashing red and blue against the broken walls, and Tyrant was gone, dragged off in cuffs, spitting blood and threats. We should have felt relief. Victory, even.But instead, all I felt was this gnawing pit in my stomach. His words wouldn’t leave my head. “The others are going to come for me. Did you think I was the only one running this city?”Jack stood a few steps ahead of me, talking low into his radio, telling his crew to sweep the area again. His shoulders were tense, his movements sharp, and I could see as well. This wasn’t the body language of a man celebrating a win.I pulled my jacket tighter around me, suddenly aware of how cold it had gotten. The night was quiet now except for the crunch of boots on gravel. Too quiet.“Feels wrong, doesn’t it?” I said, breaking the silence.Jack glanced over his shoulder at me and hesitated for a
SavannahIn a flash, the warehouse was a mess again. Tyrant’s men had shown up from nowhere, just when we were holding back our defense. At this point, I’d almost completely lost all hope that we could make it out of this situation.The entire place was chaos. It was filled with shouting from men on both sides, gunfire, and bodies dropping. My head was spinning, and my ears were ringing, but I forced myself to keep up with Jack. I had to. He was the only one I knew who could keep me safe. He was moving through the chaos like he had done this a hundred times before, sharp and focused, and I was just trying not to stumble.At one corner, he grabbed my arm when I almost slipped and turned to me with laser focus. “Stay close,” he said. His voice was calm but firm.“I am,” I breathed, even though my chest was pounding so hard I thought it would break.We crouched behind a stack of crates, and that was when Tyrant’s voice cut through the noise. He was shouting orders, barking them at his me