LOGINThe fire had burned down to embers. The room was cold. The silence was heavy.Raven sat on the couch, her knees pulled to her chest, her eyes fixed on the dying flames. She had not moved since she hung up the phone. She had not spoken. She had not cried. She felt hollow. Empty. Like someone had reached inside her and pulled out everything that mattered.Fenris sat beside her. He did not touch her. He did not speak. He just waited.The clock ticked. The fire crackled. The night stretched on."I want to find him," Raven said.Her voice was flat. Emotionless.Fenris turned to look at her. "Harvey?""Yes.""Are you sure?""I have never been more sure of anything."He studied her face. His gray eyes searched for something. Doubt. Fear. Hesitation. He found none."Then we find him.""How?""I have resources. I have men. I will find out where he is hiding.""And when you do?""We go to him. Together."She looked at him. His gray eyes were hard. Determined."Okay," she said.Fenris made calls
The house felt empty without her.Raven stood in the center of the living room, her arms wrapped around herself, her eyes fixed on the door Sasha had walked through. The silence was heavy. It pressed against her ears. It filled her chest. She had never felt so alone.She looked at her phone. The last message from the unknown number was still on the screen.No. But she is not who you think she is.She read it again. And again. The words blurred and sharpened, blurred and sharpened. She could not make sense of them. She did not know who to believe anymore.The fire crackled. The clock ticked. The world outside was dark and silent.She needed to move. She needed to think. She needed to find Sasha.She grabbed her jacket. She walked to the door. She opened it. The cold air hit her face. The forest was black. The trees were still. The night was watching.She stepped outside. She looked around. The yard was empty. The car was gone.Sasha had left.Raven stood in the dark, her heart pounding
The fire crackled in the hearth, casting long shadows across the walls. The house was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that made you listen for things that were not there.Raven sat on the couch, her knees pulled to her chest, her phone clutched in her hand. She had read the message a hundred times.You trusted the wrong person.She could not stop staring at it. She could not stop thinking about it. Who was she supposed to trust? Fenris? Sasha? Herself?Fenris sat across from her. His gray eyes were fixed on her face. He had not spoken since they came inside. He was watching. Waiting. Thinking."Raven.""I am fine.""You are not."She looked at him. His gray eyes were steady."I do not know who to trust," she said."You can trust me.""I know.""But you do not believe it."She did not answer.He leaned forward. His hands were clasped. His voice was low."Whoever sent that message is trying to isolate you. They want you to feel alone. They want you to doubt everyone. That is how the
The highway stretched endlessly before them. Dark. Empty. Unforgiving.Raven sat in the passenger seat, her hands clasped in her lap, her eyes fixed on the road ahead. The headlights cut through the night like a blade, illuminating the black asphalt and the endless trees on either side. The world outside the car was silent. The world inside was not.Her phone buzzed. She looked at the screen.Fenris.She answered on the first ring."Where are you?"His voice was rough. Urgent. She could hear the tension in it. The fear."We are on the highway," she said. "We left the cabin. Someone was there. Someone was inside.""I know. I heard you.""We do not know where to go.""I am sending you an address."She waited. A moment later, a text appeared on her screen. An address. A location outside the city. Remote. Hidden."Go there," he said. "I will meet you.""Fenris—""I will be there. I promise."The line went dead.She stared at the address. Then she looked at Sasha."Fenris sent an address.
Sleep would not come.Raven lay on the couch at Sasha's apartment, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, her phone clutched in her hand. The screen was dark. The messages had stopped. But she knew they would start again. The silence was worse than the words. It was waiting. It was patient. It was watching.Sasha was asleep on the armchair across the room, her head tilted back, her mouth slightly open. She had stayed awake as long as she could, but exhaustion had finally claimed her. Raven did not blame her. She wished she could sleep too. But every time she closed her eyes, she saw the figure. The hood. The dark car. The text.You cannot hide from me.She sat up. She walked to the window. She pulled the curtain aside. The street was empty. No cars. No figures. No shadows. Just the flickering streetlight and the silent buildings.She let the curtain fall. She walked back to the couch. She lay down. She closed her eyes.The phone buzzed.She grabbed it. Her heart pounded. A new message. From t
The morning came too fast. Raven woke to the sound of Fenris moving around her apartment. She opened her eyes. He was already dressed. Dark suit. Tie. His hair was combed back. He looked like a different person. Like the man she had met at the gala. Cold. Controlled. Distant. He was packing a small bag. She sat up. "You are leaving." "I have to." "When will you be back?" "Tomorrow. Maybe the day after." "Fenris." He stopped. He turned to face her. His gray eyes were soft. "I do not want to go." "Then do not." "I have to. It is business. My father built this empire, and I have to keep it running. At least until I figure out what to do with it." She got out of bed. She walked toward him. She stopped in front of him. "I do not like this." "I know." "I do not like being alone." "You will not be alone. I will call you. I will text you. I will be back before you know it." "Promise?" "Promise." He reached out. His hand touched her face. His thumb traced h
The morning had started like any other. Raven sat at her desk, staring at a spreadsheet that refused to make sense, her coffee cold and bitter in the cup beside her keyboard. The office was quiet, the usual hum of conversation muted by the early hour. She had been here since seven, trying to catch
The coffee shop was small and narrow, wedged between a laundromat and a shuttered bookstore on a street that had seen better days. The windows were streaked with condensation, and the air inside smelled like roasted beans and stale pastry. A bell jingled overhead every time the door opened, which w
Raven Wolfe sat on her couch, her laptop open on the coffee table, a stack of old case files spread across the floor. The apartment was dark except for the glow of the screen and the faint light filtering through the window from the streetlamp outside. It was past midnight. She had been at this for
The restaurant was called Solstice, though there was no sign outside to announce it. Just a black door set between two shuttered storefronts, unmarked and unassuming. Raven stood on the sidewalk for a long moment, her hand on the cold iron handle, her heart pounding against her ribs. She had no ide







