Semua Bab Marked in the Middle: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Some jobs are simple. Clean. No mess. Get in, find the thing, grab your cash, bounce. I like those jobs. I live for those jobs. But this one? Nah. This one felt off the second it popped into my inbox.No hello. No details. Just a name I didn’t know—Milo Deen—and a ridiculous offer to track down a pendant. No backstory. No photo. No reason someone like me should even be on this guy’s radar. That was the first red flag. The second? He mentioned the Silver Ash Pack. Yeah... those wolves don’t lose things. And they sure as hell don’t call up lone rogues like me for help.Still, money’s money, and rent was due yesterday.I was slouched in my usual booth at Gray’s Diner, half-finished coffee in hand, phone screen glowing while the old ceiling fan tried its best to cool the heat off my neck. The place was dead quiet except for someone arguing over the phone in the back and the soft buzz of neon lights that made everyone look a little more tired than they were.I read the message again, squin

When I say I didn’t sleep that night, I mean at all. Lira passed out on Janie’s couch the second her head hit the throw pillow, but me? I stayed up watching the shadows outside like some paranoid raccoon with a bad caffeine habit.Something about this whole thing had me twitchy. Not just the pendant. Not just Lira. It was the vibe. Like I was in the middle of a game I didn’t know I was playing yet. And I hate not knowing the rules.By morning, Janie had already brewed her demon-strong coffee and rolled out the witchy version of breakfast: apple slices with black salt, a green smoothie that smelled like wet moss, and a stack of papers she’d printed from the archives using her very illegal portal access."You’re gonna want to read this," she said, dropping them on the table in front of me.I squinted at the heading: Blood Pact Amendment: Silver Ash Pack — Revised Two Years Ago."Okay," I muttered, flipping pages. Lira stirred on the couch, groggy but alive.Janie pulled out a chair acro

There’s something about silence right before a storm. Like the world knows something bad’s about to go down, and it just… holds its breath. That’s how it felt the morning we left the safehouse. Janie’s wards were holding, but barely. Whatever spell Kael had cast over the city was crawling through the cracks. Her sigils flickered at the edges like dying neon signs, and every now and then, I could hear this low humming—like the walls were trying to whisper secrets we weren’t supposed to hear. I packed light, Just the essentials: charms, weapons, a burner phone, and of course, the pendant. Lira? She had nothing but that tired old backpack and an oversized hoodie that swallowed her whole. You wouldn’t look at her twice on the street, and maybe that was the point. We didn’t speak much. What was there to say? Milo was still missing. The pendant was basically a blood-soaked nuke. And the woman who might’ve started all this? Still breathing. Still running. And now tagging along with me.

The air the next morning was heavy, like the ground itself was holding its breath. Maybe it was the way the trees stood so still, or maybe it was the weight of what Lira had said the night before. Either way, something had shifted, and I felt it deep in my chest—like a warning.Roman didn’t say much when he emerged from the cabin. Just gave a nod, lit a cigarette, and started sharpening the hunting knife clipped to his belt. His eyes were sharp, distant—like his mind had already run ten miles ahead of us.Lira was inside, still asleep. She’d finally passed out close to dawn, after tossing and turning for hours, muttering things she probably didn’t even realize she was saying.I sat on the porch steps, cradling a cup of bitter coffee that tasted like burnt bark and regret. I didn’t mind the taste. It matched the morning.“Sleep?” Roman asked without looking at me.“Barely.”“Same.”There was a pause, just the sound of the knife sliding clean against the whetstone.“She remembers more t

The air in that room turned heavy—like the walls themselves were holding their breath.The girl’s tiny hand was steady, the shard of the Moonfire Pendant glinting in the low light like it had been waiting all this time to be seen.Roman didn’t move. Didn’t blink. I could see the muscle in his jaw flexing, and that was the only sign he wasn’t carved from stone.Lira was still kneeling, her voice soft. “Sweetheart… What's your name?”The girl tilted her head, curious, like no one had ever thought to ask.“Lyra,” she said.Lira’s eyes widened a fraction, but she kept her tone gentle. “Lyra. That’s a pretty name.”Roman’s voice finally cut through the silence, low and sharp. “Who gave you that?”Lyra didn’t answer right away. Her eyes—Kael’s eyes—shifted to him. “My father.”The word landed like a blade between us.Milo muttered something under his breath and turned to scan the window, probably already calcu