Chapter 30. Ravens’ Roost

Axel cut his throttle at the mouth of the pit. The Crownless clustered behind him, battered and few, their bikes coughing smoke, their eyes hollow but still burning.

Riven slid down, boots crunching gravel. Her hands ached from South Ridge, but the sting didn’t matter. Not fear anymore. Not chains. Just readiness.

The Ravens’ leader stepped forward. Broad shoulders under a jacket patched with silver-feather stitching, a scar dragging his mouth into a crooked smirk. His eyes slid over Axel, then found Riven. The grin sharpened.

“Wolfe blood,” he rasped. “And his pet ghost. No crown tonight?”

Axel swung off his bike, slow, steady. Silence stretched with him. The Crownless bristled, engines coughing heat into the night.

Finally, he said it. “Magnus is dead.”

The words dropped heavy, enough to still even the Ravens’ idling.

The scarred leader chuckled. “Good. Saves us the trouble.” His boots crunched closer. “But the pup’s still here. Thinking h