Chapter 49. Ghost Rider

The junkyard was restless through the night. Engines coughed low, riders stalked in tense circles, fires spat sparks into the dark. Plans tangled in half-arguments, no one agreeing on the next move.

Riven kept her head down, jacket zipped tight, hands hidden in her pockets. The note still pressed against her ribs like a knife:

YOUR TURN, HALE’S GIRL.

And now the wall echoed in her skull:

TRADE HER FOR HALE’S GIRL.

Every word meant the same thing. Her friend’s life weighed against her own.

She slipped into the shed, closing the door soft. Hale’s papers lay where she’d left them, spread across the scarred table. Her bandaged palms trembled as she sorted through them, searching for something—anything—that could point toward where the Ravens might hide her friend.

Maps of Crestwood. Circles drawn over alleys, warehouses, and half-finished construction sites. Notes scribbled in the margins, quick, jagged handwriting.

Her father had marke