Chapter 51. Daylight Bleeds

Crestwood in daylight wasn’t supposed to feel like this.

Shutters half-closed on shopfronts, eyes peeking through curtains, streets that should’ve hummed with Saturday errands instead stiff with silence. Even the fountain in the square gurgled quieter, water dulled beneath the tension hanging in the air.

Riven felt every stare on her as she walked the sidewalk. Some whispered, some just looked, but the weight pressed all the same. She knew what they saw: not just the girl who’d shown up new at school, not even just the daughter of a biker. They saw the ghost of Hale, branded across her forehead.

Her bandaged hands clenched inside her jacket. The note hidden there scratched against her ribs like a live wire.

Axel walked half a step behind, hood low, his shadow falling across hers. Around the square, Crownless riders spread wide, engines idling as they prowled the edges. A show of strength, but also a silent warning: we know you’re coming.

A woman