Chapter 56. Knives in the Dark

When Riven rolled through the broken gate with Axel just behind, the fire pit was already crowded. The glow cut sharp against battered faces, jackets torn, knuckles wrapped in bloody tape.

Every head turned toward her.

Not relief. Not welcome. Suspicion.

Jet stepped forward, quieter than the others but firmer. “Price didn’t break because of her. He broke because he never had the spine for the heat.”

He didn’t look at Riven when he said it. But he didn’t look away, either.

Axel swung off his bike with less grace than usual, ribs stiff under his jacket. He moved forward until his shadow stretched long across the dirt.

“They weren’t waiting,” he said, voice calm, iron. “They were searching. And they’ll keep searching.”

The mutters didn’t stop.

One rider jabbed a finger toward Riven. “And a funny thing—who walks out alive with Wolfe but the girl they’re writing on walls?”

Her face went hot. The box burned against her ribs.

She