Chapter 60. Burn the Crown

The road out to the mill stank of wet earth and ash.

Riven’s bike jolted over cracked pavement, the vibration rattling her to the bones. Her jacket was soaked in soot and sweat, the box’s weight no longer a mystery—just a wound. The truth echoed louder than the engine:

You’re not the heir. You’re the weapon.

Behind her, the Crownless rode in a loose, uncertain line. Axel’s headlight stayed closest, steady at her flank. Kenzie trailed behind, chain wrapped like a scarf, grin razor-sharp.

“March of the doomed,” she called through the smoke. “Right into the fire.”

No one answered.

The mill rose out of the horizon like a skeleton. Blackened walls. Roof caved in. Glass shards scattered like bones across the gravel. Smoke still clung to its bones like it had never left.

Riven’s chest pulled tight. Hale had circled this place on his maps. Now she knew why.

This wasn’t just where he died.

It was where she began.

They cut eng