Chapter 8. Smoke in the Blood

The whispers didn’t stop. They just got smarter.

Every hallway Riven walked felt thinner. Every glance felt loaded. People weren’t just whispering anymore. They were waiting—watching—for her to unravel.

And maybe they weren’t wrong.

By the second period, she caught the shadow.

A bike across the street. Chrome polished like a threat. A helmeted rider leaning too still against the seat. Not a student. Not a parent. Just... there.

Watching.

She blinked, and he was gone. But her pulse didn’t slow.

She didn’t tell anyone.

Didn’t tell the teachers about the note. Didn’t tell the principal about the slashed locker. And definitely didn’t tell Axel.

Because if she told him, she’d have to explain the way the fear sat wrong in her chest—not as panic, but as something heavier.

Recognition.

Something in her blood whispered: they’re coming.

By lunch, the air in Crestwood High was too tight. She skipped the cafeteria an