The warehouse district smelled like oil and regret.
Jace slumped against a rusted shipping container, sweat dripping down his neck, Reya's limp body cradled in his lap. His shirt was soaked through with blood, his blade lay nearby, chipped and blackened from overuse. His knuckles were raw from swinging, blocking, surviving.
They'd been running for over an hour.
Lena crouched a few feet away, her eyes scanning every rooftop, every corner. The flame at her fingertips had finally gone out, but the tension in her shoulders stayed coiled like a loaded crossbow.
She hadn't said a word since they escaped the blast.
Neither of them had.
Jace shifted, grunting as a jolt of pain flared through his ribs. Probably cracked. Maybe broken.
Reya moaned faintly.
"She's waking up," he said.
Lena moved instantly, pulling a worn medpack from her belt. She knelt beside them and opened Reya's mouth, slipping a bitter-smelling vial between her lips.
"Swallow," she whispered. "Come on, fight it."
Reya twitched.
Her eyelids fluttered.
Then, in a hoarse voice, barely audible: "Saela?"
Jace's jaw clenched. "She didn't make it."
Silence.
Reya tried to sit up. Cried out. Fell back.
"She stayed behind," Lena said, voice low but steady. "Took half the street with her. If we're lucky, it bought us a night."
"She was the only reason I—" Reya broke off, biting her lip until it bled. "She said we were safe."
"She was wrong," Jace said, not unkindly.
"Or maybe," Lena added, "she knew this day would come. She prepared you to survive it."
The quiet that followed was thick. Choking.
Lena stood. "We can't stay here."
"Where do we go?" Jace asked, gently lowering Reya onto a tattered blanket. "They're hunting us."
"Exactly," Lena said. "We don't hide. We go deeper. If we want answers, we go where the cult began."
Jace frowned. "You know where that is?"
She nodded, then pulled a worn, half-burned journal from inside her jacket.
"I found this in the altar room before I torched it. Half the pages are gone, but the sigils match what was on the Seeker's cloak. There's an address scribbled in the back—Cinderspar Tower. Downtown. Top floor. Condemned since '08. The cult isn't just in back alleys anymore—they're above us."
He scoffed. "Of course they are."
She tossed the journal toward him. "You good to move?"
"No," he said, flexing his injured side, "but I'll survive."
He looked at Reya.
"Barely," she whispered, trying to smirk. "Give me ten minutes. I'll walk."
"You'll crawl," Jace said. "I'll carry you."
"I'm heavier than I look."
"You're not," he muttered, standing. "But don't let it get to your head."
She actually smiled.
Lena moved to the edge of the container and peered down the alley. "One problem," she said.
"Only one?"
"There's a bounty."
Jace froze. "How big?"
She looked over her shoulder, lips tight. "Big enough."
"How do you know?"
"Because someone posted it an hour ago. With our names. Faces. Real-time footage."
Jace swore under his breath. "They're watching us."
"More than that. They're baiting us. Trying to flush us out before we figure out what they're doing."
Jace picked up the blade, checked the edge. Still sharp—barely.
"Then let's ruin the game."
Lena raised an eyebrow.
"You want to go to them?" she asked.
"No. I want to get there first. Find out what they're guarding. Cinderspar Tower isn't bait—it's a vault. And if they're desperate to keep us out… then it's exactly where we need to go."
Reya coughed softly. "You guys are way too calm about being targets."
Jace met her eyes. "I've been a target my whole life. Might as well make it worth the shot."
Later That Night
The city felt different after dark.
Not in the usual way. Not just crime and flickering neon and drunk echoes bouncing off rooftops. It felt… watched. Like the shadows had grown eyes.
Cinderspar Tower loomed above them.
Twisted steel and shattered windows. Top floors melted from the inside out. Rumors said it was hit by lightning during a blood eclipse—whatever that meant. But nobody had stepped foot inside since. Even the rats stayed away.
The trio stood across the street, hidden beneath a collapsed billboard.
Reya leaned against Jace, limping but upright.
Lena whispered, "We go in fast. Find the altar. Find the name they're hiding. If we're lucky, it's a map. If we're not…"
Jace nodded. "Then we light the whole damn thing on fire."
They crossed the street.
The wind howled as they reached the front entrance.
And somewhere deep inside the tower, a single candle flickered to life.
Waiting.