Born to burn

9. THE QUIET BEFORE II. _________________________

FEZ’S PLACE – 10:19 A.M. TUESDAY

•

„Tell me how the h.ell she’s still alive?” Kimi asked, her voice sharp with disbelief.

„Because she wasn’t born only to survive.” Fez answered without hesitation.

„She was BORN TO BURN.” He added, flicking the ash from his cigarette. Ash doesn’t look away from the screen. His voice is low. Unsettled.

„She had one job. Stay alive. And from what I’m reading? She did it too f.ucking well.” He muttered. Kimi slides another file across the table. Photos. Notes. Street whispers scribbled down like myths passed from one dealer to another.

„Intel says she earned her life the hard way. Pills, favours, bodies, silence. She moved like a ghost through basements and afterparties. Took what she needed. Vanished before anyone got close. B.lowjobs in alleys. Cash in mattresses. Never booked. Never caught. Not even a footprint left behind.” She said, voice tight.

„Clean hands. Dirty world. That’s how she kept breathing.” Fez said, nodding once. Kimi looks up, her eyes hard, unreadable.

„She’s not a kid.” She said.

„No.” Fez agreed, quieter now.

„She’s a weapon wrapped in trauma. Razor-sharp. And no one’s had the right key to unlock her without bleeding.” He continued. Ash’s voice drops lower, cautious.

„You think she’ll listen to us?” He asked. Fez stands slowly, pacing toward the window where the cicadas still hum outside like static under skin.

„Not unless we prove we see her. Not the prophecy. Not the bloodline. Her.” He said, his tone flat and focused. He turns back to them, jaw tight.

„She’s been watched her whole life. Labeled. Shoved into boxes she never asked to be in. Survivor. S.lut. Liar. Threat. We show up with answers she didn’t ask for? She’ll cut us down before we speak.” He warned.

„So what then?” Ash asked quietly. „What do we give her?” Fez doesn’t answer right away. The cigarette burns low in his fingers. His gaze flicks from the window to the door like he’s imagining the moment she walks through it.

„We give her what no one else ever has.” He said finally.

„We give her care. We give her friendship.”

„That’s lame as f.uck.” Ash scoffs, raising an eyebrow.

„Maybe.” Fez replied, and this time the smirk that touches his mouth is cracked and tired.

„But it’ll work.” Kimi studies him, voice sceptical.

„Why?” She asked. Fez drops the cigarette into the ashtray and exhales slowly.

„Because before anything else…” He said, voice low and deliberate.

„I’ll speak the only language she still trusts. I’ll give her a choice. Not fate. Not prophecy. Business. Power. Control. Cash on the table… clean, fast, hers.” He doesn’t blink. Doesn’t soften it.

„I let her name her price. And if she bites, then maybe, just maybe… we’ll have a chance to say more.” He said, his tone steel-edged. He shrugs once, slowly. But there’s steel in it.

„She’s been treated like a pawn her whole life. Shoved. Cornered. Used. Money’s not greed to her, it’s survival. It’s freedom. It’s hers. The only thing between her and the grave, and she knows it.” Kimi leans back, eyes narrowed.

„So we buy our way in?” She asked with a frown.

„No.” Fez’s gaze sharpens.

„We offer. Big difference.” He said. Ash watches him now, fully engaged.

„She won’t see a leash?” He asked, voice low. Fez smirks, but it’s hollow. Tired.

„She’ll see the outline of one. But that’s the point. I’ll make sure she knows, if she takes the deal, it’s on her terms. She’ll walk into it knowing every edge of the blade. We’re not here to save her. We’re here to give her the tools to save herself.” He said. Kimi crosses her arms, wary.

„And if she doesn’t bite?” She asked. Fez lights another cigarette. Smoke slips through his fingers like a warning.

„Then we lost her before we ever started.” He said simply. Ash whistles under his breath.

„That’s a gamble.” He said. Fez nods slowly, voice clipped now.

„Everything about her is.” He said. He flicks ash into the tray and exhales slowly.

„If we wake her the wrong way, if we push too hard, too soon? She’ll see us the same way she sees everyone else, just another threat. Another hand reaches into the fire thinking they won’t get burned.” Kimi’s voice goes quiet.

„So what’s the move?” She asked. Fez glances toward the clock. Then toward the file. Then toward the door.

„I'll pick her up from school today. No pressure. No pitch. I ask if she wants a ride.” He says. Ash raises a brow.

„And she’ll just say yes?” He asked.

Fez grins now. Dark. Crooked.

„She won’t say yes. But she’ll choose to get in that car. And that difference? That’s everything.” He said, eyes glittering with something razor-sharp beneath the calm. Kimi leans forward, eyes sharp.

„And what’s the hook?” She asked, already bracing for impact. Fez leans down, snuffs out the cigarette, and straightens.

„I give her what she’s never been offered.” He said, voice cool and clear. Ash lifts a brow.

„What’s that?” he asked, curious but sceptical. Fez’s voice is calm now. Dead steady.

„An out. No strings. No lies. Just a door half open and a reason to walk through it.” He said. He turns to leave, jacket already half on.

„She’s not stupid.” Ash mutters, eyes still on the file.

„She’ll know it’s bait.” He added, voice dry. Kimi steps beside Fez, arms crossed, eyes sharp.

„Yeah.” She said.

„But she’ll take it anyway.” Because it’s not about the offer. It’s about who’s making it and what it’ll cost not to. The silence stretches for a moment. Fez exhales slowly, cigarette burning low between his fingers. He doesn’t look at them as he speaks. He stares at the girl in the photo. Blank eyes, white streak in her hair and bruises fading like ghosts.

„We need to be smart with her.” He said, voice low. Measured. Deadly careful. Ash frowns. Kimi watches, quietly.

„Not just clever, but f.ucking surgical.” Fez continued, every word weighted.

„She doesn’t see trust the way normal people do. She sees angles. She sees the fine print. She sees what it costs to believe in someone. Everything to her is a setup. A trick. A test. Every outstretched hand is just a collar waiting to close around her neck.” He said, voice growing colder. He finally looks up, his eyes dark. Cold.

„From what I read? From what I saw?” He says, flicking ash into the tray, hand steady.

„She doesn’t like cages that much, does she?” Kimi breathes in slowly. Ash doesn’t answer. Fez continues, quieter now.

„She’s not the kind you chase. She’s the kind you invite. Once. Maybe. And you better mean every word. Because if she thinks you lied, thinks you misread her, tried to save her, own her, fix her?” He said, voice dropping low. His voice drops to a near whisper.

„You’ll never get another chance.” He said, gaze sharp as shattered glass. He looks at them both, something dangerous burning behind his calm.

„Not with a girl like her. One wrong step and she’ll vanish. Mentally, physically, spiritually… gone. She’ll cut us out of her story like we were never in it. And that’ll be it.” He said. Kimi’s voice cuts in, quiet.

„So what do we do?” She asked. Fez nods to the files, the photos, the silence that’s followed this girl her whole life like a shadow with teeth.

„We don’t treat her like a prophecy. We don’t treat her like a problem. We treat her like a partner. We give her a reason to choose us. Not because we’re the answer. But because we’re the option. The one she didn’t expect.” He said. Ash leans back slowly.

„And if she says no?” He asked. Fez shrugs.

„Then we walk. With respect. No pressure. No guilt. No pitch.” He said simply. He flicks the cigarette into the tray and grinds it out.

„Because forcing anything on her? Is the fastest way to make her burn it down.” He added, voice flat and final. The room goes quiet again. Somewhere, beyond these walls, the city stirs. And a girl named Phoenix Fay Blackwood is about to be offered her first real choice. And what she does with it? Might just rewrite everything.

•

Kimi’s fingers tap lightly against the file, once, twice, before she speaks.

„She’s not just a runaway. Not just a girl with a past. She’s a loaded gun with no safety, walking through a world that keeps handing her reasons to fire. Every step she’s taken since she was five has been survival calculus. She doesn’t trust, she figures risk. She doesn’t hope, she plans exits. And she doesn’t love…because love costs.” She said, her tone cool and deliberate. She glances up, expression cool, clear.

„If we’re getting near her, we don’t lead with bloodlines and fate. We don’t talk about magic or prophecy. We don’t talk about what she should be. We start with what she is. A girl who’s been used, hunted, ignored and who built herself into a storm because it was the only thing that scared the monsters away.” She continued, her voice edged with steel. She pauses, then adds quietly.

„And if we’re gonna tell her the truth… we need to be ready for her to hate us for it.” She murmured. Fez nods once, sharp.

„We can’t pity her. She’ll eat us alive.” He said. Ash leans back, folding his arms.

„And we can’t come at her like we’re the good guys. Because, to her? No one ever is.” He said, voice flat. The room is still. The smoke hanging in the air curls upward like a whisper rising through old prayers. Outside, morning presses against the glass, unaware that something ancient is stirring again. And somewhere… Few blocks away…In a town too quiet for what’s coming…Phoenix Fay Blackwood exists with sixteen years of fury coiled beneath her skin like a live wire waiting for contact. She doesn’t know what she is. She doesn’t know what waits beneath the masks of her strangers-turned-allies. She doesn’t know that something’s cracking loose behind her ribs. But the world? The world’s about to find out. And Fez, Kimi and Ash? They’ve just stepped into her story. Not as saviours. Not as heroes. As proof that fate doesn’t come with guarantees… only choices. And whether she lets them stay… Or breaks them into pieces just to see what they’re made of? That’s not prophecy. That’s her. And her rules always come last.

•

Fez taps ash from his cigarette, eyes flicking sharply from Kimi to Ash. His voice comes low, tight, impatient now.

„Okay. F.ucking h.ell. Enough dancing around it. Let’s roll.” He growled. He stands, the weight of too many truths coiled in his spine.

„Tell me the now. Where did the agency dump her after the fire?” He asked, sharp. Ash’s fingers are already moving, the screen alive with updates. The air in the room shifts as the cursor lands.

„Agency-funded placement. Our quiet town to hide what they don’t want to see…” He added grimly. He doesn’t need to add you already know the one. They all do. Fez leans forward, cigarette burning low between his fingers.

„Here… of course.” He muttered. His voice is tight, like he’s trying not to crush the glass in his own throat. Ash nods grimly.

„Yup. Four blocks over. 218 Alder Way. East side, past the Story Tree. The old colonial they remodelled last spring after that other case. Still under Gregory’s name. Same predators. New zip code.” He reported. Fez swears under his breath, dragging smoke through his teeth like it might stop the building fury behind his eyes.

„They dropped her four blocks from us.” He hissed. Kimi’s already on her feet.

„They’re setting her up to implode again, hoping no one notices until the ash settles.” She said, voice like flint. Ash glances at them both.

„She’s not imploding. She’s adapting. She’s already mapped the city. That’s why she showed up at that party… she was probably going through the city.” He speculated. Kimi shakes her head slowly. Fez’s voice cuts in low.

„F.uck… no way!” He snapped.

„What?!?” Ash asked, clicking once more, pulling up the school transfer.

„Guess where the agency enrolled her.” He said, already knowing the answer would burn. Kimi doesn’t say anything for a moment. Just exhales through her nose.

„Silverton High. First day was yesterday.” She said coldly. They both freeze.

„That’s not just a school.” She finally says.

„That’s a f.ucking wolf den.” Her voice is like glass. Fez nods once.

„And she just walked into it wearing trauma and secrets like perfume.” He muttered. Ash closes the laptop.

„And the Thornes?” He asks.

„They go there.” Fez answers before Ash can. His voice has gone flat. Barely contained.

„Victor and Dorian. BloodClaw-born. Future Alphas. One’s a hammer. The other’s a blade. You already know which is which.” He said, bitter. Kimi glances at him.

„You really think they’ll notice her?” She asked carefully. Fez scoffs, sharp and bitter.

„You really think they won’t notice her? Kimi, come the f.uck on.” He snapped. She blinks once. He doesn’t let up.

„She’s drop-dead gorgeous, walks like she owns gravity, and breathes like she dares the world to choke her for it. Those arrogant, Alpha-fueled motherf.uckers? They’ll clock her the second she steps into their territory.” He growled. Ash mutters.

„She’ll be human to them.” He said. Fez nods.

„Exactly. And they’ll smell weakness. But she won’t flinch. She’ll look Victor dead in the eye and not step back. And Dorian?” He sneers.

„He’ll circle her like a riddle with teeth. Try to solve her before she cuts him open.” He added. Kimi folds her arms, jaw tight.

„They’ll test her. Bully her. Push till she bleeds.” Fez continues. „Because that’s what they do with anything they don’t understand. They’ll think she’s prey until she proves she isn’t. And by the time they figure out what she really is?” He asks. His voice drops to a razor-edge whisper.

„It might be too f.ucking late.” He said, deadly quiet.

•

Silence stretches, thick and scorching. Ash exhales.

„So we move now.” He says it flat, like a fact already decided. Fez nods once.

„It’s Tuesday.” His voice is clipped, restrained. Kimi blinks.

„So?” She asks, eyebrows lifting. Fez leans back, jaw locked, eyes sharp.

„So the first day was yesterday. And those Lycans?” He grits his teeth. „They don’t rush. Especially not Dorian. He watches. Waits. Let the hunger build. Victor might’ve growled, might’ve shoved, but they didn’t touch her yet.” His tone drops low, like the tension in his spine.

„Which means we’ve got a sliver of a window.” Kimi says, her voice tight.

„A breath.” Ash mutters.

„If that.” Fez lights another cigarette. He doesn’t even glance at it.

„They noticed her. I guarantee it. She probably walked into that school like a goddamn spark in a powder room. Every hormonal Lycan in that place lifted their f.ucking heads when she passed. Especially them.” His tone burns.

„She wouldn’t back down.” Kimi says, eyes narrowing like she can see the memory through smoke.

„If anything, she probably made them blink first.”

„Oh, she did.” Fez mutters, exhaling slowly.

„And that’s exactly why they’ll want more. Victor’ll stalk the edges of her silence. Dorian’ll snap just to see if she breaks. But neither of them owns her yet.” Ash lifts his head, eyes gleaming.

„So… today.” His voice carries weight. Fez flicks ash toward the floor.

„Yeah. Today I pick her up.” He says it like a challenge. Kimi raises an eyebrow.

„Won’t she think it’s a trap?” Her tone is sceptical, careful. Fez smirks, but there’s no humour in it.

„Of course she will. But she’ll still take the ride.” His eyes are razor-sharp.

„Why?” Kimi asks, studying him.

„Because it’s not about trust.” Fez says, standing.

„It’s about control. And for a girl like Phoenix? The fastest way to stay in control…”

„…is to choose the game before someone else does.” Kimi finishes, voice quiet but certain. Fez grabs his keys.

„Exactly.” He mutters, already heading for the door. Ash grins.

„You think she’ll come?” He asks, a little breathless with tension. Fez opens the door.

„Oh, she’ll come.” He says it like prophecy. He pauses on the threshold.

„She just won’t know she’s already driving the whole f.ucking thing.”