MARKED IN THE MIDDLE

WE DON’T DO SAFE HERE

When I say I didn’t sleep that night, I mean at all. Lira passed out on Janie’s couch the second her head hit the throw pillow, but me? I stayed up watching the shadows outside like some paranoid raccoon with a bad caffeine habit.

Something about this whole thing had me twitchy. Not just the pendant. Not just Lira. It was the vibe. Like I was in the middle of a game I didn’t know I was playing yet. And I hate not knowing the rules.

By morning, Janie had already brewed her demon-strong coffee and rolled out the witchy version of breakfast: apple slices with black salt, a green smoothie that smelled like wet moss, and a stack of papers she’d printed from the archives using her very illegal portal access.

"You’re gonna want to read this," she said, dropping them on the table in front of me.

I squinted at the heading: Blood Pact Amendment: Silver Ash Pack — Revised Two Years Ago.

"Okay," I muttered, flipping pages. Lira stirred on the couch, groggy but alive.

Janie pulled out a chair across from me. "That pendant is proof that the amendment's a lie. They said she died and used that to restructure the Pack's power tree. New Luna named. No trial. Nobody. Just poof, she’s gone."

Lira sat up, rubbing her face. "Because I was never supposed to be Luna," she said quietly. "Not really."

I frowned. "But Kael marked you, right? That’s binding."

She shook her head. "He faked it. Used an enhancer. Something borrowed from the Blood Witches. It made the mark seem real, but it wasn’t. Not fully. It was always unstable."

Janie let out a low whistle. "Damn. He tricked the pack. That’s a new level of dirty."

I leaned back in the chair. "So now the pendant shows that. Shows your blood isn’t bound. If this gets out..."

"Kael falls," Lira finished.

"And you die."

She nodded. "Probably."

Janie tossed me a set of enchanted keys. "Which means you two need to move. Now. My wards are solid but not forever. Someone’s gonna trace that pendant, and I’m not trying to get firebombed before payday."

"You’re a saint," I said dryly.

"I know."

We left through the back alley, ducking into the early-morning fog like fugitives. I took us through side streets, old service tunnels, and abandoned stations the city forgot about. No one followed. But the silence? It was heavy. Like the calm before a real ugly storm.

"Where are we going?" Lira asked, breathless from jogging after me.

"Someone who owes me info," I said. "Name’s Red. Real name's Felix, but he dyed his hair in college and never looked back. He deals in secrets."

She gave me a look. "And we trust him?"

"No. But he trusts me."

Red lived in an old arcade that hadn’t been open since before the pack wars. He kept the lights on and the machines working because it made him feel powerful. Like he ran his own little kingdom of ghosts.

He saw us coming on his security cams and unlocked the gate with a loud buzz.

"Nora Ainsley. The storm-chaser herself. And look at this! Luna on the run! Your taste in guests has gotten way more interesting."

"Cut the crap, Red. We need a safe house, and we need eyes on Silver Ash."

He raised an eyebrow. "Payment?"

I pulled out the pendant.

He recoiled. "Jesus, that thing’s radioactive."

"So you know what it is."

"Of course I do. And I also know Kael’s got half his enforcers looking for it. And for her."

Lira crossed her arms. "Let me guess. There’s a bounty."

Red looked at her with something like pity. "More than one. You got humans, witches, even a couple rogue packs sniffing around. Girl, you set off a damn chain reaction just by breathing."

She slumped. I watched her shoulders drop like all the air left her lungs.

"We can stay here, right?" I asked.

He hesitated. "Two days. That’s all I can give. Then you gotta disappear again."

"Fine."

He handed me a burner phone. "And this. My guy in the Northern Watch says Milo was spotted crossing the border into Grimfall. He was hurt. Bad. But alive."

Lira gasped. "He made it?"

"For now. But if he went there, he was looking for someone. And if he finds them, all hell’s gonna break loose."

Later that night, Lira and I were holed up in a dusty breakroom behind the DDR machine. The hum of arcade lights buzzed like fake comfort. She sat on the floor, knees to her chest, eyes lost in some memory she didn’t want to share.

"Tell me what happened," I said finally.

She blinked. "To what?"

"The night you disappeared."

She hesitated, then sighed.

"It was after a Council gathering. Kael was angry. Said I embarrassed him by questioning his deal with the Nightshade Pack. I thought it was suspicious—wolves disappearing, territory shifts, too much silence. He told me to drop it. I didn’t."

She looked at her hands. "That night, someone tried to poison me. I survived. Just barely. Milo found me half-dead and helped me run. We made it to the outer rings before the patrols closed in. He fought them off. I kept running. That was the last time I saw him."

"Damn," I whispered.

"He always looked out for me. Even when we were kids. He used to say I was born backwards. Too kind for Luna."

"Maybe kindness isn’t a weakness," I said. "Maybe that’s what scares them."

She gave me a sad smile. "Maybe. But scared wolves don’t play fair."

Around midnight, Red knocked once and tossed in a folder.

"Intel. Fresh as hell. Don’t say I never did anything nice."

I flipped it open. Surveillance photos. Kael with unknowns. Symbols on their jackets I didn’t recognize. Not standard Pack emblems.

"Who are these guys?" I asked.

Red whistled low. "Bloodhounds. Freelancers. Ex-pack, ex-law, ex-everything. You hire them when you don’t want someone to live long enough to ask why."

Lira leaned over my shoulder. "They're looking for me."

"Correction," Red said. "They’re already in Viremont. Which means? Tick-tock."

I stood, zipped up my jacket, and looked at Lira.

"We’re not waiting for them to come to us."

She frowned. "What are you thinking?"

"We go to Grimfall. Find Milo. Bring this whole damn lie into the light."

She stared at me, wide-eyed. "That place is crawling with old pack loyalties. It’s not safe."

I smirked. "Girl, look around. Nothing about this is safe. But we aren't safe here. We do what has to be done."

She stood beside me. Eyes tired, but steady.

"Okay," she said. "Let’s burn it down."