Morning.
Selene wakes in her apartment — a mattress on the floor, blackout curtains failing to hold back the city's neon pulse. Her phone buzzes. Two messages:
1. Ward: No bodies tonight, Arlen. Or I bury you myself.
2. Micah: Yo boss. Found the Bull King's last meal plan — looks like Crow's cooking up a reunion at Westfield. Ring any trauma bells?
She drags herself up, wincing at the bruises stitched down her ribs. Her hands still smell like burnt rubber from the truck fire. A line from her father rattles around her skull: "If the city can't break you, it'll starve you."
---
At the Morgue
Day shift. Selene changes into scrubs that itch at her stitches. The walk-in freezer hums, hummingbirds of frost whispering to her pulse. She tries to be normal — clocks in, logs another overdose under Unknown Male, tries not to picture the Bull King's fists or the Surgeon's blade while she zips the bag.
Jess appears in the doorway, two steaming coffees balanced in a cardboard tray — one hand still trembling.
> "Black with sugar," Jess says softly, like they're just coworkers again.
"Thanks," Selene says. She almost smiles — but Jess's eyes linger too long on the fresh cut on Selene's collarbone.
A corpse on the slab bears familiar carvings. A signature. A spiral line along the jaw. Jess's throat tightens. The last Surgeon carved her the same way, years ago.
> "It's him, isn't it?" Jess whispers.
"No," Selene lies. "It's his echo."
---
In the Breakroom
A battered TV flickers over stale pastries. Councilman Adair's face fills the screen — all teeth and fake warmth.
> "…promise to cleanse our streets. Vigilantes have no place in a lawful city…"
Beside him, just out of frame — a grainy glimpse: King Crow in the background, sunglasses inside, always the puppet master. Selene narrows her eyes — she's never seen him so brazen.
---
The Rookie
A new hire at the morgue — Danny, fresh out of community college, awkward grin, too many questions.
> "Hey, uh… Selene, right? Big fan of your work rate. Seriously, how do you always pick up the late shifts? No social life?"
She forces a laugh. You have no idea.
"Somebody's gotta clean up after this city," she says.
---
Outside
Rafi lurks across the street — perched on a trash can, hoodie up, phone live. He's built a little online cult now — The Raven Nest. Clips of Selene's rooftop fights, blurry shots of feathers, grainy footage of fires she left behind.
He mumbles into the camera:
> "Tonight, we get closer. I know she's going back to Westfield. I'll be there. Gotta see how the real fight works."
---
Ward
Ward corners her by the staff lockers, flashes his badge like a threat he's tired of repeating.
> "No bodies tonight, Arlen. I gave you Westfield as a courtesy. You push too far, I'll be waiting at the exit."
She closes her locker slow. Meets his eyes without blinking.
> "I can't promise that."
He laughs, cold and sad.
> "Didn't think you could."
---
Micah's Voice
Micah's voice crackles in her earbud as she leaves the building, dawn already bruising the sky.
> "So guess what our favorite circus freak Moloch Horn did this morning? Crashed a fight club under Crow's payroll — snapped a bouncer's spine for fun. Message to you, boss. He wants you rattled."
> "I'm not rattled."
> "Liar."
Micah tries to lighten it: "Oh! By the way, I tracked the Surgeon's online footprint. He's a relative — big surprise. Older cousin of the original. Name's Lester Kain. Same med school, same psych file flagged unfit — guess he took that personally. Might wanna pack extra scalpels tonight."
---
Jess
Before Selene leaves for the night, Jess catches her by the loading bay — the one place the cameras can't see. Rain drips off rusted pipes. The smell of bleach, always bleach.
> "I'm going with you tonight."
Selene's eyes flicker — surprised.
> "No."
> "He carved me once. I'm not letting him carve someone else."
Selene lifts her gloved hand — brushes a loose strand of hair from Jess's face. Their foreheads almost touch. Almost.
> "Stay home, Jess."
Jess doesn't answer. Her silence says I won't.
---
Night — Westfield Hospital
Westfield's rotting halls echo with the past — a place where surgeons stitched nightmares to the bones of the city. Tonight, it stinks of mold and fresh fear.
Selene slips through a broken window — blades primed. Micah's drone hums overhead, feeding her a top-down map of corridors long abandoned.
> "Watch your six. Ward's ghosting the perimeter — wants to see if you follow his rule."
> "No bodies."
> "No promises, right?"
---
Inside
She finds the first victim propped against an old gurney — posed like a museum exhibit. Carved with the spiral jaw line. A note pinned to his throat: "For the One Who Ruined My Brother."
Footsteps behind her. Not Moloch — heavier, angrier. The Bull King's breath fogs the stale air before he charges.
---
Collision
She spins — blade meets horn. Moloch's massive bulk smashes her back through a surgical door. Dust, scalpels, ancient blood.
Before she can counter, a flashlight flicks on. The Surgeon stands behind Moloch — gloved hands raised like a preacher blessing his congregation.
> "Tonight we finish the cut."
Moloch's grin cracks across his scarred face.
> "Break her bones first. Then carve her pretty."
---
Rafi
Outside, Rafi creeps closer — phone out, streaming the shadows moving behind the hospital's boarded windows. His voice trembles but never stops:
> "This is it, Nest. The real Raven. The monsters she fights. She's gonna win. She always—"
He flinches as a gunshot cracks inside.
---
The First Cut
Inside, chaos. Selene rolls under Moloch's fists — claws rake his side, draw blood that steams on the cold floor. The Surgeon slips behind — scalpel hissing near her throat.
She pivots, snaps his wrist — but not before he slashes a thin line along her ribs. A match to Jess's old scar. Echoes.
---
Ward's Threat
Outside, Ward's radio buzzes. He hears the fighting. He lights a cigarette, lets the rain put it out.
> "Goddamn you, Raven."
---
The Endgame
Inside the hospital, the walls scream with old ghosts. Selene launches herself off a rusted gurney — flips over Moloch — plants a blade between his shoulder plates. He roars. Swings blind.
The Surgeon flees into the dark — dripping blood, laughing.
> "Next time!" he howls. "Next time, Nightingale!"
Jess's name. A promise.
---
Aftermath
Selene limps out the back — rain mixing with blood, feathers stuck to her torn suit. Rafi's still filming — wide eyes locked on her.
She rips the phone from his hand.
> "Go home, kid. You're not ready for this."
He stares back — defiant. "I'm not scared. I'm not—"
She cuts him off. "You will be."
---
The City Breathes
The news will twist it all by dawn. Kara's face on TV: "Anonymous footage leaked tonight of the Black Raven in what appears to be a savage fight at the abandoned Westfield Hospital…" — her eyes gleam with the scent of a career-making exposé.
---
Micah's Last Word
Back at The Nest, Micah patches her wounds, humming a dumb pop song to break the gloom.
> "So… bodies tonight?"
She looks away — a ghost of a grin.
> "No promises."
---
END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN