Wednesday – 6:15 AM – Abandoned Greenhouse, Saint Helena Grounds
The first light of morning filtered through broken glass and ivy-stained walls. Dew clung to every surface like a secret too afraid to vanish. Vincent paced along the cracked tiles of the abandoned greenhouse, blood still dried along his knuckles from last night's scuffle with Tristan.
Adriana stood across from him, arms crossed, her black coat flaring around her like smoke. The fireproof case sat on the stone bench between them—emptied, useless, still dangerous.
"You know you just burned the future of half the Red Court," Vincent said finally. "That file… those identities… the leverage. Gone."
"I didn't burn it," Adriana replied calmly. "I torched the leash."
"You torched your protection."
She looked up, and for the first time since he met her, she looked uncertain.
"That's not the same thing anymore."
Vincent stared at her. "So what now?"
She exhaled slowly. "Now… they test me."
-
Principal Waters' Office.
The summons came before the first bell.
Adriana walked into the office like she wasn't reeking of war and ashes. Principal Waters looked up from his espresso, eyes bloodshot, tie askew.
"You've had an eventful week," he muttered.
"I'm the glue that holds your gossip mill together," she said. "You're welcome."
He didn't smile.
Instead, he slid a sealed envelope across the desk.
"No signature. No return address. Dropped in the faculty mail slot before dawn."
Adriana opened it.
There were no words—just a single Polaroid photograph.
A blurry image of Vincent, asleep, head slumped against a school window.
Taken from outside.
From an angle no student should've had access to.
Adriana's hand curled around the photo.
Principal Waters noticed. "Is it… a threat?"
She stood. "No. It's a promise."
-
1:44 PM – South Building – Locker Row D.
Vincent didn't see it coming.
One second he was opening his locker. The next, someone yanked him inside the maintenance closet and slammed the door shut.
Zara.
"You idiot," she snapped, poking him in the chest.
"Hi, nice to see you too."
"Tristan's missing. Off-grid. And Adriana hasn't been in class all day."
He blinked. "Wait, what?"
"She told me to watch you. Not let you out of my sight. Which, by the way, you've made impossible with your habit of going full cryptid between periods."
"I didn't know I had a babysitter."
"She called it insurance. I call it damage control."
Vincent sighed. "Did she say why?"
Zara hesitated. "She didn't have to. You're the weak spot, Banks. And someone just tugged your thread."
-
The Cathedral House.
Adriana sat alone in the private library above her family's church compound, curtains drawn, incense masking the scent of rot in the walls. She stared at her phone. No calls. No messages. Not even from Alex.
She knew what silence meant.
Exile.
The Red Court wasn't formally punishing her. They were watching. Waiting to see if she'd break.
And they were sending messages.
The photograph. The drone. Tristan's betrayal. It was all too clean.
Then the door creaked open behind her.
She didn't turn around. "If you're here to warn me, you're late."
A female voice answered—one Adriana hadn't heard in over a year.
"I'm not here to warn you. I'm here to collect."
Adriana stood, spine stiffening. "Zorina."
The woman stepped into view—long red coat, aviator glasses, and a scar that ran from temple to jaw like a lightning bolt. Zorina Markov. Her father's former lieutenant. Rumor said she vanished after a failed coup in Prague.
Adriana had never believed the rumors.
Zorina smiled. "You burned the burn file. Bold."
"I burned what needed burning."
"And now you're in the wind. Untethered. Unarmed."
Adriana held her gaze. "Not unarmed."
Zorina's eyes glittered. "Then prove it."
She reached into her coat and tossed something onto the table.
A USB drive. Identical to the one Adriana destroyed.
Adriana's jaw clenched. "You made a copy."
Zorina shrugged. "Insurance. From before your little bonfire. I want something, girl. And this is your price."
"What do you want?"
Zorina smiled. "A name."
Adriana didn't answer.
Zorina stepped closer, voice dropping to a purr. "Tell me who the mole is, and I walk away. Otherwise… I forward this drive to every syndicate still hunting your bloodline."
Adriana stared her down. "You forward it, and you don't get your name."
"I forward it," Zorina whispered, "and he dies."
She held up a second Polaroid.
Vincent.
Not sleeping this time.
Bleeding.
Adriana's world shrank to silence.
-
School Rooftop
Vincent sat on the edge, feet dangling above the city, the wind picking up fast.
He heard footsteps but didn't turn.
He knew it was her.
Adriana stood behind him, voice softer than he'd ever heard it.
"They're coming for you."
Vincent didn't move. "Because of what we did?"
"No," she said. "Because of what I am."
He looked over his shoulder. "Are you going to send me away?"
"I should."
He stood.
Stepped close.
"You won't."
Their eyes locked.
Her voice cracked. "She has a picture of you. Bleeding. I don't know if it's real or staged, but it's enough. She wants a name, Vincent. And if I don't give her one..."
"I become the price."
She didn't nod. She didn't have to.
For the first time since the gala, he saw fear on her face.
Real fear.
"I don't care if I'm bait," he said. "But I do care if I'm the reason you break."
"You're not," she whispered. "You're the only reason I haven't."
-
Elsewhere
In a darkened penthouse far from the school, Zorina poured herself a drink and watched the security feeds flicker.
A voice buzzed through her headset.
"She's not breaking."
Zorina sipped. "No. But she's about to bend."
"Do we initiate Phase Three?"
She smiled coldly.
"No. Not yet."
She clicked open a file on her tablet.
Phase Three: Alex Bogdan
Status: Located. En Route.