Chapter 24 · The Hunter Has Her

The countdown hit four minutes.

Ivy's phone screen burned white in the dark hallway. Anonymous sender. Same message looping like a death clock. Sign the second contract or your location gets broadcast to every hunter in the building.

Lila was breathing too fast beside her.

"They knew." Lila's voice cracked. "They knew I'd bring you here. They knew the exact second you'd walk through that door."

Ivy's brain was sorting variables. Two contracts with identical terms meant someone wanted her locked in twice as hard. Wanted her to owe Lila four future favors instead of two. Wanted her desperate enough to sign anything.

Or wanted Lila exposed.

"Who else knows you broker Core Zone access?" Ivy kept her voice flat.

Lila's laugh came out wrong. "Half the school. But the contract clauses? The real terms?" She shook her head. "Three people. Me, you, and whoever's doing this."

Ivy's phone buzzed. New message.

Three minutes thirty seconds.

Then another buzz. Different sender this time. Cain.

*Six hunters just got the same job. Bring you back before midnight. I'm coming up.*

Her stomach dropped. She typed fast.

*Core Zone is locked.