Chapter 12 · The Bride Hits the News

My phone kept vibrating in my palm like it was trying to crawl away.

Dorian Ash. Again.

Sable had her bike wedged between two overflowing dumpsters, one boot planted on the pavement, her helmet still on. The alley smelled like wet cardboard, fryer grease, and somebody's old beer. She watched my screen light up for the fourth time.

"Don't answer that," she said.

I stared at Dorian's name until the call almost died.

Then I answered anyway. "What?"

For half a second, all I heard was rough breathing and something crashing far away.

Then Dorian said my name.

Not Mara. Not Ms. Voss. Just my name, low and sharp enough to cut.

"Where are you?"

I looked at Sable. She gave a tiny shake of her head.

"Why? So you can send another welcome committee?"

The silence on the other end went flat.

"What happened?"

"Funny. You tell me." I gripped the recorder harder. Mom's old sunflower sticker was peeling at one corner under my thumb. "I got a message from my mother. She told me to run from you. Pretty direct, actually. Not a lot of room for confusion."

Sable swore under her breath.

Dorian didn't answer right away.