Jace didn\u2019t reach for the tag right away.<\/p>\n
He just stared at it.<\/p>\n
At the warped edges.<\/p>\n
At the soot still caught in the grooves.<\/p>\n
Like if he looked too fast, it might disappear\u2014and take the name with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay that again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His voice wasn\u2019t steady anymore.<\/p>\n
The girl held the chain out a little further.<\/p>\n
\u201cEli,\u201d she repeated softly. \u201cHe said you\u2019d know.\u201d<\/p>\n
A chair scraped hard behind Jace.<\/p>\n
One of the bikers shifted, tension snapping tight across the table.<\/p>\n
Jace finally took the tag.<\/p>\n
Carefully.<\/p>\n
Like it could break.<\/p>\n
His thumb dragged across the metal, stopping where the heat had scarred it. Something was still faintly visible beneath the burn\u2014letters he didn\u2019t need to fully see.<\/p>\n
He already knew.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s dead,\u201d someone muttered from the table.<\/p>\n
Not loud.<\/p>\n
But enough.<\/p>\n
Jace didn\u2019t look back.<\/p>\n
Didn\u2019t react.<\/p>\n
His eyes stayed on the girl.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave it to me,\u201d she said. \u201cBefore the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word hit harder than the name.<\/p>\n
Fire.<\/p>\n
Jace\u2019s jaw tightened, something dark flickering behind his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat place burned to the ground,\u201d another biker said. \u201cNo one walked out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The girl shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Simple.<\/p>\n
Certain.<\/p>\n
Jace leaned forward slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where is he now?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Her small fingers tightened together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she admitted. \u201cHe told me to run. To find you. Said you\u2019d understand what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence pressed in.<\/p>\n
Heavy.<\/p>\n
Real.<\/p>\n
Because that sounded exactly like Eli.<\/p>\n
Jace closed his hand around the tag.<\/p>\n
This time tighter.<\/p>\n
Like he wasn\u2019t letting it go again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else did he say?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
The girl thought for a second.<\/p>\n
Then\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said the raven still flies,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
That broke something.<\/p>\n
Not loud.<\/p>\n
Not visible to most.<\/p>\n
But the men at the table felt it.<\/p>\n
Jace leaned back slowly, exhaling through his nose like he\u2019d just taken a hit he wasn\u2019t ready for.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was ours,\u201d one of them said quietly. \u201cNo one else knew that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jace nodded once.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His voice had changed again.<\/p>\n
Colder.<\/p>\n
Focused.<\/p>\n
Alive in a way it hadn\u2019t been minutes ago.<\/p>\n
He looked at the girl.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long ago?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That landed like a shockwave.<\/p>\n
Every man at that table straightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday?\u201d someone repeated.<\/p>\n
Jace was already standing.<\/p>\n
The chair didn\u2019t scrape.<\/p>\n
It just moved.<\/p>\n
Fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he\u2019s still moving,\u201d Jace said.<\/p>\n
More to himself than anyone else.<\/p>\n
The girl watched him closely.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you help him?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
Jace looked down at her.<\/p>\n
At the soot on her hands.<\/p>\n
At the way she hadn\u2019t broken under any of this.<\/p>\n
Then at the tag in his hand.<\/p>\n
Then at the men behind him.<\/p>\n
Something settled.<\/p>\n
Not doubt.<\/p>\n
Decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
No hesitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned, grabbing his jacket in one motion.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinish up,\u201d one of the bikers said automatically.<\/p>\n
Jace shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have time.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was enough.<\/p>\n
Chairs moved.<\/p>\n
Boots hit the floor.<\/p>\n
The diner shifted from quiet to something else entirely\u2014not chaos.<\/p>\n
Purpose.<\/p>\n
Jace knelt in front of the girl, just for a second.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
She told him.<\/p>\n
He nodded once.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou ride with me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Her eyes widened slightly.<\/p>\n
Then she nodded.<\/p>\n
Because there was nowhere else to go.<\/p>\n
He stood, pulling his gloves back on, the raven tattoo disappearing beneath worn leather.<\/p>\n
But not gone.<\/p>\n
Never gone.<\/p>\n
As they moved toward the door, one of the bikers spoke low behind him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really think he made it out?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jace didn\u2019t slow.<\/p>\n
Didn\u2019t look back.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t send her unless he did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The bell over the door rang again as they stepped out into the pale sunlight.<\/p>\n
And for the first time in a long time\u2014<\/p>\n
The past wasn\u2019t something chasing them.<\/p>\n
It was something waiting.<\/p>\n
And they were already on their way to meet it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jace didn\u2019t reach for the tag right away. He just stared at it. At the warped edges. At the soot still caught in the grooves. Like if he looked too fast, it might disappear\u2014and take the name with it. \u201cSay that again,\u201d he said. His voice wasn\u2019t steady anymore. The girl held the chain out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}