The city didn't breathe anymore. It held its breath.
Red Fang stalked openly, knives bare, jackets red as warnings. Helix didn't stalk—they hovered. Their men walked in pairs, suits plain, comms flickering faint blue at their wrists. Between them, the market froze, afraid of both wolves.
And in that silence, the whisper of Umbra grew louder.
---
I watched from the balcony above the shop. The Lexicon pulsed faintly, humming like pages restless to be turned. Threads of fear wove thick below—vendors flinching, gangs restless, corps cold and certain.
Mara leaned against the railing beside me, arms crossed. "They're circling each other now. Fang wants blood. Helix wants proof. And the people want someone to save them."
"Not save," I corrected. "Shield. Cut. Enough to breathe."
Her eyes slid to me. "You sound like you believe this will work."
I smiled thin. "It already is. Veyra's losing coin. Helix is wasting time. And the people—" I nodded to the stalls below—"they're starting to hope."
Mara's mouth twitched. Almost a smile. "Hope's a dangerous weapon."
"That's why we sharpen it."
---
Jonas came in from the alleys that night, coat damp with rain, fists scraped. He set a sack on the table, heavy with coin.
"Collectors," he said simply.
Mara arched a brow. "Alive?"
"Breathing. Broken arms don't kill."
I opened the ledger, candlelight glowing on the ink. Line after line filled: coin returned, stalls relieved, Fang bleeding slow.
But when Jonas sat, the Lexicon pulsed harder. Pages turned sharp.
"Watched," Jonas muttered. "Two men in plain coats. Helix. They didn't follow long. But they saw me."
The room stilled.
Mara leaned forward. "Then they know more than whispers now. They've seen the shield."
Jonas' gaze didn't flinch. "Then we change the mask."
I closed the ledger with a snap. "We don't hide harder. We hide smarter. If they think they've seen Bastion, then Bastion becomes bait."
The Lexicon warmed, agreement humming in my chest.
---
Later, I stood alone in the backroom. Candle burned low. Shadows stretched long.
The Lexicon pulsed steady, like a heartbeat in my ribs.
"Pages turn fast," I whispered. "Faster than I thought."
It hummed, not with comfort, but with weight.
Umbra had teeth now. The city was bleeding.
And soon, both wolves would smell the blood.