Darkness's Arc

Chapter 1 of 10

Darkness finds the paper tucked behind a radiator where no one was supposed to look. The handwriting matches perfectly — same loops, same pressure on certain letters. Someone wrote Nyx an alibi for a night she needed one. Someone Nyx trusted enough to ask. The Forsaken Warehouse smells like rust and old rain. Darkness moves through shadows between broken crates, looking for what else was left behind. She finds the brass lighter near a busted window, half-buried in dust. The initial carved into its face is a letter she's seen before — on birthday cards, on notes left on Nyx's counter, on texts that always end with a heart. The timestamps on the crumpled paper don't match the night in question. They're three days early. Whoever made this alibi prepared it in advance, which means they knew Nyx would need cover. Knew what was coming. Darkness holds the lighter up to the dim light coming through boarded windows. The metal is warm, like someone held it recently. She pockets both pieces of evidence and turns toward the door. The hunters aren't after Nyx because of what she did. They're after her because of what someone close to her is hiding. And now Darkness knows exactly who set her up to take the fall.