Kat Evernight's Arc

Chapter 5 of 10

Kat pushed open the basement bar's heavy door and stepped inside. The air smelled like smoke and old wood. She'd expected resistance, maybe trouble, but the bartender just nodded when she asked about Vex's operation. He told her three names—people who'd worked for the gang leader before he went underground. One still lived two blocks north. Kat left coins on the bar and walked back into the square. The photo in her jacket felt lighter now. She had names. She had a location. Five years of searching, and finally the trail was getting warmer instead of colder. The address led her to a warehouse near the old factory district. Inside, resistance members had set up a safe house—maps on the walls, supply crates stacked in corners. A woman there recognized one of the names Kat gave her. She pulled out a black board covered in carvings and photographs. Dozens of faces stared out from its surface, each one connected by lines and notes. Gang members the resistance had caught or identified. The woman pointed to three photos in the upper corner. All worked for Vex before he disappeared. Two were dead. One was in custody. Kat traced the connections with her finger. The board showed progress—real progress. Vex's network was shrinking. Outside the warehouse, Kat walked past a stone pillar she hadn't noticed before. Black flame burned at its top, casting shadows across carved dates on its surface. Each date marked when a street or block had been cleared of gang control. The most recent entry was two weeks old. The resistance was winning ground, pushing back the criminals who'd run these neighborhoods for years. She stopped and read the dates again. Five years ago, none of this existed. Now the city was fighting back, reclaiming what had been stolen. A fountain stood in the plaza ahead, water flowing over dark marble through iron sculptures of birds. Kat sat on its edge and pulled out the photo of Vex. The three names had given her more than information—they'd shown her the cracks in his operation. People were talking. His crew was falling apart. The black board proved it. The pillar with its dates proved it. She wasn't chasing shadows anymore. She was closing in. Kat tucked the photo away and stood. The City of the Black Flame was changing, one reclaimed street at a time. And she would make sure Vex was there to see his empire crumble before she finished what he'd started five years ago.