1 — THE NEW PARTNER
3:12 PM — Precinct hallways rattle with bad coffee and tension.
Detective Ward stands by the whiteboard — old photos of the Raven pinned next to corpses, crime scenes, blurred feathers.
Next to him — Kate Mendoza, early 30s, sharp blazer, sharper eyes. Rookie badge, but her posture says ex-military.
She circles the board, chewing her pen cap like it's prey.
Kate Mendoza:
"You want my read, Detective? You've got six possible hideouts, two witness sightings, and the water authority ready to shut the mains down if you say the word. And you haven't said the word."
Ward leans against the desk, rubs his brow.
Ward:
"Because if we pull her in now — she runs. And if she runs, the Flock buries this city in its own blood. The Raven's the only one stupid enough to crawl into their tunnels."
Kate crosses her arms — unimpressed.
Kate Mendoza:
"You sure she's not just one of them, playing hero for the cameras?"
Ward's glare is his only answer.
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2 — KATE THE JOURNALIST
Downtown — Kate Park adjusts her press badge outside the mayor's press conference.
Her phone buzzes — Rafi, begging for a quote, for a ride, for attention.
She ignores him — her eyes lock on Councilman Adair, shaking hands under floodlights.
She whispers into her recorder — teeth bared like a dog on a bone.
Kate Park:
"Adair smiles, the water rots, and the Raven bleeds for our sins. Question is: who profits from the plague?"
She glances at the armored cops around the stage — spots Kate Mendoza in the distance, just leaving Ward's car.
Two Kates — same city — different teeth.
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3 — THE NEST BUZZES
At The Nest — chaos. Micah paces in socks and boxers — half-eaten pizza on a blueprint.
Jess holds a laptop up to Selene — valve schematics flickering.
Jess:
"They didn't just plan one main. They built redundancies — east pump, west pump, reservoir kill-switches. You stop one, they flip the other. You need to be in two places at once."
Selene cracks her knuckles — feathers scatter from her workbench.
Selene:
"Then I'll be everywhere at once."
Micah cuts in — phone on speaker. Rafi's voice blasts through — cocky, giddy, reckless.
Rafi (phone):
"People wanna know where you'll strike tonight, Raven. I'm gonna stream the whole hunt — make you famous. You owe me that."
Selene snatches the phone — crushes the battery under her boot.
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4 — THE FLOCK'S SHADOW
Deep under an abandoned meat-packing plant — Grackle sharpens an old boning knife on a whetstone.
Beside him — a row of vacuum-packed missing people, butchered, sealed, erased.
A junior Flock runner whimpers behind him — bleeding from the scalp.
Grackle (calm, humming):
"The Crow says the bird's flapping too loud. We cut wings, we bury bones, we bleach the stain. Simple."
He wipes the blade clean — flicks off the light.
The kid's whimper echoes once — then stops.
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5 — THE FIRST VALVE
8:03 PM — Selene glides through industrial scaffolds, talons gleaming under sodium lights.
Her earpiece crackles — Micah guiding her, Jess reading maps.
She finds the first valve behind a rusted chainlink fence — two Flock gunmen on guard, bored, high on cheap stims.
One finishes his cigarette — flicks it — just in time to see her shadow fall.
Feathers slice. A gun clatters on concrete. A neck snaps.
No noise, no mercy.
She pries the rusted wheel — turns it with a grunt that tears her stitches again.
Micah (comm, relief):
"One down. One more, boss."
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6 — WARD AND KATE MOVE
Near the second valve — Ward and Kate Mendoza crouch in a patrol SUV.
Their comms pick up police chatter — gunshots, feathers, a shadow with claws.
Kate flips open her notepad — sketches a crude bird.
Kate Mendoza (mocking):
"How does it feel, sir — chasing myths while the city rots?"
Ward doesn't answer. He checks his clip, thumbs the slide back.
Ward:
"When we see her — we don't shoot to kill. We shoot to stop. She stops, this city breathes. Got it?"
Kate Mendoza smirks — she's not promising anything.
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7 — THE FINAL SWITCH
Selene drops from a catwalk — hits the concrete in a roll.
The final pump station looms — a rusted heart beating poison into ten thousand pipes.
Inside: Grackle, waiting — slick apron, boning knife gleaming.
Grackle:
"Hello, pretty bird. Let's carve out your eyes, shall we?"
He lunges — fast for an old butcher.
Steel clashes with talon. Selene ducks, slices. Grackle laughs — swings again — catches her shoulder. Flesh tears.
They spiral through dripping pipes and hissing steam — a slaughterhouse built for ghosts.
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8 — A GUN, A DECISION
Outside — Ward and Kate Mendoza breach the gate. Ward sees them — Raven locked with the Butcher, Grackle's knife flashing.
Kate Mendoza (to Ward):
"Take the shot — she's wide open!"
Ward's hand trembles on the trigger — he sees Selene's eyes, wide, burning through the mask.
He lowers the gun — fires once — the bullet tears through Grackle's shoulder instead.
Selene finishes it — talons rip under Grackle's chin. He drops, still smiling.
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9 — THE COST
She staggers to the main wheel — cranks it. The poison stops flowing.
But the wound in her arm bleeds hard — too much.
Ward storms in — points his gun at her again — Kate Mendoza flanking him, fury in her eyes.
Ward (to Selene):
"Run. Now. Before I change my mind."
She stares — something like gratitude buried under the mask — then slips into the steam, gone.
Kate Mendoza turns on Ward — teeth bared.
Kate Mendoza:
"You let her go. Why?!"
Ward just holsters his gun — stares at the dripping valve.
Ward:
"Because she's the only thing keeping this city on life support."
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10 — THE CROW WATCHES
Far above — Crow watches the closed valves on his screens.
His fingers drum a glass desk — feathers scattered like ash.
He chuckles — hums that lullaby.
King Crow:
"One valve closed. Ten more ready. A bird can't pluck all the feathers, can she?"
Behind him — new blueprints. New names. New monsters.
The game drips on.
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END OF CHAPTER TWENTY