The equipment shed smelled like stale rubber, high school despair, and fertilizer.

  It was a small, corrugated metal box tucked behind the bleachers. It was dark, hot, and currently occupied by the fastest boy in Chicago.

  I didn't knock. I shoved the rusted door open and slipped inside.

  Danny was pacing.

  In the thin sliver of light cutting through the dusty window, he looked like a caged tiger. He was trembling, his hands raking through his hair. He had shed the leather jacket, tossing it onto a pile of pole-vault mats.

  He stopped when he saw me.

  “Get out,” he said.

  His voice wasn’t smooth. It was a jagged shard of glass.

  “No,” I said, crossing my arms. I leaned against a stack of tackling dummies. My heart hammered against my ribs. “You don’t get to punch a drone out of the sky and then hide in the landscaping supply closet.”

  “Nikki, leave.”

  “Asset Alpha,” I said.

  The words hit him like a physical blow. He flinched, his back hitting a metal shelf full of orange cones. They rattled.

  “You saw it,” he whispered.

  “Handy saw it,” I corrected. “The HUD doesn’t lie, Danny. The drone locked onto you. It identified you.”

  I stepped closer. The shed smelled of rust and fear.

  “You’re not just a Dhampir,” I said, my voice low. “You’re a prototype. Aren’t you? Did your father made you? Or Pandora Corp?”

  He looked at me, his eyes wide. The void was gone, replaced by terror.

  “It doesn’t matter what I am,” he snapped. “It matters that they found me. It matters that the signal is out.”

  “So we fight,” I said. “We’re stronger together.”

  “I triggered the distress beacon! Do you understand? I just lit a flare in the middle of a dark room, and now every hunter in the city is going to turn their head.”

  He pushed off the shelf, pacing again.

  “I have to go,” he muttered. “I have to run. New ID. New city. Maybe Seattle.”

  “Stop,” I said.

  I moved to intercept him, grabbing his arm.

  His skin was burning hot.

  “Don’t touch me!”

  He yanked his arm away. The movement was a blur. He didn't just pull away; he recoiled. Like I was radioactive.

  I flinched. My hand dropped.

  “Danny,” I said. “Calm down. Handy is scrubbing the footage. We can jam the signal. We have the scrambler.”

  “The scrambler is useless if they have a visual!” He spun on me. “You don’t get it, Nikki. This isn't a game.”

  He leaned in, his face inches from mine.

  “My father kept his eyes on me because he knows Pandora Corp has eyes everywhere. He thought we would be safe while he allowed me to have a life. But I screwed up. They found me.”

  He scanned my features with desperate intensity.

  “And they know I am with you.”

  The silence was heavy enough to crush lungs.

  “So?” I challenged, though my stomach dropped. “Let them come. We can take them.”

  “No,” he breathed. “We can’t.”

  He stepped back.

  “Stop looking at me,” he begged. “Please, Nikki. Just… stop looking at me. Stop following me.”

  “Why? Because I’m a werewolf? Because I’m messy?”

  “Because you’ll get us both killed!”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  He screamed it. The sound rang in my sensitive ears.

  I froze.

  “Handy,” I subvocalized. “Analysis.”

  “Cortisol critical,” the AI whispered in my ear. “He is in a panic loop. But Nikki… the drone targeted him because of the proximity. It verified him because he engaged.”

  He engaged to save the freshmen, I thought.

  “No,” Handy corrected. “He engaged because he was showing off for you. Because he was with you.”

  Cold sweat pricked my hairline. My stomach dropped.

  He was right.

  Before me, Danny Troy had been a ghost. I made him visible.

  And now, because of me, Pandora had a lock.

  “You’re right,” I whispered.

  Danny stopped pacing.

  “What?”

  “You’re right,” I said. My mouth tasted like battery acid. “I am the danger.”

  He blinked. “What? No. Nikki, I meant—”

  “I have something they want,” I said. “A Black Box.”

  Danny went still. “The what?”

  “It’s a drive. From Pandora. All their dark secrets are in the Black Box. I’m the target, Danny. I’ve been the target the whole time.”

  His face paled. “So… You stolen their secrets?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Nikki, if they know you have it…”

  “They can’t touch me. I can release it. But they’re looking. And now? Now they’re looking here.”

  I stepped away from the dummies.

  “The drone pinged you,” I said. “Asset Alpha. That means you’re valuable to them. You’re a resource. I’m an obstacle. They’ll have to go through me to get to you.”

  Danny rubbed his upper arms.

  I looked at him. He was shaking.

  He wasn't built for war. He wasn't built for the kind of violence I was dragging in my wake.

  If Pandora came for the Black Box, and he was standing next to me…

  “Handy,” I thought. “Probability of Danny’s survival if he remains in close proximity to me.”

  “Low. Less than 12%. Anyone close to you dies. And given his genetic value? They’ll peel him apart just to see how he ticks.”

  I looked at his face. The fear.

  He needed to run. And he wouldn't go if he thought he had to save me.

  I had to be the villain.

  I clamped down on my heart. I visualized a steel door slamming shut.

  “You’re right,” I said again, my voice flat. "You need to get away from me."

  Danny exhaled, looking relieved. “Okay. Good. We can… we can split up. Just for a while.”

  “No,” I said. “Not for a while. For good.”

  He frowned. “Nikki?”

  “Together, we're a beacon. Alone, you're just a ghost. Be a ghost, Danny.”

  He blinked, stunned.

  “What?”

  “Look at you,” I said, gesturing to his shaking hands. “You’re falling apart. You punched a piece of plastic and now you’re hyperventilating in a shed. You’re a mess.”

  “I…” He stammered. “I’m protecting us.”

  “You’re protecting yourself,” I sneered. “You’re scared of daddy. I get it. But I have a war to fight. I don’t have time to babysit.”

  His face crumpled.

  “Nikki,” he whispered. “Last night… the greenhouse…”

  “Was a mistake,” I cut him off. “I was high on adrenaline. I needed a grounding wire. You were there. Don’t read into it.”

  I forced myself to meet his eyes.

  “You’re weak, Danny,” I lied. “You have all that power, and you’re terrified to use it. You’re hiding. I can’t hide. I hunt.”

  He took a step back. He looked like I’d gutted him.

  “You don’t mean that,” he said.

  “I do,” I said. “The drone proved it. You’re sloppy. You endangered the mission.”

  “The mission?” He laughed, a brittle, broken sound. “We’re just kids, Nikki!”

  “I’m not a kid,” I said. “I’m a weapon. And you? You’re just in the way.”

  I grabbed my bag. I needed to leave.

  “Go to Seattle,” I said, brushing past him. “Go write your stories. Leave the fighting to the predators. We’re done.”

  I reached the door.

  “Nikki,” he said. His voice was barely a whisper.

  I paused.

  “Don’t,” I said.

  “I thought we were a pack.”

  The word tore through me.

  Pack.

  I squeezed my eyes shut.

  “Wolves hunt alone,” I whispered.

  I shoved the door open and stepped out into the blinding sunlight.

  I walked fast. I didn't run. Running was for prey.

  I marched across the grass. My chest felt hollowed out, scraped clean.

  “Heart rate 160,” Handy murmured. “You are in distress.”

  “I’m fine,” I choked out.

  “That was… efficient,” Handy said. “Survival probability for Danny Troy has increased to 85%. Assuming he leaves the city.”

  “He’ll leave,” I said. “He’s smart.”

  I reached the main building and ducked into the first restroom I found. It was empty.

  I leaned over the sink, splashing cold water on my face.

  I looked in the mirror.

  Nikki Nova stared back. Pale. Sharp. Alone.

  I saved him, I told the reflection.

  The reflection didn't look convinced.

  I gripped the porcelain until my knuckles turned white.

  It’s better this way. He hates me. He’ll leave. He’ll be safe.

  And I would be here. Waiting for Pandora. Waiting for the war.

  I dried my face with a rough paper towel. I adjusted my short hair. I checked my teeth for fangs.

  Just a girl. Just a cheerleader. Just a villain.

  “Ready for the next round?” Handy asked softly.

  “Always,” I whispered.

  I pushed open the door and walked back into the noise. One target down. One to go.