Raven's POV
The car stops after thirty minutes of silence.
Raven's heart hammers as Adrian opens her door. They're in front of a massive steel gate surrounded by trees—somewhere outside the city, isolated and dark. Dante climbs out, still holding her wrist like she might run.
"Welcome to my private estate," he says. "No one knows about this place except Adrian and now you. Voss can't find you here."
The gate opens automatically. They drive up a long driveway to a modern mansion—all glass and steel and cold beauty. Nothing like the warm home Raven imagined a billionaire would have.
Inside, everything is minimalist and expensive. No photos. No personal touches. Just perfect emptiness.
"Adrian, sweep her for tracking devices," Dante orders.
Adrian pulls out a scanner and runs it over Raven's body. It beeps near her neck. Her hand flies to Luna's necklace—the tracker disguised as a pendant.
"No," she whispers.
Adrian rips it off before she can stop him. He drops it on the marble floor and crushes it under his boot. The tiny device sparks and dies.
"Luna gave that to me!" Raven shouts.
"Luna led police straight to Morrison," Dante says coldly. "Her equipment was compromised. That tracker could've brought Voss's men right to my door."
"She's my friend—"
"She's Morrison's accomplice. And Morrison just got arrested for investigating a corrupt commissioner without authorization." Dante's eyes bore into hers. "Tell me, Raven—did Morrison mention he's been investigated by Internal Affairs three times for obsessive behavior? That he's lost two partners who refused to help his crusade against Voss? That the department considers him unstable?"
Raven's stomach twists. "No."
"Of course not. He needed you desperate enough to use." Dante gestures to Adrian, who leaves them alone. "Come. We need to talk."
He leads her to a home office with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking dark forest. Dante pours two drinks—whiskey, expensive. He hands her one.
"I don't want—"
"Drink. You're shaking."
She is. Raven takes the glass with trembling hands and swallows. The whiskey burns but steadies her.
Dante sits behind his desk, studying her like she's a puzzle. "You have questions. Ask them."
"Are you the Reaper?"
"If I say yes, will you try to arrest me? Run? Scream?" His smile is sharp. "You're in my house, Detective. Your wire is dead. Your tracker is destroyed. Your only ally is in police custody. You have no power here. So why would I lie?"
"That's not an answer."
"Neither is asking questions you're not ready to hear answers to." He leans forward. "Better question: does it matter? You already chose me over the police. Over Morrison. Over running. You took my hand and got in my car. That decision is made."
Raven's throat tightens. "I didn't have a choice."
"Everyone has a choice. You chose survival. Self-preservation. Revenge over righteousness." His voice drops. "You chose to stop being a victim."
"By becoming a criminal?"
"By becoming someone who takes what she wants instead of waiting for scraps from people who hate her." Dante stands, walks to the window. "Your sister Scarlett is throwing a celebration party tomorrow night. Did you know that? Celebrating her new promotion—she got your old position as the department's media liaison. Marcus will be there too, showing off his Lieutenant badge."
Rage floods through Raven so hot she can barely breathe. "They're celebrating my destruction."
"While you hide in shame. While Morrison uses you as bait. While Voss hunts you like an animal." Dante turns back to her. "Or—you could make them pay."
"How?"
"I have resources Morrison never dreamed of. Money. Connections. Information networks that span the entire city. I know every dirty secret, every hidden crime, every skeleton in every closet." His eyes gleam. "I can give you everything you need to destroy Marcus and Scarlett. To expose Voss. To burn down the entire corrupt system. But you have to commit."
"Commit to what?"
"To working with me. Not as an undercover detective. Not as Morrison's spy. As my partner." He moves closer. "I need someone I can trust. Someone who sees the world as it really is—broken and cruel and rigged against people like us. You have investigative skills I need. I have resources you need. Together, we're dangerous."
"You still haven't told me if you're a killer."
Dante's smile is dark and beautiful. "I'm someone who makes problems disappear. Whether that makes me a killer or a problem-solver depends on your perspective. The question is—can you live with that?"
Raven should say no. Should demand to leave. Should find a way to contact Luna and run as far from Chicago as possible.
But Marcus's face flashes in her mind. Scarlett's fake tears. Her mother's rejection. The cameras. The shame. The rage that's been eating her alive for three days.
"What do you want me to do?" she asks.
"First, stay here. You're safe from Voss as long as you're under my protection. Second, help me investigate the remaining targets on my list—all of them connected to your case. Third—" He pauses. "Tell me everything Morrison told you about his investigation."
"You want me to betray him?"
"I want you to survive. Morrison's arrest means his operation is compromised. Voss knows about the warehouse, about Luna, probably about you. Anyone connected to Morrison is in danger. Including you. Unless—" Dante pulls out his phone, shows her a news alert.
DETECTIVE MORRISON CLAIMS VIGILANTE ACCOMPLICE
Below the headline: "Arrested detective James Morrison alleges he was working with an unnamed female accomplice to catch the Reaper killer. Police are searching for the woman, described as a former detective..."
Raven's blood turns to ice. "He's blaming me?"
"He's saving himself. Throwing you to Voss as a distraction." Dante's voice is almost gentle. "This is what good people do when cornered, Raven. They sacrifice others to save themselves. Morrison, Marcus, Scarlett—they all chose their own survival over yours."
Tears burn her eyes but she refuses to let them fall.
"I won't do that to you," Dante says quietly. "You work with me, I protect you. I don't abandon my people. Ever."
"Why?" Her voice cracks. "Why do you care what happens to me?"
He's silent for a long moment. "Because I know what it's like to watch everything burn. To lose everyone you trusted. To realize the world is crueler than you ever imagined." His steel-blue eyes hold hers. "The night my family died, I hid in a closet and listened to them beg for mercy. The man who killed them laughed. And the police who came later? They took his money and let him walk away. I learned that night that justice is a lie we tell ourselves to feel safe."
Raven's heart aches for the twelve-year-old boy in that closet.
"I spent twenty years learning to be someone who can't be hurt. Can't be used. Can't be destroyed." Dante steps closer. "Then I saw your case file. Brilliant detective, perfect record, destroyed by the people closest to her. I saw myself in you, Raven. Someone who believed and got punished for it."
"So I'm what—your project? Your charity case?"
"You're someone who deserves better than what the world gave you. And I have the power to help you take it back." He extends his hand again. "Last chance to walk away. I'll have Adrian drive you anywhere you want. No obligations. Or—stay. Partner with me. Let me teach you how to stop being prey and start being predator."
Raven stares at his hand. At the life he's offering—dark and dangerous and wrong.
But it's the first time in three days anyone has offered her anything except betrayal and lies.
She takes his hand. Again.
Dante's smile is triumphant. "Good girl. Now—tell me everything Morrison told you. Every detail. Every name. Every plan."
For the next hour, Raven talks. She tells him about Morrison's files, Luna's hacking, the surveillance plan. Everything.
She's crossing a line she can never uncross.
When she finishes, Dante nods. "Perfect. This gives us exactly what we need."
"For what?"
"To strike first." He pulls up security footage on his computer—live feed from outside Morrison's warehouse. Police cars. SWAT teams. "They're tearing apart Morrison's operation right now. Seizing evidence. Arresting anyone connected. Luna managed to escape, but she's in hiding."
"How do you know—"
"Because I've been monitoring all of them. Morrison, Voss, Marcus, Scarlett. I told you—I know everything." Dante's expression turns calculating. "Voss thinks he's won. He neutralized Morrison, has police hunting you, and believes he's safe. He's wrong."
"What are you planning?"
"To give you everything you want. Revenge on Marcus and Scarlett. Evidence to destroy Voss. Proof of your innocence." He looks at her with those terrifying, beautiful eyes. "But first, we need to make you disappear. Officially. Death certificate, burial, the whole show."
Raven's heart stops. "What?"
"Raven Blackwell needs to die," Dante says calmly. "So someone new can be born. Someone Voss can't hunt. Someone who can move through his world like a ghost and tear it apart from the inside."
"You want to fake my death?"
"I want to set you free." He smiles. "Trust me."
Before she can respond, Adrian bursts through the door, his face pale.
"Boss. We have a problem. Someone just uploaded a video to every news station in Chicago."
He turns a tablet toward them. On screen: Raven and Dante at the gala, holding hands, running from police. The headline above reads:
DISGRACED DETECTIVE RAVEN BLACKWELL FLEES WITH SUSPECTED REAPER KILLER
Below that, a quote from Commissioner Voss: "We believe Detective Blackwell may be the Reaper's accomplice or next victim. We urge her to turn herself in before it's too late."
Raven's world tilts. "They think I'm working with you. Or that you kidnapped me."
"Not anymore." Dante's smile is vicious. "Now they think you ARE me. Look at the comments."
Adrian scrolls down. Hundreds of posts: "She's the Reaper!" "Female serial killer!" "She killed all those people and framed herself to throw off suspicion!"
"No," Raven breathes. "No no no—"
"This is Voss's play," Dante says. "He's turning you into the monster. When they find you—dead or alive—the entire Reaper case closes. Perfect scapegoat."
"I didn't do anything!"
"Doesn't matter. The story's already written." Dante grips her shoulders. "This is why you need me, Raven. Voss just made you Chicago's most wanted. Every cop, every bounty hunter, every vigilante will be hunting you. Running won't save you. Only I can."
Raven's phone—the burner from Morrison—buzzes. One text from Luna:
They're saying you're the killer. They're coming for you. Marcus and Scarlett gave interviews saying you always had a "dark side." I'm so sorry. I can't help you anymore. I'm going underground. You're on your own.
The phone dies.
Raven looks at Dante through tears of rage and terror. "What do I do?"
His smile is sharp and possessive. "You become exactly what they fear. You become mine. And together, we make them all pay."
Thunder crashes outside.
And Raven Blackwell realizes she's not the hunter anymore.
She's become the prey.
Or maybe—she's become the monster