I checked her, hands running down her arms, her legs—no blood, no burns. Relief punched through me hard enough I almost dropped. “You’re alive. That’s all that matters.”
Her eyes flashed. “Tell that to the block currently on fire.”
Jason staggered up, blood on his temple, voice sharp through the ringing. “This wasn’t meant to kill us. He knew we’d clear out. This was meant for them.” He pointed at the townspeople—the café owner dragging her husband out of the rubble, the kid crying beside his bike.
Lane cursed, fury in every line of her face. “He brought the war here.”
My jaw locked, the roar of the flames filling my chest with heat that wasn’t just fire. “Then we end it here.”
And as the smoke coiled high into the gray morning sky, I knew North was out there—watching. Smiling.
28
North
The plume of smoke rose against the morning sky, thick and black, curling into a perfect signal. I leaned against the hood of the SUV on the ridge, cigarette dangling from my lips, and watched the square below unravel.
Panic rippled through the town like fire through dry grass—sirens blaring, people screaming, uniforms scrambling to pick up the pieces. Exactly as I’d planned.
“Messy,” the suited man beside me remarked in his clipped accent.
“Effective,” I corrected, exhaling smoke. “They saved their dam. They saved themselves. And now they’ll learn it doesn’t matter. Safety is an illusion I control.”
I flicked ash onto the gravel, eyes narrowing on the figures in the square—Forest, Zoe, Jason, Lane. They were battered, blackened, but alive. Always alive.
Good. Prey that never quits is the most entertaining.
But then—movement.
I frowned, leaning forward as more figures sprinted into the chaos. Not deputies. Not locals. Larger. Faster. Moving with the kind of lethal precision you don’t buy—you’re born into.
Recognition hit, sharp and unwelcome.
Navy SEALs.
Fraiser’s broad frame cutting through smoke, voice booming orders. Max with his steady aim, corralling civilians to safety. Axel, fast and fierce, already pulling a wounded man from the rubble. Nate, eyes hard, scanning rooftops for shooters. And Jack Raider—the one they called untouchable—grinning like a wolf as he shouldered a rifle, ready for hell.
My cigarette stilled between my fingers.
So. The mountain had teeth I hadn’t counted on.
The suited man followed my gaze, his expression sour. “You said you had them contained.”
I smiled, slow and deliberate, though my chest burned hot. “I do. Containment doesn’t mean they won’t fight.”
Below, the SEALs converged with Forest and Zoe, forming a line of firepower I hadn’t expected to see this early.
Interesting.
I flicked the cigarette away, grinding the ember under my heel. “Then we give them more to fight for.”
And I turned toward the SUV, already calculating my next stage.
29
Zoe
The square was chaos—sirens wailing, smoke choking the air, civilians stumbling like shadows through the wreckage. My ears still rang from the blast, and my hands shook even as I reloaded. Forest stood beside me, steady as stone, eyes scanning rooftops for the next threat.
