The words hit like ice water. For a heartbeat, I couldn’t breathe.
Then Carter shoved me gently behind him, his body blocking mine, his voice a lethal growl. “One more word and you’ll regret not bleeding out on that floor.”
River yanked Sable forward, none too gently, and the moment broke. They dragged him toward the cabin, his laugh low and poisonous, echoing against the trees.
I pressed closer to Carter’s back, my chest heaving. “That’s him, isn’t it? The one who… who put my name out there.”
His head tipped slightly, his voice low but certain. “Yeah. And he’s going to give us everything. Every name. Every account. Every shadow.”
I wanted to be strong, to believe it was enough. But as I stared at the man who had turned my life into a target, I knew this wasn’t the end.
It was only the beginning.
I clutched Carter’s hand, lacing my fingers through his, grounding myself in the one truth I could hold on to: no matter how dark it got, I wasn’t facing it alone.
82
Carter
We dragged Sable into the cabin and shoved him into a chair, binding his ankles to the legs with more zip ties. Blood seeped through the bandage on his thigh, but he sat tall, shoulders back, a smugness clinging to him like smoke.
I stood over him, rifle in hand, every muscle coiled tight. My instincts screamed to put a bullet in him and end it, but the soldier in me knew better. Alive, he was leverage. Alive, he was answers.
River leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his eyes calm but sharp. Gideon set his laptop on the table, already rigging for extraction of whatever intel Sable might give us. Cyclone stood by the door, silent, a wall of muscle and fury.
And Harper—she was just behind me. I could feel her presence like a flame against my back.
Sable’s gaze flicked to her, cold and deliberate, before sliding back to me. “She’s even braver up close,” he said, voice smooth as glass. “But brave doesn’t stop bullets.”
The fury that ripped through me nearly blinded me. Myrifle came up, barrel pressing hard against his forehead before I even thought about it.
“Say her name again,” I snarled, voice low and trembling with rage, “and I will take you apart piece by piece.”
For the first time, a flicker of fear cracked through his mask. It was small, but I saw it. And I savored it.
River’s voice cut through the tension, calm but edged. “We need him breathing, Carter.”
I forced myself to draw back, just an inch, the rifle lowering but still aimed square at his chest. My pulse hammered in my ears, my breath harsh, but I stepped back enough to think.
Sable smirked again, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes this time. “You can threaten me all night, soldier. But the truth doesn’t change. Kill me, and someone worse takes my place. Keep me alive, and you might just see the whole picture. If you’re strong enough to face it.”
I leaned down, my voice rough, lethal. “You’re going to give me everything. Names. Accounts. Routes. And when you’ve got nothing left, I’ll decide whether you keep breathing.”
His smirk faltered then, just slightly.
Behind me, Harper’s hand brushed my arm, grounding me. I didn’t turn, didn’t let Sable see the softness she brought out of me. But her touch steadied the storm inside long enough for me to pull back from the edge.
This wasn’t over. Not even close. But for the first time, the power wasn’t his.
It was mine.
83
Carter
Sable leaned back in the chair as much as the zip ties allowed, blood dripping onto the wood floor, his smirk curling like he’d already won. I’d seen that look before—in warlords, in men who thought money and hired guns made them immortal.
They all bled the same.
