“Lucky,” I said, though my legs felt unsteady.
He didn’t correct me. He didn’t need to. The look he gave me said enough.
We didn’t have time to linger.
Bones stood fully, wiping his knuckles on his jeans like he’d brushed dust off. “Move. Now.”
We fell back into formation—Bones dragging one unconscious man behind him, Legend hauling the other by the collar, Voodoo beside me with the spotter shoved between us like a shield he didn’t trust.
“Alphabet,” Bones said as we moved, “route.”
“Go straight,” AB replied. “Service road is clear for the next twenty seconds. I’ve got three heat signatures sweeping the west dock but they haven’t reached your lane yet.”
“Copy.”
We broke out of the utility corridor and moved fast across the service road behind the seawall. My lungs pulled cold air in too quickly; my feet felt too light, too loud. Goblin jogged at my heel, glancing up at me every few strides like he was checking my pulse.
Voodoo stayed glued to my side like a second shadow.
When we finally ducked into the narrow stretch of brush behind a row of stacked shipping containers, Bones and Legend dumped the unconscious men beside an overturned pallet. The spotter was shoved to his knees again, still blindfolded.
We were out of direct sight. Hidden—for now.
My heartbeat finally started to settle.
Bones faced me first, then hauled me to him for a fierce kiss. “You did good, Dollface.”
I shook my head, still breathless. “I just—pulled him out of the way.”
“Exactly,” Legend said with his crooked half-grin, hooking me right out of Bones’ arms to press his own kiss to my lips. “Which means he gets to keep that pretty brain of his. So yeah. Good.”
Voodoo watched me intently and as soon as Legend’s grip loosened, he pulled me into him until our chests touched. He cupped my jaw with one hand, gentle, grounding.
“Firecracker,” he said softly, eyes scanning me like he needed to confirm every cell, “you saved me.”
That hit somewhere deep. Deeper than I expected. Somewhere that ached and glowed at the same time.
But before I could say anything?—
Before the moment could settle?—
A memory punched through the adrenaline like a fist wrapped in ice.
A huge warehouse.
Women screaming.
Sobbing.
My head ached, my wrists…
I blinked hard.
The alley was back.
The seawall.
Bones.
