He exhaled—long, slow, the last of his resistance bleeding away. "Okay," he said.
"Okay?"
"Okay." He pulled me down, tucked me against his chest. "Now sleep. Tomorrow's going to be hell."
He had no idea how right he was.
15
ASHES
The compound rose out of the darkness like a sleeping beast. We'd parked half a mile out, bikes hidden in an abandoned lot, approaching on foot through the industrial wasteland. The night was moonless, the only light coming from distant street lamps and the faint glow of the warehouse ahead. My heart hammered against my ribs with every step.
Axel moved beside me, a shadow among shadows. His hand found mine in the darkness, squeezed once, then released. No words. We'd said everything that needed saying.
Tyler was somewhere ahead with the advance team—Tank, Irish, Blade, a half-dozen others whose names I'd learned over shared meals and whispered prayers. They'd breach first. We'd follow once the perimeter was secure.
That was the plan, anyway.
"Position check." Hawk's voice crackled through the earpiece, barely audible.
"Alpha team ready." Tank.
"Bravo team ready." Irish.
"Charlie team holding." Donnie, covering our rear.
"Overwatch in position." Declan, somewhere high with a rifle scope.
"Medical standing by." Tyler's voice, steady and calm.
I touched my med bag, reassuring myself it was still there. QuikClot, tourniquets, chest seals—everything I'd need to keep people alive in a firefight. That was my job tonight. Not shooting. Saving.
"On my mark," Hawk said. "Three. Two. One. Go."
The night exploded.
Gunfire erupted from multiple positions—muzzle flashes strobing in the darkness, the distinctive crack of rifles mixing with the boom of shotguns. I pressed against the rusted hull of an abandoned truck, watching chaos unfold through the scope Axel had given me.
Phoenix hit the compound like a wave. Tank's team breached the east entrance, Irish took the west. Devil's Dust responded with desperate fury, pouring out of the warehouse like hornets from a kicked nest.
"Contact left!" Someone shouted.
"Two down, moving forward?—"
"Where the fuck is their backup?—"
The comm chatter was overwhelming. I filtered it out, focused on what I could see. Axel had moved forward, leading a squad toward the main entrance. His gun barked twice, three times. Bodies fell. Then I saw Tyler.
He'd broken from the medical position, sprinting not toward Phoenix lines butaway. Toward the Devil's Dust defenders. My blood turned to ice as I watched him reach their barricade,watched a Devil's Dust member clap him on the shoulder like a returning brother.
No.
Tyler raised his gun. Aimed it at Tank's exposed back. "Tyler, no!" The scream tore from my throat before I could stop it.
He fired. Tank went down.
The world stopped making sense. My brother—mybrother—had just shot one of ours. Had betrayed us. Had been the leak all along, feeding information, playing both sides, waiting for this moment to?—
