The line went dead. We stared at each other—Tyler, Axel, and me. The sunrise painted the compound in shades of blood and gold. "She's lying," Axel finally said. "She has to be."
"Maybe." Tyler's jaw was tight. "But can we risk being wrong?"
I looked at the hard drive in his hand. The evidence that could destroy Chen. The evidence that might cost thirty-seven innocent lives. Twenty-four hours.
The war wasn't over. It was just beginning.
16
EMBERS
The safe house was a farmhouse thirty miles outside the city. Maria had arranged it—some connection through her family, a place off the grid where Phoenix could regroup without worrying about cops or cameras. The survivors from Viper's compound were there too, settled into the barn that had been converted into emergency housing. Doctors Tyler trusted were treating their wounds—physical and otherwise.
I hadn't slept in thirty-six hours. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw cages. Hollow eyes. A twelve-year-old boy who wouldn't look up. And underneath it all, the weight of what Chen had said.
Thirty-seven more.
"You need to rest." Axel's voice came from the doorway of the small bedroom we'd claimed. He looked as wrecked as I felt—showered but still carrying shadows under his eyes, tension in every line of his body.
"Can't." I was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing. "Every time I try, I hear her voice."
He crossed to me, knelt on the floor, took my hands in his. His knuckles were scraped raw—from the fight, from Viper, fromeverything. "We'll find them," he said. "The other victims. We'll find them and we'll end this."
"And if we can't? If she's telling the truth and we have to choose between the evidence and their lives?"
"Then we find another way." His grey eyes held mine, fierce and certain. "We don't let her win, Kai. Not like this."
I wanted to believe him. Wanted to have that same certainty. But I'd held a dying girl's hand through metal bars. I'd watched Tyler stitch his own arm with hands that wouldn't stop shaking. I'd killed a man and felt nothing but satisfaction. The world wasn't certain anymore. Maybe it never had been.
"Come here." Axel pulled me down onto the bed, wrapped himself around me. I let him—let his warmth seep into the cold places, let his heartbeat steady my own. "Just for a few hours. Let me hold you."
"Okay." The word came out broken. "Okay."
I fell asleep with his arms around me and his breath warm against my neck.
For once, I didn't dream.
Morning brought coffee, exhaustion, and a plan.
Tyler had been up all night, working his contacts—other agents he still trusted, sources from his undercover days, anyone who might know about Viper's secondary operations. By the time I stumbled into the farmhouse kitchen, he had maps spread across the table and a look on his face I couldn't read.
"Tell me you found something." I dropped into a chair, accepted the mug Axel pressed into my hands.
"Maybe." Tyler pointed to a cluster of red marks on the map. "Viper had three properties we knew about—the compound, a warehouse in the port district, and a house in the suburbs he used for meetings. But there were always rumors of a fourth location. Somewhere he kept his most valuable... merchandise."
The word made my stomach turn. "Where?"
"That's the problem. No one knows for sure. Viper was paranoid—kept it completely off the books, different crews running it, no overlap with his main operation." Tyler ran a hand through his hair. "But I've got a lead. One of his lieutenants—a guy named Marco—handled logistics for the transport side. He might know."
"Where's Marco now?"
"County lockup. Got picked up on an unrelated charge yesterday. Driving under the influence, of all things." A grim smile crossed Tyler's face. "I can get access. Flash my badge, claim I need to question him about an ongoing investigation. But I'll need backup in case Chen's people are watching."
"I'll go." Axel's voice was flat. "Tank's still recovering, but Irish and Blade can hold things here."
"I want to come too."
Both of them turned to look at me.
