“Us," she said. "About what we are and what we could be."
His smile was soft and devastating. "I'd like that."
"Good." She stood, pulling him up with her. "Now, let's go finish this thing so we can figure out what comes next."
As they walked toward the briefing, the last of her walls crumbled a little more with each step. She was still scared—terrified, actually—but for the first time in her life, she was more afraid of missing out on love than she was of losing it.
And that, she realized, made all the difference.
The conference room buzzed with controlled energy as Kawan strolled through the threshold, Lark at his side.
The team had expanded overnight—Thor and the rest of Kawan’s team were there, of course, but now they were joined by three men who brought a different kind of gravitas to the space.
Brick sat at the head of the table like he'd been born to command, his massive frame relaxed but alert. Beside him,Tonka cracked his knuckles methodically, the sound sharp in the quiet room. Pipe leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, those calculating British eyes missing nothing.
Colonel Dustin Amber stood near a wall-mounted monitor, pointing at what looked like satellite imagery of Fort Liberty. His uniform was crisp, his bearing sharp, but Kawan could see the tension in the set of his jaw. This mission was personal for him, too.
"Ah, there they are," Dustin said as they entered. "Just getting started."
Kawan guided Lark to two empty chairs, noting the way she moved—more settled than he'd seen her in days. Whatever had happened during her session with Henley had worked some kind of magic. When she'd told him they needed to talk after the mission, about what they were and what they could be, something in his chest had loosened for the first time in years.
Now, he just had to make sure they both survived long enough to have that conversation.
"We were just going over base layout," Thor said, gesturing to the screen. “Since most of us have never set foot at Fort Bragg.”
“Technically, it’s Fort Liberty these days.” Dustin used a laser pointer to highlight key areas. "Liberty's got three main entry points for vehicles, but only one that won't require significant ID verification for contractors. That's our way in."
"Contractors?" Sloan asked.
"Brick's new security company will have legitimate contracts with half the bases on the East Coast," Dustin explained. "Including Liberty. I've already made some calls—there's a 'routine security assessment' scheduled for today. Paperwork's been filed, clearances verified. You won’t have a problem getting in.”
Kawan had to admire the elegance of it. Hide in plain sight, use the system against itself. "What about weapons?"
"That's trickier," Brick said, his voice a low rumble. "We can get basic sidearms through in containers that look like 'testing equipment,' but anything heavier or bigger, we’re gonna have to get creative with.”
“I’m working on options,” Pipe said.
"And when Lorre makes his move?" Jupiter asked.
"That's when the security assessment becomes a security response," Tonka said with a grin that was all predator. "Amazing how quickly situations can escalate."
Specs looked up from her laptop. "I've been monitoring Lorre's digital footprint since last night. He's been busy. A lot of encrypted traffic, several calls to numbers I can't trace. He's definitely coordinating with someone."
"Mina?" Lark asked, her voice steady but cold.
"Possibly. We also need to consider that Wes is alive. And then there’s the AI and whoever’s paying for it." Specs pulled up a new screen.
“I’ve got some intel on that,” Dustin said. “Bradford believes that the buyer is a group from South America. One that Mina’s relatives have connections to. And the chatter is, that group, intends to replicate the AI and sell it worldwide to our enemies.”
“Fucking wonderful,” Kawan muttered.
“I’ve got something else that’s interesting,” Specs said. “That message from Alvarez? It came with a hidden subroutine. A tracking protocol that's been pinging location data to a secure server."
Kawan leaned forward. "Location data on what?"
"On us. Every device that accessed that flash drive is now broadcasting position data to a ghost server. Someone's been tracking our movements since we opened that file."
"Son of a bitch," Lark said. “How’d that happen?”
