Then training slams back in.
Rowan and I move together, jumping out of the truck. No words. Just muscle memory. Guns up. Bodies low. We close the distance fast, boots sinking silently into damp earth from the melting snow.
Lev lifts a hand before we reach him, and I stop.
“They’re here,” he says quietly. Too calmly. “Three. Been on me since the river.”
My jaw clenches, but I don’t turn my head. I don’t need to. I feel it. That wrongness in the woods, shadows that don’t belong, like still air holding its breath.
“Right side,” Lev adds. “They wanted me to lead them to you.”
Rowan swears under his breath. This has Tatiana written all over it. Let her see me. She knows firsthand the damage I can cause. The things I can survive.
I grab Lev’s shoulder, the grip hard. “Rowan. Take him. Now.”
That’s when the world cracks.
The gunshot rips through the woods, and I don’t wait to see where it’s heading. I know. I slam into Lev, throwing my weight into him, shoving him sideways with everything I have.
The bullet hits me square in the chest.
It’s not sharp pain. It’s blunt. Crushing. Like getting hit by a truck. The sound leaves my body in a rush, and I hit the ground hard, stars exploding behind my eyes.
The bulletproof vest holds. I know that because otherwise I’d be fucking dead.
Thank fuck.
I roll before my lungs even remember how to work, coming up on one knee with my gun already raised. Rage floods me.
“Rowan, take him!” I command.
Three men break cover.
They shouldn’t have.
The first drops when I put two shots into him. He screams, clutching his leg, dragging himself across the dirt like that will save him.
It won’t.
One more shot and the noise stops.
The second comes at me from the side. I feel him before I see him. He fires and, unfortunately for him, misses. I close the distance fast, body moving on instinct older than thought.
My knife is out, and I slam it right under the ribs and twist. He collapses against me, the life draining from his dark eyes. He’s a dead weight, and I let him slide to the ground.
The third runs.
I don’t.
I aim.
The bullet catches him mid-step, and he folds.
Silence crashes down. Not peace. Never peace. Just the absence of threat.
My chest burns as I suck in air, every breath reminding me I’m still alive. I scan the tree line again. Once. Twice.
Nothing else moves.
