It feels shared.
SIX
GAVIN
There’s something off in the air tonight.
It’s the kind of wrong you feel in your spine before your brain catches up. I’ve learned to trust it. You don’t spend years deployed, then start a compound like Haven 7, and ignore instincts when they start buzzing.
Especially when you’ve got something—someone—worth protecting.
Kayley’s tucked into the corner of my couch again, legs folded, Aidan asleep in the bassinet between us. She’s reading one of the books I keep on the shelf, though the way she keeps sneaking glances at me over the top makes it pretty clear she’s not following the plot.
I’m not reading either.
I’ve got eyes on the monitor on the side table, the perimeter feed glowing in dim grayscale. The system’s top-of-the-line—courtesy of Rafe’s paranoia and Rhett’s wiring obsession. Full motion detection, heat signatures, AI-enhanced tracking software.We’ve caught everything from elk to snowshoed teenagers trying to cut through the property.
But right now?
There’s a flicker in Zone Six.
East ridge. Behind the cabins.
I tap a key and rewind the feed, narrowing in.
Movement.
Fast. Too fast to be an animal. Two-legged gait. Not enough heat to be close, but definitely human. Whoever it is, they’re staying outside the fence—but they’re circling. Testing.
Watching.
I tense.
Kayley notices immediately. “What is it?”
“Stay here.” I’m already up, grabbing the radio from the wall hook and hitting the secure channel. “Zone Six. Movement. One, maybe two. Check-in.”
Chase’s voice crackles through first. “I’m closest. On it.”
Rhett follows. “I’m behind him. Boyd’s headed for the ridge trail.”
Silas confirms he’s sweeping the southern line.
Wyatt says nothing, but I know he’s already moving.
Kayley stands, her blanket falling from her shoulders. “Gavin?—”
I cross the room in two strides and cup her jaw gently. “You’re safe here. I need to know you believe that.”
“I do,” she says, voice small. “But you?—”
“I’ll stay. Right here. Unless Ihaveto move.”
She nods, but her eyes are wide, frightened. “Do you think it’s him?”
“I think someone’s curious. And we don’t like uninvited guests around here.”
Another crackle through the radio:“No contact. Tracks are erratic. Looks like someone deliberately trying to spook us and stay out of frame.”
