She struck again.
I moved.
My knife sank into the bastard’s side. He howled, but I was already ripping him off her, slamming him into the floor. Over and over until his body went slack beneath me, until the rage had somewhere to go.
Until he stopped moving.
The room went quiet except for Amanda’s gasping breaths and the pounding of my own heart.
“Amanda,” I said, dropping to my knees in front of her.
She blinked up at me like she wasn’t sure I was real. Her hands shook violently, mouth opening and closing without sound, shock finally crashing in now that the fight was over.
“I’ve got you,” I said, pulling her into my chest. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
Her fingers locked into my vest like it was the only thing keeping her upright. Her whole body trembled as she pressed her face into my shoulder.
“I knew you’d come,” she whispered.
My throat burned.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, pressing my forehead to hers. “I should’ve never left you.”
“But you came back.”
That was all that mattered.
The rest of the fight blurred into noise. Gunfire echoing down corridors. Shouts. Brutus yelling clear. Ghost dragging someone by the collar past the doorway.
Amanda sagged against me, her strength finally giving out now that she didn’t need it anymore.
“The girl,” she whispered. “Hailey. She’s hurt.”
Ranger was already there, med kit open, voice calm and steady as he worked. “She’s alive,” he said gently. “Bleeding, but stable.”
Amanda nodded, eyes glassy but alert, like she was cataloging everything even through the haze.
Ghost appeared in the doorway, his posture tight. “Cap. You need to see this.”
Another room. More restraints. Fresh drag marks. A clipboard lying discarded on a table, pages fluttering slightly in the draft.
Cap picked it up, flipping through quickly. His jaw tightened.
“Names,” he said. “Codes. Dates.”
Ghost leaned over his shoulder. “Scout’s date is on here. Two days ago.”
My blood went cold.
“This wasn’t the destination,” Ghost said quietly. “They moved people through here.”
“How recently?” Cap asked.
Ranger crouched, examining the floor. “Hours. Maybe less.”
Scout had been here.
And then he’d been taken somewhere else.
