And in the middle of it—
Daniel Voss.
Still pinned.
Still watched.
Still untrusted.
For now.
Another burst of gunfire tears through the wall above us. Dust rains down. Wood splinters.
“They’re not slowing down,” Mila says.
“No,” I agree. “They’re not here to slow down.”
They’re here to finish it.
A grenade clatters through the broken window.
Time stops.
“GRENADE!” I shout.
Mila reacts instantly, diving back—
But Daniel moves first.
He rips free.
Not away—
Toward it.
My brain barely keeps up as he lunges across the room, grabs the grenade mid-roll, and pivots hard—
“DOWN!”
He hurls it through the side doorway just as it detonates.
The blast shakes the entire structure, heat and pressure slamming through the open frame instead of inside.
Close.
Too damn close.
Silence follows for half a second.
Then—
Everything crashes back.
Gunfire.
Shouting.
Movement.
