He mounted his bike. “Saints,” he said, voice low. “Let’s end this.”
The Saints moved.
The Reapers’ warehouse sat at the edge of the industrial park like a rotting tooth, its rusted siding and broken windows lit by a security light that barelycut through the darkness. Two guards stood near the loading dock, smoking, laughing, oblivious.
Rook signaled with two fingers.
Grim and Havoc slipped forward first, silent shadows across concrete. Two muffled thuds later, the guards were down. Clean.
Rook led the rest of the team inside.
The warehouse smelled like oil, mold, and old wood. Crates were stacked in uneven towers, some marked with Reaper insignias, others with coded labels Ledger would decipher later. Voices echoed from deeper inside, their tone carrying a mocking carelessness.
Rook motioned for the team to split.
Stone and Grim flanked left. Havoc and two patched members flanked right. Fish drifted toward the rear, silent as smoke, watching the exits. Rook moved straight down the center aisle, boots silent on the concrete.
He heard them before he saw them.
“…Rook’s girl. That’s the weak spot.”
Rook froze. His blood went cold.
Another voice laughed. “He’s got a soft one. Easy leverage.”
Rook stepped into the open. “Say that again.”
Four Reapers spun around.
One smirked. “Look who showed up.”
Rook didn’t wait.
He lunged.
The first Reaper went down with a punch that cracked bone. The second swung a pipe. Rook ducked, grabbed his arm, twisted, and sent him crashing into a stack of crates. The third pulled a knife. Rook kicked it out of his hand and slammed him against the wall.
The fourth ran.
“Grim!” Rook barked.
Grim intercepted him at the door, dropping him with a single blow.
The fight was over in seconds.
But Rook wasn’t done.
He grabbed the Reaper with the broken nose and slammed him onto a crate. “You think you can threaten her?”
The man spat blood. “She’s nothing.”
Rook’s fist cracked across his jaw before the words finished leaving his mouth. “Wrong answer.”
The Reaper slumped sideways, coughing, dazed. Rook grabbed him by the collar, hauling him upright again, fury burning through every muscle.
Stone’s voice cut through the warehouse, calm but edged with steel. “Rook. Enough.”
Rook didn’t let go. “They came after her.”
