Page 169 of Silent Shadows

“No.” I hear myself laugh once. “I think I should see the consequences of my actions.”

The room goes quiet. Miles’s face changes.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

His voice lowers. “Blame yourself.”

But before either of us can say more, Jax bursts back through the door.

He’s ashen. No jokes. My nerves skyrocket.

“We’ve got a problem.”

“What?” Taylor asks.

“There are little newbie crews out there.”

My stomach drops. “What do you mean?”

“They’re trying to get in on it. Probably listeners.”

The words hit like a slap.

Jax runs a hand through his hair. “Three college kids. Cameras. Trail cams. One guy livestreaming.” He swallows. “One of them fell.”

Everything stops.

“What?” I whisper.

Miles moves first, already grabbing gear.

“How bad?”

“Bad ankle. Maybe broken. They said he slid near that drainage area where Daisy almost fell.”

Owen swears.

Maya grabs the medical kit.

And Miles becomes someone terrifying. It’s not him being cruel or cold. Just focused.

“Jax, you grab coordinates. Owen, you’re with me. Maya, prep thermal blankets. Taylor, ranger dispatch now.”

Then his eyes hit mine.

Only mine.

For half a second, the sharpness of his focus cracks.

“Stay here.”

Maybe under different circumstances, maybe before the fight, maybe before the comments and guilt and all of it, I would have heard care.

Instead I hear dismissal.

“No.”