Page 339 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

It was Iron Star, not the Front.

But either way, Danya was working with them.

Troy Harker has the two people who matter most in the world to Lachlan and now he has to get them back.

Resolution Branch trained him for exactly this.

Enter hostile ground.

Find the structure.

Break it.

Recover the target.

No faces but theirs.

No lives worth saving but theirs.

Obstacles.

He scans through them all.

Outcomes. Motivations. Tricks.

Harker must want something from Penhalyx, will be seeking to stall the negotiation, but Lachlan knows the more time passes after a kidnapping, the more sharply the odds of successful recovery drop.

There won’t be any negotiation.

The rifle lies steady between his hands.

Ten minutes out, magazines lock into place.

Suppressors tighten.

Armour is cinched flat.

Enter.

Find them.

Kill whatever stops you.

The vehicles slow.

Doors open.

Cold air cuts inside.

Lachlan steps out.

The Tower rises over them, a dead apartment block with black windows and concrete walls. The moon hangs behind it, bleaching the clouds around its edges. Somewhere inside, the ones he loves are waiting for their bodyguard to save them.

Lachlan chambers a round.

He’s not leaving without them.

Death is inside him. It’s his weapon. It’s his talent.