Page 158 of Promises in the Dark

“Unless,” I said, the pieces clicking into place, “it was someone from inside.”

Raven’s eyes widened. “You think someone on the team is working with the insurgents? But that’s... that’s—”

“Fucking insane?” I finished for her. “Yeah, welcome to our world for the past few days.”

“Hold up,” Viper interjected. “If someone on the team is dirty, wouldn’t it have been easier to just shoot Raven? Why the whole knife routine?”

I paused, turning it over in my head. “A gun would make noise. Alert everyone. But a knife...”

My voice trailed off as another thought struck me. I looked around at the others, seeing the same realization dawning on their faces.

“Did anyone else hear that gunshot?” I asked slowly, eyes darting between them. Blank fucking stares.

Shit. Shit. Shit

“Check your comms,” I hissed, already reaching for mine.

Static. Nothing but fucking static.

The others were having the same luck. No response, no chatter. Just dead air.

“Shit,” Viper muttered, voicing what we were all thinking.

Without another word, we all turned and sprinted back towards the stairs. As we thundered down, my mind was racing. If only Red and I heard the shot, that meant someone had set this up. Isolated us. Drawn us out.

We burst back into the mosque, guns up. The main hall was empty, eerily quiet. Too fucking quiet.

“Alright, listen up,” I said, slipping into full-on command mode. “We sweep this place. Every fucking inch. I want to know what the hell’s going on.”

Viper and Raven nodded, faces set like stone.

“Viper, you take the east wing. Raven, west. Red and I will cover the main hall and the basement.”

I locked eyes with each of them in turn. “Stay alert. Trust your gut. If something feels off, you holler. Got it?”

They nodded and peeled off without a word.

I turned to Red, lowering my voice a notch. “Stay behind me. We watch each other’s backs, yeah?”

She gave me a tight smile. “Always.”

We moved like shadows, footsteps silent on the worn stone floors. Every damn creak in the building had me on edge, my gun ready to drop anyone who even thought about fucking with us.

The air was thick with dust and that familiar tension, making it hard to breathe—or maybe that was just the fear clogging my throat.

Red’s hand brushed against mine, grounding me for a second. I gave her a slight nod. This wasn’t something I needed to say. We were in this shit together. Come hell or high water.

“Rogue,” she whispered as we cleared another room. “What if we’re walking into a trap?”

I gritted my teeth, the same thought having crossed my mind a dozen times already. “Then we spring it on our terms. Keep moving.”

We hit the basement, the air turning thick and stale. Flashlights sliced through the dark, showing us fuck-all except dust and abandoned junk.

“Clear,” I called out, the knot in my stomach tightening.

Where the fuck was everyone?

We pressed on, checking behind old furniture, peering into dusty alcoves. Nothing. Not a goddamn thing out of place. It was starting to feel like we were chasing our own tails.

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