Page 81 of The Knight

Fox moved beside him, arm extended, fist waiting. “Brothers.”

Abe’s knuckles met his in a brief reply. “Always.”

“Let’s find your woman and finish this.” Fox’s eyes held his for a moment before he slipped beneath the surface.

Abe took a final deep breath, the grimy bite of river water mixing with the rain’s sharp clarity on his tongue. As hesubmerged, leaving the world of air and sound behind, a single thought crystallized in his mind.

Find Freya.

And God help anyone who stood in his way.

The river rushed him as he sank. Upstream rainfall had transformed the water into a churning maelstrom of silt, debris, and mangled vegetation. The murky depths swallowed all light, creating a sensory deprivation chamber.

Abe toggled his headlamp, the beam cutting through the dirty water for mere inches before dissipating into nothingness. He extended his hand, gloved fingers probing the liquid void. Beyond his wrist, the world ceased to exist.

A muscle blipped in his jaw.Visibility officially FUBAR.

He switched his visor to the advanced mapping system. Instantly, a holographic overlay illuminated his field of vision, transforming the impenetrable darkness into a three-dimensional schematic of the river’s course. Twists and turns materialized in ghostly blue outlines.

A yellow blip pulsed just ahead—Fox taking point.

Abe kicked off, powerful strokes propelling him forward. The red glow of the mansion’s security perimeter loomed in the distance, a digital representation of Korolov’s defenses.

As he swam, his breathing settled into a steady rhythm, the rasp of inhalation a constant in the liquid silence. His heartbeat, once a thunderous gallop fueled by the shock of Freya’s abduction, now thumped with a metronomic precision. The initial surge of adrenaline had crystalized into laser-focused determination, muting the ache in his shoulder.

He would find her. He would bring her home. Failure wasn’t an option.

“Fox to Zak. I have eyes on the perimeter. Security and underwater monitoring systems confirmed. Over.”

“Roger, Fox.” Abe pushed against the current, his thighs burning with effort. “Hold position. ETA thirty seconds. Over.”

“Zak to Fox. Stand by. Prepping security power override. Wait for my mark.”

Abe slowed, pulling alongside Fox. Even through the tactical mask, he caught the grin. Fox flashed a thumbs-up in the murky gloom.We’ve got this.

Abe returned the gesture, shoving down the voice in his head, counting every lost second. “Copy that.”

“Power cuts on my mark.” Zak’s voice broke through. “Thirty seconds exactly. Set your timers on my count. Clear the sensor zone by fifty feet minimum when systems restore, or your heat trace triggers the alarm. No second chances.”

One hundred feet total.

“Copy.” Abe brought his arm up, his watch face ghostly in the brown water.Timer zeroed.His knees found the rough riverbed.Ready.

“Five.” Zak counted. “Four. Three.”

Fox shifted beside Abe, readying himself.

“Two.”

Almost there, Duchess.

“One.”

The red threat indicators on Abe’s visor winked out like dying stars.

“Security disabled. Guardsmen, execute. Mark thirty. Now.”

“Copy, Zak.” Abe hit his timer and kicked hard off the bottom, silt exploding around him. The deeper water fought him here, sucking current, fighting his strokes.

---