Page 52 of The Sniper

For the first time, Artemis hesitated. Her breathing was ragged, her arm hanging uselessly at her side. But then, something flickered in her eyes.

A sharp click from the side. Daniels’s turned to see the assailant with a small detonator in his hand. Daniels fired. The bullet hit its mark, straight between his eyes. The assailant crumpled, the detonator slipping from his grasp as the assailant’s body hit the floor.

When he turned back, Reyna was sagging against the wall, her breath coming fast, and Artemis was nowhere to be seen. He touched his comm unit, “Artemis is not secure. I repeat, Artemis is on the loose.”

Daniels was beside Reyna in an instant, running his hands over her arms, her face—she was alive.

“Daniels,” she whispered, and there was something raw in the way she said his name.

“You’re safe,” he murmured, pulling her against him.

The warehouse was still ringing with the aftermath of gunfire, the smell of blood and sweat thick in the air. But Reyna was here. In his arms. Breathing.

And Daniels had never been more certain of anything in his life—he was never letting her go.

The air inside the warehouse was thick with gunpowder and adrenaline, the scent of blood staining the space like a bad omen. The gunfire had stopped, replaced by the low hum of engines outside as Fitz and Mitch secured the perimeter. But Danielsbarely heard any of it. His entire focus was locked on the woman in front of him.

Reyna pushed away from the wall, her wrists raw from the bindings Artemis had used, a thin trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. She looked fierce, untamed, her body still vibrating with the fight. His fighter. His woman.

He cupped her face, his thumb brushing against her cheek. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

She swallowed hard, her gaze locking onto his with something unreadable. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

That answer wasn’t good enough. Daniels let his eyes roam over her, searching for anything she wasn’t telling him. There was a bruise forming along her jaw, a cut on her lip, but no stab wounds, no bullet holes. Relief loosened the stranglehold on his chest, but only slightly.

He wanted to pull her into him. Wanted to take her somewhere safe and never let her out of his sight again.

But there was still work to do.

Fitz’s voice crackled through the comms. “Daniels, we got a problem.”

Daniels turned, stepping back just enough to put himself between Reyna and whatever was coming next. “Talk to me.”

“There’s no sign of Artemis.”

The words sank like a knife between his ribs. “She was here.”

“Yeah,” Fitz muttered. “But she’s not anymore.”

Daniels clenched his jaw, his grip tightening on his weapon as he stalked out of the room, Reyna right on his heels. He wasn’t surprised, not really. Artemis wasn’t the type to go down easy. Still, she shouldn’t have been able to escape. Not with Cerberus locking this place down.

But she had.

And she’d left something behind.

Daniels reached the warehouse entrance where Fitz, Mitch, and Anton stood near one of the rusted shipping containers. Anton’s face was grim as he held out a small device—a burner phone.

“She left this.”

Daniels took it, flipping it open. One message glowed on the screen.

Close but no cigar. Better luck next time.

Daniels felt Reyna move closer beside him. Her fingers brushed his forearm, reminding him to breathe.

“Arrogant bitch,” Mitch snarled.

“She’s not arrogant,” Reyna said, her voice low. “She’s confident. And she’s playing us.”

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