Page 45 of Fired at the Heart

“Don’t act like you weren’t ready to get your knife out and start peeling fingernails.”

Cassian stares at his gun, now returned to his holster but marked with blood spatter. “He was afraid of someone more powerful than us.”

Caleb turns on Cassian, fury etched into every line of his face. “You let him get your weapon. You fucking amateur?—”

“Back off!” I step between them. “This isn’t Cassian’s fault,” I say, even though it is to some degree.

“No?” Caleb’s expression is wild, desperate. “Then whose fault is it, Avery? Our only lead just painted the ceiling with his brains, and we’re no closer to finding Jade!”

The adrenaline left coursing through my system from the fight earlier crystallizes into cold anger. I move into Caleb’s space, forcing him back a step. “Control yourself, or wait outside.”

His shoulders bunch, and his breathing is ragged as his hands curl into fists. I brace myself to dodge his swing, but then he deflates.

Caleb’s jaw tightens as he stares at the floor. “He was my responsibility.” A breath shudders through him. “I was supposed to look out for him.”

“We’ll find him.” Raphael’s focus moves across the room, a distance in his expression now, already planning their next move.

I turn away from the body, needing space and air that doesn’t carry the stench of death.

My focus lands on the desktop computer, dark and silent. “Maybe the hard drive can give us a lead.”

“I’ll get Ezra on it.” Caleb storms from the room.

“We should get moving,” Raphael says. “Even in this area, all this gunfire will draw the police.”

I look at the dead man one last time. Whatever he knew died with him, and whatever he feared was terrible enough for death to be preferable to betrayal. The thought sends a chill through me despite the lingering heat of the fight in my blood.

“Grab anything that might be useful,” I tell the others. “We’re out in five.”

As we exit the office, leaving the cooling body behind, Raphael’s gaze follows me. When I look back, his face is unreadable, but a silent charge passes between us.

Then Cassian’s hand brushes mine, pulling my attention to him. “Ezra’s waiting with the hard drive. Last chance for answers.”

I follow him down the hallway and back downstairs.

Ezra hunches over the hard drive, his fingers flying across his laptop keyboard. The warehouse’s main floor stretches around us, the bodies of the guards left lying in their own blood. Only our two teams remain, the distance between us growing with each failed attempt to extract data.

The blue glow from Ezra’s screen catches the sharp angles of his face, illuminating his growing frustration.

“Anything?” Caleb paces behind him, his boots scraping the concrete with each turn.

Ezra’s jaw tightens. “The drive is fried. Someone knew what they were doing. This wasn’t just deleted data. It was physically corrupted.”

I lean closer. “How?”

“Electromagnetic pulse, most likely. Small, targeted.” Ezra’s fingers continue to dance across the keys, but his shoulders slump with defeat. “Whatever was on here is gone.”

“So, we have nothing.” Raphael stands apart from the rest of us, Caleb at his side. “This entire night was a bust.”

“We freed over thirty Omegas,” I counter sharply. “That’s not nothing.”

Fatigue and frustration etch deep lines around Caleb’s mouth. “It is if we came for Jade.”

Rico twirls his knife between his fingers. “At least you know the kid’s still alive as of a few days ago.”

Caleb takes a step forward. “That’s not good enough!”

“Everyonecalm down,” Raphael interjects, Alpha Command sliding into his words.

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