Page 86 of Echos and Empires
Alex’s acknowledgement came as a terse nod. He moved, leading two of the security men around the perimeter.
Liam’s eyes locked on Hardee’s position, the man he once trusted now his greatest threat. It was unthinkable, but it was happening, and he had to face it head on. The trap might have sprung, but the fight was far from over. Liam would see to that personally.
Chaos erupted with the fury of a storm unleashed. The sharp percussion of gunfire shattered the fragile silence, each shot a punctuation of survival and desperation. Liam ducked low, the betrayal searing through him as hotly as the bullets that strafed the air. In the chaos, Hardee was a constant, his presence like a jagged wound that refused to heal. Liam moved toward him with grim determination, knowing he had to end this before Victor slipped further away. Each step was a struggle against the hesitation that clawed at his resolve, a fight against the memories that screamed friend.
He pushed forward, the air thick with smoke and the acrid scent of betrayal. The team fought fiercely, their focus on staying alive as the odds mounted against them. Every decision Liam made felt like a cruel twist—strategies turned to dust, friendships turned to ash. He needed to regain control, to stop Hardee before it was too late. But each step dragged at him, laden with the weight of their shared history.
“Liam!” Hardee’s voice cut through the chaos, a taunt and a plea wrapped into one.
Liam gritted his teeth, anger boiling over the ache. “You’ve gone too far, Hardee. Don’t think I won’t stop you.”
The words echoed louder than gunshots, a promise and a warning. But still, there was that hesitation, the shred of loyalty that kept him from pulling the trigger. It was the same impulse that had brought them all together, a shared belief in something more, something better.
“You’re wasting time, Liam.” Hardee’s laugh was sharp, bitter. “Victor knows you’re here. Knows you’re weak.”
Liam’s heart clenched, his resolve stretching thin. Weak. That’s what Hardee wanted him to be. That’s what Victor always counted on.
He took a breath, long and ragged, and forced himself to keep moving, to keep fighting. The team needed him focused. They needed him ruthless. He was supposed to be the navigator, the one who always found a way. But Hardee’s betrayal had set him adrift in a sea of doubt.
“Hold positions!” he shouted, trying to drown out the uncertainty, trying to keep the team intact.
The noise was deafening, a chorus of combat that underscored the urgency of their situation. They were pinned, fighting for their lives, and Liam knew the only way out was through. Through the bullets. Through Hardee. Through the ghost of what they’d once been.
Liam lunged from cover, moving toward Hardee with renewed determination. The pain in his chest wasn’t from exertion. It was from knowing what he had to do. It was from the finality of the decision he was about to make.
“You were supposed to have my back,” Liam yelled, the words cutting as sharply as the shots they exchanged.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Hardee sneered. “You think I’m the only one?”
Liam stumbled at that, the suggestion of deeper treachery threatening to undo him. He shook it off, focusing on the here and now. On stopping Hardee before Victor got too far. But doubt crept in, a whisper that refused to be silenced. Was there more? Who else had Victor turned?
He blinked away the uncertainty, blinked away the hurt. This was bigger than them. Bigger than friendship, bigger than loyalty. This was about the mission, about Emma. About not letting Victor win.
The halls seemed to close in, the walls shrinking with every passing moment, with every precious second they lost. Liam’s world narrowed to the grim necessity of stopping Hardee, to the way their paths had twisted so completely.
The final confrontation played out like a scene in slow motion. Hardee’s gun raised, a mirror to his own. Liam’s mind flashed with images of laughter, trust, a future they once believed in. It was all gone, and Liam had to make it mean something.
He squeezed the trigger.
Once.
Twice.
Hardee’s eyes met his, a world of betrayal and regret passing between them as he fell.
The moment hung in the air, suspended, until Liam’s breath pulled him back into the chaos, into the immediacy of what had to happen next. He’d lost more than a friend. He’d lost a part of himself, a part that still felt raw and exposed. But there was no time to grieve.
“Regroup!” Liam shouted, the command a balm to the hollow ache in his chest. The fight wasn’t over. Not yet.
His hand twisted around the knob to the room Victor had to be in, shoving the door inward with no resistance.
The window was open, almost mockingly, its curtains fluttering like a taunt in the night air. Victor was gone. Rage twisted through Liam, an ugly thing that took root in the pit of his stomach and spread with each breath. The trap had snapped shut, and they’d lost more than the mission. They’d lost a friend, a brother. The room was a stark reminder of failure, of lives taken and nothing gained. He barked orders to the others, sending them to lick their wounds and regroup. Then it was just him and Alex, the silence between them filled with everything Liam couldn’t bring himself to say.
He stared at the open window, the chill of the night mocking his effort, his sacrifice. Everything he’d pushed for, every risk he’d taken, had slipped through his fingers like sand. The emptiness of the room was a punch to the gut, a taunting echo of Victor’s escape.
Liam’s voice was raw, shredded by the rage and helplessness churning inside. “Get back. Regroup at point zero,” he shouted, the words harsher than he intended.
The team moved, a ragged assembly of shadows and regret. He could see it in their eyes—the disappointment, the hurt. They’d counted on him to lead, and he’d led them straight into a trap.
