Page 281 of Fractured Allegiance
Elias steps forward, gun still up. “End of the line.”
Drazen’s lips curve. “For someone, yes.”
A sound clicks beneath our feet. Not a gun. A trigger.
Silas grabs my arm, dragging me back as a blast rips through the far wall. The force throws us both to the ground, air splitting with the sound of concrete collapsing. Dust floods the room, turning everything to blur and ash, and for a moment all I can hear is ringing. A long, metallic drone inside my skull.
“Lydia!” Silas’s hand finds my shoulder. He’s shouting, but his voice cuts through the noise like wire. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
I nod, coughing, spitting grit. “Still here.”
He pulls me to my feet. The air is thick with smoke, the lights strobing in and out. Drazen’s gone. A hole in the wall yawns open where he stood. He didn’t try to kill us, just distract us long enough to vanish.
“Fuck,” Elias growls, his face streaked with soot. “He’s running.”
Outside, gunfire flares again—in shorter bursts, sharper rhythms. Elias’s men are still out there. Six? Seven maybe. I can hear them engaging, the distinct crack of automatics echoing off the warehouse walls.
He turns to me. “Lydia, with Silas. Cut him off before he reaches the yard.”
I nod once. Silas doesn’t wait for further instruction; his hand finds my wrist, pulling me toward the gap blown in the wall. The concrete edges are jagged, still warm from the blast. We climb through, boots hitting the gravel outside.
The sky’s washed in orange light from the fire spreading across the upper scaffolds. Men are shouting, boots slamming, the smell of burning oil filling the air.
Drazen’s shape flashes ahead, his white shirt a beacon against the dark. He’s moving toward the back of the compound, toward the line of black SUVs that still gleam under the floodlights. I fire once, the shot clipping the side mirror of the nearest vehicle. He ducks behind it, vanishing again.
“Left!” Silas snaps, and I follow without thought. We move like we’ve trained for this; him covering angles, me taking the gaps. The chaos around us folds into focus, every movement sharp, every sound stretched tight.
Two of Elias’s men come around the corner, blood streaked across their sleeves but still standing. One shouts, “He’s heading for the service road!”
“Cut him off!” Silas yells back, motioning them forward. They sprint ahead, weapons raised.
I press my back against the metal siding of a container, chest heaving, trying to catch air that doesn’t taste like smoke. Silas glances at me, eyes bright under the firelight. “Stay behind me.”
“Like hell,” I mutter, pushing past him. “He’s mine.”
He grabs my arm, yanking me back hard enough that it jolts through my shoulder. “You’ll get yourself killed.”
I meet his stare. “Then at least it’ll be for something.”
For a second, he looks like he might argue. Then his mouth tightens, the kind of expression that means he’s already calculating how to let me do what I want without dying for it.
We move together toward the back gate. The night hums with chaos: engines starting, tires screeching, the guttural bark of orders from unseen men. Drazen’s convoy is forming. I can see shadows moving inside the vehicles, flashes of light glinting off weapons, looks like these men have been set aside to stand by for an escape. Smart, because it looks like it’s working for him right now.
Elias’s men are pouring out from the perimeter now, regrouping. I spot Jax among them, face pale, rifle shaking in his hands but aimed true. He takes a shot and another one of Drazen’s men drops, collapsing beside the SUV.
“Cover!” Elias’s voice booms from behind us. He’s coming up fast, Mara still back near the entrance, shielded by the cars.
Drazen ducks behind the last SUV, his face briefly visible under the harsh glare of headlights. Calm again, like he’s already won. He lifts a small device, another fucking detonator, and smiles at me.
“Enough,” he calls out. “Well-played. You’ve proven your point. But this still ends my way.”
I lift my pistol, sighting between his eyes. “You don’t get to decide how this ends.”
“Don’t I?” His thumb hovers over the button.
Silas steps forward, weapon raised. “Try it. I promise you won’t finish the motion.”
For a second, no one breathes. The entire yard seems to freeze, waiting for a trigger pull, a misstep, anything.
