Bound By Thorns (Squad Six #2)

TEN

Logan

As the chaos erupted around us, the air thick with the scent of gunpowder and fear, I clutched at anything resembling stability. Bullets sliced through the air, their paths illuminated by brief flashes of gunfire. It was like being trapped in a violent storm, each shot a clap of thunder.

The men who had come for us moved with a precision that was both terrifying and awe-inspiring. They were obviously not amateurs; their movements were too calculated, too assured—and too familiar.

Amidst the gunfire, one of our rescuers fell, a bullet finding its mark with a sickening thud. Instinct took over—I lunged for his rifle and returned fire.

The weight of the weapon in my hands felt familiar yet strange after weeks.

The night turned into a blur of shadows and muzzle flashes. I fired at any hint of movement, any sign of threat. It was a desperate kind of dance, each step driven by survival instinct rather than any formal training I had.

As the firefight dwindled, the sound of bullets was replaced by the heavy breathing of the living and the groans of the injured. We hurried towards an awaiting convoy of three black armored SUVs, their engines idling like beasts. More armed men secured the perimeter. They nodded at us.

We were ushered into one of the SUVs, its interior stark and functional. The benches inside were arranged so we faced each other, a design meant for rapid deployment rather than comfort. Kaylan and I were pushed onto one bench.

The door slammed shut behind the last man who had covered our escape. He was clad in tactical gear, his presence filling the confined space. As the SUV lurched forward, escaping towards the cover of the woods, he flicked on a dim overhead light.

The light caught on his chest where I finally saw what his badge read.

‘Ranger’

I cursed under my breath, my mind spinning in disbelief.

No, no. NO! Fucking no! I can’t be rescued by Sebastian fucking Blackthorn.

The realization hit me like a truck, and for a long moment, I couldn’t move, frozen by a cocktail of shock and residual fear.

Sebastian, in all his infuriating glory, started peeling off his helmet, goggles, and balaclava. Each layer he discarded revealed more him. When his face was finally bare, I was ready to throw a snarky comment his way, something that would slice through the tension. But then, I caught sight of his expression.

His eyes—those dark, intense eyes—were rimmed with red. He looked utterly wrecked, and when he dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palm, my planned retort died on my lips.

He looked up again, managing a shaky smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I can’t,” he choked out, his voice cracking like thin ice underfoot. “I can’t believe you’re alive, Logan.”

His words, laden with genuine relief, hit me harder than I expected. I knew that despite everything, despite the anger and the bitter history, he cared. Sebastian had been the closest thing to a big brother when we were kids. But then there was Eli—sweet, doomed Eli whose death hung like a dark cloud over everything. I blamed Sebastian for not telling me about Eli’s drug problem, for not saving him when he could have. That guilt, that blame had festered into a deep, unyielding animosity.

I held his gaze. “Do you have a T-shirt?” I asked, voice flat. I wasn’t about to have this conversation, not here, not now.

He chuckled—a sound that held more sorrow than humor.

I couldn’t deal with this now, not with the enemy of my past showing such vulnerability.

“Here,” he finally said, pulling a shirt from his bag and tossing it to me.

The ride in the back of the SUV, with the landscape blurring past us and the quiet hum of the engine, felt surreal. Here I was, with the person I had loathed for so long, yet who had just saved my life.

I wasn’t ready for reconciliation in the back of an SUV taking me away from weeks of hell. I wasn’t ready.

“How’d you find me?” I asked, completely ignoring Kaylan sitting beside me, her breathing slow and labored.

Sebastian glanced at her and grabbed another t-shirt from his bag to tie it on her arm. She winced in pain and drifted off to sleep.

Sebastian’s brows furrowed with concern, “Healer?”

He tightened his grip slightly on Kaylan’s hand, monitoring her pulse. His face was etched with concern. “Fuck. I think she’s lost a lot of blood,” he murmured, then turned to the co-driver. “Head to Safe House 56, the one with the clinic. And get Dr. Stacey on the line.”

The co-driver nodded, “Copy, Ranger.”

I finally looked at Kaylan. She was going pale and an uneasy tightness gripped my chest, much like the worry I had before. But this time, it was tenfold. I could see her, fighting for her life in front of me, due to a bullet I could’ve prevented from hitting her had I dragged her from the gunfire instead of running by myself.

I was confused when Sebastian finally responded to my question earlier. I was so consumed in guilt that I had forgotten about it.

“We didn’t. We have been surveilling the property for a week. So when today we saw the lights go out, we knew something was going down. We didn’t intend to engage. I switched the mission objective as soon as I saw you and Kaylan.”

Sebastian’s voice was steady, his attention fully on Kaylan. His hand firmly gripped her hand to feel her pulse.

“Squad Six?” I asked cautiously.

I had been afraid that Garret had maybe found something. Maybe they were no longer alive.

“They were staying at the Blackthorn building. They’re off the grid, on an assignment. They’re unaware of your… status.”

I nodded, taking in the information. “Where are they?”

“Florida, dealing with a shipment. But we’re having trouble with the Crazon network interfering with our communications. Zane’s still trying to get our comms back online.”

“I need to go to Florida,” I stated, my voice carrying a firm resolve.

Sebastian exhaled slowly, his mind clearly shifting through strategies before he nodded in agreement. “Once we’ve got Kaylan safely at the safe house, I’ll arrange for you to fly to Florida.”

A sudden thought hit me. “Wait, where are we exactly right now?”

Sebastian’s lips tightened slightly. “We’re in northern Mississippi, near the forest. It’s unbelievable how close you were. Were…uh…Riley and Kyle from Squad Two also there?”

I shook my head, not knowing their status, and glanced towards Kaylan, wondering if she knew more.

Upon arriving at the safe house, the sight of the medical team ready with a gurney reassured me somewhat. They quickly ushered an unconscious Kaylan inside. The safe house, nestled deep in the woods, looked like it could be home to a large family, but inside, it was decked out with military precision and equipment. Kaylan was taken to a clinic room set up in the back as Sebastian approached me with a bottle of water.

Taking the bottle, I realized just how thirsty I was as the cool water quenched my parched throat.

“She’ll be fine. Her vitals are weak but stable,” Sebastian updated me after a moment.

“Don’t care,” I lied, trying to mask my concern with indifference. “But I could use a shower. Got a room?”

He frowned slightly at my response but gestured to one of his team who led me to a small room. It was plain, furnished with rustic wooden pieces and a single full-sized bed. I grabbed one of the two rolled-up towels from a shelf and made my way to the shower, eager to wash away the grime and stress of the past days.

When I got out, clean clothes awaited me and I sighed in relief. I couldn’t, for the life of me, stand the sight of white fucking boxers. I grabbed the black attire, slipping into a black t-shirt and army green cargo pants, and headed out.

The persistent beep of an alarm caught my attention. I followed the sound to find a flurry of medical activity near the room where Kaylan was being treated. My expression might have been blank, but inside, fear gripped me. I couldn’t bear the thought of her dying—not after everything, not after she’d saved us.

A doctor managed to stabilize her, and the immediate crisis passed, but my relief was short-lived. Sebastian stood by the door, his face etched with worry. He looked over at me as I approached.

“We’re not sure what’s wrong yet. She needs further testing, so we’ll be transferring her to New York Metropolitan Hospital,” he explained. “You can come with us or head to Florida to join your squad.”

The choice was difficult. I felt a pull to stay by Kaylan’s side, but the urgency to reconnect with my team was overwhelming. I chose to go to Florida, and Sebastian began making the arrangements.

The next morning, I found myself on a plane to Fort Lauderdale, my mind a tumult of thoughts about the squad’s ongoing operation at the port.

The moment my plane touched down, all lines to Sebastian went dead. Crazon had the whole city locked down—no calls, no internet, nothing. They had briefed me on where my squad might be, so armed with only a handgun and extra mags, I made my way to reunite with them. I had this gnawing feeling they needed to see me in the flesh, not just hear through the grapevine that I was alive.