Cold Ignition (Black Tide #4)

Chapter One

The desert wind tasted like dust and burning fuel.

Keanu “Torch” Palani stood on the ridge above the warehouse compound, rifle braced against his shoulder, the heat from the ruined helicopter licking at his back like a warning.

Below him, the desert floor glowed dull orange where the wreckage burned, twisted rotor blades sticking out of the sand like broken bones.

Their ride out.

Gone.

“Evac is cooked,” Luca muttered over comms. His voice held its usual dry edge, but Keanu heard the tension underneath. “That’s ... more than inconvenient.”

Keanu didn’t answer. He was watching the horizon through the scope.

Shapes were moving out there.

Too many of them.

They weren’t running or scrambling like cartel fighters usually did when things went sideways. These men moved in disciplined lines, spreading wide across the desert as they closed the distance.

Military.

Professional.

Prepared.

Someone had known exactly where Black Tide would land. His finger tightened slightly against the trigger as a head rose over the lip of a dune.

Crack.

The suppressed rifle kicked gently into his shoulder.

The man dropped without a sound.

“Contact confirmed,” Keanu said calmly. “East ridge. Forty meters and closing.”

“Copy that,” Kael replied instantly. No panic. No hesitation. Just command. “Manō, give Torch some cover.”

“Already on it,” Tane answered.

Gunfire erupted from the opposite ridge, sharp bursts echoing across the desert. Muzzle flashes strobed in the dark like lightning.

Keanu shifted position smoothly, tracking another target through the scope. A second man sprinted between rocks, weapon raised.

Crack.

The body spun and collapsed.

Two down.

It wouldn’t matter. There were dozens more behind them.

Keanu lowered the rifle long enough to glance down toward the wrecked helicopter. The firelight illuminated the rest of the team.

Kael stood near the edge of the burn radius, scanning the battlefield with that same predator stillness he always carried into a fight. Luca crouched behind a chunk of fuselage, rifle up and eyes sharp.

And Niko—

Keanu’s jaw tightened.

Niko was leaning heavily against Tane, one hand pressed against the dark stain spreading across his side.

Blood. Too much blood.

“Status?” Keanu asked.

A beat of silence. Then Niko’s voice came through the comms, tight but steady. “Still breathing.”

“Still bleeding,” Tane corrected.

“Minor detail.”

Keanu exhaled slowly through his nose. Reef was stubborn enough to walk off a bullet wound if it meant keeping the team moving.

That didn’t mean the wound wasn’t bad. Another figure appeared through the scope.

Crack.

Three down.

“More coming,” Keanu said.

“I see them,” Kael replied.

His voice carried something Keanu rarely heard. Calculation. Not about how to win the fight. About how to survive it. The enemy force was spreading wider now, cutting off the ridges, pushing Black Tide into the valley around the wreckage.

Herding them. Just like they had in the warehouse. Just like the kill box inside. Keanu felt something cold settle into his chest. This wasn’t just an ambush. It was a hunt, and they were the mother fucking prey.

“Boss,” Luca said quietly over comms. “You noticing the pattern here?”

Kael didn’t answer right away.

When he did, his voice was quiet. “Yeah.”

Another burst of gunfire ripped across the ridge. Keanu dropped flat as rounds snapped past his head, sparks kicking off the rock beside him.

“Sniper!” Tane barked.

Keanu rolled, repositioning behind a boulder. His eyes scanned the far ridge until he caught the faint glint of glass. There.

Crack.

The enemy sniper jerked backward and disappeared.

“Sniper down,” Keanu said.

“Nice shot,” Luca muttered.

Keanu ignored the comment, shifting his attention back to the valley below. Kael was already moving. He grabbed Niko’s arm and hauled him upright.

“Time to go,” Kael ordered.

“Go where?” Luca asked.

“Anywhere that isn’t here.”

Keanu slung his rifle across his back and slid down the ridge toward the others, boots digging into loose rock as he descended. The heat from the burning helicopter hit him full in the face as he landed beside them.

Up close, Niko looked worse. His shirt was soaked through. Blood slicked his fingers where he pressed against the wound. But his eyes were clear. Focused. Still running the mental map in that quiet brain of his.

“Exit route?” Niko asked.

Kael nodded toward the western desert. “Two clicks. Rock Canyon.”

Niko grimaced slightly. “That’s a long walk.”

“Then don’t die,” Luca said. “Because it would suck to have to walk that far carrying your ass.”

Keanu stepped forward, sliding Niko’s arm across his own shoulders before the smaller man could protest.

“Lean,” Keanu said.

“I can walk.”

“Lean.”

Niko hesitated. Then did it. The extra weight barely slowed Keanu down.

Gunfire cracked again behind them.

“Move!” Kael barked.

They ran.

Black Tide surged across the open desert in a tight formation, Keanu carrying Niko while Tane and Luca laid down covering fire behind them.

The sand shifted underfoot, sucking at their boots. The canyon walls loomed ahead in the darkness. Almost there. A rocket streaked overhead.

The explosion hit the ridge they’d just left, the shockwave slamming into their backs like a hammer.

“Jesus,” Luca hissed.

“Not cartel gear,” Tane said grimly.

“No,” Kael agreed.

Another explosion rocked the desert behind them. Then another. Whoever was hunting them wasn’t worried about subtlety anymore. They were trying to erase the entire operation. Every witness. Every trace of them.

Keanu adjusted his grip on Niko as they reached the mouth of the canyon. The rock walls rose steep on either side, swallowing the wind and the moonlight.

For the first time since the ambush began, the gunfire behind them faded.

Silence crept into the canyon. Heavy. Waiting.

Keanu didn’t like it.

“Hold,” Kael said quietly.

They stopped.

Niko’s breathing was getting rougher now. Too much blood loss.

“Keanu,” Niko murmured.

“Yeah.”

“You ever get the feeling ... this night isn’t done with us?”

Keanu glanced back toward the desert. The fires from the helicopter still burned in the distance, flickering against the dunes. But the enemy soldiers had stopped advancing. They weren’t chasing them anymore. They were watching.

“Yeah,” Keanu said softly.

Kael stepped deeper into the canyon, scanning the shadows. “Keep moving.”

Keanu followed, carrying Niko between the towering rock walls.

The canyon twisted ahead of them, narrowing as it cut deeper into the earth.

And then Keanu saw it. Headlights. Cold white beams igniting the darkness ahead. Vehicles. A whole line of them. Engines rumbling low.

Waiting.

Luca swore under his breath. “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

The first vehicle door opened, and men stepped out. Not the same soldiers who had chased them across the desert.

Different gear. Different insignia. More disciplined. More dangerous.

Kael stopped walking. For the first time that night, he didn’t give an order. Keanu slowly lowered Niko to his feet, rifle sliding back into his hands. Across the canyon, one of the men stepped forward.

Even from fifty meters away, Keanu could see the smile, and then the man lifted a radio.

And Black Tides handler’s voice came through their comms.

Clear. Calm. Smiling.

“Black Tide,” the handler said softly. “Glad you could make it.”

Keanu felt the cold realization settle in his gut. They hadn’t escaped the trap. They had just walked into the second one. Behind them, the soldiers from the desert appeared at the canyon entrance.

Ahead of them, the convoy engines roared to life.

Black Tide was surrounded.

And Niko was bleeding out in the middle of it.