Chapter 57 Harper
Harper
Carter didn’t let go of my hand when he led me back down the hall. The others were waiting—River with his quiet steadiness, Gideon with that unflinching gaze, Cyclone just back from the perimeter check, smelling of cold night air.
This time, no one looked surprised to see me step up to the table. No one tried to steer me back to the bedroom. Carter pulled a chair out for me, his hand brushing my back as I sat, and the smallest gesture felt like the biggest shift.
“Graves,” River began, tapping the tablet where a map glowed. “Financier. Coordinator. He’s been funneling jobs to mercenaries all over the city. Contracts with your name on them, Harper.”
My stomach twisted, but I forced myself to hold his gaze. To keep my chin up even as fear pricked cold at the base of my spine.
“We’ve tracked him to a shipping yard,” Gideon continued. “Remote. Guarded. But not impenetrable.”
Not impenetrable. I clung to those words, though I knew what they meant—Carter and the team were planning to walk straight into the lion’s den.
I glanced at him, my pulse quickening. His eyes were locked on the map, but his hand rested on my thigh under the table, grounding me.
“You’re not coming with us into the yard,” Carter said, his tone firm but without the walls I’d felt before. “But you are part of this plan. You need to know what we’re walking into, what to expect if things go wrong.”
The words sank deep. Not a dismissal. Not a command. Inclusion.
Fear still burned in my chest, but pride threaded through it. For the first time, I wasn’t a shadow in this fight—I was part of the circle.
As River laid out entry points, as Gideon detailed contingencies, I listened harder than I ever had in my life. Every word seared into me, every line of the map a reminder that the storm wasn’t over. But now, when I looked at Carter, I didn’t just see the soldier shielding me.
I saw the man trusting me with the truth.
And even though the fear stayed, it didn’t own me anymore.
Because whatever came next, I wasn’t just the hunted. I was part of the fight.