Chapter 123 Harper
Harper
Istayed just outside the circle, leaning against the counter, listening as maps and strategies filled the space where silence used to sit heavy. The men spoke in clipped tones—precise, sure, like the whole world could shift on the strength of their words.
River’s calm authority. Cyclone’s rough-edged bravado. Gideon’s quiet genius. And Carter—his voice cut through all of it, steady and commanding, but edged with something deeper.
This wasn’t just another mission for him. I could hear it in the way his jaw tightened, in the clipped way he said Redwood’s name, like it was a curse he meant to wipe from the earth.
Part of me wanted to tell him to stop, to let someone else fight, to let this be someone else’s war. But I knew better. Redwood had marked me. This fight had been dragged into our lives whether we wanted it or not.
And Carter—he wasn’t planning for glory. He wasn’t planning for revenge. He was planning for me.
My fingers curled tighter around the mug I hadn’t touched in minutes. The warmth had gone cold, but it kept me steady as their words swirled around the table.
Gideon pointed to the screen. “If we can overload their comms, we create blind spots. That’s your window in.”
Cyclone cracked his knuckles, grinning sharp. “And when we’re in, we tear down everything that breathes.”
River shook his head, calm as always. “We take what matters. Leaders. Intel. Cut off the head. Leave the rest in rubble.”
Carter didn’t answer right away. His eyes flicked toward me, just for a heartbeat. And in that heartbeat, I felt the vow he wasn’t speaking out loud—that he’d burn Redwood to ash before he let them touch me again.
The fear in my chest hadn’t left. I doubted it ever would. But as I stood there, listening to them shape the end of something that had nearly destroyed me, the fear didn’t own me anymore.
I wasn’t just the woman they were protecting. I was the reason they were fighting.
And that gave me strength.