Chapter 20 Saint
Saint
Ifinally get the call.
The radio crackles once in my ear before Wolf’s voice cuts through the chaos.
“They’re secure. Laney and the baby are at the fallback.”
For a second my knees almost give out.
All the tension I’ve been carrying since the first explosion loosens just enough for me to breathe again.
“Good,” I say, my voice rough from smoke and adrenaline. “Stay with them. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I lower the radio and look out across the town.
My town.
The fire trucks are still spraying the blackened remains of Miller’s Hardware. Smoke drifts through the street in slow gray clouds. Broken glass glitters on the pavement under the flashing lights.
People are shaken.
But they’re alive.
Damaged.
But standing.
Just like we will be.
This wasn’t the end.
This was a warning.
And now the war has a direction.
I key my comm again.
“Marco.”
A beat of static.
“I’m here.”
I scan the rooftops one more time, every instinct in my body still humming from the sniper’s rounds.
“This ends now.”
For the first time tonight, Marco’s voice carries something heavier than tension.
Something final.
“Yes,” he says quietly.
“It does.”