Chapter 10
RACHEL
Days buried in a mountain and I'm starting to understand why prisoners go insane.
No windows. No natural light. No way to tell if it's morning or night except by checking the digital clocks scattered throughout Echo Base. The ventilation system hums constantly, pushing recycled air through corridors carved from solid rock.
Lucas adapts better than I do. Kids always do.
He's made friends with Khalid and Odin, learned the layout of the communal areas, claimed his room as his territory.
This morning he woke up asking if we could explore the gym, eyes bright with excitement that comes from treating this whole situation like an adventure instead of captivity.
I couldn't tell him no. Couldn't explain that being trapped inside a mountain makes my skin crawl.
That I keep checking exits even though there's nowhere to run.
The confinement triggers something primal left over from Mateo's compound—not because the spaces are similar, but because I can't leave when I want to.
So here we are, standing at the entrance to Echo Base's training facility while Lucas practically vibrates with energy beside me.
The gym is massive. Weight equipment lines one wall. A boxing ring occupies the center. Mats cover the floor in sections designated for different training purposes. Punching bags hang from chains bolted into the rock ceiling.
Stryker stands in the boxing ring with Mercer, both of them stripped down to tactical pants and compression shirts. Sweat gleams on exposed skin. They circle each other with the focused intensity of predators, every movement deliberate and controlled.
Heat pools low in my belly watching him move. Dangerous and lethal and still the most attractive man I've ever seen.
"Whoa," Lucas breathes beside me. "Are they fighting for real?"
"They're training," I correct, unable to look away as Stryker throws a combination that Mercer blocks with practiced efficiency. "Learning how to defend themselves."
"Can I learn?"
"Maybe when you're older."
Mercer feints left, then drives forward with a blow aimed at Stryker's ribs. Stryker pivots, redirects the momentum, and suddenly Mercer hits the mat with Stryker's knee pressed against his spine and one arm twisted behind his back in a hold that looks painful even from here.
"Yield," Mercer grunts.
Stryker releases him immediately and offers a hand up. "You're telegraphing the feint. I see it coming every time."
"Noted." Mercer rolls his shoulders, testing the joint. "Again?"
They reset, and I force myself to look away before the heat building in my core becomes obvious. Watching Stryker move like that does things to me I'm not ready to acknowledge.
Lucas has already wandered over to where Tommy is spotting Sarah on the bench press. Khalid appears from somewhere, Odin padding along beside him, and Lucas lights up at the sight of his new friends.
"Can Lucas hang out with us?" Khalid asks me. "I was going to teach Odin some new commands. Lucas could help."
Relief floods through me. "That would be great. Thank you." I meet Khalid's eyes, hoping he understands how much I appreciate him spending time with a kid almost a decade younger. "Really. Thank you."
Lucas bounds over to Khalid without a backward glance, already chattering about what tricks Odin should learn next.
I move to one of the benches along the wall and settle in to watch. Partly because leaving Lucas feels wrong, partly because I need the distraction, partly because watching Stryker train is better than sitting alone in our quarters counting the hours until something happens.
Mercer and Stryker go at it again, and this time there's no holding back.
Mercer comes in hard with strikes designed to overwhelm, but Stryker slips most of them and counters with devastating precision.
A knee to Mercer's midsection doubles him over.
Stryker follows with an elbow that stops just short of Mercer's temple.
"Dead," Stryker says flatly.
"Christ." Mercer straightens, breathing hard. "You're faster than last month."
"Motivated." Stryker's eyes flick to me, just for a second, before returning to Mercer. "Can't afford to be slow anymore."
The admission hits harder than it should. He's training harder because of us. Because protecting Lucas means being faster, stronger, more prepared than the Committee operatives hunting him.
They reset again, but this time Kane calls from the gym entrance. "Stryker. Mercer. Take five. Dylan just called in with updates."
Both men step out of the ring. Mercer grabs a towel and water bottle, heading toward where Kane waits. Stryker moves to the edge of the ring closest to me, arms resting on the ropes as he catches his breath.
Sweat runs down his neck, disappearing beneath his compression shirt. His chest rises and falls with controlled breathing that suggests excellent conditioning despite the intensity of the sparring.
"You're good at that," I say, because silence feels more dangerous than speaking.
"Practice." His voice carries that rough edge it gets when he's been exerting himself. "Mercer's better. I just got lucky."
"That wasn't luck."
Stryker's mouth quirks slightly. Not quite a smile, but close. "How are you holding up? Being inside the mountain."
The question lands heavier than it should. "I'm managing. It's hard. No windows. No fresh air. Everything feels closed in."
"I know." He climbs out of the ring and drops to the bench beside me, close enough that I can feel the heat radiating from his body. "Echo Base wasn't designed for comfort. It was designed to be secure."
"It's working. I just need to adjust."
Across the gym, Lucas laughs at something Khalid is showing him with Odin.
"He's doing well," Stryker observes.
"Khalid's good with him. Gives him someone to look up to who isn't carrying a weapon at all times." Pausing. "Not that you're not good with him. You are. He talks about you constantly."
"What does he say?"
"That you're like a dragon who protects people instead of treasure." Smiling despite myself. "That you're the bravest person he's ever met. That he wants to be just like you when he grows up."
Every muscle in his body locks. "He shouldn't want to be like me."
"Why not? You're protecting us. You're keeping him safe. You're exactly the kind of person a kid should look up to."
"I'm a weapon, Rachel. I destroy things. That's what I'm good at." His voice drops, goes rough with something that might be pain. "Lucas should want to be like Dylan. Like Kane. People who build things instead of breaking them."
"You're not just a weapon." Turning to face him fully, making him look at me. "You're a man who chooses to use violence to protect people who can't protect themselves. That's not the same thing."
"Isn't it?"
"No. Weapons don't choose. They don't care. They don't read dragon stories with kids or check on their mothers when they're struggling." Meeting his eyes, holding them. "You choose to care. That makes you more than what you do."
Stryker's jaw works like he's trying to find words that won't come. Before he can respond, Lucas's voice cuts across the gym.
"Mom! Mom, watch this! Odin's going to do the new trick!"
I turn to see Khalid positioning Odin while Lucas bounces with excitement. Khalid gives a hand signal, and Odin performs some elaborate maneuver that involves rolling over and barking on command.
Lucas claps enthusiastically. "Did you see?"
"I saw! That was amazing!" I wave back at him.
Lucas returns to Khalid and Odin, already asking what other tricks they can teach the dog.
When I turn back to Stryker, he's watching me with something soft underneath all that hard-earned control.
"What?" I ask quietly.
"Nothing. Just thinking about how Lucas asked why I look at you a certain way."
My face burns. "He asked you that?"
"He asked Khalid. I overheard." Stryker's mouth quirks slightly. "Kid's more observant than I gave him credit for."
"What did Khalid tell him?"
"That some questions are better asked directly."
Every nerve in my body responds to the challenge in his voice. We're too close, the air between us thick with years of wanting and denying and pretending neither of us still feels this pull.
"Mr. Stryker!" Lucas calls again. "Can you show me how to do the thing you did with Mercer? The one where you flipped him?"
Stryker stands immediately, and whatever fragile connection we'd built shatters. "Not today, buddy. That's advanced stuff."
"But I want to learn!"
"When you're older. Right now, you focus on helping Khalid with Odin."
Lucas pouts but returns to the dog tricks, mollified by Khalid's promise to teach him something new.
Stryker turns back to me. "I should help Kane with the debrief."
"Right. Of course." I stand as well, needing the distance before I do something stupid like touch him. "I'll stay here with Lucas."
"Rachel." My name on his lips stops me before I can walk away. "We should talk. Really talk. About everything."
"I know." Meeting his eyes, seeing the truth there. "But not here. Not now."
"Tonight. After Lucas goes to sleep."
"Okay."
He heads toward where Kane waits, and I'm left standing in the gym trying to remember how to breathe normally.
Lucas plays with Khalid and Odin for a while longer before exhaustion catches up with him. We head back to our quarters, and he crashes on his bed with Ghost tucked under his arm. Sleep takes him almost immediately, worn out from a morning of excitement.
I should stay. Should read or rest or do something productive while Lucas sleeps. Instead, restlessness drives me into the corridors. I need to move, need to feel like I have some control even if it's just wandering Echo Base's predetermined paths.