Chapter 16 Ethan
Ethan
Petrov doesn’t wake all at once.
It starts small.
A shift in his breathing.
A faint tightening in his jaw.
Then his eyes flicker open—slow, unfocused.
Ava is beside him instantly.
“Stay still,” she says, one hand pressing lightly against his shoulder.
He winces, breath catching in his chest.
His gaze drifts—
unsteady—
then lands on her.
Something sharp cuts through the haze.
Recognition.
“You… came back,” he rasps.
“Yeah,” she says, steady. “You’re not dying today.”
His hand lifts weakly, fingers catching in her sleeve.
“No time…”
I step in closer, crouching beside them.
“You’re going to make time,” I say.
His eyes shift to me.
Then past me.
Taking in the room.
Ronan.
Cal.
The others.
Assessing.
Even now.
“You don’t understand…” he breathes.
Ava leans closer, not giving him space to fade.
“Then explain it.”
His lips part.
Tremble.
Then—
“They’re already in place.”
The room stills.
The kind of still that presses in on your ears.
“What does that mean?” I ask.
His focus sharpens—just enough.
“They’re not replacing them later…”
A beat.
His voice drops.
“They already have.”
The words land heavy.
Ava goes completely still beside him.
“How many?”
Petrov swallows, throat working.
“More than you think.”
My mind is already moving.
Connecting.
Calculating.
“How deep?”
His gaze drifts—but he forces it back.
“Every level.”
Cold settles into my chest.
Government.
Military.
Intel.
All of it.
Compromised.
And we didn’t even see it coming.
Ava’s voice tightens.
“Then the list—”
“Isn’t future targets,” I finish.
Petrov nods weakly.
“It’s cleanup.”
Silence falls.
Thick.
Heavy.
Because that changes everything.
This isn’t stopping something.
It’s surviving something that already started.