Chapter 37 Ethan
Ethan
We land two blocks out.
Fast.
Clean.
No spotlight.
No noise.
Doors open and we’re moving before the rotors even slow.
The city swallows us—shadows between buildings, reflections in glass, footsteps kept light and controlled.
Ava takes point.
That still hits.
Watching her like this—focused, lethal, locked in—
like nothing can touch her.
Except I see it.
What no one else does.
The slight tension in her stride.
The way her arm stays just a little too close to her side.
She’s compensating.
Pushing through it.
Too hard.
I don’t stop her.
Not here.
Not now.
But I stay close.
Close enough to catch her if she slips.
We slide into the service corridor exactly where she said it would be.
Dark.
Narrow.
Concrete walls humming with the building’s systems.
Perfect.
“Cameras looped,” Jonah murmurs in our ears. “You’re clear.”
“For now?” Aaron mutters.
“Don’t ruin this for me,” Jonah snaps back.
We move.
Slow.
Controlled.
Every step measured.
Voices bleed through the walls ahead—muffled conversation, clinking glass, the low hum of a room full of people who think they’re safe.
The summit.
Targets in one place.
Ava’s hand lifts.
We stop instantly.
I step up beside her.
“What is it?”
She doesn’t answer.
Her head tilts slightly, listening.
Reading something I can’t hear yet.
Then—
“Too quiet.”
My grip tightens on my weapon.
“Define quiet.”
She turns just enough for me to see her eyes.
“They’re already in position.”
And then—
Gunfire erupts.
Muffled—but unmistakable.
From inside the conference hall.
“Move!” Ronan snaps.
We hit the doors hard.
They slam open—
Chaos spills out.
People screaming.
Chairs overturned.
Security down.
Targets exposed.
Three shooters already moving through the crowd—
fast—
disciplined—
I pick one up—
Fire—
He drops before he can adjust.
Aaron takes the second—
Ronan closes on the third—
But—
Something’s wrong.
Movement above.
Elevated.
Hidden.
My eyes snap up—
Sniper.
Already lined up.
Already—
“Ava—!”