Chapter 18 #2
He emerged from the cluster with two more down, bleeding from a cut over his eye but still moving.
Phantom watched for another ten seconds, then turned to Jinx.
"He's fucking insane."
"Fuck yeah," Jinx agreed. He was already at the nearest table, gathering documents, shoving them into a tactical pack. "But he's keeping them busy. Help me with this."
Phantom moved to the communications setup. Grabbed hard drives, tablets, anything that looked like it stored data. The Scroll hadn't had time to wipe. It was all still there.
Behind him, the sounds of the fight continued. Bodies hitting the floor. Dan’s breathing was controlled and steady despite the exertion. The rhythm of someone who was completely in their element.
Phantom looked back once.
Dan was down to ten operatives. Then eight. Then six.
The guy was bleeding. Favoring his left side slightly, and moving a fraction slower than he had been.
But he wasn't stopping.
Phantom knew why he wasn’t stopping. Because of love. The guy was fighting this hard because the woman he loved was somewhere in these tunnels, fighting her own battle, and he needed to finish his so he could get to her.
"Got it," Jinx said. "Let's move."
Phantom grabbed the last of the documents and turned toward the door.
Dan put down the final two operatives and stood in the center of the cavern, breathing hard, surrounded by bodies.
He looked at Phantom and Jinx.
Jinx moved to where Dan was standing. "Come on, let’s get out before Z brings down this place.
* * *
The extraction was faster than the infiltration had been.
Dan knew where they were now. Knew the tunnel flow on the way back. The adrenaline was still pumping hard enough that the pain from his injuries was distant and manageable.
Z's voice came through the comm. "First wave of charges detonating in thirty seconds. I'd suggest moving quickly."
"Copy," Phantom said.
The ground shook. A rumble that came from deep below, traveling up through the rock, made the tunnel walls vibrate.
"That's my favorite sound," Z said cheerfully.
They kept moving.
Another explosion. Closer this time. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling.
"Z," Phantom said, his voice tight, "you're cutting this kind of close."
"Controlled demolitions, mate. The keyword is controlled. Mostly."
"Mostly?"
"You'll be fine. Probably. Yeah, let’s go with that."
The tunnel ahead collapsed.
Not completely. Just enough to block their path and force them to backtrack and find another route.
"Z!" Dan shouted.
"Sorry! That one got away from me!"
They found a side tunnel and headed toward what should be the main entrance. The rumbling continued. The facility was coming down around them in stages, Z's charges collapsing sections methodically.
Almost there. There was light ahead, and thank God, there was fresh air.
They burst out of the mine entrance into jungle daylight, and Dan immediately scanned for Raven. And found her.
She was helping Viper toward the vehicles, his arm over her shoulder, her face tight with effort. Blood on her gear. Moving stiffly in a way that suggested she was injured.
But she’s alive.
Relief hit him so hard it made breathing even more difficult.
"Stay with me," she said to Viper. Dan was catching up with them and could hear them clearly.
"Not planning on going anywhere," Viper said. "Hey, Raven?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm kind of in love with you."
She almost stumbled. "What?"
"That fighting. That"—he gestured vaguely with his free hand—"I've never seen anyone move like that. You just took down that guy like he was nothing. You're—" He stopped. "Yeah. Kind of in love with you."
Despite everything—the injuries, the exhaustion, the weight of what she'd just done—she laughed.
"You're delirious from blood loss."
"Maybe. But I'm not wrong."
Dan was there, appearing from nowhere. He took Viper's other side without a word.
Together, they got Viper out into the jungle away from the rumbling tunnels.
“Just so you know, she’s taken,” Dan said as they moved toward the vehicles.
“It’s my fucking luck.” Viper laughed weakly as they hustled toward safety. Z was the last one out, moving fast, his face alight with the joy of someone about to blow something up.
"Everyone clear?" he shouted.
"Clear!" Fury's voice came through the comms.
"Brilliant!"
Z triggered the detonation.
The ground shook, and a sound like thunder rolled up from below, dust and debris billowing from the mine entrance in a cloud that rose thirty feet into the air.
The supports collapsed. The tunnels caved. The entire facility, training ground, barracks, command center, everything the Black Scroll Society had built, folded in on itself and disappeared into the earth.
When the dust settled, there was nothing left but rubble and silence.
Together, they got Viper to the nearest SUV. Demon was already there, and he helped Viper into the back seat, checking the leg wound with practiced efficiency.
Dan turned to Raven.
She looked at him. Blood on her face. Cut over her eye. Bruises forming. The exhaustion that came from a fight that had taken everything. But she was beautiful, alive, and most importantly … his.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
Hard enough that she made a small sound of protest against his mouth. Her ribs, probably, protesting the pressure. He gentled immediately but didn't let go.
When they broke apart, she was smiling despite the pain.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi."
"Alexei's dead."
"Good."
"Central command?"
"Clear. We got some intel."
"Good."
They stood there for another moment, holding each other, the rest of the team moving around them in the practiced work of extraction.
She watched her team and then looked back at the rubble.
"It's done," she said quietly.
"Thank God."
She looked up at him. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being alive."
He touched her face gently, careful of the injuries.
When they broke apart, Z's voice cut through. "Right, that's lovely and all, and I'd very much like to keep watching, but my wife would be furious, and we should probably leave before someone comes to investigate why half a mountain just collapsed."
The entire team laughed.
Rook was already on comms coordinating exfil. Phantom was grinning like someone who'd just had the best day of his life.
Specter appeared from the tree line, his sniper rifle slung over his shoulder, his expression as neutral as ever.
Raven looked at her family. At Dan beside her. At the rubble of the Black Scroll Society's headquarters behind them.
It’s done.