Chapter 22 Mila
Mila
Location: Ravine — Close Quarters Combat
Time: Continuous
The silence doesn’t last.
It never does.
A shadow moves behind me—
Too fast.
Too close—
A hand slams into my shoulder—
Hard.
I’m yanked backward before I can react—
My gun jerks from my grip—
Gone.
“Got her!” a voice barks.
No.
No—
I twist instantly—drive my elbow back—connect with something solid—
A grunt—
But he doesn’t let go.
Arms like steel lock around me—dragging me up the ravine wall.
“Jase—!”
Jase
That sound—
Her voice—
Everything inside me snaps.
Pain?
Gone.
Injury?
Irrelevant.
All I see is—
Them.
Hands on her.
Dragging her away.
No.
Absolutely not.
I push up—
Vision blurs—
Body protests—
Don’t care.
Don’t feel it.
Don’t stop.
“You let her go,” I growl.
The words don’t even sound like mine.
Too rough.
Too raw.
Too dangerous.
Mila
He’s moving.
He shouldn’t be—
But he is.
And something in his expression—
Something dark—
Something uncontrolled—
It makes even the man holding me hesitate.
“Stay back!” the guy shouts, tightening his grip.
Jase doesn’t stop.
Doesn’t slow.
Doesn’t even blink.
“You don’t want to do this,” the man warns.
Jase tilts his head slightly.
And for the first time—
I see it.
Not calm.
Not control.
Not strategy.
Something else.
Something far more dangerous.
“…you already did,” Jase says.
Jase
Distance closes.
Fast.
Too fast for them to adjust.
The guy holding her shifts—tries to reposition—weapon coming up—
Too slow.
I hit him hard—
Full force—
Driving him backward into the rock wall—
His grip breaks—
Mila drops—
I catch her before she hits—
Pull her behind me—
Then turn.
No hesitation.
No mercy.
The second man fires—
I move—
Barely—
Shot grazes past—
Too close—
I fire back—
Once.
Clean.
He drops.
Mila
It happens so fast I barely process it.
One second I’m being dragged—
The next—
I’m free.
And Jase is standing in front of me like a wall.
Breathing hard.
Swaying slightly.
Bleeding.
But still—
Standing.
“You okay?” he asks.
Like nothing just happened.
Like he didn’t just—
“I’m fine,” I say quickly.
Then sharper—
“You’re not.”
Jase
Yeah.
That’s fair.
The world tilts slightly.
Not great.
Definitely not great.
But she’s safe.
That’s what matters.
“Still here,” I mutter.
“Barely,” she shoots back, grabbing me before I can lose my balance.
Her hands are steady.
Strong.
Anchoring me.
“You shouldn’t have moved like that,” she says.
“Didn’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“Not when it comes to you.”
That—
That slips out.
Unfiltered.
Unplanned.
Her breath catches.
Just slightly.
Mila
He said it so easily.
Like it wasn’t a big deal.
Like it didn’t just—
shift everything.
“Jase…” I start.
But there’s no time.
There’s never time.
More movement above.
More voices.
More incoming.
“They’re not stopping,” I say.
“No,” he replies.
“They won’t.”
Jase
The edges of my vision are starting to blur.
Heat creeping in now.
Wrong kind of heat.
Fever.
Infection.
Damn it.
“Mila,” I say, forcing focus.
“We don’t have long.”
“I know.”
“No,” I shake my head slightly.
“I mean it.”
She freezes.
Just for a second.
Then her grip tightens on me.
“Then we make it count,” she says.
Mila
His skin is too hot.
Way too hot.
This isn’t just blood loss anymore.
This is worse.
“We need to move,” I say.
“You lead,” he answers.
And just like that—
The shift is complete.
Not temporary.
Not situational.
Real.
He trusts me.
Completely.
Gunfire erupts again.
Closer.
More aggressive.
They’re getting desperate.
Good.
Let them.
Because now?
Now they’ve made it personal.
Jase
I stay on my feet because she’s there.
Because she won’t let me fall.
Because I don’t get to fall.
Not yet.
Not when she’s still in danger.
“Stay with me,” she says.
And this time—
I don’t argue.
“…always,” I manage.
Even as the heat burns higher.
Even as the world starts to slip.
Even as I know—
This isn’t over.
Not even close.