Chapter 36
Ace
“He’s already here.”
Blaze’s words hit like a trigger pull.
Everything in me locks in.
“Lights off,” I order.
Beast kills the exterior floodlights instantly.
Darkness swallows the yard.
Not silence.
Never silence.
The night is alive—wind shifting through trees, gravel crunching somewhere it shouldn’t, breath held too tight.
“He’s close,” Blaze murmurs, eyes glued to the tablet. “Signal’s bouncing. He’s moving.”
Of course he is.
“Positions,” I say.
Trigger veers right, disappearing into shadow.
Beast takes the left flank.
I pull Tessa back against me, one arm firm around her waist, my body angled to shield hers.
“Stay with me,” I whisper against her ear.
“I am,” she breathes.
I feel it.
She’s not freezing.
She’s not breaking.
She’s right here.
With me.
Good.
Because I’m not letting her out of my reach again.
A branch snaps.
Too close.
Gunfire erupts.
Sharp. Controlled.
Not ours.
“Contact front!” Trigger shouts.
I push Tessa down behind the SUV as bullets slam into the gravel, sparks kicking off metal.
“Stay down,” I tell her.
“I’m not leaving you,” she fires back.
Damn right she isn’t.
But that doesn’t mean I like it.
I lean out—
Fire twice.
A shadow drops near the treeline.
“One down!” Beast calls.
But there’s no time to confirm—
Because movement flashes to the right.
Too fast.
Too close.
“ACE—!” Blaze shouts.
I turn—
And he’s there.
Daniel.
Out of the dark like a ghost.
No warning.
No hesitation.
He comes straight for her.
Tessa
Everything happens too fast.
One second I’m crouched behind the SUV—
The next—
Hands are on me.
Hard.
Violent.
I gasp as I’m yanked backward, my shoulder slamming into something solid.
“Got you,” Daniel breathes against my ear.
My stomach drops.
No.
No—
I twist, fight, shove—
But he’s stronger than he looks.
Unhinged strength.
Desperate strength.
“Let me go!” I snap, driving my elbow back hard.
It connects.
He grunts—but doesn’t release me.
“You’re coming with me,” he snarls. “You were always supposed to—”
“No!”
I plant my foot, shove again—
Then everything jerks sideways as gunfire cracks close—
Too close—
Daniel drags me with him, using me as a shield.
My heart slams against my ribs.
“Ace!” I shout.
Ace
The sound of her voice—
It rips through me.
I see him.
His arm locked around her.
Gun in his other hand.
Pressed too close to her side.
My world narrows to a single point.
Him.
And her.
“Let her go,” I say.
My voice is calm.
Too calm.
Deadly.
Daniel laughs.
Unstable.
“She was mine first,” he spits. “You think you get to take her?”
Rage burns through me.
Cold.
Focused.
“You don’t get to touch her,” I say.
My finger tightens on the trigger.
But I don’t fire.
Can’t.
Not with the way he’s holding her.
“Tessa,” I say, never taking my eyes off him. “Stay with me.”
“I’m here,” she says, breath shaking—but steady.
God, she’s strong.
Stronger than he deserves.
“Don’t,” Daniel snaps, pressing the gun harder against her. “You move, she bleeds.”
Trigger’s voice is low in my comm. “I’ve got partial—no clean shot.”
Beast: “Same.”
Damn it.
Daniel starts backing up.
Dragging her with him.
Toward the trees.
Toward darkness.
Toward escape.
Not happening.
Not tonight.
Tessa
My pulse is screaming.
My body is shaking—
But my mind—
My mind is clear.
Prison taught me something.
You wait.
You watch.
You strike when they don’t expect it.
Daniel shifts his grip—
Just slightly.
Just enough.
That’s my moment.
I move.
Fast.
I slam my heel down on his foot as hard as I can—
Then throw my head back.
It connects with his jaw.
Hard.
He loses his grip—
Just enough—
I rip free.
Ace
“NOW!” I shout.
I fire.
One shot.
Clean.
Controlled.
Daniel jerks as the bullet hits his shoulder, spinning him back.
He stumbles—
But he doesn’t go down.
Of course he doesn’t.
He’s too far gone for that.
“Tessa—MOVE!” I bark.
She runs.
Straight to me.
I catch her, pulling her behind me, my body shielding hers again.
Another shot cracks—
Not mine.
Not his.
A third hostile breaks from the trees, firing wildly.
“LEFT!” Trigger shouts.
Beast takes him down in two shots.
Silence crashes back in.
Again.
But this time—
He’s gone.
Daniel disappears into the darkness.
Bleeding.
But alive.
My chest heaves.
Adrenaline still ripping through me.
“Tessa,” I say, turning fast, hands on her face. “Are you hit?”
“No,” she says, breathless. “I’m okay.”
I scan her anyway.
Check everything.
Shoulders. Arms. Side.
Nothing.
Thank God.
I pull her into me again—
Harder this time.
Like I’m not letting go.
Like I can’t.
“You don’t do that again,” I mutter into her hair.
She lets out a shaky breath.
“I got away,” she says.
Yeah.
She did.
And damn if I’m not equal parts furious and proud.
I pull back just enough to look at her.
“You scared the hell out of me.”
Her eyes soften.
“You came for me.”
Always.
Every time.
No hesitation.
Blaze’s voice cuts in, urgent.
“He’s gone off grid again—but I’ve got a direction. Northeast.”
Trigger swears under his breath.
Beast reloads smoothly. “We go after him?”
I look down at Tessa.
Still breathing hard.
Still standing.
Still here.
Then back toward the dark where he disappeared.
My jaw tightens.
“Yeah,” I say.
Cold.
Final.
“We end this.”