Chapter 36 Ronan
Ronan
Location: Outer Banks, North Carolina — Pre-Dawn
I’m awake before the alert hits.
That’s how I know it’s bad.
No nightmare. No sound. Just a sudden, brutal certainty settling into my chest like a blade.
Something gave.
I sit up slowly, scanning the room out of habit—windows, doors, corners. Lena sleeps beside me, curled on her side, breathing even.
Safe.
For now.
My phone vibrates on the nightstand.
Once.
Twice.
Delta Five channel.
I answer without speaking.
Aaron’s voice comes through tight. Controlled. Too controlled.
“We’ve got movement.”
I swing my legs out of bed. “Talk.”
“Ascendancy just shifted assets. Financial flows rerouted. New security contractors brought in overnight.”
My jaw tightens.
“That’s not random,” I say.
“No,” Miles adds. “That’s someone reacting to new intel.”
I close my eyes briefly.
“When?” I ask.
“Within the last six hours.”
That lines up exactly with the feeling that woke me.
“What did Malenkov get?” Jase asks.
“Not much,” I say quietly. “Not everything—but enough to anticipate us.”
Silence hits the line.
No one knows we are getting information from inside. I don’t even know who is getting word to us.
Then Aaron exhales. “Which one?”
I don’t hesitate. “Jonah.”
No one questions it.
“He always held longer than he should’ve,” I continue. “He’ll hate himself for it. I’m sure if he said anything, it was mostly made-up.”
“What’s our play?” Miles asks.
I stand, staring out at the dark ocean, waves breaking steadily and indifferent.
“We adjust,” I say. “We move faster. And we stop assuming Malenkov is reacting.”
I pause.
“He’s planning.”
The call ends.
I turn—and find Lena awake, watching me.
She didn’t hear the words.
She heard the truth.
“Someone broke,” she says softly.
“I’m not sure if he actually broke, or they just think he did.”
She sits up, pulling the sheet around herself. “And Malenkov believed it.”
“Yes.”
She nods once, already thinking. Already working the angles.
“I’ll find what he gained,” she says.
It isn’t bravado.
It’s inevitability.
I cross the room and kneel in front of her, taking her hands.
“This just got more dangerous.”
Her gaze locks on mine. “It always was.”
I lean in, resting my forehead against hers.
“I won’t lose them again,” I vow.
She squeezes my hands. “Then don’t waste the time they bought you.”