Chapter 47
ATLAS
The turning point comes when federal vehicles arrive with sirens loud enough to rival the gunfire.
A voice booms over a loudspeaker, the attackers hesitate, and that’s all it takes.
Armed agents pour into the compound from the secondary road, tipping the scales decisively in our direction.
Gunfire breaks off in uneven bursts, then stops altogether.
I hold my position, rifle up, and track the treeline while survivors are dragged out of the woods, disarmed, and zip-tied in the snow.
I brace, watching and listening.
Thermal remains clear. No new movement. No chatter except federal traffic taking control of the perimeter.
I count to ten, then break cover and jog back toward the house. Inside ops, the screens confirm what I already know. The fight is over.
I radio Grizz and Viper, directing them to watch for secondaries, then I head straight to the short hall that leads to the safe room.
“Kira,” I say into the comm. “It’s me. It’s Atlas.”
The lock disengages a moment later.
When I swing the door open, Kira’s standing in the center of the space, back straight, hands curled tightly at her sides. Her breath is shallow, like she’s been holding it for too long.
I secure the pistol from the shelf without comment, then cross the room.
“Are you okay? Is everyone okay?” Her eyes dart around my body, snagging on my sleeve, where there’s blood I hadn’t yet noticed.
“I’m okay. We’re all okay.” I close the space between us and wrap an arm around her, pulling her into my chest. “You’re safe.”
It’s a report, and a promise.
Her fist trembles as she clutches the front of my jacket. “You came back.”
“That was always the plan.”
She presses her body against me, the breath shuddering out of her. I set my weapon aside so I can envelop her in both arms. I rest my chin atop her head and allow my eyes to close for a couple of seconds, anchoring us together.
Behind me, the compound is alive with the sounds of the battle’s aftermath: foot traffic, clipped voices, radio noise. But in this small space, it’s just the two of us.
Then a familiar, poisonous voice disrupts our peace. “Where is she?”
Kira’s body jerks in my arms, then goes rigid.
“You’re safe,” I remind her. I tip her chin up to meet her eyes. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
As she hesitates, her eyes wide and unblinking, boots tramp through the corridor.
Federal agents escort a man in cuffs. Snow clings to the hem of his dress coat. His hair is slick and perfect, his face pinched in annoyance. He looks more like someone who’s running late for the symphony than a federal criminal who’s about to find out what happens when you fuck around.
His hands are bound behind his back, and he’s struggling under the tight grip of his captors.
Kira steps out into the hall next to me, and when Vaughn spots her, his features curl into something even uglier. “There you are.”
I shift to put myself in front of her, one arm still around her back. I’m not hiding her. I’m her shield. “You don’t get to speak to her,” I calmly tell the waste of oxygen.
Vaughn’s laugh is brittle and false. “You think this is over because you played soldier in the woods?” His eyes cut to Kira. “You humiliated me. You made me look—”
She steps forward. Not past me. Beside me.
“You did that to yourself.” Her voice is measured, even though her hands are shaking. “Did you even hesitate? About killing me? About our child?”
The piece of shit laughs.
“I never wanted a kid. I didn’t want to have to clean up your mistake, but a senator with my demographic can’t have a bastard child.”
As he spews his venom, Grizz and Viper approach from behind, just in time to bring me to my senses. My fists are balled and ready to strike when Viper grabs me. Another second and I’d have laid the son of a bitch flat. It would have been so fucking satisfying.
“Please don’t waste your time on him,” Kira tells me.
Vaughn notices the way the three of us have closed ranks around her. The way Grizz leans in despite his injury. The way my hand goes back around her as soon as I decide not to punch him.
Seeing how close the four of us are, the disgraced senator completely loses his cool.
He screams and thrashes, and calls her names I won’t even acknowledge as the agents tighten their hold on him.
Viper grabs hold of a fistful of my jacket, reminding me to let the agents haul him away. They can’t get him out of my sight fast enough.
“He’s done,” Grizz says as Vaughn is forcefully taken outside.
Viper goes to the command desk, where he pulls up surveillance feeds that show the senator being shoved into the back of a cruiser. The door is slammed shut with a satisfying bang, silencing the man’s rants.
Kira shudders, then goes limp with relief. She falls back against me for a moment, but quickly straightens with a jolt. “You’re injured. Are you okay?”
She surveys my sleeve first, but notices Grizz holding one arm tight against his ribs, his sleeve coated with drying blood. She quickly scans Viper, but he tells her he’s fine. He’d tell her that even if he’d taken a hard hit.
When I assure her that I was only grazed and am also fine, she turns all her attention to Grizz, gingerly touching him as she tries to get a better look. “You need to see a doctor, Boyd,” she says when he winces.
“I figure my favorite nurse can patch me up, like you did with my shoulder,” he tells her.
She isn’t having any of his attempts at humor, and considering how pale his skin is, I don’t blame her. “We didn’t have bullet wounds at summer camp, Boyd, thank god. You need to see a doctor,” she says firmly.
“There’ll be medics coming, if they’re not here already,” I tell her. “There are others who’ll need attention, too.”
Kira looks at Boyd, challenging him to object, and he agrees to get checked out. “But right now, there’s something more important I need to do,” he says. With his good arm, he cups her cheek, then bends to kiss her.
When he pulls back, she turns to Viper, who draws her into a second kiss without hesitation.
Then it’s my turn, and I savor every second of it.
We’ll have to go back outside very soon and deal with the aftermath of the mess Vaughn brought to our mountain, but for now, it’s just the four of us.
And that’s how it’s going to be from here on out, until we four become five.