Page 26 of A Ballad of Blackbirds and Betrayal

“No, but we’re quick studies,” Eden replied, her expression serious but not unkind.For a moment, her guard lowered enough to reveal the woman beneath the operative—a woman who had survived unimaginable betrayal and emerged stronger, yet still capable of compassion.“And we have something Mitchell doesn’t.”

“What’s that?”

“You,” Atticus said simply, his gaze holding hers.The single word carried a weight she wasn’t prepared for, and she caught herself holding her breath as something electric passed between them.

The moment stretched between them, interrupted by Cal’s sudden exclamation.

“We’ve got a problem,” he said, pointing to a monitor displaying security footage of what Sabrina recognized as her own home.Men in dark clothing were systematically searching the rooms, upending furniture and rifling through her personal belongings.

“Mitchell’s men,” Atticus said, moving to stand beside her as she watched the invasion of her private space.He stood close enough that she could smell his aftershave—sandalwood and something uniquely him—and feel the solid warmth of his presence.“Looking for anything connecting you to Cho or us.”

Sabrina’s breath caught as one of the men held up the photograph of her and her grandmother from her bedside table, examining it before pocketing it.The casual theft of her most precious possession hit harder than she expected, and she clenched her fists to keep her hands from shaking.

“They’re erasing you,” Jade said quietly.“Standard procedure before elimination.”

“Thank you for that comforting assessment,” Sabrina replied, her voice steadier than she felt.

“They won’t find you here,” Atticus said, his voice low enough that only she could hear.Instinctively, he’d shifted his body slightly, as if to shield her from the images on the screen—a protective gesture that seemed automatic rather than calculated.“You’re safe at Dynamis.”

“It’s not my safety I’m concerned about,” she countered, eyes fixed on the screen as the men moved through her home.“It’s the forty-seven people who have no idea they’re about to become case studies in bioweapon effectiveness.”

“Then let’s get to work,” Atticus said, his hand brushing her arm in a gesture so brief she might have imagined it.The fleeting warmth of his touch lingered on her skin, and she caught herself leaning slightly toward him before catching herself.“The lab is on sublevel three.State of the art, fully equipped.Cal will send you everything from the flash drive.”

“I’ll need chemical samples from BioGenix to develop an effective counteragent,” Sabrina said, already mentally cataloging what she would need.

“Already on it,” Nate said, checking his weapon with the ease of someone who’d performed the same action thousands of times.The scars on his knuckles stretched as his fingers moved over the gun.“Eden and I can be in and out of their facility by midnight.”

Eden nodded, her dark gaze meeting her husband’s with a wordless communication that spoke of years of partnership.She touched her wedding ring briefly before her hand returned to the weapon at her side.

Atticus nodded his approval.“Take whatever you need, but keep it quiet.Mitchell suspects we’re involved, but he doesn’t know how much we know.”

“So we’re playing dumb while planning to sabotage a terrorist attack,” Eden summarized, her amber eyes hard with determination.“Just like Kyiv.”

The reference clearly meant something to the team, who all tensed slightly at the mention before returning to their tasks.

“What about the buyers?”Max asked, stretching his neck until it cracked audibly.Jade shot him an irritated look, and he mouthed “sorry” with the sheepish expression of someone who’d received the same admonishment countless times.“Taking down Mitchell is only half the equation if these people are in the market for bioweapons.”

“We’ll deal with them at the demonstration,” Atticus decided.He’d stopped rubbing his wedding ring and had resumed his unconscious habit of touching the scar along his jawline—a physical reminder of some past violence that had marked him both inside and out.“International arms dealers in one location—we’ll provide that evidence to our trusted contacts.Not everyone in government is corrupt.”

“Speaking of agencies,” Cal said, “there’s significant chatter about Cho’s death.Hospital security footage has been mysteriously corrupted, but there are witnesses who remember seeing Dr.Wells at the scene.”

Atticus’s attention shifted momentarily to Sabrina as she studied the tactical display with Eden, her expression focused as she pointed out potential deployment vectors for the bioweapon.She’d adapted to Dynamis’s operations with remarkable ease, transitioning from trauma surgeon to mission-critical asset within days.There was an innate competence to her that he respected professionally—and something more that he’d been trying to ignore on a personal level.

Eight years since Jane.Eight years of waking up reaching for someone who wasn’t there, of seeing a ghost in every blond woman on the street, of keeping Jane’s clothes in their closet long after her scent had faded from the fabric.Eight years of living for vengeance rather than living for himself.

Now, watching Sabrina confidently advise operators with decades of field experience, he felt something he’d thought buried with Jane—a pull toward another person that went beyond professional respect or physical attraction.And with that feeling came the crushing weight of guilt.

Was he betraying Jane by noticing the determined set of Sabrina’s jaw?By finding himself cataloging the exact shade of amber in her eyes when she looked up from the tactical display?By imagining, in unguarded moments, what it might be like to build something beyond this mission with her?

He unconsciously touched the wedding band he still wore, the metal warm from years against his skin.Jane would have told him to move on—had made him promise as much during those final moments in the hospital when they both knew she was slipping away.“Don’t you dare stop living, Atticus,” she’d whispered through cracked lips.“Anna needs at least one parent who remembers how.”

He hadn’t been able to keep that promise.Between ensuring Anna’s recovery and hunting Mitchell, there had been no room for anything else.Or perhaps that was the excuse he’d given himself, because living—truly living—meant opening himself to loss again.And he wasn’t sure he could survive that a second time.

Sabrina looked up suddenly, catching him watching her.Instead of the awkwardness he expected, she held his gaze steadily, as if sensing the conflict within him.For a moment, they remained like that, something unspoken passing between them before she returned to the mission planning.

Atticus pulled his focus back to the operation at hand.Tomorrow they would confront Mitchell’s operation directly.By this time the next day, they could all be dead—or they could have finally brought Jane’s murderer to justice.Either way, something would end.

And something, perhaps, would begin.

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