Page 50 of A Ballad of Blackbirds and Betrayal

“Determined,” she corrected with the ghost of a smile.

Their moment of connection shattered as a new barrage of gunfire erupted around them.Through her tactical display, Sabrina saw Griffin’s team engaging from the eastern approach, creating a potential corridor for their escape.

“Move now,” Atticus ordered, rising to provide covering fire as they sprinted toward the maintenance vehicle.

Bullets kicked up dirt around their feet as they ran, the exposed ground between the platform and their destination stretching endlessly before them.Sabrina pushed herself harder, legs burning with the effort, lungs straining against the brutal pace.

They reached the vehicle just as a bullet impacted Atticus’s tactical vest, the force spinning him sideways.He staggered but maintained his footing, returning fire with deadly aim despite the hit.

“Are you hit?”Sabrina demanded, already assessing for injury with professional detachment.

“Vest caught it,” he confirmed, though his breathing had roughened.“Get in.I’ll drive.”

The maintenance vehicle roared to life as Atticus hot-wired it, the aged engine protesting before catching.They accelerated away from the platform just as Mitchell’s security forces converged on their former position, bullets pinging off the vehicle’s metal frame.

“All teams, fall back to extraction points,” Atticus ordered through comms.“Mission objectives secured.Merlin, status on the civilians?”

“All five extracted safely,” Griffin confirmed.“Minor injuries but stable.Evacuation helicopters inbound.”

Relief washed through Sabrina, momentarily overshadowing their still-precarious position.“The bioweapon samples?”

“Secured,” Atticus confirmed, navigating the vehicle across rough terrain with one hand while maintaining suppressive fire with the other.“Your countermeasure will determine whether the deployment system is neutralized or not.”

Behind them, the platform remained intact, the countdown nearly complete.Mitchell’s security forces had established a perimeter around it, uncertain whether to abandon the position or maintain control of the asset despite the infiltration.

“Thirty seconds to deployment system activation,” Cal reported through comms.“All teams confirm safe distance.”

Sabrina watched through the rear window as the seconds ticked down, her heart hammering against her ribs.Everything depended on the countermeasure working—on theoretical science becoming practical salvation.

“Fifteen seconds,” Cal continued.“Fourteen, thirteen…”

Atticus pushed the maintenance vehicle to its limits, engine shrieking in protest as they put distance between themselves and the platform.His expression remained focused, but she felt the tension radiating from him—the heaviness of potential failure neither of them could afford.

“Five, four, three, two, one…deployment.”

The platform’s central mechanism activated with a soft hiss rather than the explosive force they’d feared.A fine mist sprayed from the dispersal nozzles, hanging in the air like morning fog before gradually dissipating.

“Countermeasure appears to be functioning,” Cal reported, monitoring satellite imagery of the thermal signatures.“No immediate casualty indicators within the deployment radius.”

“It worked,” Sabrina breathed, relief flooding through her system with dizzying intensity.“The bioweapon was neutralized.”

Atticus’s expression remained guarded, years of experience having taught him to distrust easy victories.“Preliminary result only.We’ll need to secure the area and run contamination tests to confirm.”

“Always the optimist,” she teased, though she understood his caution.

The ghost of a smile touched his lips.“Realist,” he corrected.“Though I’m learning to appreciate the alternative perspective.”

Their eyes met again, the connection between them deepening despite—or perhaps because of—the danger they’d faced together.In the heat of combat, pretenses fell away, leaving only truth: They worked well together, trusted each other’s judgment, and felt something neither was ready to name but both were increasingly unwilling to deny.

“All teams report,” Atticus said, redirecting focus to the mission as they approached the extraction point where Dynamis helicopters waited with rotors turning.“Casualties and status.”

“Alpha Team clear,” Nate confirmed.“Two minor injuries.All civilians secured and en route to medical evaluation.”

“Bravo Team extracting now,” Jade added.“Viper took a graze to the left arm.Nothing critical.”

“Griffin’s team reports three wounded, none critical,” Cal summarized.“And we’ve got a bigger win than you realize.The buyers scattered when the shooting started, but we’ve coordinated with federal authorities who have intercepted four of the nine at temporary roadblocks.Homeland Security and FBI teams are taking custody due to the international terrorism implications.The others won’t get far—we’ve forwarded their identities and transport details to the Joint Terrorism Task Force.”

“And Mitchell?”Atticus asked.

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