Page 64 of Carter
“They’re here,” I muttered.
River’s reply was calm, clipped. “Hold your fire until they’re inside the kill zone.”
The mercs spread into the trees, moving uphill, rifles raised. Professional. Coordinated. Not a smash-and-grab crew—this was Redwood’s trained muscle.
I steadied my breath, my world narrowing to the space between crosshairs and heartbeat.
One step closer. Two. They entered the open stretch halfway up the slope.
“Now,” River barked.
The ridge exploded with gunfire. My first round dropped the lead man clean, his body tumbling backward. Cyclone’s rifle thundered, shredding the line. River’s bursts stitched fire across the flank, cutting three down before they’d even raised their rifles.
Shouts echoed, return fire rattling the rocks around us. Splinters and stone chips flew.
I didn’t flinch. I didn’t hesitate.
Because this wasn’t just a fight for survival. This was the war standing between me and Harper. And I wasn’t losing. Not today. Not ever.
I chambered another round, sighted center mass, and pulled the trigger.
The ridge would hold. Because I would hold.
For her. Always for her.
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The ridge shook with the force of the firefight. Bullets screamed off rock, dirt exploding at my boots. The air was thick with smoke and the stench of gunpowder, every breath tearing hot into my lungs.
“Left flank!” River called.
I swung, sighted fast, and cut down two climbing through a gap in the rocks. One stumbled back, tumbling down the slope, his rifle clattering against stone.
Cyclone roared a curse as a round grazed his arm, but he didn’t falter. His rifle boomed again, the recoil slamming his shoulder, every shot tearing Redwood men off their feet.
Gideon crouched low, his pistol barking between frantic keystrokes on the laptop balanced on a flat rock. “Jamming their comms—buying us time!”
Rounds sparked inches from my head, and I pressed tighter against cover, heart hammering. Sable’s laughter drifted through the chaos—dark, twisted, amused.
“You can’t hold them forever,” he taunted, blood dripping down his chin. “Redwood doesn’t stop.”
I ignored him, sighting down my rifle again. My fingersqueezed, another merc dropping. One more step cleared. One more second bought.
But he wasn’t wrong. For every man that fell, two more pushed through the trees. We were holding the ridge by sheer fury, but the pressure was mounting.
I grit my teeth, forcing calm through the storm. My vision tunneled, Harper’s face searing itself across my mind. Her smile. Her strength. Her whisperedalways.
I pulled the trigger again, every round a vow carved into the battlefield.
We wouldn’t break. We wouldn’t fall.
Not while she was waiting for me.
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