Page 67 of Carter
Because we’d made it.
The ridge was behind us. The ambush survived. Sable in custody.
I let my head tip back against the cold metal wall, the hum of the bird vibrating through me. Harper’s face filled my mind—the fire in her eyes, the strength in her voice, the way she whisperedtogether.
I’d promised her I’d come back. And for the first time in hours, I knew I could keep that promise.
River met my gaze across the cabin, his voice calm but heavy. “This isn’t over, Carter. Redwood won’t stop.”
I nodded once, my hand tightening around the rifle. “Neither will I.”
Then I closed my eyes for a beat, just long enough to feel her hand in mine again, to anchor myself in the one truth stronger than all the fire and blood.
I wasn’t just fighting to survive.
I was fighting my way back home—to her.
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Harper
The sound came first—the low, steady thrum that rattled the windows and set the coffee mug trembling in my hands.
I froze, breath caught in my throat. For one wild, fragile heartbeat, I was terrified it wasn’t them, that Redwood had found me instead. But then the noise grew louder, closer, until it was unmistakable.
Rotor blades.
I bolted for the porch, the morning air sharp in my lungs. Fog hung low over the trees, but through the shifting gray, I saw it—the helicopter breaking over the treeline, dipping low, kicking up dirt and pine needles as it circled the clearing.
The moment it touched down, the doors slid open. Figures leapt out one by one—Cyclone, bloodied but steady; Gideon, laptop clutched tight; River, calm and sharp even in exhaustion.
And then him.
Carter dropped from the bird, rifle slung, shoulders heavy with grime and blood. He moved like a man who’dfought through hell and clawed his way back, but his eyes—his eyes went straight to me.
The rest of the world blurred. The noise, the wind, the chaos of the landing—it all faded as I ran. My feet barely hit the ground before I collided with him, my arms wrapping around his neck, his chest slamming into mine.
He caught me hard, lifting me clean off the porch steps, his arms crushing me against him. His breath was hot and ragged against my hair.
“I told you,” he rasped, voice breaking against my ear. “Always.”
Tears blurred everything, but I didn’t care. I clung to him like he was air itself, my sobs muffled against his chest. “You came back,” I whispered, over and over, as if saying it made it real.
His lips pressed to my temple, fierce, desperate. “I’ll always come back to you.”
And in that moment, wrapped in his arms, I believed it.
For the first time since my name had been marked, I felt the truth in my bones: we weren’t just surviving anymore.
We were still here. Still together. And that meant we’d already won.
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Harper
Icouldn’t let go.
Even after the helicopter’s rotors slowed, after River barked orders and Cyclone and Gideon hauled Sable across the clearing, I stayed wrapped in Carter’s arms. My fingers fisted in the fabric of his shirt, feeling the rough weave, the heat of his skin beneath, proof that he was real. Alive.
