Page 30 of Ashfall
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
nyx
Phantom has summoned everyone to Noc’s mini control room. Hawk’s reached out with a message. I barely had time to assess my appearance before rushing in, but judging by the way Blitz winked at me and gave a thumbs up - it was obvious what we had been doing. Noc’s hair isn’t helping either, the telltale signs of my fingers raking through it remain, leaving it tousled and messy. Not that it matters. The bastard somehow makes it work. Rolling my eyes at Blitz, fighting back my own smirk, I focus on Adam. He’s quietly transcribing Hawk’s message from morse code.
He exhales sharply, a breathless curse that shatters the silence. “Motherfucker.” Phantom and Noc move fast, crowding over his shoulder, eyes scanning the paper he’s written on. Phantom’s fist slams down onto the desk, a harsh “Fuck” ripping from him. I stiffen, anxiety twisting through me as concern for Hawk claws its way up.
“What is it?” My voice is tight, edged with apprehension. Adam inhales, steadying himself as he reads his note.
“Graves pulled 656 back from intercepting the container. Said intel was false. And he’s twisted a story. Nyx, compromised616 to release Nocturne. 656 has a shoot-to-kill order. For all of us, except Nyx.”
Well, that’s slightly fucking unsettling, “What does he mean false, wasn't anything in them?” Had Graves been given false intel again? It makes me think back to the warehouse where we thought we’d intercept one of his human trafficking deals. We had wrong intel then, instead finding the cargo with the logos. I look to Noc, because he seems to be the only one who can shed light on this. And there it is. The smirk. “There were no chemical weapons in those containers. I've been planting fake intel for Graves for weeks, sending him on a wild goose chase for his next power high. He thought he was sneakily intercepting Volokov's plans, but they were mine. Hawk didn’t know what I was up to either, just knew it was something. All part of shattering Graves and Volokov's trust.”
He walks over to look at a screen before speaking again. “Our Black Talon logo was the first threat that I was coming for him, so when he got my message about the truth prevailing, he’d know a ghost was coming back to haunt him.” Black Talon rings a bell in my head, then I remember that was the name under the logo on the document that had the list of names, the one that included my mother.
“What is Black Talon?” Phantom asks, and Noc shifts to face him.
“It’s the name of the covert mission General Voss was going to initiate when she got to Cairo... Obviously, things changed, and we’ve had to improvise.” The weight of his words lay heavy on my shoulders. Pride tangles with sorrow as I think of how brave my mother was to even start this.
I can imagine Graves fighting off an internal combustion when he got to the shipment. Hehatesgetting things wrong, and now I know why. Being wrong is detrimental to his rise to power, everything that man does is meticulously planned to steer himto his goal. I’m realizing just how dangerous he is. Adam speaks up. “So what's Volokov's position, and does he know about this?”
Noc leans back against a bookshelf, his demeanor changing slightly and in his reply he sounds pissed. “Not what Black Talon is, No. Where the chemical weapon is, that’s something he won't share with me, even though it was part of our deal. He knows I've been fucking with Graves to bring him down, it was just another thing Volokov asked of me later on, and I was to use any means necessary. It made it easier for me to go off alone and work on Black Talon. Volokov’s sister, Natalia, is just as involved in his plans and, from the information I’ve recently received, the weapon may have already made its way to the US. Graves isn’t aware of that as far as I know.”Fuck. His words are sobering. Graves has obviously been trying to locate it, and Noc instead took the opportunity to fuck with him on his hunt.
Adam speaks, breaking my trail of thought. “So, why the hell are we out here? Have all the missions we've completed been you putting us on a wild goose chase?” My eyes fly to Noc.Don't poke the bear, Adam,my inner voice whines.
“No.” Noc replies in a deadly tone, “Just since the logo appeared, I needed to trip Graves up, plant a seed of doubt between him and Volokov. Graves is here because it’s easier for him to liaise with Volokov.” His smile is as wicked as I know his thoughts are.
A few hourshave passed since Hawk’s message, giving us time to process and assess. We’re all gathered in Noc’s office, the hidden bookshelf slightly ajar, revealing the entrance to the weaponry room and direct access to the CCTV feeds downstairs. Noc and Phantom are bent over the large table at the center of the room, reviewing the spread of plans and mapping out how we get to Graves. Blitz stands by the window, her posture drawnin, like she’s ready to fold into herself. The darkened glass offers little beyond shadows of woodland, but she stares through it anyway aimless.
Adam is seated at the table, fingers flying across the keyboard, assisting from the technical side while simultaneously updating Hawk through the secured server. I cross the room to Blitz, settling into the space beside her. “Hey, you okay?” I ask, nudging her shoulder with mine. She turns to me, attempting a smile, but it’s weak, crumbling before it fully forms.
“I’m worried, Nyx. About Hawk. He’s surrounded by hostiles... I can’t believe he offered himself to do that.” I follow her gaze out into the treelined fort. The weight of her concern sits heavy between us. Nothing I say will make it better, because it doesn’t make me feel lighter either. Strong connections have no place in our line of work. But we’ve bonded as a family. We’re with each other each and every day. The shit we do and see is so immoral, that we've all been darkened by it. And we're still human, it's in our nature to care for those closest to us. We protect and support one another, even outside the battlefield.
I take a deep breath before I speak, “He's our leader in every sense of the word Blitz, even though none of us are happy with it, we couldn't disobey him. Besides, Hawk knows what he's doing. He and Noc will have likely planned for this eventuality. We'll get him as soon as we can. He’ll be okay.” She reaches down and squeezes my hand, I wrap my arm around her and pull her to me. As crazy as Blitz is, it tugs at my corroded heart strings to see her like this. She's the one who deemed us a family the very first time we all met. Outside of the wild personality, lies a heart that cares deeply for her unit.
A deep voice breaks across the room. “I’m going to reach out to Volokov. If he can arrange a meeting with Graves to lure him from your base, we can intercept and eliminate him, allowing usto extract Hawk undetected.” My unease skyrockets, and I turn to the source of the suggestion.
“Noc, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Graves could find it suspicious, he'll anticipate something like this now.” My eyes trace over him, the dark prince of the underworld is gone. In his place stands the soldier, the official, disciplined and menacing force. The one who pulls me back to the memory of our last day together in the military. When he didn't pick me for the team, and that his words were final.
“I'm not asking for your permission,Nyx. There's no other way. Volokov and Graves have an agreed meeting place about an hour away from your base. Volokov can't trace the calls here, it pings to another location near my city home. I'll make the call, meet Volokov and we'll reconvene when I’m back.” I unwrap myself from Blitz to march to the center of the room. “You can't go in alone, are you fucking crazy?”
The asshole actually has the audacity to wink at me. “You know better than anyone, beautiful.” If the circumstances were different, that would have sent me feral, but my head is firmly screwed on for this one.
“Noc, No. You're not going in alone.” My head scrambles for a reason, and the wildest one I have gets out my mouth before I can even re-think it.
“I'll come with you.”Dammit Nyx. I feel the weight of every pair of eyes in the room.
“Uh, are you fucking crazy?” Adam says horrified. Noc seems to be siding with him, along with everyone else’s outcries.
Noc holds my stare. “No. You’re not coming with me.”
I steel my spine, I need to throw my weight here. “You can't go in alone, it could lead to a set up.” I shift my eyes down the table. “Don’t look at me like that Adam, I'm technically the highest-ranking officer here. In Hawk’s absence, you answer to me.” I hate pulling rank, I've never had to do it with Ashfall,we all work so well together. And as I’m the first member of the unit with the longest time served - I technically have the authority. And when your‘ex-commander’is compromised, and your Executive is stuck behind enemy lines, I’ll do whatever is necessary. “If you want to play that game Brodie…” Noc’s voice trails off, head tilting, mischief gleaming in his eyes.
The fury rising in me could spark flames if I moved my limbs too fast. “Shut the fuck up Noc, you're technically dead - so your rank no longer exists.” I hold his glare, daring him to push me further. His teeth rake over his bottom lip, failing miserably at suppressing his smirk.Asshole. But then it falls as quickly as it appeared.
“You're not coming with me, Brodie.” I ignore him, pushing on with laying out the plan and focusing on the rest of the guys. “I'll head in with Noc. Adam, you are our eyes on the ground and in the sky. Phantom, Blitz, you’re our stomping power. Be armed and ready if shit goes south.” I turn to face Noc, who’s raising his brow in challenge to me. My voice is firm when I speak. “Noc, make the call. Now.''
I don’t think he was listening to a damn thing I said, his head sideways as he stares at me through narrowed eyes. And I give himthatlook. He exhales dramatically, pushing off the table. He pulls out his phone from his pocket, finger hovering as he eyes the room. “'Not a fucking sound.”
