Page 196 of Sage Haven
Too busy protecting her in the only ways I knew how—by holding back, by keeping distance, by pretending I could manage this without getting blood on her.
What a joke.
I was drowning in it now.
I wouldn’t believe anything until I had her in my arms.
Until I could feel the pulse of her heartbeat under my hands.
Until I knew she was still alive.
I clenched my fists, knuckles popping with the pressure, the leather of my gloves creaking with the force.
Never again.
Those words had become a mantra.
A promise and a curse.
We’d narrowed her location down to three sites, all tucked deep in the forested mountains east of Providence.
Bunkers.
One old one. Two newer ones.
All tied to the Armaros cult—the same cult the Ovitt brothers had aligned themselves with.
The same cult within the ENA that I’d been tasked with dismantling.
I barked a bitter laugh under my breath.
Irony was a cruel bastard.
And I was done playing by his rules.
If there was one thing I’d learned—one thing I kept learning, over and over—it was this: If you want something done right, you do it yourself.
And next time, I would.
Nael.
God. Nael and I went back years.
He was two years younger, but that had never mattered. He’d always carried the weight like he was older. Always seeing things that others didn’t. Always planning ten steps ahead.
If I’d ever had another brother—it would’ve been him.
And maybe, that’s why I trusted him now.
Even though trusting anyone else with Sage felt like I was gambling with loaded dice.
Even though the idea of anyone else being responsible for her life made me sick.
He didn’t know her the way I did.
He didn’t care about her the way I did.
But he was the one I needed.
