CHAPTER 82

CHAPTER 82
Chapter 82
Kane’s POV

The flames lit the sky like sunrise born from hell.

Caroline stood beside me, her arms folded tightly across her chest, eyes locked on the horizon. We were high above the forestline, on the rocky ridge overlooking the safehouse—no, the decoy.

She didn’t flinch when the explosion rocked the air. Didn’t blink when the fire painted her face gold.

“You think he made it out?” she asked quietly.

I lowered the binoculars. “No.”

A beat of silence.

“Do you care?”

“No.”

I turned to her.

Her face was unreadable, but her knuckles were white where they clenched her jacket. That softness she used to wear on her face—her eyes—it was hardening, shaping itself into something colder.

She’d changed.

We both had.

“He should’ve stayed dead,” I muttered.

Caroline gave a humorless laugh. “We never get that lucky.”

The wind carried the smoke our way—burnt chemicals, ash, lies turned to embers.

I checked my watch. “Gina survived. And Kelly.”

“You sure?”

“They were supposed to.” I looked at her. “That was part of the plan.”

She nodded. “And now?”

“Now we wait.”

“And if Gina tries to get close again?”

“She won’t get the chance.”

She was silent for a moment, then turned to me. “You said once that when people show you their loyalties, you believe them.”

I raised a brow.

“What about Gina?” she asked. “Do you think she was loyal… to Diane? To Raymond? To me?”

I exhaled. “I think Gina was loyal to the version of herself that didn’t feel powerless. The version Diane gave her permission to become.”

“She cried when she hugged me,” Caroline said.

“She also planted a transmitter in your home.”

Caroline looked back at the fire. “People are complicated.”

I didn’t disagree.

“Do you think they’ll come for us harder now?” she asked.

“They have no choice.”

She stepped closer to me, her shoulder brushing mine. “Then maybe it’s time we stop running.”

I looked down at her. “We were never running.”

She smiled—just a little. “Felt like it.”

The last piece of the safehouse crumbled in the distance, swallowed by flames. And I couldn’t help but feel it was symbolic.

Raymond’s reign—over.

Diane—dead.

But the war?

No. It was just shifting pieces.

And I had one left to play.

Caroline touched my arm. “So what now?”

I smiled faintly, cold and sharp. “Now… we finish what they started.”

Kelly’s POV

The smell of burning steel still clung to my jacket.

Gina sat beside me in the passenger seat, silent, hands gripping her thighs like she was keeping herself from unraveling. The night outside the window was quiet—too quiet for what we just walked away from.

Raymond was gone.

Not just gone—obliterated.

It didn’t feel real yet. But it would. The silence had a way of screaming the truth eventually.

“He was supposed to lead,” Gina said finally, voice barely above a whisper. “That was the deal.”

I didn’t answer.

She looked at me, eyes narrowed. “You knew.”

“I suspected,” I said.

She turned sharply. “You knew they fed us fake coordinates?”

“I guessed,” I snapped. “There’s a difference. I didn’t know until I saw Kane’s note.”

She turned away again. “We should’ve double-checked the intel.”

“We didn’t have time,” I muttered. “He rushed us. He always rushed us. Raymond played games even with allies. We were pawns too.”

Her fists clenched. “He trusted me.”

“No. He used you.” I looked at her. “And you knew that, deep down.”

She didn’t argue.

The lair loomed ahead—Diane’s former base now abandoned by its queen and claimed by fire and blood. Everything smelled like memory and betrayal. The moment we stepped out of the car and into the main hall, the fluorescent light above flickered once—then again.

Footsteps echoed.

I turned first. My gun was drawn before I even registered the face.

Reynolds.

Smiling like a devil who never left hell—because he built it.

“Well,” he said smoothly, stepping from the shadows in his black coat, “you made it out. How very… unexpected.”

Gina froze beside me. “You—”

“You’re supposed to be in Russia,” I growled. “Locked underground.”

Reynolds chuckled. “Ah, but sons always underestimate their fathers.”

Gina took a cautious step forward. “You’re working with Raymond—”

“Was,” Reynolds interrupted, eyes gleaming. “He played his part. Now he’s ash.”

My blood chilled. “You knew.”

He looked at me like I was slow. “Of course I knew Kane was feeding him false intel. I told him to go anyway.”

Gina’s voice cracked. “You wanted him dead?”

“I wanted to see if he’d survive,” Reynolds said simply. “He didn’t. And that tells me everything I need to know.”

I stared at him, barely breathing. “You sacrificed your own son.”

Reynolds tilted his head. “Raymond was never a son. He was a test.”

A beat of silence. Then Gina whispered, “What the hell are you planning?”

Reynolds smiled wider. “Now? Now we rebuild.”

“No,” I said coldly. “We don’t.”

His eyes shifted to me. “Oh, you still think you get a choice?”

I stepped forward. “If you think for one second I’m going to follow you—”

“You will,” he interrupted. “Because you want what I want: Kane’s head. You just want to take longer getting there.”

Gina looked between us, unsure.

Reynolds walked past me slowly. “Join me, Kelly. Join me, Gina. And when the smoke clears, you won’t be pawns anymore.”

He disappeared into the corridor, the sound of his footsteps echoing like a ticking clock.

I didn’t move.

Gina turned to me, voice low. “Tell me we’re not seriously going to follow that man.”

I clenched my jaw. “We’re going to walk beside him.”

She frowned. “What?”

“Until we get the chance to bury him,” I said. “For good.”

Her lips parted. Then she nodded once, eyes harder now.

We didn’t speak much on the way back.

Gina sat beside me in the car, eyes locked on the passing city lights, lips pressed tight. I could feel the questions trembling in her throat, but none of them made it out. Not yet.

Not until we parked outside the old lair and she finally whispered, “He’s really dead.”

Raymond.

I nodded, though it didn’t feel real either. I still saw his face in the rearview. Still heard his voice in the explosion’s echo.

“He was a bastard,” I said. “But he was our bastard.”

She gave a hollow laugh, wiping under one eye. “Yeah. And now we’re just two bastards without a leash.”

We stepped inside.

The lair was colder than before. Reynolds hadn’t arrived yet. His shadows weren’t here either. The walls felt… emptier. Like they’d been holding their breath too long.

“I never thought I’d say this,” Gina murmured, standing by Diane’s old desk, “but I think I miss her.”

I leaned against the doorframe, watching her fingers trail across the dusty surface.

“She cared about you,” I said.

“She used me.”

“She also protected you.” I shrugged. “Sometimes the worst people still love in their own fucked-up way.”

She turned to face me. Her eyeliner was smudged. Her lips dry. But she was still beautiful. Dangerous. Sharp like Diane’s favorite blade, but cracked at the hilt.

“Are you going to pretend this doesn’t bother you?” she asked suddenly.

“What?”

“That Raymond’s dead. That Diane’s gone. That we’re the only ones left pretending we still know what we’re doing.”

I walked over slowly.

“Every night since I joined Reynolds,” I said, “I’ve dreamt of burning this place to the ground. Every mission, every lie—it was just another step toward destroying everything he made me.”

Her breath caught. “So now what?”

I met her eyes.

“We keep pretending,” I said softly. “Until it’s real. Until we’ve cut off the last head of this snake.”

She studied me for a moment. Her jaw trembled. But then, to my surprise, she smiled.

A real smile.

“I never pegged you for a poetic avenger,” she whispered.

“I’m full of surprises.”

She took a step closer.

“You think we make a good team?” she asked.

I smirked. “You doubt it?”

Her fingers brushed my arm—tentative at first, then firmer, like she needed to feel something real. “I just… I don’t know who I am without Diane.”

I leaned in, lowering my voice. “Then let’s find out together.”

Her breath hitched. She stared at me like I was a question she was terrified to answer.

“I don’t want to die in this war,” she whispered. “Not before I’ve lived.”

Then she kissed me.

Soft. Hesitant. Not a firestorm. Not a hunger.

Just lips pressed to lips like a quiet agreement.

When she pulled back, I didn’t let her go far.

“You won’t die,” I promised. “Not while I’m still breathing.”

Her eyes shimmered. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Footsteps echoed outside. The moment slipped into shadow.

We stepped apart just as Reynolds entered, flanked by two new guards.

His smile was calm. Cold.

“Well,” he said, eyeing us like an audience. “What did I miss?”

Gina’s hand brushed mine one last time before she stepped forward, mask already sliding into place.

“Nothing,” she said sweetly. “Just the beginning of something new.”

And damn if she wasn’t right.