Chapter 66

Chapter 66
The walk back to the bunker was slow, each step weighted by the unspoken tension thickening the air around them. The forest was alive with the whisper of leaves rustling in the wind, the distant hoot of an owl, the soft crunch of Mika’s bare feet against the damp earth. Seamus followed a step behind, his presence solid, unwavering, a quiet force in the dark.
Neither of them spoke, but the silence wasn’t empty. It was full of everything that had passed between them—the raw confessions, the worship, the way their bodies had come together under the weight of something neither could yet name. It was also full of what was coming. The inevitable war waiting for them just beyond the treeline.
Mika inhaled deeply, the scent of damp earth and pine grounding her. "How long do you think we have before they come?"
Seamus’s voice was low, steady. "Not long. A day at most. Maybe less."
Mika nodded, wrapping her arms around herself, though she wasn’t cold. "Do you think Kiernan will come himself?"
Seamus exhaled through his nose, the sound heavy. "He’s got too much pride to stay behind. He’ll want to be the one to put me down."
Mika glanced at him, searching his face. "Are you ready for that?"
He didn’t answer right away. His gaze stayed on the path ahead, his fingers flexing at his sides. "I don’t know," he admitted. "But it doesn’t matter. I’ll do what needs to be done."
She didn’t press him further. She understood that kind of resolve.
The trees thinned as they neared the clearing, the bunker still hidden beyond the last stretch of dense growth. The closer they got, the heavier the air felt, the reality of what they were walking into settling into their bones.
Mika let out a slow breath. "We should set traps before we go inside. If they come while we’re still getting everything ready, we need an early warning."
Seamus nodded, his movements fluid as he adjusted the strap of his gun. "We’ll start with the perimeter. Wires, motion sensors, spikes if we have time. We won’t have the luxury of a second defense if the first fails."
Mika crouched near the base of a tree, running her fingers through the dirt, calculating the best placements in her mind. "If we can force them into a bottleneck, we might be able to control where the fight happens."
Seamus smirked faintly, though there was no humor in it. "You’re enjoying this."
Mika met his gaze, something sharp in her eyes. "I’m ready for it."
He studied her for a moment, something unreadable passing over his expression, but he said nothing. Instead, he reached into his bag, pulling out a coil of wire, already shifting into the next phase of their plan.
The final showdown was coming.
And they would be ready for it.
Mika worked in silence, her breath steady, her hands moving with precision as she secured the first tripwire along the perimeter of the bunker. The damp earth was cool beneath her fingertips as she tightened the wire, anchoring it between two sturdy trees, ensuring it was nearly invisible in the low light. She leaned back on her heels, studying the placement. If anyone crossed this path, they’d set off the flashbangs rigged to the trees, momentarily disorienting them. It wouldn’t kill, but it would leave the enemy vulnerable—staggering, blinking away the white-hot blast, long enough for her and Seamus to finish the job.
She moved quickly, methodically, laying out the second layer of defenses—spiked barricades positioned at key choke points, meant to drive anyone who approached straight into her traps. Each spike had been sharpened to a wicked point, coated in oil to ensure any wounds inflicted wouldn’t clot easily. The barricades wouldn’t just slow their enemies—they would maim them.
Next came the pressure-sensitive mines. These weren’t the large, military-grade kind. Those were too loud, too obvious. Instead, she had repurposed smaller explosives, designing them to shred legs and force their opponents into the open. She buried them just deep enough to be undetectable to the untrained eye, ensuring the detonation radius would catch multiple enemies without wasting too many of their limited resources.
Sweat beaded along her brow as she worked, the physical labor combined with the adrenaline making her pulse thrum against her skin. She paused only to wipe dirt from her hands before moving onto the next trap.
Seamus watched her from a few feet away, securing a tripwire of his own. He had always known she was smart, but watching her now, seeing the sheer efficiency with which she set the traps, made something settle in his chest. She wasn’t just surviving anymore—she was fighting. And she was damn good at it.
“Where’d you learn all this?” he asked as she finished setting a secondary alarm near the bunker’s entrance.
Mika glanced at him, brushing soil from her palms. “Reading. Studying. A lot of trial and error.”
Seamus smirked. “Trial and error?”
She shrugged. “You blow up a few things by accident, you learn quick.”
He huffed a laugh, the sound brief, but it did nothing to lighten the heaviness hanging between them.
Mika crouched near the base of a tree, running her fingers through the dirt, calculating the best placements in her mind. She adjusted one of the tripwires, making it less visible, her fingers moving deftly as she secured it tightly. "If we can force them into a bottleneck, we might be able to control where the fight happens."
Seamus stepped closer, scanning her work. "It’s good. If they come in blind, we’ll have the upper hand."
Mika nodded, but her focus was already shifting to the final piece of her plan. She pulled out a handful of small, high-frequency motion sensors from her pack and began embedding them along the tree line. They weren’t traditional alarms—they wouldn’t beep or flash—but they would send a silent signal straight to her laptop inside the bunker, alerting them to movement long before their enemies reached the clearing. It was the kind of foresight that could make all the difference.
She adjusted one of the sensors, ensuring its signal was clear, then moved to the next. Every inch of this land had to work in their favor. If Kiernan and his men were coming, they had to walk into a carefully laid maze of destruction.
Seamus secured another wire and then reached into his bag, pulling out a few more surprises. He set down a canister, then began placing proximity-triggered explosives in key areas—spots they knew would be unavoidable once the Syndicate moved in. These weren’t designed for wide-scale destruction, but to slow, to weaken, to ensure that by the time Kiernan’s men reached the final stretch, they were already bleeding.