Chapter 172 NO DEAL

Chapter 172 NO DEAL
Knox

The world didn’t go quiet.

It was ripped silent, like someone had pressed a thumb to the pulse of the universe and held it there, just long enough for everything to die.

Not because the gunfire stopped. The cracks and reports still echoed in the distance, ricocheting off the burning steel skeletons of the docks.

Not because the flames had died. They raged, hungry and alive, painting the night orange and gold.

But because none of it mattered. Not anymore.
Not with what I was seeing.

Lucian was cradled in Lily’s arms, the rough leather of his cut nearly black with blood. His blood. It pooled beneath them, a spreading, ugly stain across the gravel, thicker than oil, redder than rage.

Lily sobbed, the sound almost animal. Not the soft, careful crying I’d seen before. This was broken glass, choking, desperate, her hands pressed uselessly against Lucian’s chest, fingers slick and red, trembling so hard I could see it from ten feet away.

She looked up at me, eyes wild, rimmed with red.

“Knox…” Her voice was a ghost. Barely more than a scratch.

She tried to speak again, lips trembling, jaw clenched with pain she couldn’t swallow.

“Kill him.”The words didn’t just cut, they shredded.

Something deep inside me, something I thought was already dead, gave out completely. I felt the pieces fall away.

I didn’t answer. Didn’t trust myself to.

I walked over, every movement heavy, slow, like I was moving through water.

Lucian’s shotgun lay in the dirt where he’d dropped it.

I knelt, fingers closing around the stock.

It was warm, familiar, almost comforting. I pressed it to my shoulder. It fit like it always had, like it belonged there.

I worked the action.

Chak.

It was louder than any gunfire. Louder than the fire, louder than Lily’s broken voice.

All around me, everything stopped.

The Reapers. The Nomads. Faces stained with soot and blood, eyes wide, all of them watching.
The women we’d rescued, huddled in blankets that smelled like gasoline and fear. The last surviving Iron Serpents, clustered together, faces unreadable. Even they knew they fucked up.

Nobody spoke. Nobody moved.

I started walking. Each step felt heavier than the last.

Victor stood by Elias, arm in the sling I’d tied just minutes ago. He caught my eye, but didn’t try to intervene.

Elias just stared, jaw tight.

Jinx, normally so quick with a joke or a sneer, was silent.

Darius watched, eyes burning.

Even Lily had run out of tears, her head bowed over Lucian’s ruined chest.

The only sound left was the fire.

Rourke stood twenty feet ahead.

His suit, once the color of expensive midnight, was smeared with ash and dirt. His hair, usually slicked back, now hung low, curls matted to his forehead.

He didn’t flinch as I approached. Instead, he lifted his hands, palms out, slow and deliberate, like a man trying to reason with a wild animal.

“Knox,” he said quietly.

I kept moving. Didn’t blink.

He licked his lips. “I know what this looks like.”

I didn’t slow.

“I know you’re angry.”

Another step. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

“But you’re making a mistake.”

Nothing. Just the sound of gravel under my boots.

He tried again. “I’m trying to help you.”

Victor’s voice drifted behind me, flat and bitter. “Funny way of showing it.”

Rourke ignored him. “You kill me…” He gestured to the burning warehouses, the carnage, the bodies. “Every answer dies with me.”

I stopped. The shotgun was steady at my shoulder, aimed squarely at his chest.

He smiled, nervous, not smug. Not anymore. “There,” he said, nodding, almost relieved. “Now we’re talking.”

His eyes searched my face, desperate for something, maybe mercy, maybe understanding.

“There are things you still don’t know,” he said.

I said nothing.

“There are people you’ve never found.”

Still nothing.

He tried again, mouth twitching. “You think you’ve won.”The corners of his lips curled. “You haven’t.”

I finally spoke. Just one word. “What?”

He chuckled, soft, almost pitying. “There’s another mole.”

It was like someone poured ice water over the dockyard. Every muscle in my body tensed. Victor’s face creased with suspicion. Elias’ eyes narrowed, calculating. Jinx glanced at Darius, who just stared back, jaw clenched. Lily lifted her head, blood smeared across her cheek.

I stared at Rourke, refusing to believe. “That’s impossible.”

He shook his head, slow. “No. It isn’t.”

“We found everyone,” I said, voice low, dangerous.

He smiled, thin and cold. “You found most of them.”

Smoke drifted between us, stinging my eyes.

“I’ll tell you who it is,” he said, voice dropping.

I felt my pulse kick up, throat closing.

“I’ll give you their name. But…” He pointed, off toward the road, the only way out. “You let me walk away.”

Victor snorted. “That’s rich.”

Rourke didn’t even blink. “You get the mole. I get my life.”

He tried to make it sound like a business deal, like we were back at a table, neat suits and contracts.

“Seems fair.”

I stared at him, weighing the gun, weighing my rage.

Finally, I nodded, a single, sharp movement. “Fine.”

Relief broke over his face, almost making him seem younger.

“I’ll let you live,” I said.

Victor’s head turned sharply.
Elias frowned in confusion.
Darius’ eyes narrowed.
Jinx’s lips parted, but he said nothing.

Rourke let out a shaky breath, smiling. “I knew you were smarter than Lucian.”

My jaw went stiff. “The name,” I said.

He leaned forward, eyes glinting, voice a whisper. “It’s Belle.”

The word hung there.
The fire didn’t crackle.
The wind didn’t blow.
No one moved.
Not a single sound.

Belle.

My stomach twisted.

Jinx actually stepped backward, like the word had struck him.

“…No,” he whispered.

Victor’s face hardened. “Son of a bitch…”

Elias’ eyes fluttered shut.

Darius looked like he’d been punched.

It all made sense.

Every failure. Every ambush. Every time Rourke was just out of reach.

Belle.

Rourke’s smile was triumphant, hands spread. “There. I kept my end.” He started to step back, cautious, never turning his back. “We’re done,” he said.
I nodded, once. “We are.”

Relief flooded his face. He turned, ready to walk away.

I smiled. It was a dead thing. Hollow. “You forgot one thing,” I said.

He glanced back, brow furrowed. “What?”

“We never shook hands.”

He blinked, confused. “What?”

I shrugged. “We never shook hands. So… there wasn’t a deal.”

His face went blank. “You said—”

“I said I’d let you live... but we never shook on it.” I pressed the shotgun tighter to my shoulder.

Realization dawned, dread spreading like rot. “You lied.”

I shook my head. “No. I never agreed.”

He stepped back, panic flickering in his eyes. “Knox—”

“No.”I raised the shotgun.“You made one mistake.”

He swallowed hard, chest rising and falling. “What mistake?”

“You thought I was negotiating.” I glanced behind me.

Lily, hunched over Lucian.
Victor, eyes locked on me.
Jinx, fists clenched, knuckles bone-white.
Darius, burning holes in my back with his stare.

They needed to see this.

I looked at Rourke. “I was just giving you enough rope to hang yourself.”

His shoulders slumped. He laughed, hollow and bitter. “So… there really wasn’t a deal.”

I smiled. “Not a fucking chance.”

My finger tightened on the trigger. “You killed my President. You made my family watch. You made Lily blame herself. And on top of all of that, Ash is dead because of you.”

Behind me, I heard gasps, sharp and raw.

“And you expected to walk away?”

Rourke lowered his head, a broken man. “I suppose… I misjudged you.”

“You did.”I took a step forward, boots crunching on gravel.

“This isn’t for Caleb. This isn’t for the girls. This isn’t even for Lily or Ash.”I stopped in front of him of him. “This is for Lucian.”

The barrel settled over his heart.

The fire crackled.

No one breathed.

No one moved.

I closed my eyes for just a second, then opened them. And pulled the trigger.