Chapter 66

Chapter 66
Raymond POV

“Say that again.”

Mateo doesn’t bother hiding his frustration. He plants both hands on the metal table and leans over the map spread across it.

“I said we hit them now,” he repeats. “Not tomorrow. Not after another twelve hours of thinking. Now.”

The command room smells like coffee that’s been sitting too long and tension that’s been building for days. Outside the reinforced walls of the base, rain taps steadily against metal roofing, a soft rhythm that doesn’t match the tight coil in my chest.

I tap the edge of the map.

“Look at the pattern.”

Mateo exhales sharply. “I have looked at the pattern.”

“No,” I say calmly. “You looked at the opportunity.”

Across the table, Camille watches like someone observing a boxing match she has no intention of interrupting.

Mateo drags a hand down his face. “Raymond, they seized the eastern supply corridor two hours ago. That route feeds three of our northern outposts. If we wait, those outposts starve.”

“And if we rush,” I reply, “we walk into whatever Damian built waiting for us.”

Silence settles over the room.

Mateo straightens slowly. “You’re assuming he built something.”

“I’m assuming he’s Damian.”

That earns a quiet snort from Camille.

Mateo points at the map again. “Our scouts confirmed only two armored units.”

“Visible armored units,” I correct.

He stares at me like he wants to argue, but he doesn’t.

Because we both know how this works.

Damian never shows his full hand.

I move a marker across the map, tracing the route of the seized corridor. It snakes through a stretch of low hills and abandoned rail lines before splitting toward the north.

“Tell me something,” I say. “When was the last time Damian made a move this… obvious?”

Mateo crosses his arms.

“Never,” Camille answers for him.

“Exactly.”

Mateo exhales slowly, the fight draining out of his posture just enough for reason to get a foothold.

“So what’s your theory?”

“That he wants us angry,” I say. “Angry soldiers make mistakes.”

Camille tilts her head. “And calm soldiers?”

“Make him nervous.”

The door opens behind us.

Adriana steps inside.

Conversation stops immediately.

She’s still wearing the same jacket from earlier — sleeves pushed up, hair tied back like she forgot about it halfway through. There’s a faint smear of dirt across her cheek that she either hasn’t noticed or doesn’t care about.

“Status,” she says.

Mateo answers first.

“Raymond wants to wait.”

Her gaze moves to me.

“And you want to attack,” she says to Mateo.

“Hard and fast.”

She studies the map in silence for a moment.

“Raymond,” she says finally. “Explain.”

Mateo groans quietly.

I point at the corridor again.

“He took it too easily,” I say. “Minimal resistance, perfect timing right after the civilian corridor report. It feels staged.”

Mateo lifts a hand. “Or we’re overthinking a simple move.”

Adriana doesn’t look at him.

“Go on,” she says to me.

I shift another marker.

“If we hit them directly, we’ll run straight into whatever he positioned behind those hills.”

“And if we don’t?”

“We let him think we’re slower than we are.”

Mateo shakes his head. “That corridor matters, Raymond.”

“I know.”

“Then why are we hesitating?”

“Because,” I say quietly, “Damian expects us not to.”

The room goes quiet again.

Adriana folds her arms and looks between us.

Mateo breaks first.

“You’re really considering this.”

“Yes,” she says.

Mateo laughs once, disbelieving.

“Of course you are.”

She lifts an eyebrow.

“You have a better idea?”

He opens his mouth.

Closes it.

Then mutters, “No.”

Adriana taps the table lightly.

“Raymond’s right.”

Mateo sighs loudly enough to qualify as protest.

“He designed the seizure to provoke us,” she continues. “If we rush, we lose.”

Mateo looks at me.

“You’re enjoying this.”

“Immensely.”

He rolls his eyes.

“Fine. Genius. What’s the plan?”

I move three markers onto the map.

“We don’t attack the corridor.”

Camille leans forward.

“Then what do we attack?”

I point to the rail line running parallel to the hills.

“Supply access.”

Mateo frowns.

“They’re using the old rail tunnels?”

“They always do.”

Adriana nods slowly.

“If we cut those,” she says, understanding immediately, “their units lose reinforcement.”

“Exactly.”

Mateo studies the map again, slower this time.

“And the corridor?”

“We take it after they realize they’re trapped.”

A long pause.

Then Mateo smirks.

“…That might actually work.”

Camille pats his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. It’s confusing for all of us.”

—

Three hours later we’re moving through the hills under cover of darkness.

Mateo crouches beside me behind a ridge.

“Last chance to admit this was a bad idea,” he whispers.

“You first.”

He grins.

Ahead of us, the dim lights of Damian’s armored units sit along the corridor exactly where we expected.

Too visible.

Too confident.

Mateo whispers into his comm.

“Team one ready.”

Camille’s voice answers.

“Team two in position.”

I glance at Adriana.

She nods once.

“Do it.”

Mateo presses the detonator.

The explosion doesn’t come from the corridor.

It comes from the rail tunnel behind it.

The ground shakes as the entrance collapses inward, sealing the passage completely.

Enemy radios erupt instantly.

Confusion spreads like wildfire through their formation.

Mateo laughs quietly.

“Oh that is beautiful.”

“Wait,” I say.

Thirty seconds later Camille’s team opens fire from the ridge above the corridor.

Not heavy.

Just enough to push them.

Exactly where we want them.

“Now,” Adriana says.

Mateo signals the advance.

Our units surge forward from the opposite hill, cutting straight through the disorganized line before Damian’s soldiers even understand what happened.

It’s over in minutes.

Not a slaughter.

Just clean.

Precise.

The kind of victory that feels almost unreal after months of desperate fighting.

Mateo watches the last enemy transport retreat down the road.

“Well,” he says. “That was… disturbingly efficient.”

Camille walks up beside us.

“I’m disappointed. I expected more explosions.”

Adriana surveys the reclaimed corridor.

“Casualties?”

Mateo checks his tablet.

“Minimal.”

He looks up.

“We actually did it.”

For the first time in days, the weight in my chest loosens slightly.

A clear win.

Adriana turns to the assembled units.

“Listen up.”

The chatter fades instantly.

“This operation succeeded because of one person.”

I shift slightly, already uncomfortable with where this is going.

Her eyes land on me.

“Raymond.”

Mateo snickers quietly beside me.

“This strategy saved lives,” she continues. “And secured half the corridor back in a single strike.”

The soldiers murmur approval.

I shake my head slightly.

“Adriana—”

“Take the credit,” she says quietly. “You earned it.”

Mateo claps me on the back hard enough to nearly knock me forward.

“Speech, strategist.”

“I hate all of you,” I mutter.

Camille grins.

“We know.”

—

An hour later the corridor is secure.

Mateo is overseeing repairs.

Camille is interrogating a captured supply officer.

And I’m staring at a recovered intel tablet that makes absolutely no sense.

Adriana walks up beside me.

“You look confused.”

“I am.”

I rotate the screen toward her.

She reads the troop movement logs.

Then frowns.

“That can’t be right.”

“That’s what I said.”

The data is clear.

Damian’s forces aren’t reinforcing the corridor.

They’re leaving the north entirely.

Adriana studies the map again, slower this time.

“That’s not a retreat,” she murmurs.

“No.”

Her eyes narrow.

“That’s repositioning.”

“For what?” I ask.

She doesn’t answer immediately.

Instead she looks toward the dark horizon where Damian’s territory begins.

And for the first time since the battle ended, the quiet sense of victory begins to fade.

Because if Damian is pulling forces away from the north…

Then something much bigger is about to happen somewhere else.