Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty Two
KANE
Miss Carie stood silhouetted against the storm-lashed sky, her black coat billowing like the wings of some great carrion bird. The guards flanking her were no ordinary mercenaries—they were hers, cold-eyed and still as statues, rifles locked onto our center mass. No twitch. No wasted movement. Professionals.
And behind her—
Nina.
Tied to that damned chair, her bare feet dangling over the abyss. The rope around her wrists had bitten into her skin, leaving angry red marks. Her dress—the same soft blue one she’d worn the morning they took her—fluttered in the gale, the fabric snapping like a flag in the wind. But it was her eyes that cut deepest. The way they found mine, not with fear, but with a quiet, furious promise.
I’m still here—alive.
And that was all I needed.
Miss Carie followed my gaze and smiled. “You always did have a type,” she mused, stepping closer to Nina. Her gloved hand trailed along Nina’s shoulder, possessive. “Soft. Sweet. Breakable. Do as I say, kneel before me”
I didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Every muscle in my body was coiled steel, but I kept my hands loose at my sides. One twitch, one wrong move, and the guards would open fire.
Kendrick shifted beside me, his breathing steady. I could almost hear him running the math—angles, distances, odds. Too many guns. No clean shot.
Miss Carie tilted her head, considering. Then she reached into her coat.
The guards didn’t react. They’d been expecting it.
She pulled out a detonator.
My stomach turned to lead.
Nina went very, very still.
“You didn’t think I’d leave it to chance, did you?” Miss Carie purred, thumb resting on the button. “The chair’s wired. One tremor, one jolt…” She let the implication hang.
Kendrick’s jaw tightened.
I forced air into my lungs. “You blow it, you lose your leverage.”
“True.” She sighed as if disappointed by my lack of imagination. “But then, I’ve always been good at cutting my losses.” Her gaze flicked to Nina. “And you? You’re exceptional at losing things, aren’t you, Kane?”
The knife twisted. She knew exactly where to press.
Nina’s voice cut through the tension. “Don’t.”
Just one word. Firm. Unbroken.
Miss Carie backhanded her.
The crack of flesh on flesh sent white-hot fury lancing through me. I took half a step toward them.
Rifles snapped up.
Miss Carie didn’t even flinch. She just wiped her knuckles on her coat, watching me with those pitiless eyes. “Kneel.”
I didn’t move.
She pressed the detonator into Nina’s palm, forcing her fingers around it. “Or she does it herself.”
Nina’s breath came fast now, her knuckles white around the device.
No.
The world narrowed to that single point—Nina’s hand, the detonator, the drop below.
I dropped to my knees.
The stone bit into my skin.
Miss Carie’s smile was a razor cut. “Good.”
Then—
A shot rang out.
Not from the guards. Not from us.
From the cliffs below.
One of Miss Carie’s men dropped, a dark hole blossoming between his eyes.
Sniper.
Chaos erupted.
Ropes with iron hooks came flying up, clanking hard against the edge of the cliff where we stood. Before I could fully process what was happening, masked men shot up over the ledge, propelled by the ropes and their momentum. Boots slammed against the cliff floor with heavy thuds. Then came the gunfire—loud, sharp cracks slicing through the air as bullets tore into Miss Carrie’s guards, dropping them one by one.
Miss Carie spun, coat flaring—
Kendrick was already moving. He lunged, knocking the detonator from Nina’s grip. It clattered across the stone.
I was on my feet, yanking Nina free as more gunfire erupted around us. The guards scrambled, shouting—
Another shot. Another body down.
The sniper wasn’t missing.
I dragged Nina behind a pillar, shielding her with my body as bullets chewed into the stone.
Kendrick dove for cover, rolling up with a dead guard’s pistol in hand. He fired twice—
Two more men dropped.
Miss Carie screamed—not in fear, in rage—as she scrambled for the detonator.
A bullet sparked at her feet.
A warning.
She froze, staring up at me as I slowly aimed my gun at her face.
The gunfire stopped.
Silence, save for the wind and the distant crash of waves below.
Then—boots on stone.
A figure emerged from the shadows, rifle slung across their back, hood pulled low.
They reached up. Pulled back the fabric.
Lena.
My old partner. The one Miss Carie had gotten rid of six months ago.
Her smirk was all teeth. “Miss me?”
Miss Carie’s face went slack with recognition. Then—pure, undiluted hate. “You—”
Lena unslung the rifle. “Yeah. Me.”
Kendrick let out a sharp breath. “Hell of a shot.”
Lena’s gaze flicked to Nina, then to me. “You owe me.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“I think we should leave now; this building could crumble anytime soon,” Lena said, looking down at her wristwatch.
I didn’t need to be told twice.
I scooped Nina into my arms. She was shaking, silent tears trailing down her cheeks, but her arms curled around my neck with the same fierceness I’d seen in her eyes. She was alive. That was all that mattered.
Kendrick covered us, moving with the precision of someone who’d lived through a hundred battles. Lena stayed behind us, rifle raised, watching our six.
Miss Carie didn’t try to stop us. She just stood there, staring at Lena like she was seeing a ghost, with fury, and disbelief etched deep into every line of her face.
“This isn’t over,” she spat.
Lena cocked her rifle. “Oh, sweetheart. It is for you.”
We didn’t wait for her reply.
We moved fast through the crumbling structure, the floor groaning under our feet as the storm raged on. Chunks of stone fell around us, windows shattered, and the very bones of the place trembled like they knew this chapter was ending.
Outside, a black SUV idled at the base of the cliffs, engine running, tires half-buried in mud. One of Lena’s crew waved us over, eyes scanning the ridge for any remaining threats.
Kendrick yanked the back door open. “In.”
I slid Nina inside and climbed in after her, never letting go. Kendrick took a shotgun. Lena swung into the driver’s seat and ignited the engine.
As we sped away, I looked back just once—just long enough to see the structure behind us collapse inward with a roar, swallowed by the sea.
Miss Carie’s fortress. Her throne. Gone.
I held Nina tighter as the rain streaked the windows. Her fingers found mine, squeezing weakly. She didn’t speak, didn’t need to.
She was here.
Alive.
With me.