The safe house burned with chaos.
Maya didn't remember pulling the trigger, only the recoil of the gun and the sound of shattering glass as bullets tore through the walls. The masked operatives came like a flood — silent, fast, ruthless. Whoever sent them wasn't here for intimidation. They were here to finish what Leena had started.
Callen yanked Maya behind the overturned table. "We're pinned. Back exit's gone."
Maya nodded, breath sharp. "We hold until we find another way."
Elias ducked beside them, blood seeping from a gash on his shoulder. "They blocked all access. They knew the layout. Someone fed them our position."
"Of course they did," Maya snapped. Her voice cracked with anger. "That's how this whole thing has worked from the beginning."
Outside the kitchen, Riker shouted through his comm, "We've got hostiles breaching through the upper level. Fall back to the garage — now!"
Callen didn't wait. He fired a round through the narrow hallway, clipped one of the attackers, and motioned for the others to follow. "Go!"
They moved through smoke and debris, their boots sliding across shattered tile. Maya's fingers were blistered from gripping her weapon too tight. Every shadow looked like another threat. But they made it to the garage.
Or what was left of it.
The blast must have come minutes earlier. The metal doors were warped, half caved-in. The exit route — their only escape — was jammed. Useless.
Maya turned to Elias. "Can you hotwire that jeep?"
He gave a dry smile. "I could do it blindfolded."
"Then do it fast."
As Elias pried open the console, Callen and Maya laid cover fire. Leena knelt near the wall, eyes blank, hands shaking. She hadn't spoken since the ambush began. She looked like someone watching her own funeral play out in slow motion.
"You okay?" Maya asked her.
Leena nodded. "I didn't think it would go this far."
"You gave them everything," Maya replied bitterly. "What did you expect?"
A loud pop interrupted them — a canister clattered across the concrete. Smoke filled the garage in seconds. Maya's lungs tightened. Tear gas.
"Move!" Callen shouted.
Elias cursed as he forced the jeep to life. "It's running!"
One by one, they piled in, coughing through the haze. As Maya slammed the passenger door, bullets cracked against the windshield.
Elias gunned it.
The jeep roared forward and smashed through the bent garage doors with a grinding scream of metal. They burst into the night, the cold air cutting through the heat on Maya's face. But the enemy wasn't far behind.
Three black motorcycles pulled out from the tree line, giving chase immediately. Silent engines. Trained riders.
"Of course," Maya muttered. "Because one hell night isn't enough."
Callen turned in the backseat, leaned out, and returned fire. His aim was precise, controlled. He hit one rider, sending the bike spiraling into a ditch.
Two left.
Maya grabbed the rifle beside her seat. "Keep it steady," she told Elias.
"You do realize this is a dirt road with cliffs on both sides, right?" he snapped.
"Just drive."
She leaned out and took a breath. Then fired.
The second rider ducked, weaving wildly. Maya fired again. This time, she clipped his tire. The bike flipped. One more.
But the third was smarter. He backed off, trailing them instead of attacking.
"Why isn't he engaging?" Callen asked.
Maya's stomach turned. "He's tracking. Probably has a drone relay."
"Then we need to lose him," Elias said.
He swerved sharply onto a side trail, bouncing them hard against their seats. Branches scraped the windshield. Rocks hammered the undercarriage.
They burst through the forest and into an open field. For a second, everything was quiet except for the hum of the engine and their ragged breaths.
Then the motorcycle appeared again — this time from the other side.
"He predicted the turn," Callen said.
"He's not just tracking us," Maya whispered. "He knows us."
Elias cursed and slammed the brakes. The jeep fishtailed into a spin, dust exploding in every direction. Maya jumped out before the vehicle stopped moving.
"Fan out," she ordered. "Get to higher ground."
They sprinted for the ridge overlooking the field. The lone rider dismounted. Slowly. Calmly.
And pulled off his helmet.
Maya froze.
"Damien?"
The man's smirk hadn't changed. Not even after all these years.
"You've been busy," he said.
Her voice came out as a whisper. "You're supposed to be dead."
Damien glanced past her at the others. "Looks like you upgraded. Pity it won't matter."
Callen stepped beside Maya. "Who the hell is this?"
"An old ghost," she replied.
Damien opened his arms, almost mockingly. "I gave you a way out once, Maya. You didn't take it. Now there's no exit."
"You're with them?" Maya asked, fury bubbling in her throat.
"I am them."
She shook her head. "You're lying."
"I helped build the Protocol," Damien said. "Not the code. The structure. The network. The decision tree. You think Leena's betrayal was the worst part? You haven't even scratched the surface."
Riker's voice crackled through Maya's comm. "Multiple heat signatures converging on your location. You've got five minutes."
"Call it in," Maya said. "We take him alive."
But Damien wasn't waiting. He threw a flash grenade at their feet. The burst blinded them. By the time vision returned, he was gone.
Maya turned in every direction, heart racing. Nothing but darkness.
Then her comm buzzed again — this time with a voice that wasn't Riker's.
A woman's voice.
"You should've taken the deal, Maya."
It wasn't just Damien.
It was the people behind him.
The ones still in the shadows.
And now they were coming for her.