The first warning wasn't a sound. It was a vibration.
I was deep in a dreamless sleep, wrapped in the heavy warmth of Cassian's arms, when the windowpane rattled in its frame.
Cassian was awake instantly.
He didn't groan or stretch. His body just went rigid, snapping from sleep to combat readiness in a heartbeat. He rolled out of bed, crouching low, his hand already gripping the gun on the nightstand.
"Stay down," he hissed.
"What is it?" I whispered, pulling the quilt up, my heart starting to race.
Then I heard it.
Thwup. Thwup. Thwup.
The rhythmic beating of rotor blades cutting through the night air. It was getting louder, closer, shaking the dust from the rafters.
"A helicopter," Cassian cursed, moving to the window but staying pressed against the wall. He peeked through a crack in the curtains.
A blinding white spotlight swept across the front yard, illuminating the pine trees like ghostly skeletons. The light hit the cabin, flooding the room with harsh brightness before sweeping away.
"They found us," Cassian said, his voice grim. "Get up, Elena. Shoes on. Now."
I scrambled out of bed, adrenaline replacing the grogginess. I pulled on my boots, my hands shaking. "How? You said we were off the grid."
"Vittorio has resources even I don't have," Cassian said, pulling his tactical vest back on over his shirt. He tossed me the spare Glock he had given me in the garage. "Check the safety. Round in the chamber."
I checked it. My hands were steadier this time. I wasn't the girl who fainted at blood anymore. I was the girl who had shot at Claudia.
"We can't outrun a chopper," I said. "Not on foot."
"We aren't running," Cassian said, checking his magazine. "We're digging in. This cabin has reinforced walls. We hold them off until..."
"Until what?"
"Until I kill enough of them that they retreat."
A voice boomed from outside, amplified by a megaphone. It drowned out the wind of the rotors.
"CASS-IAN VANCE."
It was a voice I knew better than my own. Smooth, authoritative, terrifying.
"COME OUT. THERE IS NO NEED FOR BLOODSHED TONIGHT."
Cassian looked at me. "Stay here. Keep your head down."
He moved to the heavy front door, unbolting it but keeping the chain on. He cracked it open just an inch to yell back.
"GET OFF MY LAND, VITTORIO! OR I SHOOT THE PILOT!"
"I DON'T THINK YOU WILL," my father's voice crackled back. "NOT WHEN YOU SEE WHAT I BROUGHT YOU."
Cassian hesitated. He looked back at me, confusion warring with suspicion.
"I need to see," I whispered, creeping up behind him.
"Elena, no—"
I ignored him and peeked through the crack in the door, looking out into the clearing.
The helicopter had landed near the treeline, its rotors slowly spinning down but still kicking up wind. The spotlight was trained on a group of figures standing on the dock.
Vittorio stood in front, looking like he was at a press conference, wind blowing his expensive coat. Claudia was beside him, her face bandaged, holding a rifle.
But between them...
Two guards were dragging a massive figure. He was on his knees, his head hanging low. His shirt was torn, stained dark with blood. His hands were zip-tied behind his back.
"Rook!" I gasped.
Cassian went still. A low, dangerous growl rumbled in his chest.
Vittorio grabbed Rook by his hair and yanked his head back. Rook's face was swollen, one eye bruised shut, blood trickling from a cut on his lip. But his good eye was open. He glared at the cabin with pure, unadulterated hate.
"HE'S A TOUGH DOG," Vittorio announced, his voice echoing off the water. "BUT EVEN DOGS BLEED."
Claudia stepped forward and pressed the barrel of her rifle against Rook's temple.
Rook didn't flinch. He looked straight at the door—at us—and shook his head slightly. Don't come out.
"THE DEAL IS SIMPLE," Vittorio shouted. "GIVE ME THE GIRL AND THE DRIVE. AND YOU AND THE MUTE WALK AWAY."
"He's lying," Cassian said through gritted teeth. "If we go out there, he kills all of us."
"But we can't let them kill Rook!" I grabbed Cassian's arm. "He's family, Cassian! He's your brother."
Cassian looked at me. The torture in his eyes was unbearable. He was being asked to choose between the woman he loved and the man who had guarded his back for a decade.
"I'LL GIVE YOU TEN SECONDS, VANCE!" Vittorio yelled. "ONE!"
"We have to do something," I pleaded.
"If I give you up, they kill you to silence the witness," Cassian said rapidly, his mind working through scenarios. "If I go out shooting, Claudia pulls the trigger and Rook dies."
"THREE!"
"There has to be another way," I cried.
"FIVE!"
Cassian looked at the gun in his hand. Then he looked at the USB drive on the table. Then he looked at me.
"Do you trust me?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Do exactly what I say."
Cassian kicked the door shut and bolted it. He grabbed the USB drive and turned to me.
"Take the drive," he ordered, pressing it into my hand. "Hide in the pantry. Under the floorboards."
"What? No! I'm not leaving you!"
"Hide!" he roared, grabbing my shoulders. "I'm going out there. I'm going to trade myself for Rook."
"No!" I screamed, tears springing to my eyes. "They'll kill you!"
"They want the files," he said intensely. "I'm going to tell them I hid the files in the woods. I'll lead them away from the cabin. Away from you."
"EIGHT!"
"Cassian, please—"
He kissed me. Hard. Desperate. A goodbye.
"Stay hidden. Don't come out until I come back. If I don't come back... you run. You run and you burn him down."
He shoved me toward the kitchen.
"NINE!"
Cassian turned, ripped the bolt open, and kicked the door wide.
He stepped out onto the porch, his hands raised in surrender.
"WAIT!" Cassian shouted, his voice booming over the clearing. "DON'T SHOOT!"
I peered around the kitchen corner, heart stopping.
Vittorio smiled. Claudia lowered her rifle slightly, but didn't take it off Rook's head.
"Smart choice," Vittorio called out. "Where is she?"
"She's not here!" Cassian lied, walking slowly down the steps. "I put her on a boat to Mexico an hour ago!"
"And the drive?"
"I have it," Cassian tapped his chest pocket. "But if you shoot him," he pointed to Rook, "I snap it in half. You get nothing."
Vittorio's eyes narrowed. He looked at the cabin, then back at Cassian.
"Bring it here," Vittorio ordered.
Cassian began to walk across the clearing. Alone. Unarmed. Toward three armed enemies and a hostage.
I watched from the shadows, gripping the real drive in my hand. He was walking to his death.
And I realized something.
He wasn't the only one who could play this game.
I looked at the heavy Glock in my hand. I looked at the back door of the cabin, which led into the dark woods that circled the clearing.
If I could get into the trees... if I could get behind them...
I didn't hide in the pantry.
I slipped out the back door and melted into the night.