The red dot on Reid's chest flickered against the charcoal fabric of his jacket, a tiny, lethal heartbeat. In the sterile silence of the mountain air, the world narrowed down to the click of a safety being disengaged.
"Reid!"
I moved to open the truck door, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Maya, stay in the car!"
His voice wasn't a request.
It was a roar of pure, commanding authority—the tone he used when he was the Sovereign's Architect, rearranging the world with a single word.
He didn't turn back. He didn't even flinch at the laser focused on his heart.
Instead, he stepped into the light of the headlights, making himself a larger target.
My stomach dropped.
"Reid, you're in the open! Get down!"
"Lock the doors, Maya. Do it now!"
I saw his hand move Fast.
Precise.
A blur carved from instinct and violence.
He didn't fire at the trees.
Instead, he fired a single, silenced shot into the ground-mounted floodlight at the base of the porch.
*Crack.*
