Russ immediately moves beside me.
“You know who that is?” he asks quietly.
The commander ignores him completely.
His attention stays fixed outside while gunfire erupts closer and closer to the riverfront.
Then—
A rocket detonates somewhere nearby.
The blast wave slams through the warehouse hard enough to shake metal beams overhead.
Children scream again.
The little girl behind Hannah starts crying harder.
And somehow Hannah still stays calm through all of it.
Her hand settles protectively against the child’s hair while her eyes track exits, movement, civilians.
Always protecting.
Always thinking.
God, I love this woman.
The realization still feels massive inside my chest.
Too big to deal with right now.
The commander suddenly barks sharp orders in Arabic toward the militia outside.
Immediate movement follows.
Some of the fighters reposition toward the northern street.
Others begin retreating deeper into the warehouse district.
Not advancing.
Falling back.
That tells me everything I need to know.
Whoever just arrived is dangerous enough to scare them.
Lucas’s voice crackles urgently through comms.
“Multiple black SUVs entering from the north bridge.”
Black SUVs.
My pulse slows instantly.
That’s not local militia.
Not military either.
