Darkness swallowed the farmhouse immediately.
Rain hammered the roof.
Thunder cracked overhead.
Another knock.
Three short taps.
One long.
Rook relaxed first.
“Stand down.”
Nobody did.
Rook sighed slightly. “Friendly.”
Wolf opened the door cautiously.
A woman stepped inside wearing black tactical gear soaked from the storm.
Dark braid.
Sharp eyes.
A pistol strapped to her thigh.
She moved with the same controlled danger as the rest of Shadow Division.
But it was the little girl beside her that froze the room.
Maybe six years old.
Blonde curls soaked from the rain.
Tiny hand clutching the woman’s jacket.
Flick immediately stepped forward before she could stop herself.
“Oh my Goodness…”
The child looked terrified.
The woman shut the door behind them. “We intercepted Mercer’s cleanup crew two counties over.”
Rook’s expression hardened instantly. “Survivors?”
“Only her.”
The little girl stared at all of us with huge frightened eyes.
Then whispered something so softly I almost didn’t hear it.
“They killed my mommy.”
Flick made a broken sound beside me.
