Rain slammed against my face the second we burst out the farmhouse door.
Chaos exploded across the ranch.
Gunfire cracked through the storm from every direction while Shadow Division operators returned fire with terrifying precision.
Mercer’s men were dying fast.
Bodies lay scattered near the convoy vehicles.
Mud.
Blood.
Smoke.
Flashing muzzle fire.
It looked like a war zone.
Hersh stayed directly in front of me the entire time.
One hand locked around mine while his weapon tracked the darkness.
Every instinct he had focused on one thing:
keeping me alive.
“Move!” Rook barked.
We sprinted through the rain.
Wolf and Trigger covered our left flank while Ava stayed behind with Mia and two operators inside the farmhouse.
Another burst of suppressed gunfire erupted from the tree line.
Dirt exploded beside us.
Hersh yanked me tighter against him instantly.
“Sniper!”
Rook fired twice toward the ridge without even slowing down.
A distant body dropped from the trees.
The man didn’t even hesitate.
The old red barn loomed ahead through sheets of rain.
Lightning flashed overhead?—
illuminating bullet holes already ripped through the weathered wood.
Mercer’s cleanup crew got here first.
My pulse slammed harder.
“No…”
