Page 200 of Broken Oath

Unable to accept the truth.

They had been wrong.

Marcus had known Wade survived.

He had looked into her mother’s eyes and lied.

Sarah walked away from the operations table.

Nobody stopped her.

The men of Shadow Division understood.

Some wounds needed space.

She reached the far end of the warehouse, where a silver sword and dark wings had been mounted above the memorial table.

The symbol had begun as a promise between Wade and the people who tried to expose the network.

Now Rook’s team carried it too.

Sarah stared at it without truly seeing it.

She saw Wade teaching her to ride a bicycle.

Wade helping her with homework.

Wade and their father teaching her to fight.

Wade laughing when she outshot both of them.

Wade stealing cookies before dinner and blaming her when their mother noticed.

Always laughing.

The memory struck hard.

A sharp breath escaped her.

Then another.

Five years.

She had spent five years convincing herself he was gone.

Accepting death had sometimes seemed easier than wondering.

Easier than hoping.

Now the questions had returned.

Where had they taken him?

Why had they hidden him?

Was he a prisoner?

Had he escaped?