Page 24 of Broken Oath

He barely noticed.

Instead, he picked up his rifle.

Checked the magazine.

Chambered a round.

One final time.

Rook felt his throat close.

Viking looked at all three of them.

His brothers.

His family.

Then he smiled.

A real smile.

Warm.

Proud.

Peaceful.

“Go.”

Nobody moved.

“That’s an order.”

A broken laugh escaped Rook. “Since when do you give orders?”

“Since you started making bad decisions.”

For one brief second, they were back in the helicopter.

Back before the mountain.

Back before the betrayal.

Just brothers.

Then the moment passed.

Enemy fighters reached the ridgeline.

Viking looked back at Rook.

A final nod.

A warrior’s farewell.

Rook returned it because he couldn’t trust himself to speak.

“Tell Tex’s little girl he talked about her the whole flight.”