Page 108 of SEAL of Valor

The sort of calm that tells me, no matter how this plays out, everything is going to be okay.

Because we’re not alone.

I bow my head and close my eyes. Lord, I know You were with us on that ship just like I know You are here now. You have a plan, and You have given me purpose. Please, Lord, please be with us. Guide our steps and help us to find a way out of this. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

When I raise my head, Zane is nodding appreciatively. “Amen, brother,” he says.

An explosion rocks the house. Glass shatters, and men outside howl in agony.

“Contact!” Sawyer yells. “They hit Garrison’s charge!”

“Take them out!” Zane calls back through the coms.

A .50 caliber sniper rifle fires overhead, the sound barely muted by the distance between us and where Sawyer is situated up on the roof. “They’re rushing the house!” Sawyer yells. Another shot. “Incoming!”

The window right beside Ryker shatters as a grenade lands inside. Smoke fills the room, and we all grab our gas masks, slipping them on with quick efficiency. Men dressed in black tactical gear kick in the front door and pour into the house.

We engage.

I fire two shots, dropping the first two men through the door.

Zane handles the next.

Ryker charges, slamming the full weight of his body into two more and taking them to the ground.

Upstairs, Aragorn lets out a bark. Reese! I turn to rush toward the stairs but am blocked when Max steps between me and where I am desperate to be. A victorious smile on his face. He thinks he’s already won, but he has no idea.

“Miss me?” he asks as he holds his weapon up, the barrel trained on me.

“Oh, just so much.” I lunge forward, dodging out of the way when he fires in my direction. I hit him with my shoulder, knocking him back onto Vivian’s dining room table. It splinters beneath our weight, and we fall to the ground. I rear my fist back and slam it into his face. Blood spurts from his nose, and he bucks, throwing me to the side and pinning me to the ground.

Stabbing pain shoots through my side, a stark reminder that I am still not healed from the last time I crossed paths with this guy. I’d been chained up, then. And he’s about to find out that letting me live was his biggest mistake.

Aragorn lets out a howl, and the adrenaline already in my system kicks into overdrive.

I have to end this so I can get to Reese.

Max slams his forehead into mine, and pain explodes behind my eyes. But with that pain comes strength. Because I know it hurt him just as badly as it hurt me. I throw him off me and jump to my feet.

He does the same, then spits blood off to the side. “You know, I’ve been dreaming about the chance to take out your entire team after what you did to my brother.”

“So what you’re saying is that we’ve been on your mind, how sweet,” I comment dryly.

“Just your deaths.” Max charges forward, and I move to the side. I grip the backside of his vest when he misses me, then slam him forward into the wall. Sheetrock dust scatters down on top of him as I rip him back and fling him across the room.

“You’re not so tough when my hands aren’t chained above my head, are you?” I snarl as I charge forward. “Your brother made the same mistake.”

Max rips a knife from his belt and gets to his feet.

But he doesn’t see Ryker coming.

Tank wraps an arm around his throat and tightens. Max thrashes in his hold, clawing at his arm for a few brief moments, before his eyes roll back in his head and he falls limp in Tank’s hold. Then, because, unlike in movies, the moment blood flow is restored to his brain, he’ll become an issue again, Garrison steps up and zip ties his hands together.

More men rush inside, tearing into Vivian’s once comfortable home. Now, it’s riddled with broken objects, blood, and bodies.

And the night isn’t over yet.

I spin and kick, hitting an attacker with the heel of my boot. He flies backward into her antique cabinet, and the glass shatters.