With her side against the chilly wall, Audrey hunkered down near the window. Part instinct, part chill sent a shiver up her spine. There was no coincidence here. It was obvious to anybody was out there where to look.
Glock held low but ready, Sebastian was already positioned behind the bookcase. She noticed the twitch in his jaw and the fast breath he didn't mean to take, yet his eyes scanned the room with the serenity of a soldier. His attentiveness had not been dampened by anything they had discussed seconds before. It sharpened it, if anything.
Made him a threat. Defensive. Tense.
She kept her voice low. "Back exit?"
He nodded. "But it's a narrow trail—if they've surrounded the perimeter, we're boxed in."
"They want to draw us out. Classic entrapment."
He gave a dry smirk. "They're not the only ones who studied entrapment tactics."
Audrey's hand went instinctively to her thigh holster—empty. Her weapon was still on the floor near the fire. She started toward it, slow and deliberate, when—
Bang.
The front window shattered in a sudden eruption of glass. A smoke canister tumbled into the room, hissing violently as gray clouds filled the space.
"Down!" Sebastian yelled.
Audrey dropped low, hand sliding over hardwood until her fingers found the grip of her pistol. She yanked it up, pulled the slide back, and crawled toward the hallway as visibility dropped to near zero.
Through the fog, she felt Sebastian's presence move beside her—covering, flanking. They didn't speak. They didn't need to. Years of training, of synchronized movement, took over.
Another window shattered.
Then came footsteps—heavy, fast, boots on wood. Someone breached.
She pivoted and fired. One shot. A thud. Silence.
"Two-man team," Sebastian whispered near her ear. "Could be recon. Could be bait."
Audrey's eyes narrowed. "Or a message."
Another pop—this time from outside. A signal flare, bright red, lighting the sky through the trees like blood in water.
And then, just as fast as it had begun… quiet again.
Smoke cleared.
Bodies: one down, face covered. No insignia. No ID.
The second—gone.
Sebastian checked the doorframe, gun raised. "Too precise for mercs."
Audrey knelt beside the fallen attacker, pulling off the mask. No recognition. Clean cut, military posture, but the expression was… numb. Like someone acting on code, not cause.
She stood, breath sharp. "He sent them."
Sebastian's mouth clenched. "Heretic."
Lucien Moreau POV
Location: Remote Surveillance Cabin; Unknown
Lucien leaned back in an old leather chair and stared at the flickering screen. Ghostly outlines of Audrey and Sebastian, captured in the middle of a fight, surged through the thermal stream. A kiss. A gun was out. The silence prior to the breakup.
His fingers twitched, not with uncertainty but with anticipation, hovering over the keyboard.
He ought to have experienced anger, jealousy, or victory. But he just had the cold satisfaction of control and the accuracy of distance. His face was glowing palely from the screen as he leaned closer, fascinated by Audrey's fluid, dangerous, and alive movements.
He remarked quietly, almost affectionately, "She still moves like Juba never ended."
The man next to him, who had been silent up until this point and was dressed in black like a shadow, finally spoke.
"You ordered them to be spared. The recon crew hesitated.
Lucien didn't glance away. "They did what I told them. Test the perimeter. Watch her instincts. Observe his reaction."
"And now?"
Lucien's eyes darkened. "Now, we let the fire burn slower."
He pulled up a file on the screen. Surveillance images. Audrey. Alone. Then with Sebastian. Then again—her eyes, narrowed at some unseen threat. And another—a blurry shot taken just before the cabin. She was laughing. Smiling.
That image, Lucien lingered on. His thumb brushed the screen.
"She's forgetting," he whispered.
"About what?"
"Who made her into what she is."
He stood and crossed to the wall, pressing a switch. A panel slid open, revealing an arsenal—clean, surgical. On the side of the weapon rack, a pinboard cluttered with photos, maps, notations… and one blacked-out dossier labeled Aegis Protocol – Tier 0 Access.
Lucien stared at it for a long moment.
"She'll come looking," he said. "They both will."
"And when they do?"
Lucien's eyes never left the board.
"I'll make sure it's a reunion she never forgets."