ALEX POV
I don't sleep.
I sit with my back against the cold concrete wall, gun balanced across my thigh, eyes scanning the dark. Camila's breathing is steady for once, soft little exhales wrapped in the thin blanket I laid out for her. She's curled on her side, knees tucked in, one hand resting near where my hip had been before I stood to check the perimeter again.
Even in sleep, she reaches for me.
Every instinct I have screams to lie beside her, to wrap myself around her and shield her from the world. But instincts get men killed. They get girls like her taken.
So instead, I watch her.
She murmurs something, brow creasing like fear is trying to claw its way back into her dreams. Before I even realize I've moved, I'm crouched beside her, my palm smoothing across her forehead. Her face softens instantly. Her breathing evens.
Christ. What has she done to me?
My phone buzzes against the concrete , a message from a secure line only two people have access to.
RE: Ghost Intel. Location sent. Bring her.
The attachment is coordinates. A meet spot. An abandoned airfield.
This could be the break we need… or a noose tightening around our necks.
I pocket the phone and look back to the sleeping girl who has somehow become the only thing I care about.
"We're going hunting," I mutter.
The sun's just a pale smear on the horizon when I shake her awake. She blinks up at me, disoriented, hair messy, lips swollen from sleep , and from our kisses earlier.
Fuck. I feel that.
"You okay?" I ask.
She nods slowly. "I didn't dream."
Her small smile hits deeper than any bullet ever could.
"We have a lead," I tell her. "Someone who can give us the mole."
She sits up, worry immediately replacing the calm. "Can we trust them?"
"No," I admit. "But we don't have a choice."
I expect fear. Panic. But she straightens her spine and looks me dead in the eye.
"Then we go," she says.
Goddamn. The courage in this girl. It makes me want to burn the entire world down just to keep her standing.
We don't talk much on the drive. The road stretches ahead in an endless strip, empty and gray. A storm hangs low in the sky again , thunder rolling like distant artillery.
She watches me from the corner of her eye.
"You're quiet," she says eventually.
"So are you."
"I'm thinking."
"About?"
"You," she says simply.
That hits me harder than the gunfire last night.
"What about me?"
"That you're carrying everything on your shoulders," she says softly. "And that you don't have to."
I look at her then , really look. She isn't the fragile girl from the compound anymore. She's becoming steel. Fire. Everything Solano failed to break now forging into something stronger.
"You trust me that much?" I ask.
"I trust you with my life," she whispers. "I just hope you trust me with yours."
The words steal my breath. Before I can answer, the road curves and the airfield appears , cracked pavement, rusted hangars, and silence thick enough to choke on.
"Stay close," I tell her.
"I will," she promises.
Always.
We step inside the largest hangar. The air smells like old oil and dust. Footsteps echo from the center of the space. A single figure stands there , hooded, hands visible, unarmed.
When he lifts his head, I feel Camila freeze beside me.
"Dillon," she breathes.
A kid. No , not a kid anymore. Early twenties. Sharp eyes. A snake in human skin. I remember him from the cartel's files. The only other youth close to Camila's age. A survivor who learned to bare fangs early.
"Well, well," Dillon says, voice dripping smug nostalgia. "If it isn't Solano's favorite little bird."
Camila flinches.
My jaw tightens.
I step between them. "You asked for this meeting. Talk."
He smirks. "Straight to business. I like that." He strolls closer like he's greeting an old friend. "The mole is real. Deep. Someone high in the agency. Feeding Solano every move."
"Give me a name."
He tsks. "Such impatience. I want something first."
"Not happening," I snap.
"Oh, but I think it is."
His gaze slides over me, then lands on Camila with a twisted kind of hunger.
"I want her back."
The click in my brain is instant , predatory.
I step forward, gun raised. "You have exactly three seconds to reconsider that sentence."
Dillon laughs , actually laughs. "Relax, lover boy. I'm not looking to break her like Solano wanted. I need leverage. Camila knows things. Things neither of you have unlocked yet."
Camila's voice is small but furious. "I don't know anything."
"Oh, you do." Dillon tilts his head, studying her. "Your mother made sure of it."
Camila's breath catches. Her fingers grip my sleeve.
"What do you know about her mother?" I ask.
"That she died protecting Camila," he replies. "And that she hid something very important. Something Solano wants back."
He steps closer, lips curling.
"That's why he isn't dead. That's why he'll never stop."
Camila's shaking. I can feel it. See memories swirling behind her eyes , ones she's tried to bury but won't stay buried.
Dillon lowers his voice, dark and triumphant.
"She isn't just a survivor. She's the key."
My trigger finger twitches.
But before I can react, a bullet whizzes past and tears a chunk of concrete near Dillon's feet.
A sniper round.
Reinforcements.
Dillon's eyes go wide. "They followed you?"
He bolts toward the back entrance.
"Camila, RUN!" I roar, firing at the hangar doors as they explode inward with armed men flooding through.
She grabs my hand , not out of fear , but with fierce resolve.
"I'm not leaving you," she says.
Bullets scream through the air.
Enemies close in.
Dillon disappears into the shadows.
And survival becomes our only objective.
I pull her behind a steel crate, breath sharp, mind racing.
"Alex," she whispers, gripping my jacket.
"Yeah?"
"I remember something."
Rain hammers the roof. Gunfire echoes like thunder. Men shout orders in Spanish.
She looks into my eyes , terror and fire intertwined.
"My mother… she told me… don't let them take the truth out of you. Alex… what if the truth is inside me?"
The world stops.
Everything makes sense.
Solano doesn't just want Camila alive.
He wants what she knows , what her trauma has buried.
And now she's remembering.
I cup her face, my voice razor-steady.
"Then we're going to make sure what's inside you saves the world."
Gunfire grows louder.
I cock my weapon.
"And kills every last one of them."