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He moved toward them, boots crunching softly over the leaf-littered terrain. Quinn turned first, her honey-brown curls clinging to her mud-streaked cheeks. Even battered and breathless, she stood straighter when she saw him, relief flaring bright in her eyes.
Flash stood at her side, a silent wall of vigilance, his gaze constantly scanning the dense greenery. He projected that unshakable presence Dagger had come to rely on, a brotherhoodforged in blood, sweat, and love. When Flash caught Dagger’s eyes, his taut expression softened just slightly. He glanced at Quinn, then gave a single nod that saidI’ve got her, andI see youin equal measure.
Dagger crossed the space in three strides and cupped Quinn’s face with both hands. Her skin was warm, damp from the heat, and he pressed his forehead to hers. She quivered, whether from exhaustion, fear, or something deeper, he didn’t know. Didn’t care. All he saw was her. Alive. Resolute. Still not giving up.
“Listen,” he said, voice low and rough, “you stay here with Flash. I’ll come back for you.”
Her lips parted, ready to argue, but he shook his head, thumbs brushing over the curve of her cheekbones.
“Langford and his goons are moving fast. Herrera’s men are around here somewhere, tightening the perimeter. We don’t have the luxury of waiting. You know me, Quinn. I don’t sit on the defensive.” He looked to Flash. “We bring the fight to them.”
She inhaled shakily, lashes damp. “I know,” she whispered. “I just don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t.” He gritted his teeth, ignoring the sharp ache blooming in his side. “I’m going to thin the bastards out. Trust me.”
Her eyes flared with that stubborn fire. “You better come back,” she said, more challenge than plea. “Or so help me, I’ll drag your lethal ass out of that jungle myself.”
A breathless laugh escaped him, rough, real. He cupped her jaw tighter, letting himself feel her, anchor to her. “I know we still have a lot of shit to deal with, but I love you. Down to my fucking soul. You get that?”
She nodded, throat bobbing. “Yeah. I do.” Her fingers slid to his jaw. “We’re not done, Hollis. I’ve got things to say, truths, confessions, all of it, and I’m not saying them to your damn gravestone. Got that?”
“Got it, babe.” He looked over her shoulder to Flash, tossing him the sidearm. His teammate grinned like a bastard.
“Watch her.”
Flash nodded, a flicker of steel in his eyes. “At all costs, brother.”
With one last press of his lips to Quinn’s forehead, Dagger turned and vanished into the emerald labyrinth of vines and mist, swallowed by the living, breathing heart of the jungle.
“Doesn’t he need that gun?” Quinn asked.
Flash chuckled. “They don’t call him Dagger for nothing, honey.” He grinned wickedly. “Knives out, hoo-yah.”
Quinn crouchedin the tangle of underbrush, the wet earth soaking through her pants, the thick scent of moss and decaying foliage curling in her nose. The slap of Dagger’s footsteps faded into the damp hush of the jungle, swallowed by the dense canopy and whispering vines.
She wanted to follow,God, she wanted to follow, but a steadying hand on her shoulder from Flash kept her rooted. His grip was firm, grounding.
“He’ll be okay,” Flash said, scanning the shadows beyond the brush, eyes sharp and restless. “We don’t need weapons.”
She knew that, knew just how lethal and unyielding the man was. Her brother-in-law… The term felt strange now, hollow and distant. With Brian gone,death do us parthad severed that bond. In its place, clarity settled in like a long-awaited exhale. That tether was broken, not with bitterness, but with peace. Dagger… he wasn’t just some remnant of a painful past. He washersnow. The man she’d always secretly wished had been hers, even when she’d buried that truth beneath guilt and grief.
Brian had clung to her with fear. But Dagger… he simplystood beside her. Steady. Constant. No chains, no demands, just quiet strength that lit something fierce in her.
A spark flared low in her chest, a flicker of something more than fear or panic. Something alive. Something building.
She swallowed hard against the knot in her throat.You’re not broken anymore.The jungle pressed in, thick with heat and tension, but so was she. She had been ashes once, burned out, hollow, but not anymore. A fire stirred beneath her ribs, slow and steady.
Minutes crawled by in heavy silence. The jungle thickened with tension, every rustle or shift of shadow prickling the hairs on her neck. The air was dense with moisture, the kind that clung to skin and made every breath feel heavier. Somewhere in the distance, gunfire cracked, a sharp staccato echo that made her flinch. Her heart leapt with each shot, her mind conjuring every worst-case scenario. She strained to hear a sign,anything,that Dagger was okay.
A hot wave of panic curled through her chest, sharp and suffocating. Logic told her he was trained for this. But love didn’t care about logic.
Then there was movement.
Leaves shuddered behind them. Flash whipped around, pistol up, a silent predator. Another rustle came from the opposite side. Quinn’s pulse thundered. Flash’s gaze snapped between the threats. He couldn’t cover both.
She spotted a figure creeping low through the undergrowth, camouflaged, almost ghostlike in the dim green light. Another man circled behind Flash, too close, too fast. Her stomach dropped. If that second one fired, he would drop Flash, or just as deadly, give away Dagger’s position.
She didn’t think. Her body moved before her mind caught up.