Page 7 of Echoes and Oaths (Guardian Security Dynasty #4)

Granted, he didn’t expose her to his real self, to the assassin he’d become.

However, when he was with her, he was himself, or at least as close to himself as he could remember.

With her, he was the college boy who cared for animals at the rescue.

The young man with a future and a dream.

He’d relaxed around her. He’d laughed, played, and flirted.

He’d made the mistake of becoming attached and then, without knowing it, of falling in love.

He kept driving, silence settling between them again.

The jungle blurred past in streaks of green and gold as they picked up speed.

For the next hour, they traded theories.

They were, basically, half-hearted guesses about who the Ghost could be and what his endgame might involve.

None of it brought them closer to the truth.

And the truth felt further away than ever.

The peaceful silence shattered as they rounded the bend toward the small mountain village where Jinx’s hidden safe house was tucked between the trees. Three matte-black SUVs roared past them in a blur, kicking up a wall of dust.

“What the fuck was that?” Raven twisted in her seat, watching the taillights disappear around the curve.

“Ortega’s crew,” Jinx muttered, tightening his grip on the wheel.

“How do you know?”

Jinx’s jaw flexed as he pressed harder on the gas. “No one else would’ve had that kind of money,” Jinx muttered, voice low and bitter as he accelerated, tailing the SUVs from a safe distance.

Raven turned toward him. “Fuck,” Jinx swore again, his jaw tightening as he suddenly eased off the gas.

“What? What’s the matter?” she asked, brows pulling together in concern.

“They’re going to Eira’s.”

“Eira’s?” Raven blinked. “Who’s Eira? What’s an Eira?”

Jinx didn’t answer. Instead, he swerved hard off the dirt road, cutting into the underbrush and bringing the vehicle to a jerking halt beneath the thick canopy of jungle vines. Without missing a beat, he threw open the door.

“Come on. Bring the mic.”

Raven was already out, her boots hitting the ground before the words finished leaving his mouth.

She grabbed the parabolic microphone and followed Jinx as they pushed through the brush.

Vines tugged at their clothes, and insects buzzed around them in a humid cloud as they jogged downhill through the trees.

They dropped to their bellies at the ridge just beyond the clearing, crawling forward until the scene below came into full view.

An old truck, rusted and groaning beneath the weight of its steel tank, had slowed the caravan. The narrow driveway had forced the SUVs to stop, bottlenecked by the massive vehicle. If the vehicle moved faster than three miles an hour, it was only because it was going downhill.

Jinx raised the mic and aimed it toward the scene. That’s when he saw her. His breath caught in his throat, sharp and painful.

Eira.

Her long, black hair flowed freely down her back, moving like silk in the breeze. Her body, soft, curvy, and breathtaking hadn’t changed at all .

And there she was, walking down the stairs of the farmhouse like she owned the earth beneath her feet, straight toward Ortega’s enforcers.

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t cower. Her spine was straight, her chin high.

God, yes. That was his woman.

Raven handed him the headphones silently. He slipped them over his ears, every sound sharpening. The crunch of boots, the quiet growl of idling engines, the distant clucking of chickens. Raven slid in beside him and listened through her own set.

“She’s a tough one, isn’t she?” Raven murmured with a grin. “I think I could like her.”

A small cry from one of the SUVs caught Raven’s attention.

“Oh shit. The puppy’s sick,” she said, lifting her binoculars. “Look at that girl go. Man, I like her.”

Jinx stayed silent, eyes locked on the woman he hadn’t seen in years. Her voice filtered through the mic. It was sharp, fearless, and unwavering as she confronted the enforcers, challenged their delay, and barked orders like a general in her own right.

He couldn’t breathe.

His gaze drifted to the land around her. She’d done everything they’d talked about. Every dream they’d dared to whisper in the darkness. It was all there. Or at least the beginnings were there.

The small dairy herd was healthy, being turned out into the twilight pasture, their dark bodies shifting through golden light.

Hundreds of chickens flapped and clucked inside a massive coop off to the right.

Fences were mended. Outbuildings freshly painted.

The old clinic, still standing proud, looked like it belonged there more than ever.

She’d done all of that.

Without him.

His chest constricted. It felt like someone had shoved a knife between his ribs and twisted.

Night after night, they’d lain in bed, dreaming that place into existence.

And now, it stood. Real. Thriving. And he hadn’t been part of a single second of it.

Pride in what she’d been able to accomplish warred with the anguish of not being a part of it.

Raven elbowed him gently. “She must’ve kicked them out.”

Jinx blinked back to the present. The two men who’d taken the dog into the clinic had just exited, looking frustrated. They stormed back to their SUVs, slamming the doors and kicking up gravel as they spun away down the drive.

From the house, an older woman, Eira’s mother, if memory served, hurried toward the clinic, her apron flapping as she ran.

“I’m glad someone was there to check on her,” Raven said quietly. “I didn’t hear any gunshots, but that doesn’t mean those assholes didn’t try something.”

Jinx shook his head. “She would’ve shot them before that happened.”

Raven paused, her entire body stilling. Slowly, she turned her head, staring at him.

“She’s the one,” she whispered, her voice different now. Serious. Almost reverent. “Isn’t she?”

Jinx didn’t answer.

“You don’t have to say yes,” she said quickly, her eyes narrowing in realization. “How else would you have known where they were going? How would you have known she would’ve shot them before they hurt her?” She shook her head slowly. “You couldn’t have unless you knew this woman. Intimately.”

Jinx stared out at the clinic, a shadow of a smile tugging at his lips as pain flared through his chest.

Raven exhaled like she’d been hit. “Holy hell. Why did you leave all this?”

He reached for the binoculars and brought them to his eyes again, the lenses trembling slightly in his grip.

He focused on the clinic door just as Eira emerged into the golden hour light, her hair caught by the breeze, her expression composed and resolute.

She hugged her mom and sat down on the rocker in front of the clinic.

Her mom went back to the house. He stared at the woman he dreamed of and who haunted him in quiet moments.

She’d done well without him. That was the answer. That would always be the answer.

His voice came low and raw, the ache in it undeniable. “How could I not?”