Page 61 of Echos and Empires (After #3)

TWENTY-NINE

William woke to shuffling, scraping, footfalls that sent him jumping up, his gun in his hand before he’d even fully stood up.

The footsteps weren’t in his head, not like the day before. These were real, impossibly real in darkness of early morning, but not loud enough to be inside the cave. His hand didn’t so much as quiver as he waited to see who came up, but if they’d gotten past Chris, it couldn’t be good.

“Who the fuck?” Bash growled, also standing with his gun in hand.

Thankfully, figures came into view in seconds.

Alex, flanked by Liam.

Thank fuck.

He set the gun down, relief crushing him under its brutal weight until he saw the others with them—the same who went on the mission. Hope bloomed. Did they succeed? Is it over?

He motioned for them to go outside, a question in his eyes, but Liam’s voice sliced sharply through the cave.

“We lost Victor. Hardee betrayed us. There are more out there like him, if he wasn’t lying.

” A man with military bearing swore, a violent hiss of air through his teeth.

“None in this group,” Liam added, answering the unspoken fear as it colored the waking hours.

His stomach dropped out from under him. They hadn’t won.

But they didn’t die.

Relief tangled itself with confusion, leaving William struggling to pull sense from the raw mess of reality.

“How the hell did this happen?” William asked, his urgency raw in his voice. He couldn’t let the panic take root, not now, not when they were so close to losing everything.

Alex, forever the overconfident fool, gave a tired smirk, though his eyes were duller than William had ever seen. “They got lucky. We got luckier.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it.” Liam was already halfway through a nervous pace, his words cutting through the fog of morning like a blunt knife. “We lost the element of surprise and damn near lost our lives.” He paused, letting the implication settle like ash over their heads.

“And the rest of them?” William’s mind flicked back to Liam’s harshest truth, that there could be more like Hardee.

“Still breathing for the most part, but we did kill a few,” Liam replied, a bitter edge to his voice. “Chris, if we don’t act now, it’s only going to get worse.”

Chris, running a hand over the stubble on his jaw, looked like he’d aged ten years in as many seconds. He swore again, low and dangerous. “Anyone have any idea where he fled to? Something tells me he likes his own skin too much to stick around the community.”

William squared his shoulders, a thousand fractured thoughts blazing into something resolute and clear.

“Victor might be at the compound I was trapped in,” he said, his voice firm despite the memory of blood and pain behind it.

“It was clearly a communications hub. There were secret ways in and out. Yes, you and Bash did a damn good job of leaving a bloody mess when you saved my ass, but I still feel like he’d go there.

He can protect himself and he thinks we can’t get there fast because he doesn’t realize we have help.

” he looked at the others behind Liam and Alex.

Silence claimed the space between them. They had no time to lose, and all of it was slipping away, dragging everything that mattered along with it.

William squeezed his eyes shut and forced his memories to create a schematic.

Nodding to no one, he grabbed his knife out of his pocket and onto the scratched surface of the nearest boulder, marking it with rapid gestures.

“We can get there, if you all are willing to still help right now,” he continued, the suggestion sitting heavy on his tongue.

“Hit them before they have a chance to regroup.”

He knew he was asking too much, pushing too hard, but what choice did they have?

If Victor thought they were safe on this island, if Hardee’s betrayal reached even deeper than they could imagine, then they couldn’t leave anything to chance.

“I’ll take a small group,” he added. “The rest can wait it out in the caves until we know it’s clear.

” His eyes met Chris’s, waiting for him to speak, but it was Alex who chimed in first, the flash of his smile clashing with the exhaustion in his voice.

“You’ll take a small group,” Alex echoed, almost a challenge. “And I’m coming with you.”

Liam was shaking his head before William could protest. “You’re barely standing. You need to stay here.”

Alex shrugged, a gesture meant to be casual but was only reckless and raw. “I’ll sleep when we know we’re safe. Can’t risk any more surprises. Besides, I didn’t just shoot someone between the eyes who I considered a friend.”

Emma’s gasp drew William’s gaze toward the cave entrance where she stood with Ranger at her left side, tail wagging as always.

There was a charged silence, each man holding the weight of the choice in his hands. William watched as Chris finally nodded.

“Gear up, then,” Chris said, his voice as hard as the resolve in his eyes. “We move out in fifteen minutes.”

“Chris,” Liam pulled at his glasses and William braced himself. “I need to go with them. I need something to drown out the images in my mind.”

“I’ll stay behind then. Keep it small. The four of you and two of them. The rest patrol the area or go home and say nothing.”

William watched as the words ignited the unit, sparks catching fire in tired bones and weary hearts. This was it. It had to be. The thought of losing Emma to Victor—of losing her to anything—fueled his urgency and sharpened the edges of his determination.

“I can drive us,” Jose spoke. “Last night, tonight, whatever, shook me, showed me how dangerous it is. We can use the security truck since we already drove it here.”

“Thanks,” Chris said, giving him a small smile. “We owe you when this is over. Everyone else, get ready for a walk, we’re moving caves.”

“Chris?” Emma’s voice was weaker than it should have been. “I don’t think I can walk too much. Something feels off.”

It was Alex who rushed to her side, his hand going over her small baby bump in an instant. “It’s too early to feel anything, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”

“Alex, you’re getting an ultrasound the minute the mission is done or you’ve realized Victor isn’t there.

I don’t give a shit how.” Chris snapped, his words damn near echoing in the mouth of the cave.

“Emma, I’m going to leave you with Ranger.

I don’t like it, but there’s no way we’re in danger here. ”

“I’m not leaving Emma exposed,” William stated, his voice firm as he reiterated the risks. “I want to make sure they’re not bringing this fight to her.”

“We’re not in danger here. And I won’t be far away, but someone needs to watch the area in case, well just in case because I’m confident she’s safer here than on mission with us.” Chris leveled a gaze at him William had received far too many times since meeting Emma.

A chorus of “okays” rang out.

“Twelve minutes now. Get ready.” Chris barked.

They scattered like embers, each to their own preparations, leaving William to his own thoughts.

The sea crashed against the rocks with the fury of a thousand lost hopes, but William refused to count theirs among them.

Not yet. Not ever. His eyes drifted back to the group of refugees, huddled together against the cold dawn, and he felt something close to hope curdle with fear.

This had to work.

“We’re going to get him,” Liam said, his voice quieter now, meant only for William. “Because if anything happens to the babies while we’re chasing his corrupt ass he’ll wish we got him.”

He couldn’t tell if the usually calmer man believed the words or if he was just trying to convince himself, but it didn’t matter. William would make them true. He had to.

William nodded, more of a promise than a gesture, then watched as Liam went to the group and spoke in low, urgent tones, leading them to where they could stay hidden until everything was over. Until this war was done.

Until Victor was dead, and Emma was safe.

William knew the island’s cliffs wouldn’t protect them if they hesitated, not with Victor out there and the group’s betrayal heavy in the air. It was only a matter of time before someone talked, someone broke, someone paid in blood. He moved inside, needing to grab some extra things.

Chris didn’t hesitate, throwing his jacket on and grabbing his gun as if those were all the orders he’d need. Bash flexed his fingers, muscles taut with impatience and anger, while Liam scrambled to pack and steal another few minutes with the refugees.

“No hesitation,” Bash said, his voice edged with steel. He had barely slept, and the shadows under his eyes were almost as deep as his urgency. “We hit them fast and hard.”

Chris met his gaze, the force of a leader and a brother clashing in the shared space between them. He turned back to the map, tracing the lines like a prophecy they couldn’t escape. “No other way,” he said, resigned to the risk.

“No screw-ups, either,” Bash added, his fingers tightening around his weapon as though he could already see the enemy in his sights. “Next chance we get might be our last.”

Their words were like punches, blunt and direct, the impact felt long after they were spoken.

“We can’t risk losing Victor again,” Alex added, his voice weighted with the memory of past failures.

William stood aside with a determined gaze, letting their urgency wash over him.

He knew how close they’d come to losing everything, how dangerously thin the thread of hope was.

But he also knew that if they didn’t act now, they might not get another chance.

“And then we make sure everyone loyal pays.”

Chris grabbed his shoulder, squeezing hard. It was more than agreement, it was desperation with a pulse. “We’re going to, William.”