Page 50 of Fallen Empire (The Fallen Trilogy #2)

From the floor, I watched as another shot rang out, slamming into Jaxson’s chest, the force snapping him backward.

Then another, ripped through the back of his leg, and blood sprayed against the concrete in a violent arc.

I rolled, gun in hand, sighting the bastard who’d fired. My finger squeezed the trigger, the recoil punching up my arm as the shot landed.

We were both down now, Jaxson bleeding, my shoulder on fire, my chest aching with every breath.

Only Koslov and Reaper were left standing.

Blood seeped around me, sticky and warm, the metallic tang filling my nose.

“It’s a shame you didn’t stay on this side, Knox.”

The name hit the air like a live wire. Jax didn’t move, but the flicker in his eyes told me Koslov had landed something sharp.

“You never told him, did you?” Koslov’s voice was almost calm, like he had all the time in the world. “How many lives you traded for your cover? How deep you were in before you decided to burn me? Tell him, Knox. Tell him about Costa. About the bodies you stepped over to get here.”

Jax’s jaw locked. Silence.

“You think he’s your brother-in-arms?” His smirk twisted. “Ask him why Costa still breathes. Ask him how many women he left behind in those rooms. He played his role so well I almost made him my second.”

A faint vibration trembled through the floorboards above us—boots, heavy, fast, multiplying. The rhythm quickened, heading for the stairs.

Reaper shifted his stance, gun angled up, catching my eye just long enough to signal: incoming .

Koslov saw it too. His smile sharpened. “Looks like story time’s over.”

Bodies filed in one by one—calm, careful, trained soldiers moving like a single organism. His soldiers.

They closed in too fast for us to even adjust our aim.

Cold metal pressed against my temple as they fanned out, flanking us, forcing our hands down.

One by one, our weapons were stripped away, tossed into the growing pile in the center of the floor. Magazines, knives, comms—until all that was left on us were the bulletproof vests they didn’t bother to take. Maybe they figured we wouldn’t get the chance to use them.

“Move them to the corner,” Koslov ordered, his voice steady, his pistol still pressed to Millie’s temple like it belonged there.

We were on our feet and across the room a few beats later.

“The way I see it…” Koslov’s tone was almost casual, but every syllable carried venom. “Now, you get to watch as I take everything from you. Just like I promised.”

His eyes never left Jaxson. The words weren’t for me, and they weren’t for Millie, they were for him. The promise he’d left weeks ago in that note.

The gun dropped from Millie’s temple, and it was then that I noticed blood pouring from her face. The same damage that Koslov seemed to have. She’d done that to him, and he’d retaliated.

I let out a slow breath watching the gun fall to his side, my chest loosening for the first time since they’d stormed in. The relief lasted all of two seconds.

Koslov’s other hand slid up from behind Savannah’s back. Steel caught the light as a blade appeared, and my gut twisted. He severed whatever had been binding her wrists. Her arms fell uselessly to her sides.

She didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Her eyes were locked on Jaxson, even as Koslov stepped in front of her, taking her hand in both of his like they were about to dance.

“You see,” he went on, voice almost mocking, “you’ve cost me billions over the years. And when you left—vanished without a single trace—Costa stopped trusting anyone. Not after his little puppy turned out to be undercover.”

His grip shifted to one of her fingers. He held it for a beat too long. Then—

Snap.

Savannah didn’t scream. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t even breathe.

Koslov’s grin turned sharp. “What’s the matter, Knox ? Cat got your tongue? Or maybe you’re remembering the day you ran—how you left everything behind and still couldn’t kill me.”

Jaxson moved forward, the muscle in his jaw twitching. That was all it took.

The butt of a rifle came out of nowhere, smashing into the side of his face. The crack of bone against steel echoed off the walls.

It stalled him. Barely.

Before the attacker could pull back, Jaxson’s hand shot up, seizing the weapon’s barrel. He wrenched it free, the sound of tendons tearing as the man’s grip gave way.

Then one swing—fast, precise—brought the stock down on the man’s skull. The impact was sickening, bone shattering under the blow. Fragments sprayed the air before the body collapsed in a heap.

Jaxson didn’t even look down. His eyes were on Koslov.

The man was planted in Savannah’s lap now, her head forced back against his chest. A gun barrel jammed between her teeth, steel pressing hard against the hinge of her jaw.

Koslov’s smile was cold, almost amused.

“You know what the real shame is, Knox?” His gaze slid to Jaxson, savoring the name like poison on his tongue.

“I could’ve killed you a dozen times over.

But that wouldn’t have been enough. No… I wanted you here—close enough to hear her choke on her own blood.

Close enough to watch her die slow. After all, she’s the child of the one that was hell-bent on bringing me down and burning everything I built. ”

Jaxson’s muscles coiled, a step forward—

The hammer clicked back.

Nine guns followed the movement instantly, barrels locked in on his head. No room to move. The air seemed to shrink between them, charged and suffocating.

“Move again,” Koslov murmured, voice almost gentle, “and I’ll paint you in her brains before you take your next breath.”

His eyes slid to me. “Tell me, soldier… Did your brother ever tell you how long he wore my colors? How deep he went?”

The word brother was a deliberate hook, bait sharpened for blood. I felt it dig in. Felt the old doubt he’d planted before coil in my chest.

Without thinking, I glanced to Millie. She met my eyes and gave the smallest shake of her head—a silent warning.

Don’t.

The fog in my head cleared just enough to see it for what it was. He was trying to turn me. To make me question the one man I’d follow into hell without hesitation.

And then—

A dull thump behind Koslov.

Every gun pointed at Jaxson moved, barrels shifting just enough to track the sound. One of the men dropped to his knees, head twisted at an unnatural angle. His weapon hit the floor with a hollow clatter, the noise echoing off the concrete as a thick, wet gurgle spilled from his throat.

No one moved. Not even Koslov.

It didn’t make sense. No shot. No movement. And yet he was bleeding out right there in front of us.

My muscles coiled, ready to lunge for the pile of guns between us, but my eyes flicked to Millie. Her gaze was locked on the body, and in that flicker of a second, I saw it—recognition, or maybe confirmation of something she’d already suspected.

Koslov didn’t turn, but the muscle in his jaw ticked. Like, for the first time, he was wondering if this room was as secure as he thought.

She glanced back at me, and her eyes had that slight sparkle in them. The one that told me whatever was about to happen, I wasn’t going to like.

“Looks like the other person that’s been hunting you down finally showed up.”

Millie’s voice was pure gasoline—smooth, taunting, a spark in her eyes that dared him to burn. And then she laughed.

My blood went molten.

What the fuck was she doing?

She was baiting him. Baiting the bastard who’d kept her alive on purpose. That wound on her leg wasn’t luck, it was precision. He’d carved her just enough to bleed, just enough to keep her in pain, to keep her on display like some sick trophy. And she was feeding him more .

“Shut the fuck up, Mills,” I snarled before I could stop myself, every muscle in my body ready to snap the distance between us. I wanted to grab her, haul her back, put myself in front of that gun.

Koslov didn’t move at first, just stared at Mills with a look that could have cut through steel. Then, without a word, he yanked the gun from Savannah’s mouth and rose to his feet.

The blade in his hand caught the light—bright, cold, merciless.

Before I could process it, he drove it into Millicent’s thigh.

The opposite leg. The one that hadn’t yet been torn open.

I braced for the blood-curdling scream. For the sound that would gut me.

But it never came.

Mills’s body jolted, her fists clenching tight. Her breath hissed sharp through her nose, jaw locked against the pain. Blood welled thick and dark around the steel as he left it there, buried to the hilt.

Something in Koslov’s eyes shifted, like her silence had just cut deeper than the blade ever could.

It lit something in me. White-hot, blinding. My pulse roared in my ears. Every instinct screamed to pounce on him before he could draw another breath. But eight barrels still tracked us, steady and unflinching. One twitch, one wrong move, and Mills’s silence wouldn’t matter.

Because it would be her last.

Then, through the silence, another body hit the ground—swift, final.

Then another.

Until there were only six left standing.

They shifted, bracing, but for what, they didn’t know.

A shadow cut through my peripheral, and I felt Jaxson lean close, his voice a low rasp only I could hear.

“Who the fuck is out there?”

I didn’t answer him. Because I didn’t know.

Maybe it was Jade. Though if it was her, she’d be hauling medical gear, and I hadn’t heard the thump of rotor blades yet. Still, Jade wasn’t just a medic. She’d been trained for battle, too. If the need arose, she could put a man down as easily as she could stitch him up.

Whoever it was, they were working fast, methodical.

Normally, I gave myself a little time to figure out the angles before making a move. But it wouldn’t be long now—sirens would be in the air soon.

“Move where you’re not a fucking target, you morons,” Koslov snapped, the tremor in his voice betraying him. Fear had slipped past the mask.

Then Mills did something that turned my blood to ice. She met his eyes… and laughed. She was mocking him—while her life hung by the single twist of that blade.

He tilted his head, a predator curious about its prey. One moment he was looming over her, the next he was crouched down, face to face. His hand closed over the knife still buried in her thigh. I saw the exact second the decision formed behind his eyes.

He wasn’t going to torture her anymore.

He was going to end it.

Six guns still tracked us, and all I could do was watch as the blood drained from my body, my gaze locked on his hand tightening around the hilt.

And then—