Page 87 of Fallen Heir

His voice wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be. It landed like a final order.

Millie froze, the fight still burning behind her eyes—but when she looked up at him, something cracked. Her shoulders slumped. Her arms fell to her sides. And she nodded.

No words. Just surrender. Or maybe it was trust. Not in me—in him.

There was something between them. Something real. But I didn’t have time to name it.

I turned toward the SUVs, barking orders.

“Ben, you’re with me. Nic, too.”

Ben nodded and moved without hesitation.

“John takes the second vehicle. Diego and Andrew ride with him.” I paused for half a second, then opened my mouth to speak again—but Ben beat me to it.

“Put her with Reaper.”

I turned to him.

He didn’t flinch. “He’ll keep her safe.”

Reaper. A nickname earned in some godforsaken corner of the world I’d never asked about. He’d worked with Ben overseas before either of them wore suits or badges. He was quiet. Lethal. Efficient. The kind of man you didn’t notice until it was too late. Hell, he even scared me.

We’d brought him because we knew we were going to need him. But Ben was right. Millie needed to be protected, too.

I gave him a nod. “Done.”

Millie didn’t argue again—but the look she gave Ben lingered. Like she wasn’t sure if she was grateful or furious.

I climbed into the front SUV, hand still wrapped around the broken necklace. The “S” charm pressed into my palm like a brand. I tucked it into my pocket like a vow.

Nic’s voice filled the cab and crackled in my ear. “Last known coordinates being sent over. You’ve got four hours to close the gap.”

Four hours.

Anything could happen in four hours.

“I’m coming for you,” I whispered.

Then louder, into the comm: “We move. Now.”

Ben’s voice followed from the back seat. “Let’s bring her home.”

Tires screamed against gravel as we launched onto the road, engines roaring behind us. Dust spun in the side mirrors like ghosts chasing shadows.

We were thirty minutes into the drive when Nic’s voice crackled back through the comms and into my ear, despite being right behind me.

“I’ve got two locations in this direction—both industrial. Both show similar electrical patterns to the site we just cleared. About five miles apart.”

I glanced at Ben in the passenger seat. He looked back to Nic, then to me. “We don’t have enough time to hit both, Jax.”

My jaw clenched. “Which one’s more likely?”

Nic didn’t miss a beat. “Second location. It just surged an hour ago—generator output jumped, then steadied. And the roads leading in were cleared. No cameras, no traffic.”

“Staged for offloading,” Ben muttered. “It’s the spot.”

I gripped the wheel tighter. I couldn’t push the pedal any more than I already was.