Page 28 of Forged in Fire

Shock. He’s as stunned as I am.

But now he’s moving, shouting orders over the chaos. “Defensive positions! Maintain containment on the prisoner!”

Prisoner.He’s calling me a prisoner.

But even as he barks commands, I catch the way his eyes keep darting to where I’m standing. The way his body angles slightly toward me despite everything else falling apart around us.

Maybe there’s still something left of my brother after all.

Another rifle crack. Another guard down.

Kieran breaks from the cover he’d taken behind a supply crate. Instead of coordinating the defense like any competent commander would do, he runs.

Straight toward the main compound building.

“Kieran!” The word tears out of my throat before I can stop it.

He doesn’t even look back.

He’s abandoning the situation. Abandoning his people. Abandoning me.

The betrayal hits worse than anything that came before it—watching him leave me behind while his guards scramble to deal with whatever sniper is picking them off from the darkness. My shadows surge outward in response, darker and more aggressive than I’ve ever seen them.

No.

Not again.

I won’t lose him again.

Adrenaline floods my system, drowning out rational thought. Without realizing it, I’m moving. The commotion provides perfect cover—between the searchlights sweeping everywhere and the guards focused on finding their attacker, no one’s watching the so-called prisoner.

I melt into the shadows between equipment crates, letting my abilities carry me across the compound faster than running.

Behind me, the gunfire continues. Short, controlled bursts from the guards alternating with single, precise shots from whoever’s hunting them. But I’m already moving away, following the path Kieran took.

The main compound structure looms ahead—brutalist architecture designed more for function than aesthetics. Squat, ugly, built like a fortress.

“Kieran, wait, dammit!” I say under my breath, even though I know it’s pointless.

I reach the building’s entrance just as a figure in combat gear rounds the corner at a dead run.

He stops, sees me, and raises his rifle.

Time stands still. We stare at each other across twenty feet of muddy ground while more gunfire echoes from behind us. His finger’s on the trigger, weapon trained on my chest.

Why aren’t you moving, Iris!

“Please,” I say desperately, seeing his finger beginning to squeeze. “This is all a mistake!”

Before he can fire, his head snaps back, and he collapses. Blood spreads into the mud beneath him.

Someone is out there, and they just killed the man who was about to shoot me.

What the hell is happening?

I don’t have time to figure it out. Through the building’s entrance doors, I catch a glimpse of auburn hair disappearing around a corner inside.

Kieran.