The whole compound was alive with sirens and screams.Guards poured out like roaches, weapons drawn, panic in their eyes.
And me?I was flying through the hallways like I had wings made of rage.
"We've got five minutes before the entire security team locks the place down," Liam's voice rang in my ear. "You need to find her. Now."
Her.Vixen 02.The girl on the screen. The one Vale was grooming as his next puppet.No way in hell I was leaving without her.
"East wing," I said breathlessly. "He always kept the dirty secrets in the east wing."
I took a sharp turn, narrowly avoiding a guard with a machine gun. I slid behind a column, kicked him in the knee, and knocked him out with the butt of my pistol.
I didn't have time for mercy.
Room after room, I kicked in doors, tore through hallways like a storm wrapped in leather.
And then I heard it—crying. Soft. Choked.
I followed it to a room marked "Medical Storage."
Figures.
I busted in.
And there she was.
Tied to a chair, hands raw from struggling, mouth duct-taped, eyes wide and terrified.
She was barely nineteen.
And in that moment, I saw myself again—the version of me I never got to save.
I ran to her, yanked the tape from her mouth."It's okay," I whispered. "I'm getting you out of here."
"Are you… are you the Vixen?" she asked, voice shaking.
I looked her dead in the eyes."No. I'm your Vixen now."
I sliced the ropes, pulled her up, and slung her arm over my shoulder. She was weak. Drugged maybe. But alive.
"I have her," I told Liam. "Prepare exfil. We're going loud."
Gunfire erupted behind us—one of Vale's men rounded the corner. I didn't even blink. I shot first.
I carried her through smoke, fire, and chaos. The building trembled with explosions. Liam had rigged charges to cover our exit.
We burst out the side entrance just as the estate began to collapse behind us.
Liam pulled up in the SUV, doors already open. "Drive or die, baby!" he yelled.
We dove in, tires squealing as we tore away into the night.
Behind us, Vale's empire went up in flames.
But I wasn't smiling. Not yet.
Because Vale wasn't dead.Not yet.And this war wasn't over.