We hadn't even made it halfway down the secondary route before the tension started to rot from the inside.
No one said it out loud—not yet—but I felt it thick in the air. Heavy. Unspoken. The kind of pressure that builds behind people's eyes and gums and knuckles. That creeps into the corners of a sealed space like poison gas.
Kol had been quiet for too long. And Kol was never quiet unless something was burning in his throat.
I sat near the rear of the van, one boot braced against a support beam, gaze drifting between the crates and the crew. The smell of cheap steel and heat-bent rubber clung to everything. Nyx was pacing in my head again, claws clicking across the inside of my skull.
They're lying, she whispered.
I didn't respond.
Not because I disagreed—but because I didn't want to know which of them she meant.
Kol exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay," he said finally, voice tight. "No more pretending. That checkpoint? That wasn't just routine."
The only response was the hum of tires on broken road and the soft clatter of weapons shifting in hidden compartments.
"I'm serious," Kol went on, louder this time. "We're not exactly subtle. I get that. But Black Hollow Ridge is off the grid for a reason. We weren't supposed to be anywhere near a patrol. And yet—what? Four cruisers? Two snipers? A scanner drone that knew exactly where to hover?"
Still nothing.
Mick, barely old enough to grow a real beard, cleared his throat. "Could've been luck."
Kol twisted around. "No such thing."
The driver grunted. "Maybe they were scouting the woods. Probably didn't know what they were looking at."
"Until Kade walked up and recognized me," I said quietly.
That shut everyone up.
Kol turned to me. "You knew one of the officers?"
I nodded once. "The one in charge."
Kol's jaw twitched. "He let us go."
"Yeah."
"Why?"
I didn't answer.
Not because I didn't have one—but because the answer was too complicated. Too raw. Because the smell of Kade still clung to the inside of my memory, and I hadn't had time to scrub it out.
Nyx was growling again. He saw you. He saw what we've become. And he let us walk because he still wants something.
The van rolled to a stop.
Gravel crunched beneath us. Trees stretched overhead—long, spindled things with bare claws for branches. The driver killed the engine, and the crew started filing out, slow and cautious.
Kol stepped out last, already agitated, pacing.
"We were burned," he muttered. "Somebody gave us up."
The rest of the crew formed a loose semicircle around the van, keeping an eye on the shadows. Tension ticked in every glance, every twitch.
Kol pointed at the crates. "You all know what we're carrying. If that inspection had gone wrong, we wouldn't be standing here right now. We'd be in bags."
Tiger—arms folded, scar catching the dull moonlight—grunted. "We didn't get caught."
Kol turned sharply. "Because someone let us go. That's not the same thing."
The accusation was floating just beneath the surface now, coiled and ready.
Tiger raised a brow. "You implying something?"
Kol stepped toward him. "You've had side hustles since your first run. You don't share intel. You don't check in. You meet your own contacts—off record."
"I do my job."
"You do your job," Kol shot back. "Not ours. That makes you unpredictable."
"Unpredictable ain't the same as untrustworthy."
"You sure about that?"
They were close now.
Too close.
The kind of close that either ended in one backing down—or someone bleeding.
I didn't move.
Nyx stirred, sharpening behind my eyes. Let them. Let it spill. We'll see what comes crawling out.
I looked between them. Kol was radiating energy like he'd been waiting for this confrontation. Tiger, meanwhile, had the stillness of a predator who didn't need to posture.
"We should call it in," someone muttered behind me. "Report the checkpoint. Let base handle it."
"No," I said immediately.
Every gaze swung to me.
"Why not?" Kol asked.
"Because if we're compromised, calling it in tips our hand," I said. "And if we're being tested, panicking tells them everything they want to know."
Kol didn't argue.
But he didn't agree either.
Tiger glanced at me. "Easy to say when you're the one they didn't search."
Nyx growled low. He knows. He's waiting to see if we flinch.
I tilted my head. "And whose fault is that?"
Kol snorted. "Alright. Enough talking."
He stepped back and spread his arms slightly. "Tiger. You got something to say, say it now. Or we settle it the old way."
Tiger didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward.
Knuckles curled.
And just like that—
The fight began.