The air is too thin to breathe and too loud to think. The ground beneath me shifts, unstable and unsteady. We’ve been spotted. We got caught. Where did we screw up?

I pressed my back against a jagged boulder, blood warm in my mouth. My side burned where something grazed my ribs. Around us, the pines shuddered under gunfire—not far, maybe fifty yards away. Closer than I dared hope.

None of us planned for guns. Guns are loud. Expensive. How do they have so many? Where did this faction come from? Who’s supplying them?

“Left!” Jasper’s voice cracked over the ridge, yanking me back to the moment. I ducked low and swung wide, skidding over loose rock as a figure burst from the trees. My knees tore open, but it didn’t matter. I kept moving, blade low, shoulder tucked, and slammed into the rogue’s gut. He dropped hard—but another was right behind him.

Where are they hiding all these people? We’ve been scouting for days and never saw this many. How do we get out? Will we even get out?

No. I can’t think like that. We will get through this. All of us. We promised.

Jasper tackled the next one before I could react. Both of them tumbled down the slope in a flurry of limbs and dust.

I scrambled after them. “Jasper—!”

“I’m fine!” he shouted, half-laughing, half-wheezing. Relief flooded me. He was okay.

“You wish!” I snapped, breath ragged. “We need to get back to the others.”

“No,” he said. “We pull them away first. Buy the evac route time.”

“I don’t know if we have that much time. We didn’t bring all our gear.” He climbed back up the slope.

“I know. But we have to try.” His eyes met mine, grim. “The survivors need more time.” I shook my head, wiping my face with the back of my hand. It didn’t help—if anything, it made it worse.

Gunfire answered for us.

We ran.

The slope grew steeper. The trees thinned. Cold wind bit at my sweat-soaked skin as we weaved—up, over, through boulders and brush—each step a gamble on loose footing.

“Wait—” I grabbed Jasper’s sleeve. “Something’s off.”

I scanned the treeline. The silence had teeth.

“They’re herding us,” I whispered.

BANG!

A bullet cracked the stone beside our heads. We dove behind an outcrop. Shouting voices, stomping boots, a clatter nearby—it was a full sweep. Organized. Ruthless.

“They’re flanking us,” I whispered. What now? My pulse slammed against my throat. Where are Mama and Micah? I can’t think straight.

Jasper’s face hardened, jaw tight. “Then I’ll give them something to chase.”

I grabbed his arm. “No. We go together. We’ll find a way out.”

“Not both of us.” He reached into his belt and pulled another knife. “I know you’ll come for me.”

Nodding, hesitating. Everything inside me screamed, Don’t let him go.

“It has to be you.” He looked down at his hands, then back into my eyes—into my soul. “They need you.” He patted my head.

My breath caught. “Jasper, please don’t—”

“Look at me.” He cupped my jaw, blood and grime smearing across my cheeks. “I’m not letting them take you.”

“I can fight—”

“I know you can. But this isn’t your fight anymore. This is survival.”

Then he kissed me—fast, firm, final.

“You need to survive.”

Before I could react, he sprinted away.

Straight into the gunfire.

I watched it happen in slow motion. I didn’t move.

I couldn’t.

The rogues roared as they spotted him. Gunfire shredded the rocks. He darted, nimble, reckless, tossing something—maybe a charge—then diving. Did Micah give him that?

A shockwave punched the air.

Smoke. Screams. Screeching metal.

The ridge shook beneath me.

I blinked, ash stinging my eyes. I tried to crawl forward—toward him.

Only to be yanked down hard. “No.”

The voice was grave. Familiar. Steady.

I gasped, struggling against her grip.

“You can’t go after him. If you go, you die too.”

“They took him!”

“I know.”

“He did it for me!” My voice cracked as I pounded the ground. Once. Twice. Over and over.

Her hands folded over mine, stopping me.

“I know, Jo.” Mama Bear pulled me close, shielding me from the cold wind—and myself. “That’s why you stay alive. That’s how we get him back. The right way. Not like this.”

I didn’t answer.

Couldn’t.

Silent tears streamed down my face as I stared up through thinning clouds.

For the first time in a long time—

I didn’t feel brave.

Didn’t feel strong.

Didn’t feel anything.

Just broken.

His last words ringing in my ears:

“Survive.”