Chapter 73 – The Pines Close In
The forest closed around them, thick with pine and frost. Kairo didn't flinch, didn't shift his stance, didn't let the weight of the rifle barrels aimed at him show. He'd been in too many situations like this before—the trick was to make the other man believe you'd already counted every outcome, and none ended in his favor.
The leader stepped closer. Pale eyes, steady hands, boots soundless on the frozen ground. His men fanned out behind him, spreading like a net. They didn't shout, didn't posture—real professionals never did.
Elira angled herself half a step to Kairo's right, close enough to protect his blind side but far enough not to make them look like they were bracing for a fight. Her gloved fingers rested on the hilt of her dagger. She didn't look at him, but he could feel her reading the angles too—escape routes, cover, timing.
"Who sent you?" Kairo asked, his voice calm, the edge barely there.
The man's lips twitched—not quite a smile. "You already know."
"Vale," Elira said flatly.
The leader didn't confirm, but the silence was enough. Vale didn't send amateurs. He hired men with clean service records, no paper trails, and no reason to hesitate.
Kairo took a slow step forward. "If you think you're walking out of here with my property, you're either brave or underpaid."
One of the men behind the leader shifted, his rifle angling slightly. The sound of a safety clicking off cut through the cold like a knife.
Elira's weight shifted—so slight most wouldn't notice—but Kairo caught it. She was waiting for his signal.
"Four of you," Kairo said quietly. "Two in the trees on the left. And if Vale's still as predictable as he was in the ports, there's a vehicle waiting on the ridge, engine running."
The leader's eyes narrowed.
Kairo's tone didn't change. "That means you've got less than three minutes before someone comes looking to see why you've stopped moving."
The wind stirred the branches. Nobody moved.
"Here's how this works," Kairo said, his voice dropping even lower. "You turn around. You tell Vale you were too late. You get to walk back to your families instead of being zipped into bags."
The leader studied him. For a heartbeat, the air was nothing but frost and the faint scent of pine. Then he shook his head once. "Not today."
The forest erupted.
The first shot cracked the silence—Elira was already moving, her dagger slicing the man nearest her before his finger found the trigger. Kairo shoved the leader off balance and drew, his shot precise, dropping the rifleman in the left flank.
A burst of automatic fire tore through the air, splintering bark inches from Kairo's shoulder. He dropped low, firing twice into the shadows where he'd clocked movement earlier. A grunt, then stillness.
Elira caught the arm of another man, twisting until his rifle dropped. She slammed the hilt of her dagger into his jaw, sending him crashing into the snow.
The leader was back on his feet, knife drawn now, his eyes locked on Kairo. "You should have walked away."
Kairo didn't answer. His boot hit the man's knee, dropping him to the ground before the blade could find him. One sharp strike to the temple ended it.
Silence crept back into the clearing, broken only by the crackle of settling frost. Four bodies lay in the snow. The rest—if there had been more—were gone.
Elira exhaled slowly. "You counted wrong. There were six."
Kairo holstered his pistol. "No. Two were smart enough to leave."
She glanced at him. "And Vale?"
"He'll hear we didn't run. That's the point."
They dragged the bodies off the path, covering them with pine branches. The smell of gunpowder hung in the air—a warning for anyone else who might be tracking them.
When they started north again, Kairo's pace was steady, his hands loose at his sides. But Elira knew him well enough to catch the shift in his eyes. The calm wasn't real. He was already thinking three moves ahead—about who Vale would send next, and how many more times they'd have to fight their way out before this ended.