He laughed, genuinely amused, and pulled himself into the cabin.

The helicopter began to ascend.

And I was powerless.

Completely, utterly powerless.

My rifle was useless, too far, too unstable a target, too risky with the detonator in his hand.

Rushing him was impossible.

Shooting was impossible.

Everything was impossible.

"Am I going to die, Kael?"

Aria’s voice cut through the rotor noise and the blood pounding in my ears.

I looked down at her face, bruised, bloodied, terrified beyond anything I’d ever seen.

"Am I going to die?" she repeated, her voice breaking. "I don’t want to die. Please don’t let me die."

And suddenly I was back in that military base camp.

In that clearing. The ambush. Bullets raining down like metal hail.

Ivan bleeding out in front of me, looking up at me with that same expression, please don’t let me die, while I pressed my hands against the wounds that wouldn’t stop bleeding, that I couldn’t fix, that killed him anyway while I watched.

"No." The word tore from my throat. "No, you’re not going to die."

I cupped her face in my hands, wiping at tears that kept falling, that wouldn’t stop falling.

"I promise you," I said, my voice shaking. "You’re getting out of this. You and our baby. You’re going home safe."

"Kael—" Her hand found mine, squeezing tight. "Go. Please. Save yourself. Run. Get away before he—"

"I’m not leaving you." I pulled her closer, my forehead against hers. "I’m not leaving you. Do you hear me? I’m not leaving."

"But the bomb—"

"I will do something about it" My throat was so tight I could barely speak. "I’m not running. I’m not hiding. I’m staying right here with you."

The helicopter was higher now.

Getting ready to bank away.

Getting ready to put enough distance between us for Andrew to press that button safely.

Aria was shaking her head, crying harder. "I’m scared. I’m so scared, "

"I know. I know, baby, I know." I kissed her again, tasting salt and blood and fear. "But I’m here. I’m right here."

"I love you so much, "

"I love you too. God, I love you so much."

The helicopter reached a hundred feet.

Banking east.

Any second now.

Any second, Andrew would press that button, and we’d both,

I held Aria tighter, my body curving around hers like I could somehow shield her from an explosion that would vaporize us both.

This was it.

This was how it ended.

Not in some glorious last stand. Not taking down Andrew in a blaze of gunfire.

Just... this.

Kneeling on a rooftop, holding the woman I loved, waiting for death.

"Close your eyes," I whispered. "Don’t look. Just close your eyes."

"Kael, "

"I’ve got you. I promise. Whatever happens, I’ve got you."

She buried her face in my chest, her whole body shaking.

And I looked up at the helicopter disappearing into the night sky.

At Andrew’s silhouette visible in the open door.

At the hand holding the detonator.

This is it.

The helicopter was a dark smudge against the night sky now, banking east over the city.

One mile. Maybe more.

Safe distance for Andrew to press that button.

I wrapped myself tighter around Aria, my body over hers like I could somehow a protect her from explosives and the inevitability of what was about to happen.

"Look at me." My voice came out rougher than I’d intended. "Only at me."

She tilted her face up, tears streaming, her whole body trembling against mine.

"I love you," she choked out. "I’m sorry. For everything. For Sarah. For all of this— "

"Stop." I cupped her face, forcing her to meet my eyes. "This isn’t your fault. None of it."

"But—"

"I love you." The words broke on the way out, my voice cracking for the first time since this nightmare began. "I should have said it every day. Every hour. I should have—"

I couldn’t finish.

Just held her tighter, my forehead against hers, breathing in the scent of her, blood and fear and something uniquely Aria underneath it all.

This was it.

Our last moment.

And then I saw it.

The LED display on the vest, previously dark, suddenly flickered to life.

A timer.

00:58

00:57

00:56

My blood turned to ice.

"Kael?" Aria’s voice was small. "What, "

"He set a timer." The realization hit like a fist to the gut. "The remote was just a threat. He always planned to detonate it remotely after he was clear."

00:52

00:51

Less than a minute.

But that changed everything.

If Andrew had activated a timer instead of using the remote detonator, that meant...

I grabbed my comm, the one I’d kept hidden in my boot, the one Andrew’s men had missed in their search.

"Hayes." My voice was deadly calm despite the countdown ticking away in front of me. "The bird is in the air. Take the shot."

Static. Then: "Copy that. Acquiring target."

Aria stared at me, confusion and hope and terror warring in her expression. "What..."

"Trust me." I pulled her closer, my eyes locked on the timer.

00:43

00:42

In the distance, barely visible against the dark sky, a flash.

Silent from here. But unmistakable.

The helicopter jerked violently, spinning, losing altitude.

Then a second, larger explosion.

A fireball bloomed in the sky like a flower made of flame and destruction.

The helicopter, what was left of it, plummeted toward the river beyond the city limits.

Andrew was taken care of.

But we weren’t safe yet.

00:32

00:31

The timer kept counting down, independent of the remote that was now burning wreckage at the bottom of a river.

"BOMB SQUAD TO MY LOCATION NOW!" I shouted into the comm. "Timer at thirty seconds!"

I turned back to Aria, my hands already examining the vest with the clinical detachment I’d learned in the military. Red wire. Blue wire. Yellow. Green. Professional construction. Military-grade. Booby-trapped to prevent tampering.

Fuck.

"It’s too late, Kael." Aria’s voice was eerily calm. Resigned. "You should run. Please. Save yourself, "

"No." I traced the wiring, looking for the main charge, the trigger mechanism, anything I could use. "We’re both getting out of here."

00:21

00:20

My hands were steady, years of training keeping them that way, but sweat dripped from my forehead, splashing onto the vest’s surface.

There. A junction point where three wires met. If I could sever the connection without triggering the failsafe,

"Hayes!" I barked into the comm. "I need a laser cutter on the roof NOW!"

00:15

Footsteps pounding up the stairs. The door burst open.

Hayes appeared, breathing hard, a small tool in his hand. "Will this work?"

A fiber laser scalpel. Medical-grade. Precise. Cold cutting, no heat to trigger a thermal failsafe.

Perfect.

"Give it to me." I took it, my fingers finding the power switch.

00:10