Colt’s Point Of View
Dawn didn’t break gently, it came slicing through the clouds like a blade, staining the sky in sharp hues of red and gold. I stood in the courtyard of the safehouse, dressed in black tactical gear, my shoulder stiff beneath the bandages. Pain flared with every breath, but it anchored me. Reminded me why I was still alive. It's been days and I was already tired of being in a place.
Krystal stood across from me, checking the magazine on her sidearm. She hadn’t said much since we finalized the mission briefing. I could feel the weight between us—the pain of betrayal still fresh, the stitching barely holding. But there was something else, too. That unspoken thread that had always tethered us: trust re-earned in the fire.
Elias paced near the SUV, earbuds in, scanning f
