Khanna POV
The next three hours were pure agony. We were essentially rock scrambling in near-total darkness, using the starlight filtering through the clouds to avoid major drops. My muscles were burning, but the image of Jake's face—the photo Luke threw at me—was a constant motivator. I couldn't let Luke win this final, cruel victory.
We paused briefly at a shallow stream, gulping the cold water.
"Khanna, I'm picking up faint heat signatures," Hajime whispered, pointing his hand-held thermal scanner toward a narrow ravine ahead. "About fifty meters off our flank. Human profile, moving fast. Two of them."
"Luke's scouts," I confirmed, instantly dropping into a crouch. "He's already deployed perimeter sweeps on the lower routes. They're moving toward the peak, cutting off the natural pa
