Blood and Vows

Line of sight

The road long road stretches out in front of me.

The engine hums beneath me, steadily, but my fingers tighten slightly around the wheel anyway.

There's a soft crackle in my ear—

Then Alex speaks.

“Speed’s good. Don’t change anything.”

A small smile touches my lips.

“Yes, sir.”

“Don’t start,” he mutters immediately.

I huff softly. “I’m behaving.”

“You don’t behave.”

“Rude.”

Jace snorts. “He’s not wrong.”

“I am literally doing everything right right now,” I reply. “You should all be proud of me.”

“We are,” Francesco says. “Concerned, but proud.”

“Mostly concerned,” Enzo adds.

Cassian hums quietly. “You are too calm. I don’t trust it.”

I shake my head faintly.

“You guys are so mean to me.”

“Yeah,” Enzo says. “And you love it.”

Max cuts in then.

“Are you alright, kitten?”

“I’m good.” Not that I am actually good. My heart is racing.

“Just good?” he presses.

I breathe in slowly, keeping my eyes on the road.

“Still driving. Still yours. So, I would say that I am good.”

Jace lets out a low whistle.

“You know what’s funny?” he says. “She’s calmer than all of us right now.”

That earns him a few quiet laughs.

“Yeah,” Francesco mutters. “That’s the problem.”

“Exactly,” Enzo adds. “She shouldn’t be this calm.”

Because I’m not.

Not really.

My chest feels tight.

My thoughts won’t stay still.

Every possibility keeps trying to push in—

What if something goes wrong.

What if I’m too slow.

What if—

I swallow it down.

I keep my eyes forward.

Keep steady.

I have to be calm. Or at least pretend that I am.

Everything in my body is telling me to stop... but Kai and Gabriel...

Fuck me, what am I doing?

Cassidy, what the actual f**k are you doing?

“I’m fine,” I murmur.

“You are,” Max says immediately.

“But we still don’t like it.”

My fingers brush over the ring on my hand.

“I’m still expecting that wedding, by the way.”

Max hums.

“You’re getting it,” he says. “Everything you deserve.”

“And the honeymoon.”

Jace whistles low. “Oh, here we go.”

I smile softly.

“Tell me more.”

Anything to keep my mind off of what is in front of me.

Max's voice drops.

“I am going to take you somewhere quiet,” he murmurs. “Far from everything. No noise. No pressure. Just you and me.”

Enzo exhales. “Already don’t like this.”

Francesco scoffs. “Yeah, I hate it.”

Max ignores them.

“I get you to myself,” he continues. “No one pulling you away. No one needing anything from you.”

My breath softens.

“Just… you and me.”

The words settle into my chest.

“I’d wake up next to you every morning,” he adds. “No alarms. No rushing. Just you… right there.”

My grip loosens slightly on the wheel.

“I’d take you out,” he murmurs. “Somewhere beautiful. Somewhere you can actually breathe.”

“Still not okay with this,” Enzo mutters.

“Not even a little,” Francesco adds.

Max exhales quietly.

“And when we’re back in the room…” he continues, slower now, voice dipping just enough to make my chest tighten, “You don’t have to think about anything. Not the war. Not what’s waiting for us back home.”

My throat tightens.

“I take care of you,” he adds softly. “Properly.”

“I’d keep you close,” he murmurs. “Let you relax for once… let you just be mine without everything pulling at you.”

I swallow.

“…Max.”

“I’ve been waiting for that,” he says quietly. “To have you like that. Even just for a little while.”

The car feels warmer.

“I’m looking forward to it,” I whisper. Because I really am.

For once I just want everything to go back to normal. No living in safe houses, no restrictions.

Just be able to live happily with my boys.

A beautiful wedding... that brings a sense of normality to my head right now.

Enzo groans softly. “We’re not letting him have her that long.”

“You’re not invited,” Max says calmly.

“Watch me,” Enzo shoots back.

Jace laughs softly. “This is a mess.”

It is.

But it steadies me.

“You’re taking this well.” Ryker says, and I smile.

“I’m trying,” I murmur.

“Keep your breathing even,” he says quietly. “You tense up when you start overthinking.”

My fingers loosen just slightly.

“I’m fine.”

“I know,” he says.

“But I still want you steady.”

“You’re not doing this alone,” he adds. “No matter how it looks.”

My throat tightens slightly.

“I know.”

Jace breathes quietly. “She knows that we've got her.”

“Watch it,” Enzo mutters. “Don’t get soft now.”

“Too late,” Jace says.

I shake my head faintly.

“You’re all ridiculous.”

“Two minutes out,” Ryker says.

My stomach tightens.

But I breathe through it.

“Okay.”

“Slow it down,” Alex instructs.

I ease off the accelerator.

“That’s it,” he says.

“Perfect,” Jace murmurs.

“You’re doing good,” Max adds again.

I glance down briefly at the ring on my finger.

Then back at the road.

“I know,” I whisper.

I force myself to believe it.

The road opens up.

More exposed.

“Visual soon,” Ryker says.

I roll forward slowly.

Hands steady.

Breathing steady.

“Stop.”

My foot presses the brake.

Rykers POV:

The convoy doesn’t stay together.

Her SUV continues straight ahead—alone, exactly like Lacy demanded.

The rest of us split before the final stretch.

Max and Alex peel off first, cutting left toward the ridge line.

Enzo and Francesco take the opposite side, dropping lower into the terrain.

Marco and Cassian circle wider together, locking down the rear and any exit routes.

Close enough to move.

Far enough to stay out of sight.

Jace and I break off last to a different route with higher ground.

Where this actually matters.

The car dips slightly as we pull off onto uneven ground, gravel shifting under the tires before Jace kills the engine.

Silence hits instantly.

I get out immediately, wasting no time.

My boot hits the ground, and I move to the back, popping the trunk and pulling the rifle out in one smooth motion.

Jace shuts his door and meets me at the back, already assembling his rifle.

“Timing’s still clean,” he mutters.

I nod once.

“Let’s move.”

We don’t take the open path.

We cut across instead—keeping low, using the dips in the ground, moving exactly how we planned.

Fast, quiet and controlled.

We reach the ridge, and we drop just below it.

Clear view.

Clean shot.

I lower first.

Knee down.

Then into position.

The rifle settles into place.

I adjust it slightly, shifting the bipod until it sits exactly right against the ground.

Stable.

Then I bring the scope up.

Turn it.

Click.

The zoom adjusts.

Closer.

My eye presses in—

And there she is.

Standing beside the SUV.

My chest tightens uneasily.

I adjust again.

Fine-tuning.

Zoom tighter on her.

Then past her.

Scanning the area.

Left.

Right.

Tree line.

Ground.

Any movement.

Any break.

Nothing.

Jace settles beside me, angled slightly off to my right.

“Angle’s clean,” he says quietly.

“I know.”

He taps his comm.

“We’re in position,” he says calmly. “High ground’s clear. No visual on anyone yet.”

A faint crackle.

Max’s voice comes through. “Copy.”

“She’s where she should be. No movement around her.”

I drag the scope slightly left again.

Scanning the approach points.

Nothing.

Back to her.

She shifts slightly.

And my grip tightens without meaning to.

She's too open and too exposed.

“Still quiet,” Jace mutters, then into comms, “Area’s clean so far.”

Everything lines up.

Everything is right.

Except this feeling inside of me.

This isn’t how it’s supposed to feel.

My head isn’t quiet.

It should be.

But it’s not.

What if—

I shut it down immediately.

No.

I don’t miss.

I don’t hesitate.

I don’t get it wrong.

But this isn’t just a shot.

It’s her.

Standing out there.

Trusting me with her life.

I shift the scope again.

Scanning wider now.

Checking further out.

Still nothing.

Too clean.

I don’t like that either.

“Hey,” Jace says quietly.

I don’t look at him.

“You good?”

“I’m fine.”

“Sure,” he mutters. “You look like it.”

“It’ll be fine.”

That makes me glance at him.

“We’ve got the angles,” he adds. “No one’s getting near her without us seeing it first.”

I look back through the scope.

Back to her.

“I know.”

But it still sits wrong.

Jace exhales softly, then taps his comm again.

“Still no movement,” he says.

My finger settles closer to the trigger.

The land stretches out around her in every direction.

Dry.

Open.

Endless.

No buildings.

No cover.

Just arid ground, broken patches of dust and stone, the faint shimmer of heat sitting low over the earth.

It makes her stand out.

Like she doesn’t belong in it.

Like something too soft placed in something too harsh.

And I hate that.

She shifts slightly beside the SUV.

A small movement.

Barely anything.

But I catch it instantly.

The way her shoulders rise with a breath.

The way her fingers flex at her side.

She’s holding it together.

But I know her.

I know that tension.

That quiet stillness that means everything inside her is moving too fast.

I press lightly against the comm.

“You look good.”

Then through the scope—

I see it.

Her lips curve.

A small smile.

She tilts her head just slightly.

Like she knows exactly where I am.

And something in my chest shifts with it.

Jace exhales beside me.

“Yeah,” he mutters, then taps his comm. “He’s right.”

“You look really good.”

Her smile lingers a second longer.

Then she steadies again.

Max’s voice comes through next.

“Careful,” he murmurs. “You’re not allowed to talk back right now.”

A faint breath of amusement in it.

“You just have to stand there and take it.”

Alex’s voice cuts in.

“Stay still,” he says. “You’re doing great, angel. ”