Chapter 59

• Alaric’s POV
• This was a set up. A fucking set up. And as much as I hated to admit it, it was a mistake from my side. I should have seen it coming. This was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance mission—get in, find the intel we needed, and get out. But the moment we breached the door of the hideout, we walked straight into an ambush.
• The air was so thick with the metallic tang of gunpowder and smoke, so heavy I could almost taste it. My ears rang from the explosion that had gone off moments earlier, shattering what little quiet we’d had left. Everything had descended into chaos faster than I’d anticipated.