Page 13 of Controlled Drift
“Contact,” Victor said quietly, already raising his weapon.
“Multiple,” Tane added.“They’re not subtle.”
“Good,” Ethan said.
He unstrapped and stood.Strode for the exit.
“Ethan—” Tane started.
“Stay with me,” Victor said sharply.“Get down.”
Ethan didn’t listen.
He opened the door, Victor and Tane flanking him, weapons in hand.The humid night rushed in, thick with fuel and heat.He descended the stairs slowly, deliberately, boots hitting the tarmac with measured confidence as he walked forward into a fan of raised weapons.
“Easy,” he called out.“Nobody needs to make this messier than it already is.”
The men froze, startled by the audacity of it.
“Who the hell are you?”one of them demanded, rifle trained center mass.
Victor and Tane flanked Ethan silently, guns up, eyes cold.Neither spoke.They didn’t need to.
“I’m the one you noticed,” Ethan said.“The one who made you nervous.”
Movement flickered in his peripheral vision.
Victor saw it too.
Across the tarmac, shadows peeled away from the other jet.A man went down silently, Victor catching the flash of a blade at a throat, the body lowered without a sound.More shadows followed—controlled, lethal.
Black Tide was already inside.
“Stand down,” Ethan said mildly.“This doesn’t end well for you otherwise.”
The men hesitated.One of them laughed, sharp and humorless.“You think you can take us?”
Ethan met his gaze.“No.I don’t need to, and I think you already lost.”
Footsteps approached from behind the men.
Niko emerged from the darkness.All six foot one, muscles in all the right places.As he stepped into the light, Ethan saw new tribal tattoos running up his neck that matched those he knew to be on his shoulders and biceps, and despite the fact he couldn’t see them, he knew Niko’s blue eyes would be blazing with anger.
He was limping slightly but otherwise looked fine, but he carried a weapon with practiced ease.His eyes were blazing, fury barely leashed, expression carved into something sharp and dangerous.
Relief hit Ethan so hard it almost staggered him.
Then amusement followed close behind.
Niko looked pissed.
The man with the rifle glanced back, confused.“Who is that?”
Ethan didn’t look away from him.“Someone you should’ve never fucked off.And believe me, you have.”
Another man stepped forward.“Who are you?”
Ethan’s voice dropped.“They call me Pyre.”
