Page 89 of Rook
Grim muttered a curse. “Since when do the Reapers take orders?”
Ledger’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Since they started moving like a damn chessboard.”
Rook’s pulse hammered in his neck.
This wasn’t just a Reaper problem. This was something else. Something bigger.
Stone exhaled slowly. “We’re not dealing with one enemy.”
Fish’s voice stayed low. “We’re dealing with whoever’s behind him.”
Grim’s expression hardened. “So Spider’s just the puppet.”
Havoc snorted. “And we don’t even know who’s pulling the strings.”
Rook didn’t speak. Couldn’t. His pulse hammered in his neck.
Stone turned to him, voice steady. “Whoever’s running this used Avery to get a reaction out of us. That part’s real.”
Rook’s jaw flexed. “She’s not leverage.”
“No,” Stone agreed. “She’s the opening move. And we close that door right now.”
Havoc cracked his knuckles. “So what’s the play?”
Stone’s eyes stayed on the map. “We hit their fallback. Hard. Make them scramble. Make them bleed time.”
Ledger pulled up a location. “Old mill on the river. They’ve been using it for months.”
Grim’s grin was sharp. “Let’s go ruin their night.”
They rode out within minutes, engines cutting through the dark as they headed for the mill.
The Saints hit the mill fast and surgical, not to annihilate, but to send a message. Power cut. Bikes disabled. Weapons stripped. Exits blocked.
Inside, chaos erupted.
Rook moved through the mill like a controlled storm, every strike precise, every takedown fueled by the image of Avery standing in her ruined bakery, fear in her eyes.
He found Spider on the second floor.
Spider smirked, leaning against a railing like he’d been expecting him. “Rook. Heard you got yourself a little…”
Rook slammed him into the wall before he could finish. Spider twisted hard, shoving off the concrete, and they crashed into the metal railing, fists flying. Spider swung a crowbar. Rook dodged, ripped it from his hands, and sent it skittering across the floor.Spider lunged. Rook caught him by the throat and drove him back into the wall.
“You don’t get to say her name,” Rook growled.
Spider choked out a laugh. “Soft spot. Knew it.”
Rook’s grip tightened. “You don’t know a damn thing.”
Stone appeared behind him. “Rook.”
Rook didn’t let go.
Stone’s voice stayed calm. “Alive.”
Rook hesitated, then released him. Spider collapsed, gasping.
