The Sentinel's Vow
The figure was moving fast, quiet, holding a short-barreled automatic weapon, sweeping the tree line as he advanced toward the cabin's power generator.
He wore the dark gray tactical gear of Project Crimson's old auxiliary unit.
A cold, familiar darkness flooded my veins—not the fiery, possessive heat I felt when I touched Anna, but the ancient, ruthless instinct of the weapon Clifford Mandell had bought fourteen years ago.
I didn't call out. I didn't issue a warning.
I moved through the deep snow like a phantom, my boots making no sound against the frozen drift. I closed the distance in four silent, blinding strides, coming up behind the scout just as he raised his gloved hand to plant a ma