Chapter 6 - The Trap is SprungThe kitchen door didn't just open—it exploded inward as a heavy steel charge blew the deadbolt straight out of the frame. Splinters of old pine rained down like shrapnel as two mercenaries in black tactical gear poured into the small room, weapons raised and sweeping left and right.
They didn't even see the dog.
Caesar lunged from the shadows of the pantry, his massive two-hundred-pound frame colliding with the lead operative before the man could pull his trigger. The mercenary went down hard, his skull cracking against the stone hearth with a sickening thud.
The second operative spun around, screaming a curse, leveling his submachine gun at the mastiff.
Bang!
Orion’s SIG Sauer barked once. The bullet caught the second operative squarely in the shoulder armor, spinning him off balance just enough to ruin his aim.
Before the man could recover, Ren moved with terrifying, cold efficiency. She didn't hesitate. She stepped around Orion, holding the canister of industrial medical ether and a heavy wool cloth. Before the mercenary could raise his weapon again, she slammed the ether-soaked cloth directly over his face and nose.
The man thrashed violently, trying to scream, but the high-potency anesthetic flooded his lungs instantly. Within five seconds, his eyes rolled back into his head, and his body went completely limp, slumping heavily against the kitchen counter.
Orion stared at Ren, blinking in sheer disbelief. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
"Shut up and grab his rifle," Ren snapped, her chest heaving as she tossed the empty canister aside. "There are four more outside, and they heard the shot."
Orion quickly stripped the fallen operative's HK MP5 submachine gun, checking the magazine. Fully loaded. He handed it to Ren, keeping his own pistol ready.
"Can you shoot?" Orion asked.
"I spent two years in a war zone treating kids and dodging mortar fire, Mr. Steel," Ren said, her voice dropping an octave into a chillingly calm register. "I know how a bullet works."
She gripped the submachine gun with a terrifyingly natural posture, sliding the safety off with her thumb.
On the table, Aldrich Steel let out a low, grim chuckle, coughing weakly against the wool blanket. "Boy... if you don't marry this woman before the sun comes up, you're a bigger fool than I thought."
Orion didn't answer, but a faint, humorless smile touched the edge of his lips. He turned his attention back to the shattered kitchen door.
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"They're grouping by the woodshed," Orion whispered, peering through the jagged hole in the frame. "They think we're trying to escape through the front. That gives us a thirty-second window to reach the snowcat shed around back."
"Let's move," Ren said.
