Chapter 28: The Cost of Failure

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows over the city as night fell. The air was thick with anticipation and tension as Kerrigan, Conor, and the Dragoons waited with the SUV tucked away in a darkened alleyway a few blocks from the target location. The slums were eerily quiet, the usual hum of city life replaced by an oppressive stillness.

Kerrigan kept her eyes on the horizon just visible out the windshield over the tops of the adjacent building, the silence stretching taut between them as they waited for word from the Duke’s men. The seconds dragged into minutes, each one heavier than the last.

Conor sat beside her, his face lit only by the dim glow of the tablet with tracking data on the duke’s men. He glanced at Kerrigan, noting the tension in her posture, the way her hands clenched at her sides.

There had been a slight tremor in her voice earlier, a hint of her northern Targu accent that only came when she was deeply stressed. He knew this mission meant more to her