Chapter 18 — Carry Weight

The ambush detonated beneath freezing rain.

Explosives ripped through the forest road hard enough to overturn the second convoy vehicle while automatic gunfire erupted instantly from both tree lines.

BLACK VEIL operatives scattered into defensive formation.

Kane dropped two hostiles before fully hitting cover.

Mira screamed coordinates through comms.

Rami nearly crashed the extraction truck into a river.

And Eliana—

Eliana got shot.

Not fatal.

High shoulder impact.

Still enough to slam her violently against the muddy roadside embankment.

Pain exploded through her body.

Cold rain soaked instantly into torn fabric and blood.

Gunfire echoed brutally across the forest.

“Eliana!”

Kael’s voice.

Sharp.

Wrong.

Not controlled anymore.

She barely registered movement before Kael reached her.

One second firefight.

Next second Ghost crouched beside her in rain and blood with murder already visible in his eyes.

“You’re hit.”

No shit.

Eliana tried standing.

Failed immediately.

Pain tore through her shoulder hard enough to blur vision.

Kael caught her before she collapsed fully.

Strong hands.

Careful despite the chaos.

Rain streamed down the dark edges of his mask while bullets tore through trees around them.

“Kane!” Kael barked through comms. “Fallback route now.”

“Ghost we’re surrounded—”

“NOW.”

No argument survived that tone.

Kael lifted Eliana into his arms before she could protest.

Effortless.

Like carrying her weighed nothing.

Eliana grabbed instinctively at the front of his tactical vest as dizziness hit hard.

“You’re bleeding too,” she realized weakly.

Dark blood spread beneath the rain along Kael’s side.

He ignored it completely.

Of course.

“Stay awake.”

That rough command vibrated directly against her pulse.

Kael moved through the storm-covered forest at terrifying speed while gunfire chased them through the trees.

One arm supported her legs.

The other kept his weapon raised.

How he managed both simultaneously felt deeply unfair.

Rain hammered down relentlessly.

Mud slid beneath combat boots.

Branches whipped across them while BLACK VEIL operatives fought retreat patterns somewhere behind.

Eliana buried her face briefly against Kael’s shoulder to steady the nausea.

Warm.

Solid.

Safe.

Dangerous realization.

Kael tightened his hold immediately.

“You with me?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

Lie.

Everything hurt.

Her shoulder burned violently.

Cold seeped into her bones.

And Kael’s breathing sounded increasingly uneven now.

Not from exertion.

Pain.

He was injured badly too.

“Eliana.”

His voice sounded lower now.

More strained.

“Stay awake.”

She forced her eyes open again.

Rain blurred across his face.

Mask soaked dark.

Steel-grey eyes scanning constantly through the storm.

God.

He looked terrifying.

And exhausted.

And heartbreakingly determined.

“How far?” Kane’s voice crackled through comms.

“Three kilometers.”

“You’re bleeding through your side.”

No response.

Because Kael didn’t care.

Not if she was worse.

The realization hit Eliana like another bullet.

She looked up weakly at him.

“You should put me down.”

Kael’s grip tightened instantly.

“No.”

Flat.

Absolute.

Not discussion.

The rain intensified harder.

Kael stumbled once crossing a flooded ditch.

Blood loss finally catching him.

Eliana’s stomach dropped.

“Kael—”

“I said stay awake.”

God.

The fear in his voice.

Tiny.

Buried.

But real.

She had never heard Ghost sound afraid before.

Not during torture.

Not during gunfire.

Not during psychological collapse underground.

But now—

Carrying her bleeding through freezing rain—

He sounded terrified.

That realization nearly broke something inside her.

The extraction cabin finally appeared through the trees after what felt like hours.

Mira burst through the doorway immediately.

“Inside now.”

Kael carried Eliana directly to the medical table.

Only once Mira physically touched Eliana’s wound did Ghost finally step backward.

And immediately nearly collapsed.

Everyone froze.

Because Kael Vanth did not stagger.

Ever.

Blood soaked heavily down his left side now.

Elias Ward stared openly.

Kane swore under his breath.

Mira pointed furiously toward the opposite table.

“Sit down before I sedate you myself.”

Kael ignored her.

His eyes stayed locked on Eliana instead.

“She first.”

“Ghost—”

“She first.”

That terrifying calm again.

Weapon mode.

But underneath it—

Panic.

Eliana saw it immediately.

Mira cursed violently in Russian and finally began stabilizing Eliana’s shoulder wound while Kane physically shoved Kael toward the second table.

Kael resisted.

Actually resisted.

Not because of pain.

Because he wanted visual confirmation she survived first.

The room fell strangely quiet around that realization.

Elias exchanged a long look with Kane.

No one said it aloud.

They didn’t need to.

Ghost was compromised.

Emotionally.

Catastrophically.

Eliana watched Kael through blurred vision while Mira stitched her shoulder.

Rain battered the cabin roof overhead.

Kael finally sat on the opposite table while blood soaked through his tactical shirt.

Still staring at her.

Still checking whether she remained conscious.

And somewhere beneath pain and exhaustion—

Eliana realized something terrifying.

She no longer knew where survival ended.

And love began.