Chapter 33

• Joaquin’s POV
• The armored transport ground to a halt in the deep shadows of the tree line, barely a hundred yards from the heavily reinforced steel blast doors of the secondary underground bunker. A heartbeat later, the passenger side door jerked open, and Javier slipped inside, sliding into the backseat with a grin, while Janus quietly took the seat beside him. Jaxon remained patched in remotely from the central hideout, monitoring satellite feeds and thermal imaging. Javier leaned forward between the front seats, his eyes landing on the corpse of the syndicate rat slumped lifelessly against the floorboards with its throat slit from ear to ear. He let out a low whistle, shaking his head with a mocking chuckle.
• "Damn, Man," Javier teased, casting a sideways glance at the blood splattered across my coat and hands. "Must be a new personal record. Never seen the legendary Commander of the Sentinels get this utterly unhinged over a girl. Guess the captive little viper really got under your skin, huh?"