Her Obsession (by Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 26

Her Obsession.

Between The Bullets.

Conner

My phone buzzed, just a single message but it hit harder than any alarm. “He’s coming for you. Now.”

I didn’t hesitate. Every muscle tensed. I knew exactly who. Aleksei Mirov wasn’t the kind of man who sent threats lightly. This was war. Full throttle. The kind that swallowed lives whole. I threw on my jacket and moved fast, but even as I gathered my men, the weight pressed down heavy. We’d been on edge for days, but now it wasn’t just paranoia. The enemy was here, and I could feel it in every shadow, every distant noise. The compound transformed into a warzone overnight. My guys took their posts, faces grim and hands steady on weapons. The night thickened, lit only by the pale glow of security lights and the red glint of tactical gear. Then came the first shots,quick, deadly. Mirov’s men weren’t amateurs. They hit hard, pushing past our outer defenses like they expected resistance. I moved among my men, shouting orders, trying to keep the chaos tethered. The sound of gunfire echoed through the night air, mixing with shouted commands and the low growls of engines idling beyond the fences. I kept scanning the perimeter, hoping, praying to see Sage, my ghost in the darkness. She’d warned me, she’d always been one step ahead. And there she was, up high, a silent sentinel. Her shots rang out like thunderclaps, precise, ruthless. One by one, the attackers dropped, but the pressure didn’t let up. The bastard was relentless, sending wave after wave. Then, amid the chaos, my voice tore through the noise. I was yelling, telling my men to hold, to fall back, to flank, anything to survive. But something caught my ear, a sudden cry from above.

“Sage!”

My heart lurched. I saw her falter on the rooftop, then stumble. She caught herself on the edge, hanging on with one good arm, until two more shots rang out and she fell.

“No!”

She dropped like a dying star, fast, hard, and final. The roof gave her no mercy. One moment she was there, deadly and precise, and the next, her silhouette crumpled forward, momentum carrying her over the edge. I watched, helpless, as her body disappeared from sight, swallowed by the shadows below. A sickening thud followed, a heavy, fleshy crack muffled only slightly by the bushes lining the garden perimeter. It wasn’t enough to break her fall, not fully. Those shrubs softened the landing just enough to keep her from shattering completely, but it still sounded wrong. The kind of sound that grits your teeth and turns your stomach.

“SAGE!” I roared, voice raw.

I didn’t remember moving, but suddenly I was sprinting across the compound, bullets hissing past like angry wasps. My men surged forward at the sight of me, pushing back harder. Something shifted in them, seeing me snap like that, seeing me lose control. The fear in their eyes disappeared, replaced by fire.

“Push the east side! Lock it down!” I barked, voice cracked with fury. “No one gets past this line! Not one!”

The gates became a wall of bodies and bullets. Mirov’s men tried to push through, but my crew, trained, loyal, lethal, doubled down. Whatever advantage the enemy thought they had evaporated in the face of our rage. This wasn’t just strategy anymore. This was vengeance. I cut across the lawn, vaulting a low barrier, not even slowing for the gunfire that cracked around me. A few of my guys flanked close, shielding me without question. I barely heard them shouting behind me. All I could see was her, Sage, twisted awkwardly in the dirt and broken branches. Her mask had fallen askew, silver hair tangled in blood and leaves, and her shoulder… fuck. Her shoulder was torn open, blood soaking through her jacket in angry rivers. She was breathing. Bately. I dropped to my knees beside her, hands trembling as I brushed hair from her face, checking for signs, eyes fluttering, chest rising. She groaned, soft and pained, and I felt my heart lurch back into motion.

I’m here, ghost. I’ve got you,’ I whispered, voice thick.

Gunfire cracked behind us, but my men were holding the line. Holding for her.

“Sage, stay with me,” I said, peeling back her jacket to see the wound. It was bad. Deep. The bullet had punched clean through her shoulder and taken a jazzed piece of flesh with it. I pressed down with one hand, trying to stem the bleeding while the other fumbled for my comms.

“Get med on the north lawn, now! She’s hit! I snapped.

No hesitation. I could already hear boots pounding behind me, my men converging with renewed fury. This was personal now. Mirov hadn’t just sent a message, he’d touched something sacred. The rooftop might have been her domain, but down here… this was mine. I kissed her forehead, her skin clammy against my lips. “You don’t get to check out now, Sage. You hear me? You started this fight. Now stay alive so we can finish it.” And then I turned, my back to her as I rose with blood still on my hands and fire in my gut. The storm wasn’t over. Not yet. I planted myself between Sage and the chaos, every nerve on fire. She was still breathing, shallow, but there. That was all I needed to keep moving. My men were monsters when they were angry, and right now? They were furious.

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7:58 pm P P DD

PPD

Between The Bullets.

“Clear the west corner!’ I barked into my comms. No one crosses that fence. You see a shadow, you drop it.”

I glanced over my shoulder. Sage’s lips were parted, eyes fluttering under blood-slick lashes. Her body was motionless except for the uneven rise and fall of her chest. My gut twisted.

“Hold on, baby,” I murmured, crouching to check her pulse again. Still strong, still fighting.

Bullets whizzed overhead as my men made their final push. The yard lit up in a strobe of muzzle flashes. Mirov’s men were breaking, some retreating, others falling in place. They’d underestimated us. They hadn’t planned for her. And they damn sure hadn’t planned for what I’d become when she was bleeding out at my feet. A shout went up, one of mine. “Last of them on the run!”

‘Let ’em go, I growled. “We got what we needed, let ’em carry the warning back.”

The medic finally broke through the line, gear slung over one shoulder, eyes wide as he saw Sage on the ground. He didn’t waste time with questions.

“Through-and-through, high in the shoulder,” I snapped, stepping aside but never straying far. “She lost blood, but she’s conscious. You can save her.”

He nodded, already pulling gloves on, voice calm as he started assessing her. My hands were still covered in her blood, and I didn’t care. I knelt close, one hand on her knee, grounding her, grounding myself.

“She’s going to make it,” the medic muttered after a tense beat.

Damn right she was. Because she wasn’t done, and neither was 1.

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7:58 pm PpDD.