Love Unspoken

"Man, this is nuts. Where the heck did they vanish to?" Alistair fumed, chucking the remote control across the room. "Over a hundred drones, and they still can't track down three people!" Landon was off the grid, but he did pop up in some drone footage.

Alistair grabbed the remote again and started relaying danger zones to Landon so he could steer clear.

Sean, spotting a drone, scrambled up a thick tree and stayed put, barely breathing.

He had no clue what was up with Alexander, Quinn, or Matthew; he was totally cut off.

Alistair and his crew were combing through the jungle. By the afternoon, one of his guys reported that a bunch of helicopters were heading towards their base from outside the canyon. Hearing this, Alistair ditched the search for Alexander and hauled most of his men back.

As soon as they broke out of the jungle, they saw helicopters buzzing in the sky, making a beeline for their base.

They could hear explosions in the distance, and thick smoke was billowing up from the base.

Alistair's eyes went wide, his legs turned to jelly, and he plopped down on the ground.

"What the hell?" Alistair blurted out.

Hetastian was just as stunned. "Where did those choppers come from?"

Alexander and his crew had just shown up; no way they had the pull to get that many helicopters. And they were bombing the place like they owned it! "Check out the markings on those birds," Hetastian suddenly said.

Alistair squinted, rubbing his eyes, and saw a big black skull on the wing.

Now his legs weren't just weak; he couldn't even stand.

He stammered, "How the hell is Alexander tied to the Obsidian Circle?"

The Obsidian Circle was the top dog around here, the biggest player. Everyone had to play by their rules.

But they usually stayed out of these turf wars, let alone start one.

Sending a fleet of helicopters to bomb his base was next-level crazy.

It showed just how bold and ruthless they were. If they had you in their sights, getting out alive was a long shot.

Alistair turned to Hetastian, panicking. "What do we do now?"

Hetastian frowned, looking grim. He was just as clueless.

All the mercenaries behind them lost their nerve after seeing the skull markings.

Hetastian pulled out his phone. "Let's check in with our other spots."

To survive around here, you needed more than one base.

If they only hit this place, it meant they had a deal with Alexander but weren't tight with him. But if other spots were hit too, it meant the Obsidian Circle was out to wipe them out, and their connection with Alexander was deep. After making a few calls and getting the lowdown, Hetastian finally exhaled.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"The other places are good," Hetastian reported.

Alistair also breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

Hetastian added, "But, they might just not have gotten there yet."

Hearing that, Alistair deflated again.

"Let's just wait and see," he said.

Honestly, they didn't have the same beef with Alexander that Landon did. Losing one base was better than losing everything.

They didn't even dare to go over, just stood there helplessly as the helicopters bombed their base and then flew off into the distance.