Page 27 of Charged By the Razorbacks

Aleksy followed behind him, steady and unshaken despite the weight in his arms, Naomi held securely against him as if nothing in this environment could touch her. Jarek trusted that. If Aleksy had her, she was safe.

Tamsin moved at his side without being told, slipping into position like it had always been hers. Her steps were light, deliberate, her blade already in her hand, angled low and ready. She didn’t hesitate, didn’t question, didn’t look to either of them for direction.

She simply moved with them.

And God, she was something to watch.

Even now, when everything in him should have been locked on the threat ahead, his awareness kept circling back to her. Her hair had come loose during the fight, the dark magenta strands falling free around her face, catching the dim light as she turned her head, tracking movement he hadn’t even registered yet. Her blue eyes were sharp, focused, alive with the kind of intensity that didn’t flicker under pressure.

Her body didn’t move like it should have, not for someone built the way a woman should be. She had curves where angles would have been easier, but she didn’t work around them. She used them. Every shift of her hips, every turn of her shoulders, every strike carried a fluidity that made her harder to read, harder to predict.

Jarek exhaled slowly through his nose, dragging his attention back where it belonged.

Yeah. That’s going to get me killed.

A sound ahead cut through the moment, soft enough that it would have gone unnoticed if they hadn’t already been keyed into everything around them.

Jarek’s hand came up instinctively, stopping them both. Tamsin stilled immediately beside him, her body going quiet in a way that spoke of control. Behind them, Aleksy adjusted his stance without shifting his footing, keeping Naomi secure while opening his line of attack.

Movement hit from the shadows, fast and coordinated, three forms separating from the dark as they came at them from different angles.

Jarek moved first, because he always did. The first hybrid came straight for him, and he met it with force, driving forward instead of back, his strike landing hard enough to disrupt its momentum before it could fully commit. Bone gave under the impact, the crack sharp and final as he finished it with a blade to the hybrid’s eye without slowing.

To his right, Tamsin was already inside the second one’s guard. She didn’t retreat, didn’t give it space to recover. She stepped into it, her body turning close, both sai sliding in with precision that made the kill look effortless.

On his left, the third aimed for Aleksy, drawn by the vulnerability of what he carried. It didn’t get far. Aleksy shifted just enough to protect Naomi, his free hand coming up in a controlled, brutal motion, throwing a knife with deadly accuracy that ended the threat before it could reach them.

Silence followed again, thicker this time, the aftermath of movement settling back into stillness.

Jarek scanned the corridor slowly, not trusting the quiet, letting his gaze track every shadow, every corner, every place something could still be hiding.

Nothing moved.

“Clear,” he said, his voice low but certain.

Tamsin didn’t relax. She didn’t lower her weapons, didn’t ease the tension in her stance.

“Then we move,” she said, already stepping forward.

They pushed deeper, faster now, the exit drawing closer with every step. Jarek could feel the shift in the air before he saw it, the faint change that came with open space ahead, with air that hadn’t been trapped inside concrete walls.

The sound came from above, metal giving way under weight, and Jarek’s head snapped up just as the hybrid dropped from the overhead structure, its trajectory aimed directly at Tamsin.

“Down!”

He moved at the same time Aleksy did, both of them closing distance fast, but they were a fraction too far.

Tamsin didn’t drop.

Her sai came up in one clean, decisive motion, the strike angled perfectly as she took it through the throat before it could land. The body fell behind her, her momentum carrying her through the movement without breaking stride.

Jarek stilled for half a second, the breath leaving him in a rough exhale that bordered on a laugh.

“Yeah,” he muttered, shaking his head slightly. “You’re never getting left behind.”

She glanced back at him over her shoulder, her expression sharp, unbothered. “Try it.”

His grin came easy this time. “Wouldn’t survive it.”