Kyle Sterling lay motionless on the cold ground, his final breath slipping away into the silence that followed the gunshot. The echo of it still lingered in the broken halls, as if the building itself had witnessed something irreversible.
For a second, no one moved.
Then Jax Mordecai rushed forward, stumbling over debris as he fell to his knees beside the lifeless body.
"No… no… Kyle…" his voice cracked, shaking as his hands searched for a pulse that was no longer there.
He pressed his fingers harder, as if refusing to accept what his senses were telling him.
Nothing.
Kyle was gone.
A storm of anguish twisted across Jax's face, his breath turning heavy, uneven, filled with disbelief and rage.
"How dare you…"
His hand shot toward his weapon, raising the gun with trembling fury, pointing it straight at Miles Sterling.
Miles stood still.
Calm.
Unshaken.
A faint smirk curved on his lips.
