17: Part 2

Previously published as 17 Part 2 by Ricky K. Rivers.Ten-year-old Menlha Kyab's grief has frozen his village. Now powerful factions are closing in on the child at the center of the storm.Still searching for his brother, Emmett Klein takes his first mission with Danielle LeGrand: reach Kyab before another faction can claim him. But the moment they arrive in Tibet, the mission splits in two. Danielle discovers a human auction with captives in immediate danger, while Kyab remains alone, unstable, and hunted for a power he barely controls.Saving the captives could cost them the child they came to protect. Staying on mission means leaving people in the hands of those preparing to sell them.Emmett and Danielle both refuse to treat people as expendable. They just cannot agree on which lives must come first.When they separate to answer different emergencies, Emmett's belief that no one should be sacrificed stops being an argument and becomes a test: how much can one person save before trying to save everyone starts costing the people beside him?