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She looked atthe room like a calzone stuffed with dynamite

Uh-oh …

2

I scrambled into the hall as the doorway exploded behind me The blast threw me face-first into the wall, and I heard a crunch

On one hand, I was relieved The crunching sound ranted ry killingme

I pushed myself back from the wall and dashed down the metal hallhich was lit by the ht, frantic Which way? Right, I think

“I found Prof,” Abrahay bubble He looks frustrated”

“Throw Kool-Aid on it,” I said, panting, dodging down a side hall as electric blasts ripped apart the hallway behind me Sparks She was furious

“I’ down and pick up David”

“Roger,” Cody said A faint thu sounded over his communication line—the sound of copter rotors

“Tia, no!” I said, entering a roorabbed a backpack full of water balloons

“The plan is falling apart,” Tia said “Prof is supposed to be point, David, not you Besides, you just proved that the balloons don’t work”

I pulled out a balloon and turned, then waited a heartbeat until electricity for Sourcefield She appeared a second later, and I hurled my balloon at her She cursed and ju the wall

I turned and ran, shovingfor the balcony “She’s afraid of the Kool-Aid, Tia,” I said “My first balloon negated an energy blast We have the weakness right”

“She still stopped your bullet”

True I ju up for the zip line

It wasn’t there

Tia cursed infor? The zip line’s two apartments over, you slontze”

Sparks In my defense, hallways and roo’s made of steel

The thu my teeth, I leaped up onto the rail, then threw ht it by its railing,over one shoulder, backpack on the other, and hauled myself up

“David …,” Tia said

“Pri over a fen chairs that had been frozen in steel I reached the other side of the balcony and ju “I’ll take your silence as a yes,” I said, and leaped across

I hit hard, slarabbed one of the bars and looked doas dangling twelve stories in the air I shoved down my anxiety and, with effort, hauled myself up

Behind me, Sourcefield peeked out onto the balcony I’d left I had her scared Which was good, but also bad I needed her to be reckless for the next part of our plan Thather, unfortunately

I swung up onto the balcony, fished out a Kool-Aid balloon, and lobbed it in her direction Then, without looking to see if the balloon hit, I jurabbed the zip line handle, then kicked off

The balcony exploded

Fortunately, the zip line was affixed to the roof, not the balcony itself, and the cable reh the dark air aroundup speed Turns out those things are a lot faster than they look Skyscrapers passed

Ilurched aroundon the street

“Whoa,” I said, pushing round The city spun like a lopsided top My shoulder hurt, and although I’d heard a crunch as I hit, it hadn’t been loud The protective field that Prof had grantedout They could only take so much punishment before he had to renew them

“David?” Tia said “Sparks Sourcefield cut the zip line with one of her shots That’s why you fell at the end”

“Balloon worked,” a new voice said over the line Prof He had a strong voice, rough but solid “I’y bubble interfered with the signal”

“Jon,” Tia said to hiht her”

“It happened,” Prof snapped “David, you alive?”

“Kind of,” I said, stu up the backpac

k, which had slipped off as I rolled Red juice drink streah Looks like there ht be a few casualties”

Prof grunted “Can you do this, David?”

“Yes,” I said firmly

“Then run for the primary trap point”

“Jon,” Tia said “If you’re out—”

“Sourcefield ignored me,” Prof said “It’s just like before, with Mitosis They don’t want to fight ets to the team You remember the path, David?”

“Of course,” I said, searching for my rifle

It lay broken nearby, cracked in half in the middle of the forestock Sparks Looked like I’dthat anytiun there It sees

“Flashes in the s of that apart down,” Cody said fro toward the ground Chasing you, David”

“I don’t like this,” Tia noted “I think we should abort”

“David thinks he can do this,” Prof said “And I trust him”

Despite the danger of thethe Reckoners just how lonely my life had been Now, to hear words like those …

Well, it felt good Really good

“I’in et our troops into position”

“Roger,” she said reluctantly

Ifroht By it, I caught sight of solass, just old-fashioned wooden shutters we’d cut and placed there

In assassinating Steelheart, the Reckoners had basically declared all-out war on the Epics So retribution—butthe months since Steelheart’s fall, we’d alo