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He didn’t

Howie Frazier was a Graysheet prodigy, trained in hand-to-hand, any weapon that fired and all those that cut

His fists worked John top to bottom

Frazier was unprepared to have Jade juh to distract Howie and save John froround, too beaten tofrom every orifice he possessed His state of mind had shut down to the barest impulses and he’d never wished harder in that moment that he was AP If he could have escaped the pain of this body and su but bear witness to Jade’s assault

And Tiff re horror in the pit of his sto Jade around and punch her in the face Like she was a guy She fell like a liainst thehim away on a black sea that rushed toward death

Caleb

I aith Clyde’s face in front of rave; vu slide overme a case of chicken flesh

I sat for several ht, I was a total blank

That ended when my parents stuck their heads beside Clyde’s

"You did it, I thought he was going to" Mo over the knuckles of her hand, her eyes tightly shut against theround

The pieces of the disaster tu like rain

But that’s not what fell Snow floated frolared down on the ashes of the Weller ho my head and cried in front of my parents, my friends, and the troop of responders that were all in various stages of wakefulness

Clyde wrapped me in his arms "We will find her, Master"

I knew Frazier had her before Clyde confirmed it with his words

I saw Jezebel stooped over Terran and ran to his side, sliding in beside hinature hover on hting death

And I was its master

I had never beengiven to hi life

I weighed my options

Finally, I took John’s cold hand in round

I held death at bay as John’s blood soaked through the knees ofoffour joined hands Men’s hands

Jezebel worked as aa unit into hie hand grip one shoulder; Dad’s the other

We waited and I focused on John as Frazier got a head start

Withup and nobody knehy I watched the medics fold him into the back of the aed between the two of us to stabilize him

But Jezebel still had a day’s worth of work to do on hi suspicion we knew exactly as behind that

And Jade was even now in the hands of soood one

I was noithout my Null side-kick

I couldn’t ask hts while gearing up to try to find Jade somehow

Then Jonesy was there "I have an idea, Hart"

He looked at me and I said, "Now’s not the time for bullshit, Jones"

"Hey man" He held up his hands "No bullshit"

"K, lay it on et the hell out of here before the ’officials’ round us up for the cattle call" He gavefor Jade if they took et shot up with the reversal juice

Jonesy studiedthat brain of his show "I see that you feelThe wail of the sirens taking Gramps and John to our hoh the sloppy snow that slushed all over the road, now dangerous and icy

I looked at the parents My dad gave ed and Dad looked at her "He’s no safer here" He nailed her with a stare "In fact, he erous!" Mom sounded off loudly

Dad and I looked at each other then he turned to face Mo her by the shoulders "So is he," Dad said sloith each word articulated in crystal clear distinction

Jonesy did a sot near his parent’s car I glanced behind

Jonesy’s car of the day was his dad’s four wheel drive Jonesy rooted around, tossing Micah’s car seat in the back, while I tried not to think of Jade or Gramps or John "I hate all this baby shit!" hea bunch of pacifiers and other crap in the back

"There!" he said, sliding in I ripped around the back and found the door being opened forMaster"

"It’s Caleb," I corrected automatically

Clyde shook his head "Today it is not Today ork together as necro between us, his ar over the back of the seat between us I felt his light suction of death energy right off the top of what leaked froeyser of death

Jonesy pulled away in the muck of the weather that covered the roadway just as une of the Weller ho

I knewto the four corners of the world and turned around, my back to the scene

Jade, h I put hts out of it or scream or both

Instead I asked, "What’s the plan?"

Jonesy grinned and I wanted to pop hi and Tiff John wasn’t here to help her and from what I could tell back there, there’d been a beat down on John It didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that he’d been the only one left standing after Frazier’s mass sleep command John was too powerful a Null to succuht for Jade

And lost

Kinda like losing the battle of consciousness I had It was thein the world: I could co with a Manipulator, he’d uilt wouldn’t help her now I needed to stay out of rew on his dark face Those nearly black eyes glanced away froet that fucktard, Has were, I laughed and Clyde frowned I explained