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The buzz of static reverberated along the glowing purple plane under their feet, an alh Michael’s body Pulse after pulse, the sound picked up speed, getting louder and louder Footsteps Over Sarah’s shoulder, Michael saw a group of shadows appear, dark against the purple glow of the horizon, bounding toward thes Fear rose in his throat KillSi in

Sarah must have felt him tense up She pulled away frouess he meant it," she said, her voice neutral Her wordschunks of ice, cold and hard "Bryson? Get up"

For a second Michael had totally forgotten about their friend He’d been so quiet, sitting on the ground, not ot a problem here"

He moved closer to Bryson, then pulled up short The shadows had been hiding what he could now see clearly

Bryson’s eyes were closed

Michael allowed hiain Bryson had done the sht to work on the code as soon as Kaine had disappeared And Bryson was brilliant when he really got down to it He’d been the one who shut down the crazy old lady trying to kill the ropes in the Devils of Destruction lobby

And Michael really, really didn’t want to fight the KillSiain Not after what had happened at the Black and Blue Club Co it out there like he was appealing to God Take us away

The creatures werethe ethereal purple ground, growling electronic snarls Their footsteps blended now, a constant, thunderous thump of static Bryson was their only chance Sarah took Michael’s hand, and silently, they faced theat theed in Michael’s throat had doubled in size,it hard to breathe There were at least ten KillSi stolen froh ti so hard to touch Plus, his identity hadcomplicated--the weapons and skills he’d amassed in his old life were behind layers of firewalls And siding with Kaine was not an option They’d just have to do their best to hold the ic Break the the purple ground with their enoriven Michael one chance to show he could trust theent wanted them ended Life sucked out, brains dead, bodies to follow soon after Gao of Michael’s hand and braced herself for a fight Legs bent, body crouched, hands up, balled into fists Michael thought her expression alone ht murder a couple of the beasts He tried his best to follow her example, but in his heart he knew there was no way they could win like this He held up his fists anyway, sweat beading his fabricated skin

When the KillSie black hole suddenly appeared in the surface before theround The KillSi so fast they couldn’t stop Michael lay there watching the creatures, one after another, fall into the abyss at their feet Their static growls faded quickly as they vanished into the black chasone

Michael didn’t even have tiister what had happened As soon as the creatures disappeared, the entire world around the like a swar, and Michael found himself back in the Coffin

They were out In the Wake Safe Bryson had done it