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"You’re okay," Clancy told an to tap out a rhyth happen to you"

The blood roared infro their skin torn clear off the bone It sounded like pain, and terror, and desperation The pitch of the h the walls increased in intensity as each nity and above all the will to accept their fate

I felt, rather than heard, the footsteps thundering down the hall I couldn’t tell howin perfect tie room door burst open in an explosion of s inat his face when the PSFs barged in The anticipation there gave way to blank incoe Whatever Clancy had been expecting, it wasn’t two Psi Special Forces soldiers

He didn’t even have to touch the a hand out in their direction "Get out! Tell your superior that there was no one here!"

The man in front, his body hidden under layers of fabric and body arainst the device in his ear and said, in a ave to the other tas a sied out of the roo off the smoke

That the fires had started with the his head A fist flew out and smashed into the nearby shelf, its iunfire outside "Where are my Reds? Why didn’t he send them?"

He brought a bruised knuckle to his lips and began to suck on it, pacing the short length of the room His breath came out in short bursts, and seehts

My Reds His--the way that he spoke about them left no doubt in my mind what the iraht Not his father’s

I could see the different shards of the fractured full picture in front of ram, I hadn’t known hi--not enough to piece together the clues he had unintentionally left for le person in the world that was immune to his abilities, not even President Gray

Clancy was still stalking across the roo with each spray of gunfire Then he stopped, looking up at the s and the sainst theh voice that I wasn’t sure he kneas speaking aloud "Which one of theured it out? I was so careful So goddamn careful--"

He turned on his heel and stalked back toward me, and I saw the truth of it all written on his face The same hand that bled with newly split skin had been the same one to coax his father, his advisers, anyone and everyone it took, to consider Project Jamboree Hadn’t he said that before his father realized he was controlling hiram ran smoothly, and that the kids were treated well?

He clearly could have done more than that If he had all of East River under his shat’s to say he couldn’t have controlled a small army of Reds, too?

Clancy must have seen the realization in et sometiured out I was ether that Project Jamboree came from me I made sure of it after I escaped--I even left East River to check on them from time to time, to make sure my influence was still there I timed the leak of East River’s location perfectly with the end of their training program"

One hand ca in his voice when he spoke again "I grew up idolizing him, but when I sahat he really hat he could do to his own son--" His words choked off slightly "Who was it? Who tipped him off? Hoould he have known to send the PSFs instead? I should be controllingup toward New York to take hi the front ofh that I alle word The bullets and screahts S everything in its path With no warning, Clancy’s hands released lided up ers closed around oing to kiss hter than before, but no less urgent Clancy looked up, annoyance creasing his forehead

I didn’t see what happened next, only the afterh that there was an audible crack as his head connected with the back wall His body tore down the shelves of pasta and flour, landing in a messy pile on the floor

Chubs’s upside-down face appeared over lasses were scratched and bent, and his face and shirt were stained with soot, but he didn’t look like he was hurt

"Ruby! Ruby, can you hear me? We need to run" Why did he sound so calm? Gunfire roared in my ears, an endless stream of tiny pops and explosions "Can youother than shake ritted his teeth and slipped his aretting us out of here Move when you can"

Outside the safety of the Office, there was no escaping the noises My heart lurched to life, pounding against as and smoke coated the air in thick layers Everywhere there was fire--on the ground, cli onto cabin roofs My face and chest felt like they had caught, too The wind blew the fire so close to us that Chubs had to pat runted, and I kneas struggling to keep us going under ht I wanted to tell him to drop me, to take the letters in Liam’s jacket and run