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He’d known this would happen--had banked on it He’d shown Cole the ca that Cole was the kind of person ouldn’t be able to let it go, seeing others like him treated so da about the odds of an actual rescue After all, how many times had he beaten the odds?

He never had a chance

The words blistered overrush that ran from my te the door in front of me into two, then four I saw, rather than felt, ot, the further back I seeedI reray static, washing over h un in my hand, and it was pointed at Lillian Gray’s head

22

"--DOING? STOP IT, STOP--"

"--Ruby, wake up!"

"You can’t do this--stop--Ruby--STOP!"

I was floating underwater, deep enough where there was nothing but sweet, cool darkness I didn’t need to entle current, and it was takingThis was better than the pain

"--look at me! Look at me! Ruby!"

The voices were distorted by the waves, stretched into a long, continuous drone The words filled the spaces between heartbeats, the steady ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum in my ears I didn’t want the for the source of the words, forcing s, Boss

There was no one there The black currents aroundskin There was nothing there

Ges Where are you?

Roo, are you okay?

I thrashed against the water, stretchinght, a pinprick of it, growing larger, waiting--

Coed, clawed ! Stop her!"

"Ruby!"

I slammed back into my own mind The thick, murky water drained around me as reality took shape The static, dry sainst the nearby white wall Nico’s face, bloodless, hands up in front of hiun in my hand to the pale-haired woman on the floor, her ar at Nico again as the gun ca like it had held the weight for hours Comprehension dawned in his eyes, and I saw his stance relax, only to tense again as he shouted, "Vi, no!"

One round, pain consuht I’d been laid out flat by a hit between the shoulder blades, and what breath I had left flew out of round