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I certainly wasn’t about to juain

Instead, I shot toto stuff that I- with the shaky, sweaty dizziness that threatened to engulfthat ca me I tapped into it I used it

I wasn’t even sure this would work, but it wasn’t like we had a lot of options at this point That aircraft up there was closing in on us We were running out of time When I narrowedmy spine, stars erupted inover and yanking atstraight at usbesides that drone thing, I mean I had to assume it was soe, as Siht before he’d grabbed for htly altered And even though I couldn’t say for sure that I’d been the one responsible, I couldn’t say I hadn’t been either

Regardless of the reason, that slight alteration h, and the h

It was close, though

There was a bright flash when the round, followed immediately by a shock-wave explosion Black se flames that expanded in every direction It was so close I could taste bits of sand, dirt, and fuel It took several seconds for ments of debris from my lashes, but when I did, I flipped back around and saw that the aircraft had regained its trajectory

I concentrated again and wondered if I even had it in azillion tier than any library book or T-shirt But this wasn’t just fear I was channeling I was learning the feel of this ability I knew the way itthe drone for onetwothree seconds, less than one full breath

It wasn’t kinda like being on the mound; it was exactly like that That sale- else

Then I unleashed everything I could h me, out ofthat threatened us, the saent Truman had threatened my dad, the same way I had when Simon had , to divert it so far off its flight path, it couldn’t find us again

And at first I thought I’d done just that, as it wavered

But I’d th, just like when I’d tossed that softball to Tyler, and it didn’t just shift off course My sto out of control My hand coveredto track its trajectory

"What the?" I tried to say, but nothing ca slowed as I watched the drone’s nosedive descent Behind me, Simon slammed on the brakes just as the aircraft slammed into the earth

The blast was more massive than the missile’s had been--the flareasier as it choked ed my nose hairs

"I take it that was a mistake," Simon said blandly