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Her shadow, Zhuang, already had a phone at his ear, talking swiftly, h the rain from below

Another explosion erupted, sounding farther away

Guan-yin followed her lieutenant to the ing Gray and Kowalski with her She translated what she overheard fro

“Ce from all directions at once”

Gray pictured the large vehicles squeezing down the narrow canyons surrounding thishere in a coordinated assault But they were not cement trucks

Another blast from another direction

but bombs on wheels

So this entire place down around their ears Gray could guess who: Ju-long Delgado He must have discovered Gray and Kowalski had coh here would be hard to miss

“We need to get out!” Gray warned “Now!”

Zhuang heard hiet you to safety”

Guan-yin stood her ground, back straight, the dragon shining ry face “Mobilize the Triad,” she ordered “Get as many residents to safety as possible”

Gray pictured the mass of humanity below

“Use our underground tunnels,” she said

Of course, the Triad would have secret ways into and out of their stronghold

“Youpressed

“After you pass on that order”

It seeo doith her ship—and it was co crashes echoed as parts of the complex collapsed The pall of black smoke now covered the entire wall of s, as if driven upward by the muffled screams from below

Zhuang returned to his phone, shouting now to be heard Mohout the co across its onhead was spread to all

Only then did Guan-yin relent

Zhuang wisely led her away froh a double set of doors to the same stairs they had climbed earlier

“Hurry now! We must reach the tunnels!”

As they descended at a run, pandelowed below Several floors down, a section of bridge that had spanned the space suddenly broke, spilling a handful of flailing people into the fiery depths The apartan to fold in on itself, i crookedly away, slowly ripping itself free from the other towers

Gray ran faster now, leaping fro at her side, Kowalski trailing

A thunderous crack shook the stairs, sending them all to their knees

The entire stairwell began to peel from the side of the tower

“This way!” Gray hollered

He leaped froap, and reached the tower’s exterior hallway that faced the courtyard The others followed Guan-yin tripped, slipping out of her lieutenant’s are—but Kowalski scooped her up and vaulted with a bellow to join Gray