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Back Containment
Chapters (48)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. TWENTY-THREE
  26. TWENTY-FOUR
  27. TWENTY-FIVE
  28. TWENTY-SIX
  29. TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. TWENTY-NINE
  32. THIRTY
  33. THIRTY-ONE
  34. THIRTY-TWO
  35. THIRTY-THREE
  36. THIRTY-FOUR
  37. THIRTY-FIVE
  38. THIRTY-SIX
  39. THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. THIRTY-NINE
  42. FORTY
  43. FORTY-ONE
  44. FORTY-TWO
  45. FORTY-THREE
  46. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  47. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  48. Copyright

“I really don’t know. His own, I think.” I considered Liam for a minute, the terror in his eyes when he mentioned the . . . what did he call them? The zemdyut. “I believe this much: he is genuinely afraid of the aliens. He’d do anything to keep from facing them again. Other than that, you don’t have to worry. I don’t trust him at all.” And I still didn’t know what he’d wanted with my comm device. I ran my fingers over the sleek metal. Part of me really wanted to run into the guy again and get some answers. Part of me hoped he just stayed in his hole so we didn’t have to deal with him.

On the couch, Imani raised her head, apparently calmer now. “I’m with him on that. Whatever it takes to keep those things from coming back here, I’ll do it. Whatever it costs. We have to stop Omnistellar, Kenz. You know that, right?”

“I do,” I told her, and a sudden burst of warmth surged in my chest. For a moment, just a moment, I felt like I had at Omnistellar training camps. Part of something. Like I belonged, knew my place, knew my heart. I risked a smile and Imani returned it—determined and grim but a smile nonetheless.

Cage scraped the last of the raisins out of the bag of fruit, then set the empty container and his water bottle on a nearby shelf. “Everyone okay? I really think we should get out of here. We don’t know how far the hunters are behind us.”

The question was really for Imani, who sighed but nodded. Jasper squeezed her arm once more as they got off the couch and we reassembled at the door, Cage and me in the lead. Having him by my side reassured me. Somehow, no matter what happened, the two of us kept winding up together. We had problems to work out, but in terms of survival, we were at our best side by side, and I knew everything would be all right as long as we stayed together.

At least until we opened the door to find the Silver Oni lurking in the corridor.

TWENTY-SIX

“YOU!” I CRIED. CAGE, REED, and I all skidded to a halt simultaneously, crashing into one another and almost toppling to the floor. We struggled for footing as the bounty hunter pivoted on us. He was of average height and build, but something about his posture combined with the mask gave him a distinctly threatening look.

He raised his weapons: a stun gun in his left hand and, no lie, a shiny silver sword in his right. I knew enough about Japanese weaponry from my obsession with RMDG5 to know it wasn’t a katana or a wakizashi, but it was a reasonable replica—with some modern upgrades, as I realized when electricity arced along the blade.