Kade found her mind online. The signature he’d taken from Hiroshi’s thoughts. Miranda Shepherd. He slipped into her stealthily. She was there, at the main table. There were people everywhere, on their feet, their hands coming together in applause. Miranda’s own hands were clapping. Her gaze was fixed on her husband, at the podium, grinning and warmly shaking the hand of Daniel Chandler.

Where was the bomb? How was it going to be triggered? How could he stop it?

Then a message flashed across Miranda Shepherd’s vision.

TOO LATE, FUCKER.

Kade felt Miranda Shepherd gasp in surprise. He reached out to find the process behind the message, to track it back to her controllers.

Then chaos.

White noise.

[CONNECTION LOST]

Kade slammed back into his body.

No, no, no!

Kade jumped online, searched on the church, looking for contact information, a way to warn the people there.

What he found was a headline instead.

BREAKING: MASSIVE EXPLOSION AT HOUSTON CHURCH

Oh no.

He waited, waited for more news. Who? How many? Dear God.

More headlines started to scroll across Kade’s eyes, coming in even as he watched.

FRONT RUNNER FOR TEXAS GOVERNOR AT GROUND ZERO OF BOMBING

Another link appeared. Images and video of fire and explosions from inside the building came next. A few cameras furthest from the blast were still running. The explosion had torn everyone and everything within fifty feet of the podium apart. The rest of the church was a raging firestorm. He saw chaos, men and women, racing, screaming, clothes and limbs aflame as they tried to scramble for the exit, collapsing from the fire and heat and smoke. Sprinklers futilely trying to douse the conflagration.

A commentator’s voice overlaid the video, talking about emergency response, help on the way, the number of people in the church, the likelihood that this was the deadliest terror attack in America since the Aryan Rising a decade ago.

Then another headline scrolled across Kade’s vision.

PLF CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR HOUSTON BOMBING.

Kade cut himself off from the flow of data.

Too late. Dear God. He’d chosen Sam, chosen to take Shiva down first.

Hundreds had died for his choice.

And war was one step closer.

FUCK!

He slammed his good hand into the rooftop tile next to him. He felt a flicker of something go across Shiva’s mind, some complex emotion. The man was still aware, still sensing, even as Kade’s back door held him there.

Kade clenched his jaw in a hard line, then burrowed deeper into Shiva’s mind. He still had work to do. He had to understand what Shiva had done with the back door so far, what minds he’d already reached, what hooks he’d sunk into them.

Then he had to destroy all the back doors. Forever.

SHOW ME WHAT YOU’VE DONE, Kade commanded Shiva. SHOW ME EVERYTHING.