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Chapters (58)
  1. DEDICATION
  2. PART 1
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. PART 2
  17. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  21. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  22. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY
  34. PART 3
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. PART 4
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  55. CHAPTER FIFTY
  56. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  57. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  58. ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

The Partial’s boot clicked against the floor, closer than before. He was almost on her. I have one chance. She closed her eyes, remembering the layout of the room, hoping she hadn’t gotten turned around. She opened her eyes and ran.

She heard a soft whoosh of air, and something darted past her in the air, missing her by inches. She dodged to the side, running in a different row, then dodged back again. Another whoosh, and another tranq dart slammed into a computer tower right as she passed it, close enough that she flinched involuntarily. She leapt over a body, sensing rather than seeing that it was Samm. There were footsteps behind her, pounding heavily on the floor, charging toward her at top speed. Almost there. The Partial knew he had her, that she had nowhere to go. A great round shape loomed up in the darkness and she slid against it, searching frantically in the dark for the thick lever handle on the generator. She found it, slammed it down, and stepped back into the aisle.

The lights came on and the Partial stumbled just two yards away, blinded by the sudden burst of light overloading his night-vision faceplate. Kira raised her pistol and shot him three times in the helmet: crack, split, and through into his head. He dropped like a bag of sand.

DEATH.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Afa had been shot through the thigh by a bullet from one of the invaders�� guns—the only shot that had been an actual bullet. The rest of the shots turned out to be tranq darts, presumably intended to incapacitate their victims. The same bullet had also shattered Afa’s screen, and Kira wondered which had been the true target: the man, or the data? Had the Partials followed them here to capture them, or to stop them from learning what was on the computer? Had it been both?

Kira couldn’t help but wonder if it had been neither. She glanced at Heron, slowly regaining consciousness on the floor. Had she shot Afa? Had Samm? What motive could either of them possibly have for doing so, and why now? If they were colluding with the attackers, why go through the ruse of pretending to get tranqed? That would only make sense if they knew they were going to lose, and if they knew they were going to lose, why bother with the attack at all? It didn’t make any sense, and Kira knew it; the most likely explanation was that the Partial attackers had come to kill Afa and capture the others. Even so, Kira couldn’t shake the lingering doubts. How could the Partials have even found them, unless someone had provided them with a location? She cursed herself for not keeping one alive to interrogate, though she had to admit that she’d barely made it out alive as it was.