He was on a slope, wrapped in a tangle with a Fixer. Both men were unconscious. Both were battered into bloody hulks. Belle could not wake Bunny up; his pulse was thin and his breathing too quick and shallow.

The Fixer’s breathing was labored and kept stopping. That alarmed her, and she ran down to the buildings and found a tarp. It took every ounce of her strength to get Bunny onto the tarp and then pull him down the slope and into a drainage ditch. When the Fixer’s heart stopped and his suit detonated, Belle covered Bunny with her own body.

It was nearly fifteen minutes before the first choppers arrived.

CHAPTER 177

EAST TEXAS CONVENTION CENTER

LABORDE, TEXAS

Santoro’s smile was genuine, but it wasn’t happy. It was a rictus grin, and in it were stress and anger, grief and shock, and a hatred so palpable it was like a fist. I’d killed his pet, his adopted daughter, his—well, whatever else she was.

I’d also blundered right into the heart of his operation. He had no idea that there was maybe 5 percent skill and the rest either blind, dumb luck or the perversity of the gods of war. Or some combination thereof.

What mattered was that I was here to end his plan and end him.

We’d fought twice before. The first time was aboard a cruise liner for the Sea of Hope event. Another charity fundraiser like Going Viral. We’d fought, and he whipped me and Ghost. If Mr. Church hadn’t come along at the right moment, that would have been the end of us. Church kicked Santoro’s ass and then threw him into a black site prison.

The second time was late last year at the D9 conference in Oslo. We’d beaten each other half to death, and maybe I’d gotten the upper hand at the end of it. Not sure, because right as things were going my way, I took a blast of Rage in the face. Next thing I remember is waking up cuffed to a bed because, apparently, I’d tried to kill Church and Belle. However, Belle shot me with Sandman.

This was round three, and the math had changed a lot since last year.

Santoro had murdered my entire family. He killed everyone I was related to by blood or marriage. The bomb that killed them all nearly killed Junie. And in that moment, something died in me, and something was born.