enzy, stinging her eyes, but she didn't care. She threw

Craig!

ainst the grey asphalt. The city skyline was shrinking in the rearvi

s hands cramped. He wasn't laughing. Sweat beade

he shouted over the roar of the en

ed fingers digging into his shoulder. Her eyes

ped her

nfetti falling like snow, the crowds screaming your nam

his ego. He was a man who lived on validat

sked, his voice tr

nd dead within the year. I saw his motorcade burn on the interstate, Craig.

n to recede, replaced by the intoxicating heat of ambit

tered. "I like t

he library was stale, recycled through

e tablet screen. The graph line of the Graves Group stock was

. She was pacing, her heels sinking int

ered, rubbing her temples. "The Blackwel

esk. "They want a connection to the Graves political

the corner. He looked like a man waiting for a

file from her bag and slapped it onto the desk. "Her

to the file. Greed, sharp and

rick abandonment clause. A ridiculous stipulation her mother insisted on, meant to keep her away from f

over of the file. The numbers inside were the

the old w

den, Brooke kne

ir of rusted

fell to the ground.

ging them. She w

It wasn't jewelry. It was a bone-conduction receiver, vibrating with

er expression didn't change. B

lling her. They were

out her phone. Her thumb hovered over

ten. Execute Protocol 4. Pre

hit

she fe

ke a distant subway train, then growing, sw

n't th

er black dress. She looked toward the mai

hip of a nearby g

ing down! Repeat, the lead v

er phone. She pic

e," she

AS

d was ap

ad stood for a century, shrieked as they were torn f

d through the debris without even tapping its brakes. B

p the steps to

er. The Grand Dame and Mistress Yun

tress Yun shrieked.

calmly, not looking back. "Or at

ot of the stairs. Dust billowed up, coat

ammed back into the courtya

ck tinted windows of the lead car. She didn't flinch. She tigh

for a groom. She wa