The deepest sigh he ever remembered unleashing relaxed every strained muscle in his body, and he sank back against the window. Then, Zayne dropped the rope and scaled the rest of the building, not wanting to leave her alone longer than necessary.
By the time his boots landed on the ground, he felt faint from exhaustion, but so full of relief.
“We did it,” Kira said, grabbing him in a hug. A pause, and then she stumbled back.
He smiled beneath the mask. “Let's get you away from here.”
A grin. “No more climbing.”
“No more climbing.”
After spending hours so close to one another, she felt far away just walking by his side. They stuck to the shadows and kept their pace quick until they escaped the office buildings. Now Kira led him.
“I still have time,” she said.
“For what?”
She opened her pack, pulled on thick gloves, and placed one capsule of uranium on the ground. “Watch.”
Nothing happened. But she kept staring, so Zayne did too, curious about what had a civilian running around the manufacturing district with uranium.
By the five-minute mark, he thought she was delusional. “How long do we watch?”
“It'll be any second.”
Any second turned into several more minutes, but her enthusiasm didn't dim.
Something moved in the shadows. He reached for his gun. A tiny black drone flew for them.
What the hell?
Zayne aimed his weapon.
Kira held her hands out to him. “Don't shoot my baby!”
“Your baby?”
The drone flew down to the capsule, extended a short black arm, and pulled the uranium into itself.
“Put the gun away,” she said. “You're making me nervous.”
He lowered it to his side, stunned when the drone flew off.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Making magic.” She crouched, hands covering her mouth. “Three… Two… One…” Her voice was quiet with wonder.
Red erupted by the Phaedra's tower, and Zayne nearly ripped his gun back up on instinct. Instead, he holstered it and staggered forward a step as PXI swirled through the air in lines and curves, until the red streaks began to look like words.
HE LIES
Now Zayne crouched too, unable to breathe or stand.
SEIZE YOUR LIFE
The red words set the sky on fire. And Kira sat before it, one woman, one civilian, without a team or a single weapon, staring at the worst national security threat to ever come so close to the Phaedra's tower.
“Holy fucking shit,” Zayne said.
