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He just laughs. “Gonna be hard to go to the press when you’re dead.”

“Well, I’ve been on the phone back here with someone,” I say. “Not the press, but a person on the outside, who needs to hear from me within a set period of time or else I release a number of documents that I’ve already downloaded from theCedar Falls network. I’ve managed to get into everything, even stuff far above my security clearance.”

This is, of course, a lie. I haven’t done anything like that. Will he call my bluff?

Coltrain rubs his chin. “That’s it? That’s your bargaining chip?”

I shrug. “I mean, you can make it happen, right?”

“You killed Debbie. You killed two police officers here,” he says. “There are security guards from Cedar Falls you killed in New York City. You and your little pack, you’re stone cold murderers. You’re out of control. And you think that I can wave a magic wand and make the police not arrest you?”

“Yes,” I say.

He barks out a laugh and backs out of the room.

Jones stays there, covering me with her gun.

I look behind me at my mates inside the room in the attic, all of whom are looking me with incredulous expressions on their faces.

I look away, wincing. It’s going to work.

I mean, if it doesn’t work, they’re just going to shoot us.

We can’t die.

This isn’t the end.

Besides, that would be a terrible ending.

18

striker

IT’S FUNNY HOWCalix didn’t consult with any of us before committing all of us to go back to Cedar Falls.

It’s one thing for him.

He worked there. We were kept there like dogs in cages.

The bond is shot full of confusion, worry, and anger as we all climb into the back of the van that used to transport us when we were the hounds. We’re not handcuffed, not anymore, though we were at one point.

Calix convinced us to submit to it through the bond.

Well, Calix convinced Lotus and she rammed it down all our throats. There is so much crazy going on right now. After what Lotus did to us when she made us bite her…

And now this?

I have enough power in the hierarchy to make my displeasure known, but not enough to override her. She’s the omega. I’m her lead alpha, but that doesn’t mean I can stop her from controlling me.

And this is just… I’m supposed to simplyacceptit?

How does anyone accept that?

But Calix is eloquent, and he talked and talked and he made this happen, and they took off our handcuffs and the police are releasing us to Coltrain’s custody, and they’re ready to forget the whole thing even happened.

Calix got his cell phone back and a promise to give all of us cell phones, a promise to give us all sorts of things. He got Coltrain to say that he’ll figure out a way to restore us to our lives. We don’t know yet, because we’ve all been declared dead, but Coltrain said he can make it happen.

All of this because Calix threatened him with media exposure?