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At that exact moment, the drones separated and sped forward. One of them headed right toward our SUV and Slash. The other headed toward the middle of the motorcade. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Slash raise his gun and pivot toward the drone while our driver struggled to get his weapon out of its case.

The wind gusted just as the first drone cleared the top of the tree, tossing it sideways and into a whipping branch. It tumbled for a fraction of a second before it was replaced with a bright flash, followed by a large concussion. The truck protected me from the bulk of the blast, but Slash had been momentarily staggered and went down on one knee.

“Suicide drones,” our driver shouted at Slash over the voices of the screaming onlookers as they belatedly understood the danger and scattered. The agent finally got his weapon free and swung it around looking for the other drone.

My mouth dropped open when I got a good look at his gun. It was the most bizarre thing I’d ever seen. It looked like a thick ray gun from an old science fiction movie, with a series of strange rings along the barrel.

Before I could process that, Tito dashed across the street and positioned himself near the tree that had just been blasted by the first drone. “The other one is coming around the end of that tree line,” he yelled, pointing to his left toward the end of the motorcade.

I looked where Tito pointed. Seconds later the drone appeared just as he’d said.

A blast from Slash’s shotgun was echoed by other guns from the motorcade, followed by an abrupt explosion of the drone. Bits of metal and plastic bounced off the hood of nearby vehicles, although all I saw was the brilliant afterimage of the explosion. With my eyes shut, I heard people screaming and the sound of sirens in the distance. Had the sirens just started, or had they been going on and I only just noticed them. My momentary sense of relief at the destruction of the drones was brief when I remembered there were still two more in the park.

When I opened my eyes, Elvis had joined me beside the truck. “Lexi, are you okay?” he asked.

“Not really. How about you?”

“Also, not really. What’s going on?”

“Apparently, we’re under attack from suicide drones. I didn’t even know that was a thing.”

“Well, now we know.” He sighed. “Seriously, what else can possibly happen before your wedding?”

“Do. Not. Say. That. Ever. Again.” I gave him a stern glare.

He looked at me in surprise. “Since when did you become superstitious?”

“Since the universe seems determined to prevent Slash and me from getting married in the church. We donotneed to tempt fate or my little black cloud any further.”

“Good point. I don’t think I could handle any more stress.”

“That makes two of us.”

I looked across the park to where the other two drones had been hovering in the same position. Except now, I could only see one of them. “There are two more drones, and now one is missing. This is not a positive development.”

Elvis followed my gaze. “I bet those were the backup drones. If so, that means there are probably just two operators.”

I turned sharply toward him. “How do you know that?”

“Logic?” He lifted his hands. “Look, I know a bit about drones. Xavier and I have a couple of them. My guess is they launched the first two drones and put them on hover, letting the onboard AI keep them level. Then they switched over to command and launch the other two against us. If for some reason those failed, they could switch back to the first pair quickly, as they were already airborne and positioned. Since there’s only one drone left, it’s logical to assume at least one operator has resumed control of one of the backups. But I’m not sure why the other backup drone is still just hovering there. Whoever is attacking us should have retaken control of it by now.”

I noticed that our driver was standing still and pointing his sci-fi-looking weapon at that last drone. Perhaps that was why it wasn’t moving.

“Stay here,” I told Elvis. “I’ll be right back.”

Before he could protest, I slid along the side of the truck toward the front of the vehicle, momentarily freaking out when I came to a painted image of a werewolf on the side.Costume Werehouse for all your party accessories. The weird-looking wolf scared the crap out of me.

When I passed the cab, the driver didn’t even notice me. The man was staring intently at his phone. Explosions and gunfire going on all around him, and the guy was still absorbed in his phone. What was wrong with people?

Shaking my head, I slipped around the front of the truck and scuttled over to Slash. He was scanning for the missing drone while the Secret Service agent stood frozen, aiming his weapon at the other hovering drone.

“What are you doing, Lexi?” Slash asked calmly without taking his gaze from the sky. “Did I not tell you to take cover?”

I ignored the question. “Elvis thinks there are only two operators controlling the drones. He believes the first pair we saw were backups and were prepositioned and hovering in case the second ones failed to allow a quick follow-up attack. He thinks they’ll switch to the backups as soon as the first ones explode.”

“That’s a highly plausible scenario,” Slash said after a moment. “And it means that we have one attacker unaccounted for.”

“Why is the other drone just hovering there?” I asked.