Page 94 of The Presidents Shadow

Khan’s plan required genius and patience, and—damnit—his plan worked.

CHAPTER 119

KHAN SEEMS DELIGHTED to have captured me. He parades around me like a winning fighter in the ring after a knockout. What’s more, there is nothing I can do about it—the parading, the strutting, the happy hatred that is spewing from his eyes.

Khan extends his right index finger. The very tip of that finger suddenly shoots out a long tapered weapon, a sleek bullet-shooter of some sort. He aims it frequently, carelessly, happily, at the quaking helpless heap that was once known as the Shadow.

Khan now speaks to me with contempt and strength.

“So, I have decided to extend an incomparable act of kindness to you. I will offer you a choice of destruction. You may choose to die by my handoryou can choose to die alongside all of your family and friends.”

“My family? My friends?” I ask. “But how?”

“Because you were stupid enough to inject yourself with the syringes I sent directly to your doorstep!” Khan crows.“That was a special delivery, to be sure. It wasn’t a vaccine, you fool. It was an injection of nanobots. They are present even now in your bloodstream—and those of your loved ones.”

From his pocket Khan produces a slim device with a single red button.

“All I have to do is press this button, and they will explode inside your veins. But… slowly. They will expand, but it will take minutes. Minutes that will feel like hours, days, years, as your body is ripped apart from the inside out. As will the bodies of everyone who injected themselves.”

God, how could I have been so stupid? When everyone else had no reaction to their injections, I assumed Dr. DaSilva’s gift was safe, not lying dormant waiting for a command. No wonder I became so weak right after Margo injected me. The nanobots must have interacted with my powers in some way, disarming and sickening me, although my immune system was eventually able to produce a response.

So, the choice is really no choice at all. I can die on my knees in front of Khan, executed by his own hand. Or I can allow those who were also injected to die along with me.

“I’ll die the way a hero does,” I tell Khan, lifting my chin. “Defending others. Kill me yourself, you coward.”

Khan only smiles and takes a step toward me, finger extended.

I close my eyes and dig deep, willing any semblance of strength I’ve ever had to rise to the surface. But the shockof Jericho’s death, the revelation of Khan’s involvement, and the fact that I myself participated in his success have zapped me of any powers. I have no faith in myself. I have no faith in my abilities.

My hands fall to my sides. I am defeated.

But… wait.

My fingers brush the top of the metal box, of Ambrose’s hideous creation, Terrageddon. He may have transferred its powers into his own body, but is it possible that some of its horrible capabilities remain? And do I dare use the weapon of one villain to destroy another?

The answer comes quickly, easily. Yes.

I said that I would die the way a hero does, by defending others. I can save my team who were injected by choosing to allow Khan to execute me by his own hand. If there is any chance that I can save everyone else from Newbola Strong by activating Terrageddon, so be it.

I choose to take the risk.

I choose be the hero.

I choose to save the world.

I open Terrageddon and press the Ignite button.

CHAPTER 120

THE EXPLOSION IS so powerful, so deafening, that the earth vibrates and trees fall around us.

Jagged fractures split the ground. The fissures look like riverbeds gone dry. They grow deeper and deeper, wider and wider. Then the cracked earth begins spitting out fire. The trembling of the land beneath us is relentless.

Shiwan Khan falls to the ground just as the fierce flames from the fire begin shooting increasingly upward. More trees fall. More crevices appear and crack open.

Yes. Like Kyoto. Yes. Like Harvard. The bad memories grab and dazzle my brain, my mind, my life.

Then… amid all the unbelievable chaos, something even more unbelievable happens.

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