The explosion left a scar on the sky.
For hours, the convoy drove in silence. The mushroom cloud faded behind them, but the image was burned into their minds.
They stopped in a box canyon as the sun began to set. The red rocks of the Badlands turned the color of dried blood.
Axton sat in the back of the command truck. He watched his father.
Valerius Warborne was sleeping. His chest rose and fell in a shallow rhythm. He looked frail. His skin was translucent, his hair thin and white.
But he was alive.
Marcus checked the monitors. "Radiation levels are normal. We're clear."
"We're not clear," Ryn said, sharpening her knife by the door. "We just blew up a Heptarchy black site. Argus will hunt us to the ends of the earth."
"Let him come," Axton said.
He didn't look away from
