EPILOGUEJAMES HELD HIS BREATH THE entire time Pearl was fiddling around behind his ear, loading something in through that secret micro-conduit. Fortunately, it took her less than a minute to do it, so he didn’t pass out or anything.
Passing out was the least of his concerns. He was scared something would go horribly wrong in these last few seconds; the Trick would have some new secret surprise for them, or it would self-destruct and explode his head, or God knew what other million possibilities he hadn’t even thought of. He couldn’t hide his fear from Matt, either, and that’s why Matt’s fingers dug into James’s shoulder so sharply. Thank God Matt’d chewed his nails off last night, worrying about this or he’d be drawing James’s blood.
James hadn’t been worried. Then. Truthfully, he was mo
