xXx

  “No, you always responded to… less subtle motivation.”

  Xander chuckled. He couldn’t argue with that.

  “So, with you here and all that’s going on, now what?” he asked.

  “Continue being the rebel the world doesn’t know it needs,” Gibbons said. “Watch the watchers, fight the enemy from within.”

  “People have a seen a lot of things in me, but you’re the only one who ever saw a hero,” Xander said. “But it’s damn complicated.”

  “Really? Well, let me simplify it for you: kick some ass, get the girl, and try to look dope doing it.”

  Xander grinned. “Okay, Gibbons. I can definitely make that work.”

  Gibbons gave Xander a parting smile, then turned and started for the stairs. Xander saw someone waiting for Gibbons in the doorway: a young man who looked an awful lot like the soccer player Neymar. It looked like Gibbons wasn’t done recruiting yet.

  “Junior, let’s bounce,” Gibbons said to Neymar, and the two men headed down the stairs.

  Xander leaned back, put his hands behind his head, a big smile on his face.

  “Yeah, it is a wonderful world.”

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Special thanks to my wonderful editor Natalie Laverick and to my fantastic agent Cherry Weiner. Extra-special thanks to my amazing wife Christine, who took care of everything else in our lives while I finished this book under a tight deadline. Also thanks to everyone involved in making such a fun movie!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Shirley Jackson Award finalist Tim Waggoner has published over thirty novels and three short-story collections of dark fiction. He teaches creative writing at Sinclair Community College and in Seton Hill University’s MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program. You can find him on the web at www.timwaggoner.com.

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