Chapter Three: A Wedding in the Clouds

“I don't calculate the best use of a life.” Fire tore through his wrist. A nearly invisible silver filament shot from beneath the bone and struck a steel beam. Shock held him for half a second. Then he swung, carrying Lin Wan across half the ballroom. Silence seized the guests. “So it is you,” she said. 11:09. Lu Chen snapped the cuffs and tethered three structural locks with his new silk. The gunman turned toward him; Lin Wan rolled and shot the weapon from his hands. They advanced back-to-back—she handled the attackers, he handled the bombs. The final charge was hidden in the bride's bouquet. Seven seconds remained. Lu Chen wrapped it in silk, smashed through a side window, and swung into the open sky.