CORBIN HAD TO LAUGH a little at the incongruity of it: Had she simply not seen him from his position atop the Gingerbread House? Or had she somehow decided to spare him, perhaps because he had killed her rapist? Either way, he knew the game had just changed ... and it had changed entirely in his favor. Now he alone would decide who lived and who died and what shape the Shambhala would take when it was all over. Indeed, he could nudge the conflict in whatever direction he desired simply by maintaining his position and assisting some while actively working against others—like the Nazis. Or Red. Or Big Blue, wherever she was.
And then there was a single Crack! which cut the air like a knife, and he sensed Chairman Dean stiffen suddenly beside him; and when he looked to see what had happened
