Deathtrap (Crossbreed #3)(44)
Where’s my dagger!
I glimpsed it across the apartment, but I didn’t dare go after it, or this guy would get away. Fighting wasn’t his priority so much as jumping out the damn window right behind me. My coat was becoming a hindrance, restricting movement, so I quickly took it off and flicked it aside.
Meanwhile, the Bangles were singing about waitresses bringing more drinks, and it made me notice the wine bottle on the bar. I grabbed it just as the Vampire slammed Christian across the sink, pinning him with a choke hold. Christian frantically swung his arm around in search of a weapon, so I put a potato scrubber in his hand. He gave me a scathing glance before I spun around and flashed after my Mage, who was halfway out the window. I gripped the waistband of his pants and yanked him inside, smashing the bottle across his head. Shards of glass fell to the floor, and white wine splashed across his back.
He spun around and swung his arm, but I dodged his punch. My best chance to incapacitate him was to bite an artery and drain him, but I couldn’t get close enough.
I grabbed his ankle and yanked it, but he held on to the end of the bar and shook me off. When he caught sight of my fangs, his eyes rounded. I was used to that reaction, and it made me smile a little wider and lick them for show.
Meanwhile, I glimpsed Christian impaling his attacker with a piece of wood. Panting, he stood up—a pizza cutter in one hand and a cheese grater in the other. “Pick your method of execution, you short-fanged, beady-eyed little numpty. Your onion breath is more offensive than your fighting ability.”
The Mage flung open a narrow closet door and grabbed a long sword, which he started brandishing. I jumped back, assuming he was going to swing at my neck. Instead, he suddenly threw it like a spear. I flashed backward and fell, my eyes wide as the sword sliced the air two inches above my nose before clattering across the floor behind me.
When I sat up, the Mage briefly glanced at his speakers and then fled out the window.
Christian torpedoed across the room and yanked me up by the arm. “Get the feck out!”
“Wait. Where’s my stunner?”
“We don’t have time,” he snapped, dragging me to the window.
“Why not?”
“The music is a countdown.”
My jaw slackened. “To what?” I climbed onto the fire escape.
“Hurry!” he yelled, shoving me ahead of him.
I bounded down the first flight of stairs. Just as I jumped onto the landing, a bomb exploded, sending a fireball through the windows and raining glass and bricks. I shielded my head, the Mage already a few floors below us.
I recoiled when another set of explosions went off, bricks knocking against the fire escape and more flames licking the cold air just above us. When the Mage reached the bottom and took off down the alley, I swung my legs over the railing, held on for a second, and then let go. It was a one-story drop.
Christian’s boots hit the ground next to me as he landed solidly. Debris covered the concrete, and a few people were looking out their windows as we fled the scene.
I flashed to keep up with the Mage, slippery patches of ice and street corners slowing me down. Christian couldn’t shadow walk since it wasn’t dark enough, so he tried his best to keep up. When we reached a dead end, I thought we had our guy until he scaled a wall and vanished. Not one to give up the chase, I stepped on a wooden crate and scrambled onto the garbage bin. Christian came up from behind and boosted me over the wall.
“He’s heading toward the subway station!” I shouted, remembering the layout of the neighborhood.
The Mage flashed in spurts to conserve energy, so I ran at human speed since I didn’t have as much power to waste. This guy probably didn’t work out as often as I did, so it wouldn’t be long before he ran out of steam. He periodically stopped to catch his breath and then flashed to put distance between us.
He scaled a chain-link fence and crossed a field, the train station just ahead. With renewed vigor, I scrambled up the fence and jumped off, picking up speed as I followed his tracks.
We descended a stairwell that led to the underground station. The pungent smell of illegal Breed drugs hit me first, followed by the sight of vagrants sleeping on the concrete as I weaved through the crowd. I leapt over the turnstiles and realized people lived down here—tents and desks were set up as if they were businesses.
The Mage ducked behind pillars, and I kept losing sight of him. I jogged alongside the platform as he vanished into the mouth of the tunnel.
Christian jogged a few paces ahead and looked both ways before jumping onto the tracks. “Well, are you coming?”
I shook my head, out of breath. “The train.”
“It’s an abandoned station. The train hasn’t stopped here since you were a babe in nappies. But pay attention if the tunnel splits, lest we have to scrape you off the tracks.”
“Perish the thought,” I muttered, taking his hand and leaping off the platform. Even though he assured me the train didn’t come this way anymore, entering that tunnel gave me the shivers.
He stole a quick glance behind us. “There’s nowhere for him to go for at least a mile, and he won’t be flashing on these tracks for long.”
Darkness swallowed us whole, and a blanket of dread came over me. We were on this guy’s turf, and that gave him an advantage. What if he was waiting around the corner with a sickle? It was far too grainy for me to see in total darkness.