This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress, #5)(32)
“Pull those doors open and get out now!” I shouted, a crimson-filled glance revealing that the man was crouched in the same spot as before, clutching his daughter while gaping up at us.
He still couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away. Dammit, he was in shock, and it wouldn’t be long before either the ghoul got into the elevator or the strain of two supernaturals fighting proved too much for the last emergency brake. I braced my arms on the support railings lining the car, using them for leverage as I flipped upside down and then kicked the ghoul with everything I had. The railings broke, landing me on my ass with enough force to make the elevator shake dangerously again, but for the moment, the ghoul was gone from the hole in the roof.
I wrenched those doors open and yanked the sobbing little girl from her father’s arms, shoving her through the space. She landed on the adjoining floor with a cry that filled me with joy, because while she might be bruised, she was now also safe. Before I could shove her father through the same opening, however, a roar filled the air as the ghoul jumped through the hole in the roof and landed in the elevator with us.
The elevator shook hard enough that I felt sure it would drop. I didn’t have time to reach in my coat for my weapons, but ran headlong into the ghoul, knocking him away from the man. Amidst the screeching of metal, the man’s screams, and the solid thumps of the ghoul and me crashing around the elevator locked in a death struggle, I heard something else. An enraged English snarl.
“Come here you bloody bastards!”
I had a split second of dizzying relief. Bones was here, so the father and I would make it out of this. If I wasn’t worried about keeping the ghoul away from the huddled man—a careless stomp or swipe from the flesh-eater would snap his neck like a twig—I could’ve gone for my weapons and evened the odds a little. But my relief vanished in the next instant as a loud cracking noise preceded the ground dropping beneath my feet.
Oh Jesus. The elevator was falling!
Everything around me shook with terrible vibrations as the velocity lifted us up a few inches before gravity had my feet back on the floor. The ghoul flashed me a hate-filled grin even as the man screamed so loudly it briefly drowned out the noises from the free-falling elevator. The ghoul and I could survive the crash, though no doubt the ghoul would try his damnedest to make sure my survival didn’t last much beyond that. The father, however, would be dead in moments.
The ghoul lunged at me, ripping his silver knife through the air toward my heart. I didn’t raise my arms to block him, but moved to the left at the last second. That blade buried into my chest, spearing through my flesh with flames of anguish, but not piercing my heart. At the same time, I shoved the ghoul down and to the side, aiming for the flashes of light that appeared between the partially open elevator doors as we fell with even greater speed.
A crunching sound accompanied the ghoul’s entire body going limp as the rapidly passing floors and tight space acted as a crude guillotine. I didn’t waste a moment to savor my victory, but pulled the knife out of my chest and grabbed the man, tucking as much of his head into my bloody torso as I could. Then, still bent over him, I vaulted myself upward with all my strength.
White-hot agony slicing through my body made me barely register the crescendo of noise that followed. Dust, glass, and blood filled my gaze, making it almost impossible for me to see. Up was my primary thought, followed closely by Don’t him let go! Several hard objects slammed into me and I blinked furiously, trying to clear my gaze while keeping my grip on the man. Those bone-crunching jolts could be more ghouls trying to kill me, or parts of the elevator shaft I crashed into as I blindly propelled us away from the explosion of debris as the elevator smashed on impact below.
“Kitten!”
Bones’s shout gave me a frame of reference. Then shadows became solid objects as my gaze cleared with nosferatu quickness. Red still colored my vision, but I didn’t need to see in more colors than that to know that I’d gotten us out of the elevator with probably only a second to spare. My back still flamed as it healed, but at least I could straighten now, even if it did feel like I’d just had my spine readjusted with a bulldozer.
“I’m okay,” I called out, not seeing Bones, but judging he was fighting from the sounds above. Last thing he needed was to be distracted wondering if I’d bought the farm in the crash. My upward velocity began to slow while I looked for anywhere safe to set the man.
There. A small lip between the floors marking where the elevator would stop, if it wasn’t in pieces below. I adjusted my hold on the man, carrying him with one arm while reaching for that tiny ledge with the other. I grabbed it, dangling both of us a couple stories above the wreckage of the elevator. He was limp, but his heart still beat, thankfully. I kept my grasp on him and the narrow ledge while I swung a leg up, wedging my foot between the split in the doors that protected those waiting for an elevator from the dangers of the shaft on the other side. Then, gritting my teeth at the awkward position, I kicked out, pushing those steel walls open.
When they were big enough for the man’s bulk to fit through, I swung him up, gently pushing his prone form through the opening. No one was around, but it wouldn’t be long until someone found him. With the thunderous noise of the elevator crashing, the hotel would have all hands on deck as quickly as possible to see if anyone was injured. Being propelled through the top of the elevator left broken bones and slashes all over him, even with my body taking the brunt of the abuse. But he was alive, and so was his little girl. That was the best I could do for them.