Blackbird Broken (The Witch King's Crown #2) - Keri Arthur Page 0,66
wall. He flipped a switch and then said, “This is an all-points emergency. Darkside is attempting to collapse the building. Evacuate immediately. I repeat, evacuate immediately.”
His voice blasted out of unseen speakers throughout this floor and no doubt the others. As another shudder went through the old building, I lunged across the table and grabbed the scroll and Ricker’s notes, hastily rolling them up before tucking them safely into my belt. I might have photos, but the real thing was always better.
“This way,” Luc commanded, and ran for the emergency exit sign. As he hauled open the door, a huge chunk of concrete fell down, crushing the railings and taking out several steps.
“The lift is likely to be even more dangerous,” Ricker growled. “We’re fucking trapped.”
“There’s still the windows,” I said.
“The windows are barred, and it’s a fucking four-story drop,” Ricker growled. “And neither Luc nor I can fly.”
“No, but Gwen can and she can also—” He grabbed my arm and dragged me back. A heartbeat later, a huge chunk of timber crashed down. We would have been crushed had we still been standing there. “Ricker—get a rope.”
As the older Blackbird staggered toward a cabinet whose doors were swinging widely in time to the increasingly violent gyrations of the building, I dragged my daggers out of their sheaths and called on the lightning. It streaked through the thick, dusty air and shattered the nearest window’s glass, sending glittery shards flying outwards into the night. I flicked the energy around in an arc, cutting a wide enough hole in the thick metal bars for the two men to climb through.
I’d barely shoved the daggers back into their sheaths when there was a massive crack and a good portion of the floor between us and the other man began to disintegrate.
“Ricker,” Luc shouted. “Move—now!”
Ricker looped the rope around his shoulders then ran straight at the ever-widening gap. As he neared the edge he leapt high, but the gap had already grown wider than his leap.
He wasn’t going to make it.
Luc swore, leapt over the table, and lunged forward, grabbing his cousin’s outstretched hands just as he was beginning to drop. The force of his abrupt stop had Luc grunting in effort and, for several seconds, the two men were immobile, one prone on the increasingly unstable floor and the other swinging lightly over a dark and dusty drop. Then, with another grunt of effort, Luc slowly but surely hauled Ricker upward until he was close enough to grab the edge and drag himself the rest of the way.
More ceiling fell, and huge cracks began to appear in the walls. I swore and staggered over to the window. The thick dust in the room was now funneling out the broken window, making it almost impossible to see what lay beyond.
Luc grabbed the rope off Ricker. “There’s an external fire escape on the building opposite. Secure the rope, and we’ll shimmy over.”
The floor under the end of the bookcase closest to the seating area dropped several feet. Wood split, and the lovely old books were tipped out, disappearing into the ever-widening gap.
“And hurry,” Ricker added unnecessarily.
I undid my knives and thrust them at Luc. “Lose them and I’ll kill you.”
With that, I shifted shape, grabbed the end of the rope with my claws, and flew out the window. The fire escape that zigzagged down the rear of the other building didn’t look all that well maintained, which was surprising given the spate of new rules that had come into existence a few years ago after several horrible residential tower fires.
I shifted shape and landed with a clang on the metal landing, then quickly secured the rope, using the bowline knot we’d been taught when Max and I had gone through a brief ‘we need to learn sailing’ stage. Which was well before we’d hit our teens and—in Max’s case at least—discovered flesh-based passions.
The rear wall of the Blackbirds’ building began to splinter, and chunks of bricks and slate crashed down to the yard below. I leaned over the railing; it was only then I saw the forming sinkhole. Fear slammed into my chest.
“Luc, Ricker, get over here now!” I couldn’t see either man; the billowing smoke and dust was just too thick. “Half the building is about to collapse into a sinkhole.”
Ricker leapt out of the window, caught the rope, then crossed his legs over it and shimmied across. As I helped him over the railing, Luc leapt out and repeated Ricker’s movements.