to tell you, but hiding out in the bathroom isn’t going to fool these things.’
Had he lost his mind? Yes, she remembered too late that he had. Crap, and now they were going to die. She headed for the bathroom cabinet – maybe they could make some weapons out of all the hair products and a lighter. But Cyrus grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards the bath.
‘This way,’ he grunted, climbing on the rim of the tub and pushing his palms against a skylight set in the roof above. The glass flew open and Cyrus heaved himself quickly up and through the gap. A second later, his head reappeared. He reached a hand down. ‘Move!’ he shouted to them.
Evie pushed Vero towards the bath. ‘Drop them,’ she shouted as Vero glanced up at the window and then at the swords in her arms.
Cursing, Vero dropped the swords into the bath and reached her hand towards Cyrus. He grabbed her by the forearm and hauled her through the window.
‘Ash,’ Evie called as she stepped onto the edge of the bath, ready to follow Vero, ‘get over here.’ He was standing guard by the door, the flamethrower in his arms.
She felt Cyrus’s hands close around her wrists and she swore through gritted teeth as the Mixen burn under her bandage caught fire. From below she heard the sound of the elevator grille crashing open into Cyrus’s apartment and footsteps thundering down the corridor towards the bathroom.
Cyrus pulled her through the gap and she rolled, scrambling to her feet as he bent for a final time to haul Ash through. They were on the roof of the building. Evie sprinted over to Vero who was standing on the edge and peered down at the alley running between the warehouse and the building opposite. There were at least twenty Thirsters and what looked like some Scorpio and Mixen on the ground, covering all the exits.
‘Are they Originals?’ Vero whispered.
‘I don’t know,’ Evie whispered back, pulling her blade close. ‘I don’t think so, though.’ If they had been Originals then they wouldn’t have taken so long to break through the elevator grille.
Cyrus appeared just then behind them. He slipped his hand into Evie’s.
‘This way,’ he said.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked.
‘Just trust me,’ Cyrus answered.
She glanced sideways at him. Was he grinning?
They reached the opposite edge and Evie’s stomach plummeted the four floors to the ground below. She had been right. They were surrounded and trapped. More Mixen and Scorpio paced the alley below them. She glanced up at the sky. Unless Cyrus had a helicopter or a stealth jet hovering overhead ready to rescue them they were screwed.
‘Take hold of this,’ Cyrus ordered, suddenly thrusting something into her hands.
Evie barely had time to glance at it before he shoved her hard in the back and she went flying forward off the roof. It took a second of heart-stopping terror before she realised that she was attached to some kind of zip line. She cut off the scream before it burst free, drew her knees up to her chest as the opposite roof came hurtling towards her and braced for the collision. She cleared the ledge and threw herself forward, scrambling quickly to her knees. The other three were standing, silhouetted, on the far roof. She grabbed hold of the handle bar contraption and with all her might sent it whipping back along the line.
Vero was next, a small, dark shape that barrelled towards Evie’s outstretched arms. Twenty seconds later Ash landed in a crouch beside them, the flamethrower slung across his back.
‘Shit!’ Vero hissed.
Evie glanced up. Three unhumans now stood on the roof opposite and more were climbing through the skylight. Cyrus had turned to face them.
‘He’s not going to try and fight them, is he?’ Evie asked nervously, as they began to edge towards him. That would be so like him, to think he could handle that many on his own.
He looked like he might be considering it and Evie was about to yell across at him to move his ass, when he grabbed hold of the wire with his left hand and took a running leap off the roof, swinging his blade over his head as he jumped.
They watched in horror as the zip line was severed and Cyrus, clinging one handed to the end of it, smashed into the wall of the building on their side. He braced himself, taking the hit against his forearm and the side