He sees me and jumps towards me, slashing out. I duck and kick out at his knee, viciously snapping it backward. He doesn’t make a sound; it’s like I didn’t even do it.
He spins away, intercepting Mordecai, but I’ve seen his face. I know who we’re dealing with.
It’s the Beta’s Claw. She sent her executioner after us.
I narrow my eyes, remembering what he said about my mother. He’s the one who put her in the position she ended up in. I want him dead. I want him to know how it feels to fly.
I join the fray, and the four of us drive him back to the open frame that used to be a window. He tries to run, but Cadel cuts him off with a massive piece of metal that he slams into the stomach of this attacker.
I look at his eyes; they are cold and dark, even with his impending death.
“It doesn’t matter if I die; the Beta is forever.”
I smile and step forward, ducking his sword. “She’s not forever; her time is up.”
I kick as hard as I can; the impact hits his chest and sends him backwards. He hangs there, arms windmilling, almost falling but not quite.
It doesn’t matter if he gets back in; I will simply drive him back out again.
“You are omega scum.”
“No, I amTHEomega scum,” I snap.
Cadel launches forward and shoves the metal pole into his gut like a battering ram. He flies out into the rain, feet from the building. I swear, he hangs there for a moment; the rain holding him up, this monster who hurt my mother, who has killed so many.
“Die,” I whisper.
And then he falls. He falls fast, and when he hits the ground, the thud is almost inaudible under the blanket of rain falling down, but I see the awkward way his limbs are lying and his open, staring eyes, and I am satisfied.
I exhale and turn around. We get a few feet from the window when I hear a whistle. With a curse, I roll my shoulders and swing back, slinking up to the window and peering down.
Betas in black robes stare at his body; more and more gather. I don’t panic exactly, but I don’t feel good about seeing that many down there.
“We need to leave,” Cadel says. “Right now.”
“Any ideas how?” I ask, watching as they start looking up at buildings, trying to work out which one he fell from. They have only two to choose from.
“We go up and across,” Cadel says.
I glance at him sideways. He just looks at Jarek and smiles.
“Come on, it will be fun,” Jarek teases.
“I remember you said that once, and I fell in the icy river.”
Jarek bites his lower lip and winks at me. “It was fun,” he teases.
“I’m going to need to hear thisstory,” Cadel says.
I toss my hair over my shoulder. “No, you don’t.”
“I’ll tell you later,” Mordecai murmurs.
“Ganging up on me already?” I tease.
“I’m on your side,” Jarek says. “Och, the bastard has a nasty kick. So shall we escape?”
The wind roars, and the ice rains buckets down, but we’re together.
