I listened, too, but heard nothing.
He turned left and motioned for me to follow. I did. We reached a dead end. I didn’t have time to panic. He jerked a vent cover from the wall, producing a new opening. He dangled his legs over the side, holding onto the edge to keep from falling. But then, to my surprise, he released his grip and disappeared. I heard a gentle tap as he landed.
“Camille.”
I inched forward and peeked through the opening. Erik stood in a dark, spacious room. Alone. There were beds, one after the other lined against each side of the wall.
“Jump,” he said. He held up his arms and motioned me down with his fingers. “I’ll catch you.”
I shook my head. The drop wasn’t bad, but it was still a drop and I’d already been battered and beaten enough for one day. Besides, I didn’t want to hurt him. Some of his cuts had opened and blood trickled down his bottom lip and chin.
“Jump.”
No other way, Robins.
“Jump!”
Oh hell. “You’ll catch me?” I didn’t think my legs could hold my weight. “What if I hurt you?”
“I’ll catch you. And you can’t hurt me.”
With a sigh, I wiggled until I was sitting with my legs through the hole. Holding my breath, I let myself fall. My stomach nearly rose into my throat. Erik caught me as promised, as if I weighed no more than a bag of feathers. He settled me on my feet, kissed me quickly, and raced to the window.
Had I not grabbed onto one of the bed rails, I would have fallen. As it was, my knees wobbled and I struggled to remain upright. “Where are we?”
“This is where agents sleep when the night is quiet and uneventful. And since there’s chaos below, I knew no one would be here.” He aimed the pyre-gun and squeezed the trigger. No sound, only heat. The glass-like material melted, dripping liquid crystal onto the bottom frame.
Plumes of smoke wafted, but the outside air wafted inside, pushing them away and dancing my hair around my face.
Erik removed his belt and anchored the middle on a thick wire just beyond the seal. “Come here,” he said without looking back at me.
I moved toward him as fast as my feet would carry me—which wasn’t fast. “I don’t like this,” I said, already suspecting what he wanted me to do.
He tugged on each side of the belt, pulling them taut. “You want to live?” Finally he faced me, peering at me intently.
“Yes.”
“Then put your arms around me and hold tight. And do not let go for any reason. Understand?”
“Yes,” I repeated. Dread filled me.
He stepped onto the ledge and I joined him, shaking uncontrollably. We were higher than I’d realized. Or anticipated. Below us, lights zoomed and flickered over the ground, highlighting a violent battle already in play. Agents were going toe-to-toe with aliens. Morevvs. Some were fighting with their fists, some were fighting with guns. But the Morevvs, I noticed, were moving away from the building.
“The Morevvs are going to disappear soon, leaving the agents free to come after us.” Erik’s tone was as dark as the night. “The longer we stay here, the smaller our chances of success.”
Without another word of complaint, I wrapped my arms around his neck as commanded. “I’m not scared,” I lied. “I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t scream.” In the next instant, Erik jumped.
I bit his shoulder to keep from screaming. He hissed in my ear, but didn’t ask me to stop. Down, down, down we glided, his belt our only anchor. I expected it to snap at any moment. Excepted us to drop and splat on the concrete like bugs against a windshield.
When we landed, I was jostled to the bone and almost fell flat on my face. Erik gave a rough jerk, keeping me upright. Someone spotted us and fired. A blue stun beam whizzed past my shoulder. I finally screamed.
That, of course, drew more attention. Several more rounds of fire launched at us. Yellow, this time. Fire.
“Run!” Erik shouted, tugging me into a mad dash.
We raced into a blackened alleyway, where other buildings stretched on each side. He cast a glance over his shoulder. Frowned. “No one’s following us. That really was too easy.”
Too easy? Too easy! We’d almost died. We’d jumped from a building without a parachute or landing mat. We’d been shot at.
He threw another frown over his shoulder. We reached a well-lit patch and golden moonlight bathed his face, lit his eyes. “They’d love for me to lead them to my boss. Maybe…”
“Still not see anyone?”
“No. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” He cursed under his breath and rounded a corner.
I panted, doing my best to keep up. “Maybe leading A.I.R. to your boss isn’t such a bad thing, Erik.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he snapped. “You have no idea what will happen if that man stops making Onadyn.”
“I just—”
“No. You don’t understand.”
“Then for God’s sake explain it to me.”
He opened his mouth, closed it. Opened, closed. Finally, he changed the subject. “Listen. Ryan Stone was fighting the Morevvs, and that’s one point in our favor. Believe me when I say that he’s not the kind of guy you want to meet in a darkened alley. He’ll beat the shit out of both of us just for giggles.”
“How is that a point in our favor?”
“When he’s in town, he and Phoenix are inseparable. She wouldn’t have followed us without him.”
I relaxed. A little. “What should we do?” Now that we were out of that building, my adrenaline rush was fading. My arm was hurting worse than ever and the weakness in my limbs was spreading. I was still shaking. My feet throbbed as twigs and rocks beat against them.
I wasn’t used to this kind of life and knew I couldn’t last much longer.
Erik flicked a third glance over his shoulder. “Damn it, this doesn’t feel right.” He ground to a stop and looked around.
Panting, I leaned against the brick wall. “Since we’re taking a moment, why don’t you tell me why it would be such a bad thing to destroy an illegal Onadyn ring. I know you want to help Outers, but other people are surely using that Onadyn to sell to humans. And if we help A.I.R., they might leave us alone.”
“I won’t bargain with them. Yeah, they might leave us alone,” he said, raking a hand through his hair, “but other people would die.”