“Allie!” Cass said. “We have to get out of here!”
I looked at Revik. Remembering Terian’s scream of rage, I clutched his arm, sliding into his light to see how he was. He was weak as hell, but most of his aleimi had returned to his body. The pressure built behind my eyes as I felt Terian searching for us both.
Cass was right. We didn’t have much time.
“Get him up.” I clicked my fingers in Maygar’s face. “Now, Maygar! And wake him up more...he’s still in the Barrier. Give him some of your light!”
Maygar let go of me and crouched over Revik.
After shaking him once, he slapped his face, harder than absolutely necessary, I thought, but it seemed to do the trick. Once Revik’s eyes were open, Maygar grabbed his other arm, grunting as he hoisted him upright. He slid a shoulder under the taller seer’s arm, motioning for Jon to help him by supporting his other side.
Then I saw Maygar’s expression turn puzzled. He looked back at me.
“Something’s different. It feels like chaos. Like—”
“I know.” I studied his eyes, startled by his seeming unawareness of what had occurred. He didn’t seem to remember what we’d done to the Pyramid at all. “We have a window,” I told him, keeping my explanation short. “From the Rooks, at least. I don’t know for how long. And I don’t know exactly how it’ll affect them.”
“What about the barricades?” Jon said.
“And those soldiers on the stairs?” Cass said.
I looked around at all of them, hesitating. “Yeah. Okay. Maygar and I are going to need your help. You’re going to get tired. If it gets too bad, tell us, okay? We’ll lay off.”
“Allie?” Cass said. “Lay off what?”
I met her eyes. “We’re going to be draining you. Taking your light...as soon as things start,” I said. “I’ll take as much as you can possibly spare. Don’t ask me to stop unless you’re desperate. The main thing is going to be speed. Once we get closer to their humans, I’ll switch to draining them.” I looked up the stairs at Eddard. “Those charges Revik mentioned wouldn’t hurt either. The more we can distract them, the easier it will be to knock them out before they start firing...”
I trailed when Eddard held up a black bag. He shook it, to show me it was empty, then lifted some kind of hand-held remote device.
Getting the gist, I nodded, glancing around at the others.
I considered saying something else. Something encouraging, maybe, something inspiring or leader-like. But seeing the glazed looks I got in return, it struck me that we didn’t have time for that, either. I motioned for Maygar and Jon to follow with Revik, even as another booming sound brought dust sifting through the floor above.
Already, I can barely see for the light in my eyes.
“Stay behind us,” I hear myself say to the humans.
I feel Revik react, reaching for me, but only just.
The first explosion rocked the whole of the penthouse apartment, raining debris down on the crowd of onlookers standing in the street below. Windows shattered, car alarms went off as chunks of metal, plaster, paper, fabric, bits of wood furniture and wainscoting along with broken appliances, powdered glass and paint showered onto the street alongside the pieces of helicopter and smashed up cars that had been moved to the side to help reinforce roadblocks.
Detective of Home Office Security for England, Ronald Clement, spilled his coffee over the front of his shirt when the windows blew, ducking down behind a military van.
He touched his earpiece, but his eyes found his partner, Detective Henry George, first.
“What in God’s name was that?” he shouted. “I thought we had them trapped in the stairwell?”
Henry pointed to the penthouse, as if the smoke billowing out the top floor windows was explanation enough.
Clement tapped his headset pointedly. He felt the other detective click over, and immediately began to speak. “Henry? What happened?”
“Dunno. Where’s the head Yank? That’s their people, right?”
Another explosion blew out a set of windows on the penthouse floor.
Clement ducked, then watched in disbelief as furniture rained down, including what looked like a four foot head from a Buddha statue. It caved in the front of a police car as it landed, crushing windshield and bonnet neatly into the asphalt.
Clement barely had time to be grateful no one sat inside when the muffled sound of gunshots grew audible once more. Automatic rifles.
Henry motioned Clement to follow him behind a row of vehicles out of range of the falling debris. A woman in a dark, civilian suit stood there, drinking from a cup that came from a gourmet coffee chain and nodding to a man wearing the black uniform of the Sweeps. She didn’t stop speaking as they approached, although Clement saw her glance at them.