Taking Winter’s hand, I moved us through the crowd, finding Lev still positioned at the door as everyone poured out.
He lifted his mask up halfway. “He didn’t come through,” he told me.
I spun around, heading for the rear exit, but I heard a clank above me, and I peered up the narrow, spiral staircase and saw two men dressed in black climbing the stairs.
“He’s going up the stairs,” I shouted back to Lev. “Stay there!”
Heading toward the staircase, I put Winter’s hand on the rail. “Lots of steep steps.”
She gripped the rail and found the first step. “I got it.”
“You sure?”
“Go!” she barked.
And I didn’t need to be told twice. Running up the stairs, I glanced at Winter behind me, seeing her hold the railing tightly and jog up the steps as I held her other hand.
I tried to see up the staircase, but the smoke had filtered up there, clouding everything, and I had no idea where he went. He couldn’t leave. We needed to keep this in a public place, and I didn’t want him to have any time to regroup or dig in.
We reached the top of the stairs, Winter vaulting into my back, and I reached around, grabbing her thigh.
“Shhh…” I said.
I looked down the long hallway, seeing multiple rooms. He didn’t own this building. Only hosted here. He wouldn’t have back-up or anything tucked here, would he?
Will raced up behind us, coming to my side, and Michael, Alex, Rika, Banks, and Kai quickly followed.
“He’s in one of them,” I told them.
We started down the hallway, but Winter pulled me back.
“Wait,” she blurted out. “He wouldn’t box himself in. Is there a fire escape?”
Will and I exchanged a look
.
“The roof,” he said.
I gritted my teeth and leaned over the railing, calling down to Lev.
“Go outside,” I yelled. “Guard the fire escape!”
“Okay!” His voice carried up.
I put Winter’s hand on my arm and ordered her, “Stay behind me.”
She nodded, and I bolted, everyone following as I took the small, dark staircase to the left.
“Steps,” I warned her.
She reached out for the railing, breathing hard, trying to keep up, but as soon as she found the first one, she made like a demon and climbed like her legs were on fire.
We darted up the staircase, pushed through the doors, all of us spilling onto the roof, and I looked up, immediately spotting my father with one of his men heading for the edge and the fire escape.
They whipped around, the guard reaching for his weapon, but all of a sudden, something flew past us through the air and slammed right into his forehead, making his neck snap back, his knees give out, and his body crumple to the floor of the roof.
What the hell?