Nicky yanked me backwards, dragging me a safer distance away. There was the sweet scent of sweat in the air. Even with his stony composure, I could tell my brother was nervous. He wasn’t the type of guy who usually lost his nerve. This wasn’t good. My brother tended to do rash and stupid things when cornered.
“I’m warning you, Agent Ward…” Nicky backed us up to the edge of the rooftop.
Glancing to the right, I could see the fifty foot drop to the alley below. If he jumped, he’d probably take me down with him. Maybe I could use my wings to break the fall, but it wouldn’t be pretty.
“Don’t!” Gideon stopped his forward momentum. He looked at me, fear clearly written on his face. “Leave Aya alone and we’ll let you go. I won’t follow you.”
Nicky’
s grip loosened around my waist. He laughed in my ear, startling me. I couldn’t see what was so funny.
“You like her, don’t you?” he asked.
The blood rose to my cheeks. This wasn’t the best moment for Nicky to step back into the annoying big brother role. He’d forfeited those rights years ago.
Gideon cocked his head to the side, a deep frown pulling down at the corners of his mouth. He looked at me, his eyebrows furrowing together, and then back at my brother.
“I’m just doing my job. Now let her go.”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. Immediately, I felt ridiculous for feeling that way, but I couldn’t help it.
Suddenly, Nicky spun me around so that we were eye to eye. He leaned down to my ear. For a moment, I thought he was going to hug me. But instead, I heard the rasp of his voice, loud enough only I could hear.
“Get the dagger. Wait for me to contact you.”
He pushed me backwards and I fell hard on the ground, scraping my elbows and the palms of my hands. The warm sensation of blood began to trickle down my arms, but I ignored it, and pushed myself up enough to watch Nicky jump up to the edge of the rooftop.
A shot rang out in the quiet. Twisting around, I saw Agent Silva aim again and pull the trigger. The guard to her right charged forward. He had a baton in his hand, raised over his head like a sword ready for the strike.
“No! Don’t shoot him!”
Agent Silva ignored my scream and chased after the guard. Her gun went off again, startling a group of pigeons nesting on a nearby roof. Nicky ran along the raised edge of the rooftop, ducking low to dodge the bullets. If he didn’t jump off soon, she was going to hit him. Gideon rushed after them, pulling the Taser off his belt. In a mad dash, they surrounded him in the corner, with no place left to go but down.
“Are you okay?” Johnny kneeled down next to me.
He tried to stop the bleeding on one of my arms, but I waved him away. I was too busy watching the scene unfold in front of us.
Nicky looked over the edge of the roof. He stood up straight and faced his foes, a small grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. I didn’t like that look. Something told me he had a plan up his sleeve.
I pushed myself off the ground, ignoring Johnny’s protests, and ran in their direction. Nicky clasped his left hand around the pendant dangling over his chest and closed his eyes. He raised his right palm, fingers splayed.
“I’m sorry this had to happen this way,” he said, his voice flat.
I froze to watch a fireball of enormous diameter spring from his hand. It spun toward the guard, encircling him in a fiery tomb. As a painful scream tore from the guard’s throat, he fought off the flames without success. The acrid smell of burning flesh and hair filled the air, causing my stomach to retch.
Nicky turned to the remaining agents. Agent Silva was standing with her feet far apart, her gun pointed at him. She fired another shot as a ball of fire rolled in her direction. The bullet whizzed past Nicky’s shoulder and into the inky night sky. Agent Silva ducked behind the heating unit with inhuman speed, the fire singeing her pants but missing the rest of her.
Gideon’s puny weapon was no match for the stolen magic. The murderous look in my brother’s eyes said he knew it, too. Leveling his palm at Gideon, Nicky shot off one last gigantic round of fire before free falling off the side of the roof.
The fire raged at Gideon, surrounding him in a ring of flames eight feet tall. I urged my legs to run, stretching every tightened muscle and tendon in my body to the max. My wings unfurled on my back as I ran. I felt them flap against the wind, black glossy feathers at the edge of my vision.
I wrapped my arm around Gideon’s waist and pulled him with me. Flapping my wings as hard as I could, I jumped in the direction of the roof’s edge.
The harpy in me rejoiced. It’d been too long since I’d enjoyed the freedom of my wings, and the thrill of the air current beneath my feathers. But, the celebration was cut short as the edge of the firestorm raked over my back. I screamed in agony, my skin and feathers baking in the heat.
A pathetic flapping of my injured wings slowed our descent to the ground, but not fast enough. We both tumbled on the concrete, landing on shards of broken glass and rock. The pain was nothing compared to the searing ache along my back.
What used to be my favorite t-shirt was now hanging off me in shreds. I knelt on the ground, my wings flapping uselessly behind me. Somewhere in the dark, Gideon called my name. He sounded miles away. I tried to lift my head to him, but the darkness consumed me once again.