Most of the stores were right next to each other with no gap in between, giving me an easy jog across the roof tiles and shingles. I had to make a couple of sprints to hurl myself over laneways, but I landed easily both times, the impact radiating through my legs and exhilarating me. Parkour was the closest I’d ever get to flying.
As I came up parallel with the arcade building, the warm breeze played with my ponytail. I eyed the open window we’d already spotted and the ridges on the wall around it, and rubbed my hands together. The room on the other side was dark, which meant it was probably empty. No problem.
I took a running start and launched myself off the roof toward the window. The air whipped past me, and I heard a faint sound below me that was probably one of my guys, watching. My fingers caught on the top of the protruding window frame, and I automatically shifted my position so my feet hit the window ledge with more of a light thump than a heavy smack.
I held myself there for several seconds, listening for any disturbance inside. When nothing reached my ears, I bent down and slipped through the opening. My sneakers made only a faint scuffling sound on the floor inside.
I’d come into a room some of the men must have been crashing in overnight. Sleeping bags and a few cots stood around the space, and the smell of sweat in the air made me wrinkle my nose. There was no sign of any of the Storm’s people around right now.
I crept to the door and eased it open. Voices carried faintly from a room at the other end of the second floor, but no one was in the hall. The stairs we’d seen on the blueprint stood just to my right. I slunk down them as quickly as I could.
At the base of the stairs, I had to pause, flattening myself against the wall with my heart thudding, as footsteps traveled by in a nearby hall. When they’d faded away, I darted to the storage room we’d identified and ducked inside.
It was dark too, but I didn’t want to risk discovery by turning on the main lights. I got out my phone and flicked on its flashlight to cast a thin illumination over the space.
Several dusty defunct arcade machines stood in a couple of rows against one wall. The others held shelves stuffed with boxes, and a few large crates had been pushed up against the arcade machines. I’d be willing to bet at least some of them held stolen property. Maybe we’d get the Storm’s people on charges other than drug possession.
I made my way to the back door and unlocked it. Wylder and Rowan hustled inside. Wylder gave my arm a quick squeeze. “You’re a fucking superhero, Kitty Cat,” he whispered.
“How many men are inside?” Rowan asked, pulling the baggies of Glory out of the rucksack he was carrying.
“At least a few upstairs and several down here,” I said. “I managed to avoid all of them. Hard to be sure when there’s a bit of a racket from the actual arcade too.”
“Well, let’s stash this stuff.” Wylder glanced around in the dimness. “I’ll wedge one behind those machines over there. They don’t look like they’ve been touched in years.”
I grabbed a baggie from Rowan. “I’ll do one of the crates.”
Rowan hefted his own. “Under the shelves seems out of the way enough.”
We split up again to put our contraband in place. Then Rowan opened up the smaller baggie and we each took a small handful. I smeared the powder on the concrete floor so it disappeared into the rough surface in a line leading to the crate I’d picked and up the wooden side. We brought our trails together in the middle of the room and left a wider trail leading to the back door. Wylder wiped traces around the door frame for good measure.
“No dog’s going to miss that unless it’s lost its nose.”
Just then, Kaige’s voice crackled through my earphones. “A car just pulled up out front—a bunch of guys are getting out, carrying some stuff. They might be heading back to where you are.”
“Good thing we’re already done,” Wylder murmured. We hustled out the door and shut it firmly behind us. If the Storm’s guys noticed it was unlocked, hopefully they’d blame each other’s carelessness. They had no reason to assume anyone had been inside.
At least, they wouldn’t have had any. We’d only just stepped away from the door when a couple of figures appeared from a laneway a few buildings away. In the light of a security lamp over them, I immediately recognized one of them from the Steel Knights.
Unfortunately, he recognized us too. “It’s the Katz girl!” he snapped, yanking at his partner. “And the Noble heir. They were fucking with our stuff!”
I glanced wildly at Wylder and Rowan and knew we’d all come to the same conclusion in an instant. There was no way we could let these guys live, or they’d give away our plan. We had to take them down before they alerted the Storm’s people inside the building.
“What the hell were you doing in there?” the Steel Knight guy demanded, raising his gun as he marched toward us.
None of us bothered to answer. We threw ourselves at them, aiming to get all the advantage we could out of a little bit of surprise.
I drew my knife as I charged, more comfortable with the blade than my gun in close combat. Wylder pulled one of his own out of his pocket. “No shots fired,” he hissed—the sound might bring their colleagues running. Then he slammed his knife straight at the guy with the gun.
He only managed to slash the guy’s wrist, but deep enough that the Steel Knight dropped his gun. I kicked it away and then aimed a roundhouse at his partner, who’d grabbed at me. My kick to his gut sent him stumbling backward into Rowan, who clocked him in the temple with a swift fist.
Wylder tried to knock the first guy to the ground, but the Steel Knight fought back savagely. He landed a punch to Wylder’s face that split the Noble heir’s lip and clipped his shoulder when Wylder ducked. I threw myself in behind him, knocking the legs out from under the Steel Knight. As he stumbled, Wylder was on him, plunging his knife straight into the guy’s heart.
Rowan had been facing off with the other guy. I turned to see him aiming several quick, vicious strikes at his opponent’s head. His eyes were bright with a sort of wildness I’d never seen in him before.
It distracted me for just a moment, so I wasn’t totally ready when the guy he was fighting flung himself away from Rowan and straight into me. His fist rammed into my ribs, and his greater weight sent me tumbling to the ground with him on top.
He groped for his own gun. I squirmed against him, flinging elbows and knees, and he slammed my head back so hard that stars of pain exploded behind my eyes.