The truck screeched, careening to the side and then jerking to a halt as the driver must have slammed on the brakes. As the other truck of Nobles roared toward it from the far end of the bridge, men sprang out of the cab and the back of the cargo hold. Guns gleamed in their hands.
We were ready for them.
Wylder and the rest of the Nobles and Claws leapt out of hiding all around the truck. More bangs thundered through the air.
The Storm’s driver tumbled to the ground by his open door, blood blooming on his forehead. Several figures who’d been charging out of the back crumpled in a tangle of bodies. More bullets pinged off the metal sides of the truck.
The Noble and Claws forces swarmed the doorway before many more of the Storm’s men had a chance to burst out. Shouts and groans carried through the darkness as our people mowed down those too packed inside to have much chance of defending themselves. A fresh trickle of queasiness wrapped around my gut.
But I had to stay focused. A few of the Storm’s people had managed to scramble away from our onslaught. A couple of them hefted themselves up onto the steel beams to try to use them for shelter and a higher vantage point to pick off our men.
And a couple dashed for the larger shelter of the city buildings, straight toward me.
One of them was already bleeding pretty badly, staggering with his steps. Steeling myself, I aimed and got a clear shot at his head when he paused to catch his balance against a lamppost.
Really, he looked half-dead already. I was just putting him out of his misery.
Bam.
The pistol jerked in my hands, and the man fell, blood and brain splattered across the side of his face. I didn’t have time to feel anything about it, because another man was running past me, this one much faster than the first.
I took a hasty shot at him, but he was moving too quickly. The bullet thudded into the brick side of a building instead. He was past me now, dashing toward the streetlights farther down the road.
Swearing under my breath, I shoved away from the car and sprinted after him. I took another shot, but he ducked, and it probably would’ve have gone wide anyway. I had hardly any experience with shooting while running.
This was my one job—I couldn’t let my men down. If I could get close enough to use my knife…
My feet pounded against the asphalt, my lungs already starting to burn from the extreme exertion. I was starting to gain on the runaway. Just another ten seconds, and I might—
I was just raising my hand to fire at much closer range when a sedan roared up the road, its headlights blinding me. As I whipped up my hand to shade my eyes, the car veered right in front of me with a screech of its tires.
Even as I backpedaled, the door swung open, and a massive figure stepped out into the hazy light. Xavier sneered at me. “Hello, Mercy.”
The headlights behind him made his profile even harsher, the X-shaped scars on his cheeks turned absolutely grotesque. A few of his men spilled out of the car behind him. He took out his gun.
My heart lurched. I lunged for the closest shelter: a mailbox at the edge of the sidewalk.
Bullets spewed in my wake, several thumping into the side of the mailbox. I sent a quick mental apology to the people whose letters had just gotten blasted in my defense and sprang for an alley several feet away. Heavy footsteps thumped after me.
“You thought you could pull a stunt like this and I wouldn’t find out immediately?” Xavier hollered after me. “Where are your boyfriends now, Mercy? Not around to keep their kitten safe anymore, it looks like.”
I didn’t waste my breath replying. I didn’t need anyone but myself to keep me safe.
As I hurtled into the alley, I leaned into my momentum and threw myself at the wall on one side. The second my feet and reaching hand smacked into the concrete surface, I shoved myself toward the opposite wall as hard as I could.
Back and forth, I ricocheted up the walls, gaining a few feet in height with every leap. As Xavier and his men charged through the mouth of the alley, I heaved myself onto the roof of one of the buildings.
I crouched there by the eavestrough, panting to catch my breath. Xavier motioned to his men to fan out around the building. “I’m going to catch you one of these days, little kitty,” he called, peering up at me. I couldn’t tell whether he could actually see me in the darkness or was just guessing at my position.
My gaze darted around. I’d inadvertently run myself into a dead end. This building was the last one of the block before the corner, where I didn’t have a hope in hell of leaping the entire street. The only way off it was to jump to the building on the other side of the alley—right over Xavier’s head.
If he sent his men up here, I might be screwed.
Sweat beaded on the back of my neck. I inched along the rooftop slowly, aiming to get a little distance from Xavier, but he prowled further into the alley at the same time. “Mercy,” he said in a sing-song voice. “Come out, come out.”
Then he whipped up his hand. I’d only just yanked myself back from the edge when a bullet clipped the corner of the roof just inches from where I’d been watching him. I chomped on my tongue and winced.
“Hiding away like a scaredy cat,” Xavier taunted. Something far darker than a sneer came into his voice. “Josey gave up her life for you just so you could become a total chickenshit? What a fucking waste.”