94.

  Life froze in that instant and I saw everything with perfect clarity. I saw Brick's feral expression, his bloody teeth clenched in a maniacal grin. I saw his massive hand pushing against Sherbert's chest, toppling the man over in his chair, and I saw the horror in Sherbert's eyes, the realization that he was going to die, that in the next few seconds his life would be over. I saw him falling further back. I heard his piteous scream, and then I was moving. Conscious thought had abandoned me, and my body moved faster than my mind could react.

  I flew across the room just as the bottom of Sherbert's chair began to disappear over the edge. I whipped my Grapple Cord out and caught the chair around its legs just as it disappeared over the edge. The Cord went taut, my boots lost all traction, and I was yanked over the edge. I threw my hand out in desperation and caught one of the exposed support bars of the wall. I pumped every ounce of energy that I had left in my body, powered by the intense fear and horror of what was unfolding in front of me. That intense emotion at the precipice of death sent shock waves of power ricocheting through my arm and into the Magnet Rune on my palm. The magnet held fast and Sherbert's chair stopped abruptly at the end of the Cord. The weight transferred through the rope to my wrist, up my shoulder, and I heard a sickening pop as my shoulder joint was yanked out of place. I screamed as I felt bones grinding against each other in my shoulder.

  There we hung, suspended over a 14-floor drop, dangling out of the window of an abandoned flat in a forgotten part of the city. Sherbert hung upside down, screaming through his gag, and the only thing stopping both of us from dropping to our deaths was a thin disc of metal and the power of my will. The wind kicked up, swinging us back and forth, back and forth. The pain in my shoulder was almost unbearable. I screamed in agony and then used that pain, forcing it down my arm into the Rune, clenching onto that bar for dear life.

  "Sherbert!" I screamed over the wind.

  I don't know why I called to him, sense had fled my mind, leaving only sheer panic and terror. I had my eyes screwed shut but forced them open to check if Sherbert was alright. I saw the nauseating drop beneath me, the city lights sprawled far below, and I felt like I was going to vomit. But I could see the bottom of Sherbert's feet, the zip ties and the heavy rope had stayed intact, for now. But I could see them slipping slowly. I had to do something.

  Then I heard a maniacal chuckle from above me. I looked up and saw Brick, his face covered in white powder and crimson blood, leering down at me.

  "I told you! You're gonna die, rat!" he shouted over the wind. "Only the strong survive, and I'm the fucking strongest!” He roared with maniacal, triumphant laughter and stared down at me. "You know what?" he growled huskily. "I think I'm gonna get myself a drink and enjoy the show."

  He disappeared for a moment, giving me time to think, but all I could focus on was how much my shoulder hurt. I was sure my arm was going to be ripped off my body. I had to do something, and I had to do it quickly. I could still hear Sherbert crying out. I had to force myself to calm down, to think logically. What kind of logic was there in hanging off a damn building 14 stories up? Was I going to magically master the power of flight? I didn't have the strength to pull both me and Sherbert up, so that was out of the question. There was no way we could survive the fall, so letting go was out of the question too.

  "Damn it, think Alex, think!" I growled to myself, and then I did the one thing I really didn't want to do, I looked down again. But this time, I looked at the side of the flat and realised that the floor Sherbert was hanging in front of had cracked windows. Even in the darkness, I could see the way the light glinted off them. Maybe... well, screw maybe. I didn't have another choice.

  "Sherbert, hang on! I'm gonna try something!" I shouted down to him, and then I began swinging, slowly at first, pushing with my legs, trying to build some momentum. The Grapple Cord creaked, and I heard the chair beginning to snap under Sherbert’s weight. His panicked screams intensified.

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  "Trust me!" I yelled, and I began to swing him harder.

  He bounced into the window. I screamed through gritted teeth as waves of pain crashed through my ruined shoulder, but I swung him again, kicking off the wall as hard as I could. This time, we got more momentum. Sherbert flew into the window and bounced off again, and I slammed painfully into the wall of the flat. Then Brick reappeared, pulling up a chair, slurping from a new bottle of whiskey, and grinning down at me as if he was watching his favourite show on TV.

  I screamed deep in my throat, readied my legs for another kick, and then I felt my glove begin to rip. The Magnet Rune was going to tear straight off of it! I had one more chance. I summoned every bit of power I had left and threw myself into the air. Sherbert’s body whipped backwards far out into the night sky. Then he flew into the window, and there was a shattering sound. At the same time, I let the Grapple Cord go limp.

  I looked down, and Sherbert was gone. I saw the smashed window and couldn’t see his falling body. It worked. It really worked! Sherbert was safe! He was probably in pretty bad shape from that, but he was safe! I flew back into the wall and slammed my injured shoulder into it. I felt another pop and my shoulder ball snapped back into place. I screamed. I had never felt pain that intense. Then my glove ripped.

  I just about managed to claw onto the edge of the building, hanging there by just my fingertips. I heard Brick howl with laughter.

  "Well shit, kid," he shouted down to me. "I'll give you this, you're definitely a persistent little fucker. So you saved the bum." Brick stood up, kicked back his chair, and crouched over the edge so he could make eye contact with me. "But now I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna watch you drop all the way down there, and I'm gonna watch your body splat into pulp. Then I'm gonna go downstairs and I'm gonna stab your friend until his body stops twitching. You still lose." He raised his foot to stamp on my hand.

  I was going to die, and worst of all, I hadn’t even saved Sherbert. I had no doubt in my mind that Brick would be true to his word, and as soon as he finished me off, he would go and murder Sherbert just for the sick thrill of it. He stamped on my hand, and I felt a finger break. I screamed but still hung on. Brick threw his head back and laughed again before taking a long drink of whiskey, spilling some of it over me as he spluttered and cackled.

  "How's it feel, you stupid little prick?" he spat down at me. "How's it feel? All you've done was for nothing. I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to kill your little friend. Then I'm going to pay the police off and make good on my debts to the Syndicate. Then I’ll take a little trip. Somewhere with sunshine and white sand beaches and lay low for a little bit. Once the heats off, I’m gonna go right back to the game. Everything you've done has been pointless! Your whole fucking existence meant nothing!”

  I bowed my head. I could feel my fingers beginning to slip. It wouldn't be long now. I only had one more trick, one more card to play, and it was one I was always warned never to do. When I caught Sherbert, the brass knuckles on my left hand had slipped and fallen off. I screwed my eyes shut, clenched my teeth, and raised my ruined arm. It moved, but barely; the whole limb screamed in agony, begging me to stop. But I kept raising my hand until my wrist was near my mouth. I ripped the Velcro of my glove off and yanked it away, letting it flutter down to the nothingness below.

  Brick looked at me curiously and then raised his foot again.

  "Time to die, gutter rat!"

  That's when I bent my fingers and cocked them in the shape of a gun, a perfect Explosion Rune carved into my palm with a scalpel. I looked up at Brick.

  "Bang, bitch!"

  I sent every vestige of power I had left through my ruined arm, and out of my fingertips. The explosion hit Brick in the chest and face. There was a spray of blood and Brick was thrown backwards out of view. I felt a new pain roar through my body, but this one was completely different. It felt like it was burning me from the inside out. I screamed and almost let go right then and there, but with a will of effort I didn't even know I possessed, I threw my other hand up and desperately scrabbled, pulled, and fought, to inch my body back from the abyss. My boots caught on the pebble-dashed exterior of the flat, finding solid enough purchase to power my ruined body upwards. I grabbed hold of the bar that had saved my life once before with my good hand and used it to pull myself the rest of the way. I clambered back into the hole, rolling over and gasping for air, tears running down my face as my body twitched. The absolute horror of almost dying was too much for me to compute. The exhaustion, the fear, the pain had almost completely shut me down, and I lay staring up at the ceiling, tears running down my face, gasping jaggedly for breath. My palm felt like it had been dipped in acid. My ruined shoulder throbbed and sent searing pain across my torso. I just laid there, thankful to be alive. As improbable as that seemed, I was still alive.

  Then I heard Brick groan. He was still alive too…