Panting, Adrian pulled back to inspect Nova, still in his arms. He intercepted Nova’s body before she struck the building on the other side of the alley, and they both crashed down on top of the dumpster. He didn’t think about using the springs on his feet-the others weren’t supposed to know about his tattoos-but there was no time to question it. On instinct, Adrian launched himself upward. She held her aloft for a second, then threw Nova down.
Adrian’s lungs expelled a horrified breath as he watched the woman haul Nova off the roof. When she was still a platform down from the top, she reached one tentacle up and over the side. Ignoring him, Hawthorn reached her tentacles toward the nearest fire escape and hauled her body upward, as quick and graceful as a spider. “I’m out of here!” he yelled, and took off running again. Whoever put the database together really needed to work on being more specific. When Nova had mentioned thorn-covered extremities, he’d pictured unusually sharp fingernails. They reminded Adrian of octopus legs, if octopus legs had been covered in vicious-looking thorns.Īdrian took a step back. Six appendages, each one a dozen feet long and scattered with sharp barbs. Ignoring him, the woman turned toward Adrian and snarled.Īs he watched, a series of limbs sprouted upward from her back, not far from where his beam had struck her. Her accomplice stumbled a few steps away, still gripping his two bags of stolen hospital drugs. Hawthorn let out a guttural scream and pushed herself up onto all fours. “Insomnia?” he yelled, hoping his panic didn’t show in his voice. The rifle clattered against the nearest wall.Īdrian studied the roof line, heart pounding. The concussion beam struck Hawthorn between her shoulder blades, launching her over one of the smashed air-conditioning units. Even beneath the dark gray sleeve of his uniform, he could see his skin start to glow as the narrow cylinder he’d once tattooed onto his flesh sprouted along the length of his forearm. The bullets burst across the top of the building, marring it with a series of tiny craters.Īdrian didn’t stop to think as he stepped out from behind the dumpster, out from Ruby’s view, and raised his arm. It smashed onto the ground steps in front of the woman, who let out a strangled cry and opened fire again. He scanned the roof of the surrounding apartments just as a second unit was hurled down at the thieves.
Adrian poked his head around the dumpster to see a destroyed air-conditioning unit on the pavement. Something crashed down the alley-the ear-splitting noise of breaking glass and crunching metal. Ruby’s face was contorted, both hands gripping her thigh. “Are you all right?” said Adrian, though the answer was obvious.
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