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The punch hit before I could truly do anything. Suddenly I was flying backward, over the desk and across the room. I hit the carpet with a grunt that forced the air from my lungs and had spots dancing in front of my eyes, and for what seemed like an eternity, I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, could only lie there battling pain and the rising tide of darkness.
Yet through it all, I'd clung to the lasers, and it was that instinct that saved me. Because the spots in front of my eyes became a mass of blue, and I fired the lasers without real thought. The creature screamed as twin holes were punched through his chest. It was dead, but its momentum carried it forward. I rolled out from underneath, gagging at the reek of death that filled the air as its body crashed to the carpet.
I pushed to my knees, then my feet. Saw Misha was still upright, still fighting. The blue thing was obviously just a safety measure, because nothing else had come out of the darkness of the stairwell.
Time to get the hell out of here. I fired the lasers, and kept on firing, sweeping them steadily against the mass of watery spiders as I ran toward Misha. The creatures skittered away under the assault, leaving a clear path to the stairwell. Misha leapt toward it, and I followed, spinning and firing even as the shadows and coldness of the dark stairwell closed in around me. Misha slapped a hand against another lever, then thrust his weight against the door. It slid shut, catching several of the spiders mid-leap, squashing them flat between door and wall. I lasered the dribbling remains just to be safe, then let loose a long, shuddering breath of relief. Though God knows why - we weren't out of the woods yet.
Misha leaned against the concrete wall, his eyes closed and breathing harsh. He looked like shit, and his mauled face was beginning to puff up and bruise, but at least he was still alive.
I touched a hand to his shoulder. "We have to move."
He nodded, and pushed away from the wall. "Up, not down."
"To the roof?" Fear skittered through my gut at the thought. "Won't that be trapping ourselves?"
He shook his head, and rubbed a hand across his stomach, wincing a little. "No. He obviously knows about this escape route, and would expect us to go down."
"But what's on the roof, and why won't he know about it?"
"They're gutting the building next door, and, in the last week, have punched huge holes in the side wall to get ready for windows. From the roof we can jump through them to one of the open floors. He wouldn't expect that."
That's because normal people wouldn't try it. And people who were afraid of heights certainly wouldn't. I licked suddenly dry lips. "Is it much of a jump?"
He shook his head, his look of pain intensifying. No surprise, really, given the mess his face was in. It had to hurt like hell to talk. "Not much for a wolf."
Oh God... I blew out a breath, and gathered courage. Facing a pet fear head-on was better than facing any more of those damn spiders. Besides, with Misha looking so bad, it was doubtful he'd be much use in the fighting stakes.
"You want to lead the way?"
He nodded and staggered forward, grasping the metal rail as he hauled himself up the concrete steps. Our footsteps echoed across the silence, and I could only hope that if there was something waiting down below, they'd think we were coming toward them, not away.
It was only ten flights to the roof, but it felt like a hundred. We were both trembling and sweating by the time we reach the metal door, but in my case, I knew its cause was tension and fear.
Misha pressed bloody fingers to a button and pressed it. Locks clicked, but I stopped him from pushing the door open. "Let me go first. I'm in better condition."
He nodded and hung back, his hand still pressed to his stomach and the look of intense pain seemingly entrenched on his mauled features.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly, carefully, opened the door. Nothing stirred the night except the cool breeze. Metal creaked somewhere to my right, and from the left came the steady hum of traffic, soft laughter, and babble of voices as people walked past. From farther away still came the bass thump of rock music.
Switching to infrared, I opened the door wider, and stepped out. No splashes of body heat greeted me, though if the spiders were up here, I wouldn't have seen them anyway.
The night breeze stirred my hair, and suddenly I was aware of the space and the night, and the sensation that we were high, so high, swamped me. Cold sweat broke out across my skin and my stomach rose. I closed my eyes, swallowing heavily.
I could do this.
I really could.
I switched back to normal vision, and glanced at Misha. He was sweating profusely, and shaking with pain. Shock, or something else? I didn't know, but it was obvious I had to get him to the hospital, and fast.
"I think it's safe."
He nodded and pushed past, heading to the left of the door. A building loomed above us, its inner bones revealed by the massive holes dotting its side.
The shifting haze skimmed across Misha's body, and in wolf form, he ran for the ledge and leapt for the nearest gap. I watched as he hit the other side, his body only half in, his back legs scrabbling for purchase on the rough old bricks. My heart lodged somewhere in my throat, and for several seconds I couldn't even breathe, my fear for him was so great. Then he was in, and safe, and it was my turn.
Oh God, oh God.
I licked my lips again, my eyes on the building directly opposite. It was just a little jump. A tiny jump. A sneeze when compared to some of the things I'd jumped in the past.
