Gods of Blood and Bone (Seeds of Chaos Book 1) (17 page)

“I will.” I held out my hand.
 

After a pause, he shook it with his uninjured one.

“Do you have a weapon? Something to defend yourself with?”

He pulled something small from his pocket, and a familiar butterfly knife glinted in the darkness, bright to my sensitive eyes. “I’ve got a few skills besides fighting, too. If the situation demands, I’ll show you something impressive.”

I couldn’t help a wolf-like grin stretching across my face.

Chapter 13

I am your worst nightmare. And your wildest dream.
 

— Sonya Chloe

"Share Map Display," I said. The three-dimensional model of our Trial arena popped up in front of me, and Adam and Jacky’s eyes focused on it as well. Sharing my displays was a little trick China had taught me.
 

"Okay, this is us." I pointed to the blue arrow in the center, in the center of a rectangular building. "We'll be going here." I pointed to a blinking yellow dot on the top of a building only a few streets removed from our location.
 

"Why?" Adam frowned. "That's not the closest one, and it's all the way on the roof."
 

"We need to stay down-wind of the rat-men as much as possible. Most of them went this way." I pointed in the direction I thought was east. "We want to keep them between us and the wind. As for the ones that went the other way, we'll just have to deal with them."
 

Jacky licked her finger and raised it to the air to catch the direction of the breeze that filtered through the broken windows of the building. "Why don't we just roof-jump? It'll be faster than goin’ through the streets."
 

I mentally mapped the route we'd take for both options, and nodded slowly. "Yes. That's a good idea. We'd leave no scent trail on the ground, so finding us might be a bit more difficult. And the faster we can get out of here, the better our chance of survival." I looked to Adam. "Could you make a jump like that with your arm?"
 

He took a beanie from his pocket and shoved it onto his head with his good hand, flattening his hair in the process. "I'll have to, won't I?"
 

I hoped he could keep to that statement when the time to act came. "Okay. Let's go."
 

We moved up the stairs, Jacky taking the lead, seemingly to avoid Adam, and me staying beside him to make sure he could keep up despite his injuries. Halfway up the third floor staircase, she raised her hand and we froze. I snuck up to her and saw what had caused her to stop us.
 

A small plant-like creature with slowly wriggling limbs spread out across the steps above our head. One long stalk rose from its base, on top of which sat an eyeball like a snail's. "Concerned citizen?" I whispered.
 

She stepped forward like flowing water in the darkness. Her feet made no sound on the ground, and her movement seemed to stir no air. I thought it was a Skill.
 

The creature didn't have time to let out more than a gasping squeak once it noticed her presence.
 

Her hands shot out and wrapped around its neck, squeezing and twisting, while she ground her boot into its body. The eyestalk snapped off, and the stump squirted some sort of fluid that smelled sweetly of antifreeze. The limbs at the base stopped wriggling, and the whole body seemed to deflate onto the ground like a popped balloon.
 

She looked at me, and I nodded.
 

We continued on, her taking the place of our scout again, until we reached the fifth floor.
 

Adam panted and leaned on the wall for every step, the pain of his injured leg wearing on him.
 

I couldn't help but think that if he hadn't saved Jacky, he'd probably be well enough to survive all on his own. But I was glad for his recklessness, because otherwise she would have died, and I would never be able to gain her alliance.
 

In the middle of the fifth floor, the staircase abruptly disappeared, having collapsed for about six steps. Big steps, as always.
 

My heart sank in my chest, but I clenched my jaw and tried to think of a solution. Going back down wasn't an option. I remembered the way Jacky had ended the first Trial.
 

I judged the distance of the gap. "Jacky. Could you jump that?"
 

She pursed her lips. "Yeah...probably. Maybe."
 

I nodded. "Okay. Give me a second." I rummaged in my bag and pulled out a coil of plastine rope.

They watched me as I tied the rope into a noose-like harness on both ends, pulling on my knots to test them. Thank God for the internet, and my foresight in studying some survival channels during the last week. "Jacky, you're strong. I've seen your power. Could you lift one of us?"

She looked from me to the two-sided harness, and nodded. "Yeah, I’m strong. And I can be lightweight, too. I dunno if I can make it, but I’ll try."
 

"Brace yourself around the corner at the top of the stairs so our weight doesn't pull you off the edge, too," Adam said. "It doesn't matter how strong you are if you can't keep your body from sliding because you're too light."
 

She grinned and wrapped one slipknot around her stomach, throwing the other over her arm. She stepped back down the stairs, and with a mutter that sounded like "fingers crossed," she lunged up the steps, and then sprang up off the edge of the last step. She slammed into the edge of the upper step, knocking her air out with an audible
oomph
, but she easily scrabbled the rest of the way up and sat gasping for breath. She adjusted the rope around her waist and stood, giving the victory sign, two fingers spread into a V.
 

Adam stepped to the edge and reached out his good hand. "Lower down the other end." He wrapped it gingerly around his waist and she stepped backward to brace herself on the edge of the stairwell.
 

A piercing screech split through the air, like a siren made of knives.
 

We all flinched, and Jacky turned around and ripped off the eyestalk of the "concerned citizen" that had sounded the alarm. "Sorry. I didn’t see it," she said.
 

Adam shook his head. "Just hurry and pull us up." He swung off the edge gently, and she slid for only a few inches before getting a good grip and pulling him up.
 

He sat panting afterward with eyes closed against the pain, while she took the tightened harness from around him like he was made of maggots.
 

I went next, my weight causing the vines to tighten around my torso with bruising strength. I moved upward and rolled over the edge coughing as Jacky pulled unstoppably on the rope. Her body didn’t look strong or heavy enough to stand firm and lift one man-sized person, let alone
two
, but it was impossible to deny the facts. I crawled to my feet, pulled my slipknot over my head and handed it back to her. "Impressive. Let's go. I'm sure they're on their way. Hopefully that little gap slows them down a bit extra." Unfortunately, I had a feeling it wouldn't.
 

We were all gasping for breath when we burst through the door to the rooftop. I shot a glance to my map to get our bearings, and pointed to the roof of a nearby building. While we had been climbing, storm clouds had oozed across the sky. The wind whipped at me, threatening to push me off my feet.
 

I took a few breaths of the electrically charged air to regain some strength, stepped back, and ran to the edge of the roof. I leapt out into the empty space between buildings, feeling the extra weight of that place pulling me down.
 

I landed barely inches away from the deadly drop and rolled over before coming to my hands and knees. My claws were out, digging into the cold material of the building's roof. I stood and moved to the edge. I could see the shadowy forms of rat-men passing by at a run, through a window halfway up the building we'd just ascended.
 

"They're coming!" I warned, hoping that fear would lighten our steps and bolster our recklessness.
 

Jacky came next, landing smoothly, and then tossed the harness back to Adam. He wrapped it around himself, took a few limping lunges, and jumped off. He didn't quite make it, but Jacky was already moving forward, taking up the slack in the line.
 

He smashed into the side of the building with a thump and muffled a scream.
 

I crawled to the edge and grabbed the back of his hoodie and his good arm and helped to pull him up.
 

He rolled to his back, half across my lap, and lay there shuddering visibly. He'd bitten through his lip, and blood trickled down the side of his face. "Can I get some more numbing spray?"
 

I nodded and pulled off my backpack, fumbling around in it until I felt the can. I sprayed inside the makeshift sling, close to the skin. "Do you want some for your leg, too?"
 

"No. Wouldn’t do any good." He stood up and weaved on his feet for a second, then started toward the far side of the roof. "This way next, right?"

This time the jump was easier, and he made it on his own, without help from Jacky.
 

But the next roof was slightly higher than our own, and I worried that even Jacky might not be able to make it.
 

I had her wait to jump until I'd positioned myself with bent knees and cupped hands at the edge of the roof.
 

She moved to the far edge and came running at a full sprint, stepping right into my cupped hands and jumping as I pushed upward to give her a bit more lift.
 

She sprang away like she was flying, and tossed the harness back to me once she reached the roof above.
 

I jumped, slammed into the wall on the end of the rope, and was dragged up the building’s rough side to the top.
 

I turned back to throw the harness to Adam, and saw the rat-men burst onto the roof as lightning shattered the sky in a burst of blinding light, followed by a rumble of thunder that I felt pass through the air like a physical force. The wind was screaming now, whistling in my ears so I had to shout to make myself heard. "They're on the roof! Hurry!"
 

Once again Jacky was already moving forward as Adam swung through the air, but the impact still jostled his whole body. His eyes rolled back in his head as his broken arm hit the wall, and he hung limp and still for a second until consciousness returned to him.
 

"Brace yourself with your feet and just walk up," I shouted.
 

He did, moving upward as Jacky moved forward.
 

I grabbed his good hand and gave him a boost over the edge.
 

The rat-men were standing on the edge of the roof of the first building, and as I looked, the first of them jumped across to the second building, landing easily. It turned to urge its fellows on. They would be on us soon.
 

I turned around and looked to the far side of our rooftop, where a long, oval shaped pod stood on its end. I pulled up my mini map and zoomed in as we hurried over to it. Sure enough, it was the extraction point. The front had an indentation like a shrunken handle, so I grabbed it and pulled. It popped open with the sound of hissing hydraulics.
 

I waited for a moment, but nothing happened.
 

"We have to get in," Adam said. "This type of teleportation pod will take us one by one. I've seen them before."
 

Jacky looked to the rat-men and then to Adam. "You go first."
 

He frowned, but she pursed her lips. "You’re useless in a fight,
chico
. I don’t wanna have to protect you
and
me, so you better get safe. Plus, I owe you one."
 

He stepped in with a single frustrated nod and sealed the door, stood there for a few moments, and then looked around in confusion and opened it again. "It's not working. It's not powering up."
 

"What?" Jacky ground out.
 

"It's broken." He snapped. "Like I said."

I turned to the rat-men. They would arrive in less than a minute at the rate they were going. "Shit." I pulled up my map to search for another extraction pod. There was one a few streets away, but on the ground, and the roof we stood on had no door, no way to move down through the building. Except for the one we'd just come from, all the buildings around were un-jumpable, either too high or in a weird shape that we'd just slide right off of. There was no way we were going to jump all the way to the ground, and climbing down it wasn’t possible, either. "Shit," I said again.
 

We had only one option. "Okay. We're going to fight. There are more of them, but being on the high ground gives us an advantage. We'll kill them all, and then go find a working extraction point." Despite my words, I doubted we'd be leaving the Trial alive.
 

I turned back to them and saw Adam kneeling awkwardly at the back of the pod. He peeked around it. "One of the power sources has corroded. The other one's a bit rusted, but I think it still works. I might be able to fix the pod, if I could get a charge in it.”
 

I looked to the rat-men. Less than thirty seconds. I slung off my pack and tossed it to Adam. "There's another power cartridge in the side pocket. I don't know if it'll work, but I got it from a transport pod the last time I was in-Trial. I don't think it has any power."
 

He grabbed the pack and looked at me with surprise and a kind of consideration that bordered on respect. "I'll show you what I can do besides fighting, if you can keep them off me." He grinned with a sort of cockiness that made me smile back.
 

"It better be impressive," I said, and turned back to the rat-men below.