Extinction Agenda

Chapter Thirty-Four

Even though George’s weapon didn’t have a blade, it must have been charmed in a similar fashion as the other Amriany edged weapons, Cole decided, because it did just fine against the Half Breeds. George and he took the lead as Milosh, Paige, and Nadya covered their backs. Thanks to the ink introduced to their bodies, their blows landed with enough force to sever limbs or knock Half Breeds aside completely.

Farther out, IRD guns still chopped into the encroaching werewolves without putting much of a dent in the overall Half Breed population. For every creature mowed down by excessive large caliber gunfire, another ran in from another part of the city. As the night wore on and Esteban continued to howl, Shreveport slid even closer to the abyss. Cole knew better than to mourn for the things he hacked apart with his newly upgraded weapon. His blade hadn’t been the one to kill those people. That was Esteban’s doing or the fault of the creatures that had been set loose. All that was left to do now was see to it that the Full Bloods were prevented from finishing what they started when the Breaking Moon had risen.

A helicopter swung in low to hover over the Skinner and Amriany team, but before its gunner could find his mark, the aircraft was attacked by half a dozen Half Breeds responding to a guttural bark from the Full Blood perched upon the edge of the roof. As the NH-90 swung out and away from the electronics store to try and shake the werewolves off, Cole could hear the pilot screaming in pain. By the time it crashed, George was smashing his way into the store with the weighted end of his weapon.

The inside of the building was identical to any number of places Cole had visited. There was a group of carts next to the entrance, which he and the others ran past before skirting two rows of cash registers. As they rushed between rows of newly released DVDs, a Half Breed leapt at him from atop a large metal shelf designed to hold plasma screen TVs. Cole caught it with the forked end of his spear, diverting the creature until it slammed down to crack several floor tiles with its body. He removed its head with one swipe of the Blood Blade.

More Half Breeds leapt through and over the shelves, knocking over the single television set that hadn’t already been trashed. George swatted one away and went to work on the others by spinning his iron weapon like a propeller. The weighted end pulverized already broken bodies, and the claw opened wounds that wouldn’t be healed. Any Half Breeds that tried to get up were finished off by Paige, Nadya, and Milosh.

The parallels weren’t lost on Cole when he sent a Half Breed flying into the video game aisle where it demolished a display of Hammer Strike action figures and strategy guides. “Where’s that Torva’ox coming from?” he asked.

Blinking quickly to make sure the drops she’d put in before breaching the store were soaked in, Paige pointed toward a section of flooring that had been crudely ripped away. “Right here, I think.” She looked straight up and then tightened her grip on her weapons. “Yep. This seems like the right spot.”

“You sure?” Cole asked.

Pointing up to a massive hole in the roof, she replied, “Again . . . yep.”

Since the power hadn’t been on for a while, there wasn’t a huge difference in temperature when Cole stood next to Paige to get a look at the hole that showed him a cold winter sky. Grit from outside sprinkled down, along with chunks of cement and plaster, as a figure loomed above the hole to peer down at them. An explosion from the battle between the IRD and Half Breeds illuminated enough for him to see a snout, a clawed hand, and part of a furry chest. Then Esteban lowered his face to fix his white eyes upon them, his lips parting to display rows of uneven fangs.

“You have shown yourselves too late to do anything but bleed,” the Full Blood said in a rich Spanish accent.

Cole shifted his spear to his left hand so he could reach into his coat with his right and draw the divining rod from his pocket. “Don’t mind us,” he said, approaching a spot in the middle of the torn-up section of flooring. “We’re just here to plug a leak.” He pointed the metal end of the rod at the floor and drove it down. The sparks that crackled from the rod weren’t as dramatic as he’d been hoping for, but they caught the Full Blood’s attention. Even without the drops in his eyes, Cole could feel the electric crackle in the air die down as the Jekhibar soaked up the power the Full Blood was trying to use.

“Gypsy alchemy!” Esteban snarled. “You don’t even know why I’ve chosen this place.”

“Don’t know,” Paige shouted, “and don’t care. We’re just here to clean up the mess.”

Having gotten only a minimum of instruction from Ira about what the divining rod was supposed to do, Cole grabbed the wooden end with both hands and twisted it as if exacerbating a giant wound. More sparks flew and the metal spike sank in a little deeper, which caused some of the glyphs inscribed on that end to pulse with a dim orange glow.

Esteban gripped the edge of the hole in the roof and swung his feet over the side. He dropped all the way down, clipping a set of broken lights as well as the piping of what was probably a sprinkler system that had been broken due to neglect. His paws thumped solidly onto the shattered floor and his claws sank in through broken tile. “We have stood by too long,” he growled. “That is over. Your only hope is to hide and pray to escape our notice until your short lives dwindle to an end.”

Paige stepped forward and willed both sickles to fold down so they could be holstered in her boot. Reaching into one of the pockets of the jacket worn over her tactical vest, she said, “Why don’t you just disappear into a forest or somewhere scenic like your friend Randolph?”

The Full Blood’s face twisted into something of a smile. “You have no idea what Randolph is doing. If you had any sense at all, you’d allow the rest of us to gather our forces so we can better deal with what he is prepared to unleash.”

“Like there’s anything worse than this?” she replied. Paige’s hand emerged from her pocket holding the vial that Tristan had given her. “That’s the advantage to being completely screwed. The only direction to go from there is up.”

Esteban shook his head as if silently pitying a small child, then shifted into a bulky four-legged form and leapt at the largest group of humans. Rushing forward to join them, Cole took a straight jab at the werewolf with the newly modified tip of his spear. The weapon not only felt better in his hands than the last time he’d swung it, but the wooden section responded fluidly to his mental command for it to grow into something better suited for fighting a Full Blood. The forked end widened so it could catch one of Esteban’s thicker limbs, and curved spikes emerged from the ends of both tines, making that end of the spear resemble the talon on a bird of prey. Before his limb could be completely ensnared, Esteban phased into a ghostly image so the weapon as well as a follow-up swing from the Blood Blade could pass through without harming him.

The Amriany spread out to surround the Full Blood. Nadya wielded a short sword but was obviously more accustomed to automatic weapons. She swung tentatively at Esteban’s spectral form, and as soon as her sword passed through it, he became solid enough to rip a set of bloody grooves across her face and neck. She twisted away and stumbled backward, hitting the ground on her side.

After running back to the torn section of floor, Cole drove his spear into the exposed dirt beside him. As soon as the blade was wedged solidly in place, he reached out to twist the divining rod, using both hands. The sparks that flew didn’t seem to hurt Esteban, but they drew the Full Blood’s attention. Several Amriany blades as well as a few short chopping attempts from Paige passed through his wraith form as he stalked toward Cole. Opening his mouth in a roar that could not be heard, the beast charged.

Claws that were incorporeal one moment and solid the next scraped at the floor. Saliva that dripped from his fangs either dissipated into nothing or spattered onto nearby shelves. Cole stepped away from the divining rod, took the spray can from the pocket of his coat and waited for Esteban to get closer.

Explosions and gunfire from outside faded into a muffled rush.

Flickering lights seeping in through the windows became a dim smear at the edges of Cole’s vision.

After all of the hell he’d put his body through to learn how to swing his weapon or trade blows with stronger creatures, it now all boiled down to standing in one spot, waiting for the right moment to push a button. Who said playing video games wasn’t going to help him in real life?

Part of Esteban’s head and most of his front paws began to solidify in preparation for tearing the unarmed Skinner in half. Dropping down to one knee, Cole pointed the spray can at the Full Blood’s spectral lower half and pressed the button that sent a shimmering silver mist into the air. He kept his finger solidly in place as he launched himself sideways into a roll while twisting his body around to put his back to Esteban. Thick claws raked against the shoulder of Cole’s coat, penetrating the tanned werewolf hide deep enough to shred through a few upper layers of flesh. He clenched his eyes shut through the pain and continued to roll while hastily calculating how far he was from his spear. Every second that passed, Cole expected to feel the weight of that Full Blood drop on him like a collapsing portion of the roof.

He wound up on his stomach just short of slamming into a wire display rack. Propping himself up, he pulled his feet beneath him to find Esteban still standing in the spot where he’d initially landed. The Full Blood’s back was arched and his head craned back and forth. The glittering metallic specks that were added to the aerosol hung suspended in the Full Blood’s body like stars in an inky night sky as Esteban was painfully forced back into solid form. His voice returned too, booming with an agony and rage that gave Cole an extra burst as he ran to the spot where his spear still protruded from the floor.

Pieces of his body flickered like a fading television signal, but the aerosol was doing its job by making it next to impossible for him to shift into an insubstantial form. Esteban reared up and screamed as the powdered Blood Blade fragments shifted inside him.

The Amriany attacked from left and right. Nadya was still on the floor but managed to pull a borrowed assault rifle around from where it was strapped over one shoulder. As Paige and Milosh were driving their blades into the werewolf, George joined them. Although some of their tattoos had burned off, there was enough remaining in them to batter Esteban or cut into him with more brutal efficiency than the Full Blood could have expected from any human.

Still, no matter how deeply the Blood Blades cut or how many times he was rocked by a thumping impact from George’s iron staff, the Full Blood was too enraged to be put down. He slashed at Milosh, knocking him aside with ease. Paige ducked beneath the claws intended to take her head off, and George blocked that paw with the middle section of his weapon. Cole plucked his spear from the floor and stood so one of his heels remained in contact with the divining rod. That way he could swing and parry as much as he needed without losing track of where the specially crafted tool could be found.

The Full Blood threw a backhanded swipe in Cole’s direction, which was diverted by an expertly performed block using the forked end of his spear. Before he could attack Cole again, the Full Blood was swarmed by Paige and George. Overhead, the thumping of helicopter blades blew in through the damaged roof as one of the NH-90s settled into position over the store.

“Move him closer to the opening,” Ouray said through the earpiece. “I found a few more of those Snapper rounds.”

“They won’t do much against a Full Blood,” Cole said as he reached back to grab the divining rod. He twisted it again and then dragged it through the ground as he backed up to move beneath the ragged hole.

“Maybe not,” Ouray said calmly through the earpiece, “but it might give you some breathing room.”

Since he wasn’t about to argue with getting backup, Cole shouted, “Over here!” to Esteban as well as Paige and the Amriany. Paige, who also wore one of the earpieces, already knew what he was trying to do, and swung both sickles at the Full Blood. Her eyes glazed over as she hacked at Esteban. She moved with deadly fluidity, ducking and leaning to clear a path for a few attacks without seeming to notice that sections of her tactical vest had been ripped away. Nadya stopped firing, but George and Milosh closed ranks around Paige as one swipe from the werewolf completely shredded the layer of Half Breed skin that was her vest’s main line of defense. A clubbing blow from the claw at the end of George’s staff that finally dropped Esteban down to all fours.

The glyphs etched into the divining rod were seething now. Cole could smell burnt iron, which meant the Jekhibar had absorbed all it possibly could. Plucking the rod from the ground, he prodded the Full Blood with it to create an even bigger shower of sparks.

Drawing once more on his experience as a game developer when something unexpected and cool happened, Cole pretended it had been his idea. “You want me to stop that?” he asked as Esteban looked at him. “Then come and make me!”

The Full Blood’s thick torso was accented by protruding ribs and a backbone that rose up like a stony ridge from a desert floor. He nipped at George to make him back off. Then he barked and swiped at Milosh to send a spray of Amriany blood through the air. Paige held her ground, staying behind him in case Esteban decided to move too far away from the hole in the roof.

Cole held his spear in one hand and the divining rod in the other. When Esteban was close enough, he stepped forward to jab the sharpened end of the Amriany tool at the Full Blood’s head and shoulder. The reaction between the divining rod and the werewolf was similar to a live wire brushing against a piece of wet steel. Esteban bared his teeth and lifted his face toward the roof as a shot was fired at him from above.

The round cut the air with a deeper hiss than a normal bullet. Esteban’s entire body was pulled to one side when the heavy projectile thumped between his shoulder blades, skidded against his flesh and lodged in his fur. Cole was close enough to see the blood-smeared round poking out from his coat. When Esteban turned to bite at the thing lodged in his fur, the humans renewed their attack. The Full Blood slammed the side of his head against Cole’s shoulder, knocking him off his feet, to sail several yards through the air and into a case filled with empty display boxes of games that were current before Shreveport had been overrun.

Although he couldn’t see her, due to the huge werewolf blocking his line of sight, Cole could hear Paige over the earpiece when she asked, “How many more rounds do you have?”

“Just one,” Ouray replied.

“Take it!”

“Fine,” the IRD commando said, and worked the bolt of his rifle.

Cole pulled in a breath and focused on what needed to be done. It looked as if they were already down by two. Nadya wasn’t up yet and Milosh was struggling to get away from Esteban so he could catch his breath. The only one occupying the Full Blood was George, who slashed at the werewolf or pounded against his ribs, depending on which end of his weapon he was using. There were a few more stages of the plan that needed to be carried out, and if one of them didn’t happen, the whole thing failed. And if the plan failed, everyone who’d died in Shreveport would have done so for nothing.

Tossing away his spear, Cole grabbed the divining rod in both hands so he could more effectively use it as a weapon. When he found a wound that had been opened by a Blood Blade, he attacked it using the splintered points of the broken Skinner weapons Ira had attached to the divining rod. The thorny protrusions made contact with the wound and completed a circuit that gave the stored Torva’ox energies somewhere else to go. Even though Ira insisted that’s what would happen, Cole had been skeptical. But the energies flowing through fragments of a shattered Blood Blade had caused Esteban’s body to twitch and the open wound on the side of his neck to pulse with enough raw energy to illuminate the crimson texture of his muscle tissue.

“I know that hurts,” Cole said. He was close enough to see that the Full Blood’s eyes weren’t completely white after all, but more like smooth ivory circles resting on multifaceted ice crystals. By the time a rifle cracked over the rotors churning above the building, the Full Blood was shifting into his upright form. Cole heard the distinctive hiss of the incoming round as if it had been fired into a vacuum.

For the next heartbeat the path of that round was all that mattered.

It needed to hit the breach in Esteban’s natural armor to give the Skinners enough time to deliver the Memory Water.

Cole thought about all of this in the time it took to blink. Meanwhile, Esteban snapped a hand up so the bullet could slap against his palm with its distinctive snap. He crushed the dart and threw the pieces away before leaning forward to spit a defiant growl into Cole’s face.

It was all Cole could do to jump aside before the Full Blood’s jaws clamped shut around his head. Already Esteban was shaking off the effects of the aerosol as well as the jolt from the divining rod, and Cole knew it wouldn’t be long before he shifted into something that couldn’t be harmed by bullets or blades, no matter how charmed they were.

When Esteban stood up and roared, every Half Breed outside joined him. The chorus was drowned out by a wave of heavy gunfire mixed with the screams of soldiers whose bodies were broken down into those of wild animals. Even though his system was inoculated with more than enough serums to protect him from changing, Cole could feel the Breaking tug at his skeletal structure. He held onto his weapon, ran at the Full Blood and shouted, even though he couldn’t hear his own voice.

Esteban batted away one of Milosh’s blades and tore open a messy gash across his neck with a swipe that was hardly more than a blur. Before Milosh dropped, Esteban turned and snapped at George. The Amriany held his weapon horizontally so the werewolf could clamp down on it instead of anything vital. With one powerful twist, George yanked the staff free and slashed Esteban’s face with the weapon’s sharpened claws. The werewolf pivoted before Cole could drive the Blood Blade into his side and knocked him down. Esteban’s claws shredded his coat but were unable to go much deeper. Paige stepped in to snag his wrist using the curved blade of her sickle before the killing blow could be delivered, but he swung at her with enough force to rustle her hair when she ducked beneath the savage blow.

The beast’s fangs glistened with saliva and his breath stank of blood as he leaned forward to sink his teeth into the portion of Cole’s chest that was exposed, thanks to the shredded coat. Less than an inch before he got there, the weighted end of George’s weapon thumped against Esteban’s face and diverted his bite a few vital inches to the left. That reprieve, however, only lasted until the Full Blood’s vicious backhand sent George into one of the shelves in the next aisle. Cole took a straight shot with his spear but the weapon was knocked aside before its blade could draw another drop of blood. Esteban’s mouth yawned open. His fangs dug into Cole’s temple and chin. Somehow, the Skinner leaned back so those teeth only gouged him and sent a flow of blood down his face. From there, Cole nearly tripped over himself in his haste to put some distance between himself and the werewolf.

Esteban trembled as a few drops of Cole’s blood dripped from his fangs onto his tongue. He strained to get closer so he could take a real bite, but was restrained by something that caused his eyes to clench shut and his head to arch back. Paige clung to his upper back, hanging onto the grips of her weapons as the curved blades came around the front of his neck to keep him from getting any closer to Cole. Roaring as the Blood Blades cut into his flesh, Esteban reached up to grab her arms in an attempt to pull her off.

Cole held his spear in a two-handed grip and jammed the blade into Esteban’s chest. The charmed metal cut deeply, but there were several layers of solid muscle as well as bone that could very well have been cast iron beneath it.

“Not yet!” Paige screamed. “Don’t kill him yet!”

“Shut up and get down from there,” Cole replied through gritted teeth.

“Just get that divining rod ready!” As she spoke, Paige struggled to keep from being pulled in half. The only thing that allowed her to put up any sort of resistance was the last bit of tattoo ink flowing through her muscles. The enhancedstrength bought her leeway to squirm within Esteban’s grasp. When his fingers closed in even tighter, she needed to resort to more creative measures. Her fists were poking out of his clutches, and the sickles had been moved away from his throat. Just as her body was pulled to its limit, she willed the sickle handles to bend so the blades snapped down as if they were about to be holstered. They cut into Esteban’s fingers deep enough to force the Full Blood to let her go before his hands were mutilated.

Since his weapon wasn’t able to go in any deeper, Cole removed the spear and stepped back before he could be cut down by a wild bite. When Paige didn’t hop down from Esteban’s back right away, he shouted, “You all right?”

She didn’t answer, so Cole hurried around the Full Blood in the direction George had been thrown. The Amriany wasn’t on his feet yet but was propping himself up using his staff. Nadya was nearby, laying completely still in a growing pool of blood. Milosh was gone. His body lay in a heap that hadn’t shifted so much as an inch since he’d been cut down.

“Paige, jump away!” Cole shouted.

She tossed a sickle, used that hand to grab some fur on Esteban’s back, and drove the curved blade of her other weapon in deep behind one of his shoulders. That strike came just when the Full Blood was reaching back to grab her, and caused enough pain for him to abandon his attempt so he could howl up at the broken roof.

“I said be ready with that damn Jekhibar!” she shouted. “We’re only getting one chance at this.”

Since he knew his partner well enough to be certain she wouldn’t listen to him no matter how many times he tried to convince her, Cole rushed back to where he’d left the divining rod. Outside the store, everything seemed quiet. Even the helicopter that had been hovering overhead was gone. Unlike most conflicts, however, the lack of gunfire and shouting wasn’t exactly a good sign.

“What do you want me to do?” George grunted. The Amriany had gotten close enough for Cole to take half a swing at him when he was shocked by the sound of his voice and realized who he was.

“Just keep her alive and don’t get killed,” Cole said. “In that order.” Then he Cole carried the divining rod to the spot where Esteban stood upright, swaying and snapping on empty air while snarling in a baritone that drifted between coarse Spanish obscenities to primal animal grunts.

The Full Blood had grown to his full height, between eight and nine feet tall. Paige was still on his back, hanging onto one sickle with her right arm like a mountain climber dangling from a vertical slope. Even though she and Esteban were in constant motion, Cole could see that her arm had been stripped down to muscle hardened by the first batch of tainted ink. Now that her tattoos had burned off, that arm—the skin been peeled away, revealing tissue that looked like chipped, wet rock—was the only thing that kept her from being tossed through a wall. Paige’s grip would not be loosened, no matter how many times Esteban’s claws slashed at her. She winced and sweat rolled down her face as Esteban slashed at her again. Anyone else would have lost their limb or let go by now, but she hung on.

Cole pushed himself harder than he thought possible as he stabbed Esteban with the Blood Blade. The effort tapped into the last of his tattoo ink but wasn’t enough to inflict a mortal wound. But it succeeded in distracting the Full Blood before he ripped into Paige again.

“What are you doing?” Cole shouted.

Grunting as she pressed her body against Esteban’s back, she said, “That wound is still open. Just . . . give me another few seconds!”

“Get the hell away from him! We’ll think of something else!”

“No, I . . . got it!” As she said that, Paige braced her feet against Esteban and lifted the vial of Memory Water that Tristan had given her before sending them all through the temple in Chuna’s clearing.

The Full Blood roared, clenched a fist, swung it at Paige, and was stopped short by a gleaming length of charmed, Amriany iron. George’s effort had burnt away the rest of his tattoos, but the clawed end hit Esteban’s arm to rip out a sizable chunk of flesh and bone. The weapon even smashed apart a section of the floor on its downward trajectory. That bought Paige enough time to get a solid grip on the vial and drive it into the wound on Esteban’s back. Glass shattered and the mystical fluid seeped directly into the werewolf’s body. Some of the Memory Water might have even worked its way in deeper when the Full Blood pivoted around to hit George with a blow that knocked the iron pole from his hands. Cole heard the wet crunch of breaking bone and watched helplessly as George crumpled to the floor like a broken doll.

“What have you done to me?” Esteban snarled.

“Paige!” Cole shouted. “Get away fr—” The rest of his plea was lost in a gust of air that felt as if it had been pulled from the lowest reaches of his lungs. His feet were no longer on the floor, the roof no longer over his head. He even lost sight of Esteban until the Full Blood’s savage face swung across a portion of his peripheral vision. After that, everything in his sight became a jumble of cascading shapes, blocky figures, and shades of black as he toppled through the air. Esteban must have thrown him twenty to forty feet with a blow that no human eye could have seen. Cole was reminded of the first time Randolph had tossed him aside in Canada when his back slammed against something solid and unforgiving. Even with his coat absorbing a good amount of damage and the serum pulsing through his veins, he had to fight to stay conscious.

Opening his eyes just in time to see Esteban rear up, Cole heard the beast shout, “Skinner bitch!” The towering creature tried to stand up straight, but his wounds weren’t healing and blood poured from the multiple places he’d been stabbed. Since he couldn’t move well enough to swipe at Paige anymore, Esteban threw himself toward a shelf and turned at the last moment to mash her between himself and the flimsy metal structure.

“Cole!” she shouted. “Now!”

Without pausing to think about the pain that lanced through his body, Cole climbed to his feet and ran across the room. Along the way he felt a jolt through his back that clouded his vision and made him feel as if he were still sailing through the air. Bones were cracked. He knew that for certain. Blood had seeped into almost every inch of his clothes, but he was still alive. By the time he found the divining rod again, Esteban had pushed through another row of shelves and would have crushed Paige against a solid cement wall if she hadn’t used a sickle lodged in his shoulder to steer him into a sharp turn. Now that Daniels’s spray had worked its way through his system, he tried to shift.

Esteban remained solid. The Memory Water had done its job. Unfortunately, the Dryad mixture was also healing his wounds.

Cole picked up the divining rod and ran toward the Full Blood. He had a substantial amount of ground to cover, which left the Esteban with just enough time to finally pull Paige from his back, grab her by the front of her tactical vest, and slam her against the cement wall.

She can take it, Cole thought. She’s tough. She’s had worse.

Paige was slammed again. This time Esteban snarled at her while chips of cement fell away behind her. Blood dripped from his claws as he pulled that hand back and allowed her to slump to the floor. Before the Full Blood could touch her again, Cole stuck him with the Blood Blade. Esteban tried to swipe at him, but Cole followed that attack with a second. The moment he pulled the spear out from between the werewolf’s ribs, he jammed the wooden end of the divining rod into the wound. That end of the weapon was a mass of sharp edges created either by splinters from the forging process or points of the weapons from which it had been made. He clenched his fist around a sharpened piece of one of Paige’s old sickle blades and immediately felt the bond form between himself, the hybrid weapon, and the Full Blood.

Images from the Full Blood’s thoughts rushed through Cole’s mind.

Knowledge he’d never gleaned came to him.

Memories of unknowable power flashed behind his eyes in a murky haze.

As much as he wanted to soak up more of those wondrous visions, Cole staggered back and found the large patch of ruined floor. Keeping his grip on the divining rod, he used the rest of his strength to drive the metal end into the ground.

The sparks that had flown before were nothing compared to the flash that pulsed through Cole, Paige, Esteban, and every other living thing within miles of that store. It ended quickly, snapping back into the rod before rushing through the earth along a current that Cole could only see for a fraction of a second. It was a sight as beautiful as it was terrifying.

Esteban dropped. Rather than allow himself to be seen in such a weakened state, he stood up and pulled in a haggard breath. For once, a Full Blood sounded as bad as Cole felt. His exhalation was a wheezing strain on his entire body. His muscles twitched but weren’t able to shift the way he wanted them to. The werewolf’s frustration was palpable as he looked over to the wall where Paige was still resting. When Esteban turned to look at Cole again, he seemed somewhat appeased. He leapt up to the hole in the roof, where he scraped to get a grip on the jagged edge and pull himself out. His footsteps were heavy and uneven on top of the store, and when he leapt away, a rush of movement from the parking lot followed him.