That’s when I see a man standing upright and tall on the roof, pistol drawn.

With fluid ease, he turns and follows the Reapers in the sky and, while turning, unleashes a hail of gunfire with absolute precision. I see who it is now.

Gabe.

“Go!” he shouts at us. “Get to the bikes below!”

Then, disaster.

In slow motion, I see it. A third Reaper, unseen by Gabe. It hammers down out of a pall of red ash and, in a violent gust of wings, swoops.

“GABE!” Malik yells.

Too late.

He turns at the last second, off-balance.

Then he runs, explodes full-tilt across the roof—across the ice.

And he slips.

His arms windmill desperately. The Reaper cries out, extends its claws in front of its body—an eagle on a rabbit—and plucks Gabe off the roof, jerks his kicking body into the air. Gabe cocks and fires his pistol, but the Reaper knocks it from his hand with a wild slash of its wing.

Malik drops to one knee and shoots. One. Two. Three shots.

Blam! Blam! Blam!

The slugs pummel the Reaper—it screeches and flails and its claws retract.

Gabe drops.

As he falls, his robe flaring, Malik fires off round after round. The Reaper shudders and wallows in the air. It shrieks and plunges over the side of the building.

Gabe—with an awful thunk—slams into the rooftop.

He doesn’t move.

“Go! Go! GO!” Malik yells at us, pointing to the edge of the roof.

We race to the edge of the building and throw ourselves behind a low parapet.

Malik skids away from us.

He slides up to Gabe. He puts his hand to his wrist—a second, two seconds—then presses his ear to Gabe’s chest. He jerks himself away, then punches the ice.

“No!” he screams. In one movement, he stands, raises his gun, slams back the hammer with his palm, and begins firing shot after shot at the other circling Reaper. I watch in amazement as the Reaper is hit, again and again and again. It bellows in pain and turns and comes at him. My heart constricts. I get up to go to him, but Akuji throws her arm in front of me. I struggle against her, but it’s no use. The Reaper, searing in, gives a terrifying wail and crashes into the rooftop, coming to a sliding stop inches from Malik, who levels his gun at its pink head and fires the fatal bullet. Then he turns and, without looking at Gabe’s supine body, comes to us at the roof edge. Wordlessly, sweat pouring from him, he unbolts a black ladder with Akuji’s help and slams it down the side of the building.

We leap onto the ladder, one after the other, and scramble down.