The thud of rotor blades and the chainsaw rasp of a minigun told her Major Wu had ordered an air assault. The bizarre ringing of bullet impacts was almost deafening, but the noise changed under the relentless barrage, becoming flatter, weaker. The guns were getting through—

Another lurch – and she heard metal scream and tear somewhere above. The fortress was not invulnerable.

She reached the tunnel to the hatch. A trail of blood gave a clue to Colonel Wu’s fate. She rounded the corner, then looked back. Both Nephilim were recovering.

Ten seconds was up—

She fired the baraka again – just as the fortress jolted, making her stagger. The energy burst exploded beside her target, throwing sparks into his face. He yelled, shielding his eyes.

Nina ran down the dusty passage. One of the Chinese helicopters was visible through the hatch, fire blazing from its minigun. She stopped. If she went outside, she would be exposed, a target—

A fierce crackle of thunder – and the helicopter exploded.

‘Evade, evade!’ shouted the lead gunner as the fang-like weapon locked on. ‘They’re going to shoot—’

The other Z-20 suddenly blew up, burning wreckage spinning from the fireball. The first aircraft’s pilot made a rapid descent, but too late. The air rippled and tore – and the chopper and its occupants were blasted apart in a fiery explosion.

Nina threw herself clear as a chunk of flame-wreathed metal shot through the opening with cannonball force. ‘Jesus!’ More debris rained down outside. She waited for the barrage to end, then looked out.

A greasy black cloud was the largest remnant of the helicopter. Burning scrap littered the adamantium expanse. The other helicopter must also have been destroyed, the only noise now the rush of wind.

Clutching her oversized weapon, she hurried outside. The slipstream almost knocked her over. She used the spear for support and squinted ahead. The fortress was already approaching Xinengyuan’s outskirts, tower blocks rising like dominoes. But its course would take it to larger structures: the skyscrapers at the city’s centre.

A chill beyond the tearing wind. Gadreel wasn’t heading there to meet the civic leaders. He was out for revenge for his son’s death – and she had just witnessed the fortress’s firepower, the spear in her hands scaled up many times to deliver enormous destructive force.

And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

But she could stop the Nephilim from waking any more of their forces. She still had the resurrection key. Without it, they couldn’t release anyone else from the sarcophagi – and if the fortress lost power, they wouldn’t be able to restore it.

Simply throwing the key over the side would be the easiest way to keep it from them, but it might be recovered. For all she knew, Sidona could use the earth energy fields to sense its location. She either had to destroy it, or leave it somewhere it could never be retrieved.