‘It is her!’ Gadreel exclaimed. He looked beyond the trees to a structure with strange writing across its front. ‘That building – destroy it! Block her way and force her into the open! But do not shoot her,’ he added quickly. ‘We will land – and hunt her down!’

Chapter 32

32

Cheng peered into the cockpit – and let out an exclamation. ‘What is it?’ Eddie shouted over the helicopter’s roar.

‘I can see the fortress!’ he replied.

‘Macy, let me up,’ the Yorkshireman told his daughter. She shifted so he could see for himself. Xinengyuan opened out before him, the endless sprawl of buildings and roads so new and clean and empty that the view seemed almost fake, as if a movie’s visual effects team had run out of time and money before adding the details.

Even having seen the fortress on the video feed at the base, Eddie did a double take at his first sight of the real thing. ‘Okay,’ he said, regarding the UFO in astonishment, ‘that goes straight to the top of my weirdest stuff list!’

Cheng nodded. ‘What do we do now?’

Eddie watched the shimmering dragon glide slowly over the cityscape, turning as it moved away from a column of dust marking an apartment block’s ruins. If it had been a normal aircraft, he would have said it was tracking something on the ground . . .

‘It’s after Nina!’ he said with absolute certainty. ‘She got out of it somehow – and she’s taken something they need. Maybe that key.’

Cheng looked at him in surprise. ‘How do you know?’

‘If she hadn’t, they wouldn’t bother chasing her. And also, well – it’s Nina! Getting into trouble and being chased by bad guys is kind of what she does. The archaeology’s just an excuse. Although don’t tell her I said that.’

‘Then what— Aah!’ The young Chinese jumped as another building exploded and collapsed, spewing out a dust cloud.

‘Jesus!’ Eddie growled. ‘They’re shooting at her!’

Nina hurried beneath a row of trees along the roadside. The hovering fortress was visible through the leaves behind her, but she hoped she was hidden from it—

A piercing roar – and a storefront exploded ahead, rubble and glass showering the sidewalk.

‘Shit!’ she gasped, shielding her face. They knew where she was – and her path was now blocked by fallen debris. Her only choices were to double back, bringing her closer to her pursuers, or run out into the open to reach an intersection. Neither appealed, but she couldn’t stay where she was . . .

The key’s weight helped her decide. If they blasted her directly, they would destroy the very object they were desperate to obtain. They would instead try to channel her, trap her – but if she kept moving, she might still escape.

She ran again, angling across the street. A glance back. The fortress loomed above the buildings – and was turning to follow.