A crackling fusillade of earth energy flashed past.

She was not the target, nor the bobsled. The hunters were doing to her what she had done to them. The bolts blasted the ceiling, sending machinery plunging downwards—

It smashed straight through the floor. The overturned sled disappeared into the gaping pit, hitting something below with a fatal bang.

Now Nina screamed, feet scrabbling and hands clawing for grip that wasn’t there. The hole swallowed her—

The fall was about five feet onto a sloping section of broken floor – not far, but still enough to deliver a jarring blow to her spine. She skidded down it, slamming to a stop against the boxy casing of a large fan. She lay still for a moment, dizzied and breathless. Broken ice showered over her. After a moment, she tried to move – only to cry out at a stabbing pain. The broken tip of a metal pole was buried in the side of her hip, blood oozing around it.

She had to get up. The Nephilim would soon be here. She braced herself – then slid sideways. The rod popped free, its last half-inch smeared with blood. She wailed, but dragged herself clear of the debris.

All she could do with the wound was press her hand against it to slow the bleeding. She stood, feeling stinging cuts up her back from her slide down the rough ice, and looked around. Beneath the ski run was a dimly lit service area, heavy girders supporting the slope and a huge network of pipes and ducts maintaining the low temperature. It was even colder than the huge room above, frost coating everything.

A green light not far away warmed her with relief. An emergency exit into the mall’s lower levels. She could still keep the key from the Nephilim—

‘Shit!’ she gasped, realising that the artefact was no longer inside her clothing. It had fallen out somewhere along her wild ride – but where?

A frantic search. No sign of the golden disc. Either it had ended up under the fallen debris, or it was somewhere on the bobsled run. The baraka poked out of the mangled sled; she grabbed it—

Another energy blast above shook the ceiling and showered her with ice. Inhuman shouts told her she was outnumbered. One last futile sweep for the key, then she reluctantly limped to the emergency exit.

Shadows cut into the light lancing down through the hole. The Nephilim had caught up. She ducked through the door and closed it behind her.

Blank-walled corridors stretched away to each side. She started in the direction of where she had entered the mall – back towards the fortress. The Nephilim would now almost certainly recover the resurrection key; she had to stop them from returning it to their leaders.

Arms straining, Eddie reached the bottom of the dangling fire hose.