Sensing victory, she advanced into the open to find the way into the ship. The Nephilim were now trapped like rats—

The fortress shuddered.

Wu reacted in alarm, but it was not trying to take off. Something had moved inside it, shifting its weight . . .

She looked up – and saw the dragon’s head split open.

A section of hull behind the windows swung upwards. Gold shone within. She realised where it was in relation to the rest of the chamber – the enclosure behind the thrones. The Nephilim had hidden something inside it—

Wu stared in surprise as a golden object, a flattened egg as long as a truck’s trailer, silently levitated from its nest. The sight of windows made her realise what it was – another aircraft, some sort of shuttle or escape pod. They were trying to get away!

She whipped up her rifle and emptied her magazine at it. The rounds twanged off, the golden skin shimmering with iridescent energy. It too had a shield. The UFO kept climbing, turning southwards – then, without a sound, whisked away into the distance.

‘No!’ Wu shouted, rapidly reloading and sending another futile burst after it. She somehow knew Gadreel was aboard. And now he was escaping, denying her revenge – and taking the secrets of the Nephilim with him.

Not caring if any Nephilim still posed a threat beneath the fortress, she ran back the way she had come. ‘Chopper pilot, this is Major Wu!’ she shouted into her headset. ‘Pick me up, now! They’re escaping – we have to go after them!’

‘Look!’ shouted Macy, pointing. The others turned to see a golden pod-like craft flash between the skyscrapers.

‘What the hell’s that?’ said Eddie.

‘It’s another vimana,’ Nina realised. ‘A smaller one – it must have been stored inside the fortress!’

‘What is this, Pimp My UFO?’ He tracked the object as it headed south. ‘It’s not hanging about, whatever it is.’

‘It’s got to be Gadreel and Sidona. The fortress is wrecked, so they’re bugging out.’

‘Going where?’ asked Cheng.

‘To find their people – to find Tartarus.’ The golden craft shrank into the distance. ‘We need to follow it! They’ve got the resurrection key – so if they find the prison, they can wake up their people. All of them.’

Cheng looked pensive. ‘But we don’t know where they’re going.’

‘Gadreel knew where the prison was,’ she told him. ‘Or at least he had a good idea. When he looked at the map on the tracker, he was very interested in part of it.’

‘Which part?’ said Eddie.

‘I’m not sure. Somewhere in the southern hemisphere. We know the Veteres have been there, because they went through Indonesia and Australia all the way to Antarctica. So somewhere along the way, they found a place to site their prison – at a major confluence point of earth energy. We need to find it.’