Chapters (46)
Alex looked back. A chill ran through him as a silhouette came striding to the edge of the museum’s roof and paused. The tall man stood against the bulging charcoal sky, head turning slowly, hunting.
He only had a few seconds before he was discovered. Save his grandad. Save the frame. Save everything. How?
He looked to the corner, hoping for Harry or Kingdom. The road was empty. The painting stood to his right. Pattering rain drummed pleasantly on the canvas. To his left, his grandfather’s feet stuck out from under the bush. The spring-heels glinted dully.
Alex forced himself to start moving before he had time talk himself out of it. He worked at the spring-heels with fast, trembling fingers until he had them fastened around his own feet. He examined the harness, then pulled the painting across his back.
On the roof across from him, the tall man suddenly stiffened, peered, crouched.
Alex cinched the buckle tight at his waist. Too late. The shadow had launched in a high, arcing jump. The leaping figure passed over him and landed close behind.
Alex turned to face him, only to be knocked aside as Kingdom came sprinting past, her dogs right behind her. Without breaking stride, she pulled her rapier from its sheath on her back.
“Go, Alex, get it away!”
The tall man swung his knife at her in a ferocious swipe. In one fluid motion, Kingdom ducked, moved forward, and thrust at his throat. He backed up. She attacked again, dodged another lethal blow—then her foot slipped on the wet ground and she was on her back.
The tall man closed in. One of the dogs bolted from the pack.
“Maia!” Kingdom shouted. “No! Stay!”
The big animal ignored her. It crouched to leap. The man flung a savage fist to meet it—but it was as if the dog had predicted his reaction, because she feinted left, only jumping when the tall man had already started his swing and was off-balance. Maia pounced and crashed into him with all four paws, sending him sprawling. The dog skipped safely away, trotting happily back to her owner.
“Bad girl,” Kingdom said affectionately. “Alex, just get it out of here! I’ll hold him off.”
Alex started running back across the road toward the old museum as fast as he could, although with the heavy equipment at his ankles, it was more an ungainly stumble. He glanced up, urgently calculating distance and height. He crouched, turned his heels in the motion he hoped would engage the mechanism, and pushed hard.
Alex leapt.
XXXI.