I hit the black waters with a splash.
I thrashed in that cool darkness, weak from near strangulation, not knowing which way was up. Fortunately, I managed to cling to consciousness and surface in a sputtering mess. I grabbed hold of the building’s brickwork, then—breath coming in desperate wheezes—I began to climb toward the roof, which was about half a story up.
Exhausted, water streaming from my clothing, I flung an arm over the edge of the rooftop. Blessedly, Obliteration had moved on. I lifted a leg over the side, hauling myself up. Why would he drop me, then—
A flash of light beside me. Obliteration. He knelt down, something metal in his hands. A manacle? With a chain attached to it?
A ball and chain, like from the old days—the type prisoners would wear. Sparks! What kind of person had one of those handy, ready to go grab? He clasped it onto my ankle.
“You have a shield to protect you from my heat,” Obliteration said. “So you are prepared for that. But not for this, I suspect.”
He kicked the iron ball over the side of the roof.
I grunted as the ball fell, the weight wrenching my leg in its socket, threatening to tow me off the rooftop. I clung to the stonework ledge. How to escape? No rifle, no bomb. I had Megan’s pistol in my thigh holster, but if I let go of the rooftop to grab it, that iron ball would pull me into the water. I panicked, grunting, fingers slipping on the stonework of the roof.
Obliteration bent down, close to my face. “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven,” he whispered, “having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.…”
At that he brought his hands up and shoved my shoulders, prying me off the rooftop. My fingernails tore and my skin scraped on the bricks as I fell. I splashed down again, this time with a great weight towing on my leg—like the dark waters were actively seeking to engulf me.
I flailed as I sank, searching for anything to stop my descent, and caught hold of a submerged window ledge.
Darkness all around me.
I clung to it as a flash of light shone above. Obliteration leaving? The surface seemed so far away, though it couldn’t have been more than five feet.
Darkness. Darkness all around!
I hung on, but my arms were weak and my chest bursting for breath. My vision darkened. Terrified, I felt like the waters were crushing me.
That awful deep blackness.
I couldn’t breathe.… I was going to …
No!
I summoned a burst of strength and thrust my hand upward to grab a brick ledge higher on the side of the building. I heaved myself toward the surface, but in the darkness of night I didn’t even know how far away from the air I was. The weight beneath me was too strong. The blackness encircled me.
My fingers slipped.
Something splashed into the water beside me. I felt something brush me—fingers on my leg.
The weight vanished.
I didn’t spare time to think. I pulled myself upward along the submerged building with the last of my strength and burst into the open air, gasping. For a long moment I clung to the side of the building, breathing deeply, shaking, unable to think or really do anything but revel in oxygen.
Finally, I pulled myself up the five feet or so onto the rooftop. I got a leg over the side and rolled onto the stonework, lying on my back, utterly spent. I was too weak to so much as stand, let alone fetch my gun, so it was a good thing Obliteration didn’t return.
I lay there for some time. I’m not sure how long. Eventually something scraped on the rooftop nearby. Footsteps?
“David? Oh, sparks!”
I opened my eyes and found Tia kneeling over me. Exel stood back a few feet, looking about anxiously, assault rifle in his hands.
“What happened?” Tia asked.
“Obliteration,” I said, coughing. With her help, I sat up. “Dumped me in the water with a chain on my leg. I …” I trailed off, staring at my leg. “Who saved me?”
“Saved you?”
I looked at the still waters. Nobody had surfaced after me, had they? “Was it Mizzy?”
“Mizzy is with us,” Tia said, helping me to my feet. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You can brief us later.”
“What happened to Obliteration?” I asked.
“Gone, for now,” Tia said.
“How?”
“Jon …” She trailed off, meeting my gaze. She didn’t say it, but I read the meaning.
Prof had used his powers.
Tia nodded toward the boat, which rocked in the water nearby. Mizzy and Val sat in it, but there was no sign of Prof.