Lucidity

Chapter 35 - Leap of Faith

Grace fought against the urge to blink. Slowly, control of her muscles returned, but she remained limp in Lukas’ arms, waiting until she was certain she was strong enough to escape.

This time she would escape, she vowed as he carried her across the Skyway and into the Annex. He pushed through the open door leading onto the helipad, knocking her head against the metal frame.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” he muttered, swinging around as he searched for an escape route.

“Not as sorry as you’re gonna be,” Jimmy shouted, barreling from the shadows and plowing into Lukas.

Lukas stumbled back, slamming into the wall. Jimmy locked his hands around his neck, Grace pinned between them.

“Remember me, laddy?” Jimmy sneered as his fingers tightened.

Lukas dropped Grace. He brought his hands up, squeezing Jimmy’s throat.

Grace rolled free. Clouds piled high around them, spewing torrents of sleet and rain on the two men locked in mortal combat. Wind whipped the clouds aside for a brief instant, a stream of pale sunlight lancing through the air, pinning the two men in a spear of light.

“Jimmy!” she called as Lukas reared back, then with the roar of a cornered animal, butted his head against Jimmy’s face.

“Run, Grace!”

Lukas forced Jimmy to take a step back then rammed his knee into Jimmy’s groin. Jimmy’s grip on Lukas’s neck faltered. Lukas brought his arms up and forced Jimmy’s hands away.

“She’s mine. You’ll never have her, you devil,” Lukas shouted.

Jimmy charged once more while Grace tried to find her footing. Finally her muscles were obeying her command. But there was nowhere to go. The two men blocked the only exit.

She looked around for a weapon, anything she could use to help Jimmy. He tore his attention away from Lukas. “Forget about me, Grace. Get out of here. Damn it, don’t let the bastard win again.”

Lukas charged him, sending them both to the ground. The two men grappled, rolling in the puddles and gravel coating the rooftop. The exit was still blocked. But there was another way.

Grace flexed her fingers. The helipad sat about ten feet below the rest of the rooftop. If she could climb the brick wall up to the main roof, she could drop down to the Skyway’s glass roof. There was a hatch halfway along. From there she could get back inside, find help for Jimmy.

She ran to the parapet and clawed her way onto the bricks. The mortar joints were rain-slicked and she was out of practice, but momentum and sheer determination kept her moving from finger hold to finger hold until she was able to swing herself over the top. She stood, easing her cramped and iced fingers. Jimmy and Lukas were both bloodied now, but Jimmy appeared to be losing the fight. Lukas was on top, straddling Jimmy, his knee against Jimmy’s windpipe.

Jimmy turned his face away from his attacker to look up at Grace. Her eyes welled over with tears. She was going to lose him. Again.

Then Lukas would come for her. The wasps swarmed as her stomach roiled with terror. She sidestepped until she was just above the midpoint of the Skyway’s flat glass roof, gleaming red as the setting sun battled the storm clouds, then swung herself over the edge. She dangled for a moment, at the mercy of the wind and rain. Sleet, sharp as daggers, lanced into her from every direction.

She dropped onto the glass, the impact knocking her breath away. When she looked back, she saw Lukas following in her path, already to the top of the roof above her.