Part 49 (1/2)
”I didn't have a choice,” Tony grunted, accepting Henry's hand and allowing himself to be lifted to his feet. ”There was this horde of Darkest Night fans ready to tear me limb from limb.”
A red-gold brow rose. ”The show has enough fans to make up a horde?”
”Small horde,” he admitted, checking to make sure everything worked. ”More like a mob, really. Very feisty, though. And p.i.s.sed.
So, are you planning to apologize for dumping me on my a.s.s?” Which felt distinctly bruised.
Henry smiled. ”Your spell distracted me with thoughts of the Hunt.”
”So you're saying I'm lucky I only got dumped on my a.s.s?”
”Essentially.”
”Okay, works for me.” He turned to study the steel skeletons of the three towers. ”Leah's notes say this one's tucked up in that first structure.”
Tony knew Henry wouldn't drop him. Knew it without question. His hindbrain however, currently dangling four stories up supported only by a vampire's grip on his ankles, was having none of that. As far as his hindbrain was concerned, they were going to die.Painfully.
Messily.
On impact.
The hysterical background babbling of OH, MY G.o.d! was annoying. And distracting.
”I don't want to rush you, Tony, but the moon has risen and we're not exactly invisible up here. If a resident living on the upper floors of any of those buildings across the way should happen to glance out their window...”
”Yeah. I get it. We'd be screwed. Sorry.”
The orientation of the runes didn't seem to matter.
Good f.u.c.king thing, too, because I don't think I could draw them upside down.
Right side up. I'm upside down.
OHMYG.o.dOHMYG.o.dOHMYG.o.d!.
Ten down. Seventeen to go.
The second weak spot of the night wasn't so much in a construction site as an excavation.
”What's with the attraction to holes in the ground?” Tony muttered as they walked down the packed dirt ramp left for the excavation equipment.
”They are creatures of h.e.l.l. They would feel at home in a pit.”
”It's not that kind of a h.e.l.l, Henry.”
”Would a man spend his time there in eternal torment?”
”I guess.” Based on what they'd seen of the inhabitants, it seemed a fair a.s.sumption. Although eternal might be thinking a bit too long term.
”Then it's close enough for me.”
Eleven to sixteen.”Oh, no,” Tony protested, backing away even though Henry had made no move in his direction. ”There'll be time enough to sleep when this is over.”
”If you could finish it tonight, I'd agree with you, but you can't and you're becoming visibly exhausted. When you're tired, you make mistakes. When you make mistakes, you get hurt. When you get hurt, you heal yourself and, as your body becomes progressively more worn down, there is always the chance you won't survive the process.”
”There's not much room for argument when you put it like that.”
Henry smiled his most irritating Prince of Man smile. ”Which is why I put it like that.”
Television meant early mornings and habit got Tony to the studio by seven, a mere ten minutes after sunrise even though Henry had set his alarm for eight before he left. CB and Leah and Jack were already in the office. Amy arrived minutes after Tony and Lee minutes after that, carrying a tray of coffee.
”You may be wondering why I've called you all here,” Jack muttered.
Only Amy laughed.
One hand up under the edge of her sweater, Leah stared down at the map spread out over CB's desk. ”Well, that confirms it. The tears are deeper than they were.”
Sixteen of the burns on the map were noticeably darker.
The good news was, Leah had recognized Ryne Cyratane's owners.h.i.+p of the arjh coming through in the middle of the Willingdon overpa.s.s. And the bad news involved the Telus overpa.s.s and another weak spot.
While Tony and Lee had been dodging teenagers, CB had spent a couple of hours on the phone and called in some favors.
At exactly 9:45, an RCMP patrol car, lights flas.h.i.+ng pulled out into the middle lane of the Kingsway and parked just out from under the Telus overpa.s.s. Morning rush hour traffic, finally having dropped from insanely busy to annoyingly crowded began to flow around it. When the uniformed constable stopped traffic entirely, Tony helped manhandle the rented telescoping platform out under the overpa.s.s. As the guy who'd come with the platform locked it down, he set out orange traffic cones.
When CB had laid out the plan, Tony had stared at him in disbelief. ”What am I supposed to do while they're setting up?” he'd demanded.
”I suggest, Mr. Foster, that you do your job. Unless there happens to be a spell to turn straw into gold on that laptop of yours, in which case you may do whatever you please.”
As traffic began to move again, now including the area the platform occupied in their detour, he followed the steadicam operator up the short ladder and clutched the steel railing as the platform rose.
They were directly under the weak spot. He could burn the runes in the air just below it and then shove them quickly up and through. The steadicam operator had his back to Tony as he shot the traffic moving under the overpa.s.s. The occupants of the cars, used to having to accommodate a dozen studios plus visiting productions, didn't even look up. He was finished in just under ten minutes.
”Okay, let's go.”
”I don't think so, kid. Chester Bane is paying me for twenty minutes of brand spanking new stock footage and that's what I'm going to shoot for him.”
”But...”
”Do I look stupid enough to cross Chester Bane, kid?”
Fair question. And no, he didn't. ”Then just let me down.”
”We have this spot for half an hour, kid, no more. That's b.l.o.o.d.y close to not enough time so, again, no.”
He couldn't climb down; dangling then dropping made him think of broken legs and Henry's reaction. ”I'm trying to save the f.u.c.king world here!”