Four streets away, they paused to catch their breath. ‘We obviously can’t stay in one place for any length of time,’ Mallory said. He eyed Church. ‘Didn’t you think of that?’
Ruth bristled. ‘Don’t criticise him-’
‘It’s okay.’ Church looked Mallory in the eye. ‘I thought it was a risk worth taking to get us some rest. We got out. What’s your problem?’
‘It’s early days yet.’
Shavi stepped in between the two men. ‘This is not helping. Where do we go now?’
‘We split up, as planned.’ Church glanced up and down the empty street. ‘They’ll be all over this place soon.’
‘We go to the Far Lands?’ Caitlin said uneasily. ‘Mallory, Sophie and me?’
‘It’ll be all right.’ Sophie gave her a reassuring smile. She was confident and calm and that helped Caitlin.
‘Where do we cross over?’ Mallory asked. ‘Shit,
The flashing blue and white lights moved into the next street.
‘Just find one of the old sites,’ Church said. ‘Best if you don’t tell us which one you’ll aim for — if we get caught, we won’t be able to betray your location.’
‘Use the Craft to help you cross over,’ Ruth said to Sophie.
‘I don’t know how,’ Sophie protested.
‘It’s inside you. It’ll rise up when you need it, trust me.’
‘How do we meet up?’ Mallory asked.
‘We’ll find a way.’ Church shook Mallory’s hand. The others nodded to each other, silently and uneasily, and then they split into two groups and slipped into the night.
7
Church, Laura, Shavi and Ruth caught the last bus into the city centre, sitting apart to pretend they were not together. Against the moon-silvered sky, Church saw the billowing black cloud of the
Church and the others jumped off the bus and walked separately to the quiet of University Street where they congregated in a darkened doorway.
‘Why didn’t the Libertarian follow us?’ Ruth asked.
‘He knows we’ve got nowhere to go,’ Church replied. ‘He thinks it’s just a matter of time until his lot catch us.’
‘Isn’t it?’ Ruth said. She caught herself. ‘I’m sorry. I’m just tired.’
‘All right, where to now?’ Laura said.
Before Church could answer, they were startled by the flapping wings of a large owl as it landed on a parked car. Ruth smiled to see her companion.
‘Looks like you’re wanted,’ Laura said.
The owl was restless and didn’t calm even when Ruth stood before it. In its large, unblinking eyes, she saw something that made her feel queasy. She turned to the others. ‘Something’s wrong.’
Church, Laura and Shavi were no longer looking at her. Over the rooftops, a crackling display of illumination was just visible, like the lightning heralding an approaching storm.
The owl soared away frantically. Ruth recoiled from the unexpected movement and when she looked back at the sky, the light display had been lost behind the towering buildings on Baker Street.
‘What was that?’ Laura asked.
Shavi’s expression was grim. ‘We should not remain here much longer.’
‘Head into the centre,’ Church said. ‘We can lie low for a few hours, then get a train out of Paddington or hitch a lift west.’
Footsteps echoing noisily, they moved through the deserted streets that ran between the main thoroughfares of Gower Street and Tottenham Court Road.
‘Is it me or is it starting to smell like some blokes’ locker room round here?’ Laura said when they had finally given up all pretence of walking separately. She was right. It had grown unbearably warm and humid, and there was a mounting odour of stale sweat.
Shavi kept glancing up at the thin streak of sky visible between the tall buildings.
‘Will you stop doing that?’ Laura snapped. ‘You’re creeping me out.’
‘Let’s get into the crowds in Tottenham Court Road,’ Church said. ‘We might be safer there if we can blend in.’
‘You might be able to blend in. I’m far too attractive,’ Laura replied.
The traffic was heavy and the pavements thick with people, but if anything the atmosphere was even worse. Though there was nothing to see, passers-by regularly glanced up into the sky as though they were privy to some secret signal. Their expressions were uniformly worried, and after each skyward glance they would pick up their pace a little. Car horns blared as drivers peered upwards through their windscreens, missing the changing of the lights. Motorcyclists pulled over to the side to look, then drove off at speed through the gaps in the creeping traffic.
‘I don’t like this,’ Ruth said.
‘You’re whining again.’ For once, Laura’s bravado sounded false.
A discharge of energy seared across the sky. People jumped, and a loud ripple of uneasy anticipation ran through the throng.
The crowds stopped to search the heavens. The car horns and the angry bellows of drivers were now deafening. Another golden energy discharge fizzed from behind the row of buildings at Church’s back.
‘Come on.’ He grabbed Ruth’s hand and pulled her into the jammed rows of traffic. Shavi and Laura followed close behind.
‘It’s coming for us, isn’t it?’ Laura said.
‘The Libertarian did indeed know there was no point pursuing us himself,’ Shavi said.
As they reached the middle of the road, a shadow fell across them. Huge, and moving forward quickly, it soon eclipsed the whole street. Church saw the expressions of the people packing the opposite pavement before he saw the shadow’s source: at first disbelief, then confusion, then mounting fear.
The cacophony of voices was drowned by a thunderous crash as a mountain of brick and tile fell from the top of a building behind Church, crushing pedestrians and cars. As a cloud of dust enveloped the street, people abandoned their vehicles and ran screaming, but no one was quite sure which direction to go.
Church, Ruth, Shavi and Laura kept close together, scrambling over the bonnet of the final car before thrusting themselves into the swarming crowd.
Another crash of masonry, more sickening screams cut short. An energy discharge struck the ground and a car exploded. Shrapnel ripped across the street and the windows of all the shops blew out, killing more. Fire raged at the point of impact, spreading rapidly to all the cars stuck in the jam. A chain reaction of explosions as each tank ignited turned Tottenham Court Road into an inferno.
‘We need to get away from the crowds,’ Church yelled as they broke into Oxford Street. ‘All these people are dying because of us.’
Laura came to a halt, transfixed by whatever loomed over them. Church followed her gaze.
Moving slowly over the rooftops was a monstrous echo of a Fabulous Beast. As big as a jet, it had two leonine heads, silently roaring, and a bulky big-cat body covered in fur, scales and feathers. A serpentine tail snaked out behind it. There were no wings or other visible means keeping it aloft, but still it flew, its clawed feet occasionally demolishing chunks of buildings as it passed. What disturbed Church the most was the way its four eyes rolled with idiocy, as if there was no sense in the creature at all. It was simply an engine of destruction, from which the energy discharges burst out at random.
