Eddie vanished from view, and David heard a dull impact below. Then something struck David and he was thrown back across the roof, exploding with pain.

“At last!” cried Adam, standing on the edge of the building and raising his fists in triumph. “At last!”

“Adam?” David picked himself up and stared, frantic. “Eddie!”

Adam turned. He snarled when he saw David.

“But if you’re still here …” he began, then he shot over the edge of the building where Eddie had fallen. David flew out after him.

Eddie was sprawled on a narrow ledge, just one floor down from the roof, visible only because of the reflected glow of nearby firelight. The slightest movement could send him toppling the rest of the way to the ground, but Eddie wasn’t moving at all. David swooped down beside him, searching desperately for signs of life.

Adam was already there, raging over Eddie’s body.

“Why won’t you just die?” he cried. “Curse you, Utherwise! Curse you!” He scrabbled at Eddie’s neck, his spectral fingers clawing at the boy but having no effect whatsoever.

David took his chance and lashed out at him with every shred of mental energy he had. It was his first mind pulse, and he thrilled at the sense of power it gave him and at the sight of Adam being flung back from Eddie’s body.

“Get away from him!” David shouted. “Why can’t you just leave me and my family alone?”

Adam turned in the air and braced his dreamself, shrugging off the effect of David’s attack. He produced his cane out of thin air and rushed at David with a wild shout. But before he could reach his target, Petra caught Adam in midair, locking her arms around him and carrying him off at a crazy angle. Together they spun down into the shadows of the passage. David was about to go down after them when he heard Petra cry out. She came flying back, faint and out of control. Adam rushed up after her, his cane raised. By the time David reached the roof, Adam was already standing there, and Petra was lying at his feet.

“So close.” Adam was hardly coherent with fury and frustration. “It shouldn’t be this difficult! But once I’ve crushed you two, I’ll finish him. I’ll find one of Grinn’s men … I’ll finish the Utherwise family for good.”

Petra slipped back out of Adam’s reach and shot around behind him, forcing Adam to turn his back on David. David didn’t need to be told this was a deliberate move. He rushed at Adam, leaving the tiles and crossing the space between them like a rocket. Adam turned back only just in time, and stepped to one side. David swore as he flew straight past him and came to land about twenty paces from Petra.

“Eddie’s hurt.”

“I know,” Petra called back. “But we can’t help him now. Kat and Tomkin are his best hope. Our job is to destroy Adam; nothing else matters.”

“But the professor said …”

“Forget what the professor said,” said Petra. “We have no choice. And you know what we have to do, don’t you?”

Adam was between them again, his eyes swinging from one to the other, radiating hateful intent.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “And you know I can’t let you combine. But if you don’t, you also know you cannot defeat me. And so …”

In midspeech, Adam flung himself at Petra with astonishing speed. Petra shot up from the roof, her dreamself blurring with effort, only just avoiding Adam’s grasp. She arced across the space between herself and David and reached out for him as she did so. David jumped toward her, eager to bring together their mental power. He felt her dreamself touch his own and blend into him. He had a sudden overwhelming sense of her fiery, untrammeled mind and all it was capable of, and an intoxicating mix of rebellion, determination, and sadness. It was the very essence of Petra. David felt the power of his own mind grow with the strength of it.

“Gotcha!” cried the voice of Adam, and David felt Petra’s presence leave him just as suddenly as it had arrived.

“No!” David jumped after Petra, but Adam lashed out at him with his cane, sending him flying back. In his other hand he held Petra fast, though she struggled so much he could hardly keep upright. But Petra’s dreamself was already beginning to fade as Adam crushed her mind with his.

“I’m stronger than any of you,” he purred to himself, before shouting, “any of you!”

David shrugged off the effects of the hit and launched himself at Adam with what strength he could find. But Adam was ready for him. He threw his cane at David, and although it was a weak, distracted mind pulse, it was still enough to send David staggering back. David tried yet again to recover, desperate to reach Petra. Adam had her in both hands now and was raising her above his head.

“David, run!” Petra shouted.

Adam brought her crashing down over his knee. She cried out and was gone, her dreamself broken in two and cast aside in a cloud of spectral scraps. Before David could do anything, Adam was standing alone, facing him, his cane back in his hand.