Path of the Tiger, стр. 451
‘Come on love, come on! You have to jump, go on, jump!’
He was only a couple of feet away, but from Adriana’s perspective a gulf like an ocean or a gargantuan canyon might as well have stood between them.
‘I can’t,’ she whimpered, tears condensing at the corners of her eyes. ‘I can’t do it!’
‘You can,’ he said, gently urging her on. ‘You can, jump, do it, jump!’
At that moment they heard the distant but unmistakable drumming of Desert Eagle fire, followed by the booming of combat shotgun fire, coming from a few floors below. This new threat spurred a fresh sense of urgency into Adriana’s veins, and she swallowed a mouthful of fear, forcing it down into the depths of her core and regurgitating it as raw courage. With a cry that was half terror, half exhilaration she sprang off the edge, sharp pain driving a jagged spur up her leg from her injured ankle as she did. For a dizzying split-second she was airborne, soaring over the abyss below, and then William’s fingers slammed around her forearm and pulled her to safety.
As his skin touched hers lightning coursed through their veins, strobing its ultraviolet light and blistering its sizzling energy through every atom of their bodies. As uncanny and almost overwhelming as it was, there was no time to dwell on this surreal sensation; a battle had erupted below, and they had to flee from it. The Huntsmen reinforcements had no doubt arrived. There was now only one way out now, and that way was up.
William lowered Adriana to a spot where she could put her feet on one of the ladder’s rungs. When she felt safe, despite her ankle hurting awfully, she climbed down on cautious, trembling limbs to the point where she could support her own weight.
‘There’s no time to talk now,’ he said, ‘but you absolutely have to trust me completely, and do everything exactly as I say. That’s the only way we’re going to make it out of this alive. Can you do that?’
Adriana nodded, too confused and scared now to do or say otherwise.
‘Take this. Do you know how to use it?’ William asked as he handed her the AK-47.
She shook her head and her eyes widened as William dangled the rifle by its strap in front of her face.
‘The safety is off, so all you have to do is point it at whatever you want to shoot and pull the trigger. It’ll pack a kick, but it’s not too bad. It might seem intimidating, but think of it this way, love: six-year-old children in Central Africa can shoot these, so you can too. Quickly, sling it over your shoulder!’
Adriana nodded, biting her lower lip as she took the rifle. Luckily, she had once held one of these before – in a darker time, when all hope had seemed to have deserted her – so she knew what kind of a weight to expect when she wrapped her free hand around it. With some effort she managed to slip the strap over her shoulder.
‘Right, that’s that,’ William continued. ‘Now, like I said love, you must trust me. I’m going to take my clothes off, and I need you to hang onto them. Here, put them in this bag.’
‘Wh-, what?’
‘Don’t ask questions,’ he replied as he handed her the bag and took his motocross boots off – both of which tumbled past Adriana into the darkness below when he discarded them – after which he started to hastily disrobe. He tossed the heavy jacket, reinforced all over with bulletproof sections, down the shaft – he wouldn’t be needing that anymore – and then he pulled his trousers off and removed his tee shirt. These he handed to Adriana, who took them with her features scrunched in an expression of complete confusion. Nonetheless, she did as William said and stuffed them into the bag he had given her.
‘Right lass, now I’m going to do something that may well be the most terrifying thing you’ve ever seen in your life. Nothing I can tell you is going to prepare you for what you’re about to witness, but I promise you, whatever happens next, I am still me, even if I look completely different. I know that sentence seems to make no sense, but it will when you see what I do. When I’m done – and you’ll know when I’m done, trust me – I want you to climb up my back and wrap your arms around my neck. Grip my flanks with your thighs, as tightly as you can, and stabilise yourself with your core. Have you ever ridden a horse?’
‘I … I have, I know how to ride a horse, yes,’ she replied, feeling very confused. ‘Well a, um, a donkey, not a horse.’
‘Excellent. Then you’ll find this easy, because I’ll be a lot more cooperative than any donkey you’ve ridden, I guarantee it.’
‘What?!’
‘Trust me, love. You’ll understand why I say this in three, two, one…’
And with that, William enacted the change that would transform him into a tiger. Adriana’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets as she saw William’s human body distort and ripple at speed beyond speed. It was as if she were watching some sort of massively sped-up horror film sequence. His underwear and socks exploded into shreds and tatters that fluttered all around the elevator shaft like a flock of lightning-struck birds plunging earthwards, while his